MasukScarlett's POVStrip?Did he mean that I should take off my clothes?I stood frozen for some time while I just looked at the man, probably waiting for him to laugh out loud, saying he was toying with me, but his crooked face as he looked at me told me maybe not.“What are you waiting for? Are you not going to strip?” He asked, and I wanted to lash out, but knowing he has me on the leash already, I couldn't act rashly.“I don't know why I need to strip. Are you planning on stripping me naked and sending me out of the villa?” I asked, and he only burst into laughter, mocking me.“You really don't cease to amuse me, Scarlett Sinclair,” he chuckled, but his smile vanished immediately after that. "Don't let me repeat myself, Scarlett, strip!”I sighed heavily knowing there was no way out, so my hands reached for my zipper, but I stopped when I realized something.“Do you want to sleep with me in exchange for your son's release?” I asked, as I looked at him, hoping that I was wrong and he w
Scarlett's POVMy teeth gnashed together in fear as I struggled to process what Romano had just said.I didn't want to believe he meant I would lose my life if anyone found out about his crimes.But he did.And the worst part was that he didn't sound like he was bluffing.Not even a little.Would he kill me too?The realization made my fingers clutch the fabric of my dress tightly. My entire body felt cold as I stared at him with fear swimming in my eyes.For the first time, I truly understood the kind of monster I was dealing with.Or perhaps Romano wasn't dealing with me at all.Perhaps he had been toying with me from the very beginning.“So what?” I asked, my voice trembling so badly it was barely audible. “Are you going to kill me too?”A low chuckle escaped him.“It depends on how you behave,” he mused.His finger brushed across my lips.I immediately jerked away, hissing in frustration.“I don't need to kill you, Scarlett,” he continued calmly. “Your own actions will be what bri
Scarlett's POVI barely managed to slip away from the mansion without anyone knowing, and I immediately called Cindy, asking her to come get me. She arrived shortly after in her car, her face filled with worry and questions.“I know you have a lot of questions to ask, but can we leave first?” I blurted as I climbed into the passenger seat.She nodded and drove away without another word.It wasn't until the mansion disappeared from view that I finally let out a shaky sigh of relief. There was no way Romano could track me down that quickly.“I... thank you for coming for me,” I breathed, glancing at Cindy.“It's nothing. And I'm sorry for your loss,” she said, referring to Keira.But she didn't look sorry.Cindy had never liked Keira, yet she wasn't cruel enough to gloat about someone's death.“Yeah, but can you tell me how all of this happened?” I asked.She shook her head.“I don't know. The news broke out around midnight, and by morning it was trending on every news outlet in the cou
Xavier's POVThe tension in the interrogation room turned icy after what I said. Romano and I stared at each other intensely, neither willing to back down. But after a moment, Romano relaxed. It was as if he had sensed my desperation.I was only trying to rile him up and make him slip, and he had indeed slipped. That meant if I asked my men to dig into it, they would find the person Romano had used for the murder.And that was the only way to find the murder weapon.Not that I cared about having the police find the real culprit. I didn't care about justice, that was none of my business. I just needed to make Romano look stupid. I wanted to see how he would twist the story when that hitman pointed at him as the real culprit.“You... are you that desperate? You're even lying just to make me lose my mind,” he blurted out.But his calmness couldn't fool me. He looked restless beneath the surface, and I knew that the moment he left this place, he would try to get rid of that person.It see
Xavier's POV“Mr. Xavier Sinclair, did you kill Keira Deluca?”The detective asked for the umpteenth time, but my mind was too fucked up to make sense of anything that was going on. I was in a police interrogation room, yet I still couldn't wrap my head around what was happening, and my brain kept jerking back to the events that had happened before I was arrested.I had woken up with a banging headache, only to find myself being handcuffed by detectives while being accused of killing Scarlett's stepmother.At first, I thought it was another elaborate setup, just like when I was accused of attacking Scarlett's father, but I was wrong. The situation was far more complicated than I could have imagined because, this time, I was really the suspect.“What are you doing? Let me go! I didn't kill anybody!” I roared as I tried to yank the handcuffs off, but I froze when I noticed that I was in a strange room and police officers were scattered everywhere.I had thought my eyes were playing tric
Scarlett's POVI didn't understand what Romano meant about me putting on a good performance, but I noticed the women around us had started gossiping about me again, so I decided to act on his words.“Can you stop saying nonsense, Seraphina? I know you're hurt about Mother's demise, but you can't talk trash about me like that. I also lost my mother... you can't treat me like this,” I said, letting a tear slip down my cheek, followed by muffled sobs, and it worked like magic.Before Seraphina could ask more questions, she was whisked away by her mother's friends, who urged her not to be too heartbroken and to stop fighting with her sisters.Just like that, my image shifted from a slut who slept with her husband's son to a grieving daughter.Romano looked pleased, but I couldn't have cared less. I was looking for a way to leave the place, and eventually, I got my chance.Some detectives arrived to ask questions, but since my father wasn't around and Seraphina wasn't in the right frame of
Scarlett's POVMy body went rigid as Xavier's heavy weight collapsed against me, and for a moment, I didn't know what to do. Panic seized me. The only thing I could think of was calling out to him, hoping to pull him back into consciousness.“Xavier... Xavier, wake up!” I cried as I slapped his sho
Seraphina’s POVThe room's temperature seemed to drop as I watched Leon battle with himself, perhaps contemplating whether he should tell the truth, and it was pathetic to watch him act like that.Why be so calculating when you can just tell the truth?Though, if I were being honest, I would choose
Seraphina’s POV“That bitch!” I screamed as I stormed into my office, but my anger didn't subside, so I started breaking things.I could never believe I was going to lose to Scarlett in such a manner. All my life, I had been used to winning, used to stealing things from her, but seeing her take thi
Leon's POVShe had changed.That was my first thought when I saw Scarlett walk into the restaurant and avoid my hug.The smitten look she always wore whenever she saw me wasn't there. It was as if I were just a random man she was meeting for the first time.That realization dampened my mood, but I







