Chapter 4

Elena squeezed her eyes shut, her chest heaving with shallow, rapid gasps as an overwhelming panic gripped her. The pounding on the door grew more frantic, leaving absolutely no more time to negotiate.

In a desperate bid to save herself from Victoria’s unbridled fury, Elena was finally forced to close the distance. She lowered her head and pressed her lips against her brother-in-law's in a desperate kiss.

However, that submissive kiss only fueled Julian’s wild side. He instantly retaliated, twisting the embrace into a deep, demanding possessiveness.

Refusing to remain passive, Julian's large hands began to roam his sister-in-law's body. Sliding up from her waist to her back in a wild, searing stroke that threatened to ignite her.

Trapped between the absolute terror of being caught red-handed and Julian’s suffocating stimulation, Elena began to run out of air. Summoning the last remnants of her strength, she wrenched her face away, breaking their lips apart.

"Enough, Julian!" she rebuked in a half-whisper, her breath coming in ragged pants and her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Julian stared down at Elena’s panicked face, a cunning smile carving its way onto his lips. Thoroughly satisfied with getting exactly what he wanted, he slowly raised both hands into the air, allowing his sister-in-law to scramble off his body.

The moment his hold broke, Elena scrambled off the bed, her legs trembling beneath her weight. "I have to get out of here," she murmured frantically, smoothing down her slightly disheveled clothes.

"Be my guest," Julian replied nonchalantly, devoid of even a shred of guilt as he rose and sat casually on the edge of the mattress.

"Julian, please!" Elena shot a frantic look toward the door, where the handle was still being aggressively rattled by Victoria.

"If I walk out of that door right now, Victoria will lose her mind!" she cried out in frustration, demanding a solution from the very man who had trapped her.

Julian merely smirked, eyeing Elena with a condescending amusement, as if his sister-in-law's sheer distress was nothing more than entertainment to him.

"Then I suggest you find a place to hide," he replied indifferently, having absolutely no intention of lifting a finger to help.

Elena groaned internally at Julian’s profound selfishness. Wasting no more time, she scanned the room and darted straight toward the walk-in closet.

Once inside, she pulled open a large, empty wardrobe, slipped into the suffocating darkness, and pulled the doors tightly shut from the inside.

Outside, Julian strolled casually toward the master bedroom door. He turned the key and swung it open.

"Julian! What took you so long? Did you purposely—" Victoria’s tirade cut off abruptly the moment she saw her husband standing at the threshold.

"My apologies. I was naked after my shower, and I locked the door to prevent any of the maids from wandering in unexpectedly," Julian explained, his tone smooth, flat, and completely convincing.

Victoria exhaled a long breath, instantly buying her husband’s flawless logic. "Oh, whatever. Honestly, why would the maids even think of entering the master bedroom this early anyway," Victoria muttered, brushing past him toward the desk beside the bed to look for something.

Yet, Julian was not quite finished playing with the panic of the girl hiding inside the wardrobe. He walked over to Victoria, suddenly wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist and pulling her firmly against his back.

"I want to make love," he whispered, intentionally deepening his voice so it echoed clearly all the way into the walk-in closet.

Inside the wardrobe, Elena’s eyes widened in sheer horror. Her heart plummeted. ’Has he completely lost his mind?’ her mind screamed.

Julian knew perfectly well that she was trapped inside the room, listening to every single word. Instead of steering his wife out of the bedroom, he was actively trying to initiate intimacy right in front of her! 

‘How am I supposed to sit here and listen to them do that?’ A wave of intense resentment and hatred for Julian’s dark malice made Elena’s chest tighten.

In reality, it was nothing more than a calculated tactic on Julian's part. He knew his wife’s temperament inside out. Once she was fully dressed and primed for business, Victoria would never allow him to touch her.

Julian’s gamble proved correct. Victoria let out an annoyed huff and roughly wrenched herself free from his embrace.

"Don't start with me, Julian! I have a crucial meeting with investors at the office this morning. I only drove back here because I left a project file on the desk!" she snapped sharply.

Grabbing the folder she had been searching for, she turned on her heel. "I'm leaving now. Don't forget our dinner with Daddy tonight at the restaurant," she added, her high heels clicking rapidly as she hurried out of the bedroom.

The penthouse fell back into a dead silence. Julian slid his hands into his pockets and strolled casually toward the walk-in closet. "Come out, she's gone."

Hearing his voice, Elena slowly pushed the wardrobe doors open and stepped out. She let out a ragged breath, feeling as though she had just narrowly escaped death itself.

However, her relief was short-lived when she looked up to find Julian leaning against the doorframe, his gaze darkening once more with a meaningful intensity. "How about we finish what we started?" he teased with a wicked smirk.

He took a slow, deliberate step toward her. Elena immediately took a defensive step back, glaring at Julian with eyes blazing with fury.

"Don't be insane, Julian! I am going home right now!" she declared firmly, refusing to be drawn back into his dangerous games.

Without waiting for his response or any further reckless advances, Elena snatched up her bag, brushed past his tall frame, and bolted out of the penthouse. Behind her, her brother-in-law merely let out a low chuckle, watching her flight with an amused satisfaction.

By evening, an intense restlessness gripped the girl once more as she stepped into the private dining room at Le Petit Restaurant. The moment the server slid the door open, Elena froze.

Julian Vance was already there, walking beside his wife. His face was as cold as ice, and he did not cast a single glance in Elena’s direction as she entered.

"Ah, the missing child finally decides to grace us with her presence," Victoria Thorne’s sharp, mocking sneer cut through the air.

Victoria was clinging to Julian’s arm with an insufferable arrogance. A highly successful career woman who had always been Richard’s ultimate pride, she was dressed in a striking crimson gown.

"Why are your clothes so unkempt, Elena? Did you just come from campus, or were you out begging on the streets?" Victoria mocked in her usual condescending tone.

Her eyes swept over Elena’s simple dress with open disgust. "Julian, look at my stepsister. She truly has no idea how to present herself in a luxury establishment."

Julian remained entirely silent, casting only a fleeting, unreadable glance at his sister-in-law. It was as if they were complete strangers who had never crossed paths before, cold, distant, and utterly untouchable.

"Enoguh, Victoria. Come inside, your father is already hungry. Just leave her be," Beatrice chimed in from the table in a lazy, dismissive tone.

Victoria let out a cynical sniff, releasing her grip on Julian’s arm to slide into the dining room first, leaving the two of them behind without a shred of suspicion.

Sensing her opportunity, Elena turned in a panic, desperate to distance herself from Julian to save her racing heart. However, before she could take a single step, his large hand clamped firmly around her wrist.

With a swift, powerful yank, he pulled her body completely out of sight. Trapping her behind a massive, shadowed pillar in the quiet corner of the corridor.

"Let go of me, Julian!" Elena protested in a frantic whisper, her eyes darting wildly around the hallway in absolute terror.

Her body shook as her back hit the cold wall, Julian’s imposing frame pinning her tightly in place. "Our family is right inside! What if Victoria or Daddy walks out and sees this?" she hissed.

Julian merely pressed a step closer, completely obliterating the space between them until their chests brushed against each other. A faint, lethal smirk played across his handsome features.

"Let them find out," he hissed in a low undertone, his deep voice sending a jolt of electricity rippling through Elena's veins. "Personally, I prefer a bit of a challenge, Elena."

"You are completely out of your mind!" The sheer pressure of the situation left the girl utterly suffocated.

"I am out of my mind because of you," Julian countered, his eyes darkening as they locked onto Elena’s lush lips. "Tonight, I expect you at my place. Eleven o'clock."

The girl’s eyes widened in sheer panic. "How am I supposed to go there? Victoria lives in that house! Do you want to get me killed?"

Julian smiled slyly. His fingers traveled up, brushing against Elena's lower lip in a sensual motion.

"Calm down, Baby. Tonight, my esteemed wife is leaving town for a three-day business trip. As long as she isn't home, you will be the one replacing her in my bed. Keeping me company."

"Julian, please—"

"Don't even think about not showing up, Elena Thorne," Julian cut her off in an absolute tone of command that left no room for refusal.

He stared down at her with a highly possessive gaze. "You know exactly what the consequences are if you keep me waiting."

Before Elena could protest any further, Julian leaned his head down and captured her lips in a brief kiss. It was a deep, wet, and demanding kiss that instantly silenced all of the girl's words.

Julian then released his hold on her, casually smoothing out his slightly rumpled suit jacket. He walked back toward the private room with an effortless stride, acting as though absolutely nothing had happened.

He left Elena standing all alone in the dim hallway, her breath coming in ragged gasps and her lips burning. After taking a moment to stabilize her breathing, she walked into the private dining room, her knees still trembling.

She tried her best to control her expression so it wouldn't betray the utter chaos churning in her chest. She took the only remaining empty chair. Cruelly enough, it was positioned directly across from Julian Vance.

Just as Elena pulled out her chair and sat down, Beatrice abruptly broke the silence, shattering the quiet atmosphere of the restaurant.

"Where were you last night, Elena? Why didn't you come home?" She deliberately asked the question out loud, determined to make the girl look as bad as possible in the eyes of Richard and Julian.

The question struck Elena like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. Her entire body went rigid. Her heart hammered violently against her ribs.

She stole a quick glance at Julian, but the man maintained an icy, expressionless face. He acted as though the question had absolutely nothing to do with him, the very man who had confined her inside room 808 until the brink of dawn.

"What?" Richard Thorne gasped in shock. His sharp, piercing gaze immediately dug into Elena. "You didn't come home last night, Elena? Where on earth were you?!"

"Dad, I can explain—"

"Explain what exactly?" Beatrice interjected smoothly, refusing to give Elena any chance to finish her sentence.

She let out a cynical scoff, intentionally fueling her husband's anger. "An unmarried girl staying out all night without a word.

Don't tell me you were fooling around with some shady man out there, or doing something unspeakable? You are completely tarnishing the family's good name!"

"I am not doing anything like that, Beatrice! I—"

"Enough, Elena!" Richard roared.

"You are always causing trouble! Your sister, Victoria, is busy expanding the family business and making me proud. Meanwhile, you? You can't even handle college properly, and now you have the audacity to stay out all night? You truly are an ungrateful child!"

The venomous insults hurled from her own biological father's mouth felt like a knife slicing through Elena's heart. Desperate tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she bit her lower lip with all her might to hold them back.

Beside Richard, Victoria wore a deeply satisfied smile. Thoroughly enjoying seeing Elena cornered without mercy, while Beatrice looked on with arrogance.

From across the table, Julian watched the entire toxic dynamic unfold. The man slowly set down his whiskey glass.

Beneath his rigid, ice-cold exterior, a faint glint flashed across his eyes. He finally fully realized one thing, his stepsister-in-law was completely unloved, unappreciated, and treated as a total doormat by the Thorne family.

A faint trace of pity unexpectedly brushed against the billionaire's heart. However, his ego and need for dominance reigned supreme.

To shift Elena's focus away from her family's verbal abuse, Julian slowly moved his leg beneath the table. His expensive leather dress shoe intentionally brushed against the girl's leg.

The man began to rub his firm leg and calf along the length of Elena's leg. Traveling slowly up from her ankle toward her knee, which was covered by her simple dress.

The girl let out a sharp, soft gasp. Her eyes widened, snapping directly toward Julian. Her body trembled from the intense wave of sensual electricity the man was suddenly sending her under the table, right in front of her entire family.

‘Why is he being so reckless? Please! Leave me alone. This is incredibly dangerous,’ the girl panicked internally, her mind instantly flashing back to everything they had done the night before.