Chapter 918

His desperate flattery only earned a cold scoff from Felicia.

"Save the lies. If I really meant that much to you, why did you run off with Leonie the second she batted her eyes at you? And you had the nerve to reject me straight to my face.

"Dorian, I'm not an idiot. Your sweet talk doesn't work on me anymore. The only reason I brought you back here today is because of how well you used to serve me.

"Do you have any idea how much it broke my heart to see you wrapped in bandages? I specifically told Sully to go easy on you.

"If he had actually done permanent damage, I would have skinned him alive."

The mask was fully off now. Dorian's blood ran cold. He knew it-Felicia had orchestrated the entire beating. He was an absolute fool for ever believing she would just let him walk away.

If Felicia hadn't been so obsessed with him, Sully would never have hunted him down so relentlessly.

Felicia stared at him, her voice eerily calm. "Did Sully tell you what it would cost to buy your freedom? I've given it some thought. You can't keep working under him.

"He's a greedy sociopath. Anyone who crosses him ends up dead, and you know how things work in Greenvale. Cash is king. A few dead bodies disappear, and no one asks questions. You're a smart boy. You know exactly what I'm saying."

Dorian's limbs were shaking uncontrollably. He looked up at her, terrified.

"Sully didn't say much. Just that it would cost me three million dollars to buy my way out."

Felicia reached out, her manicured fingers slowly tracing the sharp angle of his jawline. It was the face she had been obsessing over for months.

Dorian had given her a sense of absolute emotional control that she couldn't live without. Since taking him in, she hadn't even looked at her actual husband.

She never expected some twenty-something heiress to swoop in and shatter her perfect fantasy.

"Three million dollars isn't pocket change. How exactly were you planning to pay that off?"

Dorian knew she was stating facts, but he had already rejected her once. Going back now... he had no idea what kind of fresh hell she would put him through. He had to stand his ground.

Felicia would never treat him the way she used to. The dynamic was ruined.

Everyone knew the rule: cross a boss once, and you're marked for life. If Felicia sensed even a fraction of hesitation or rebellion in him, she would make his life a living nightmare.

"I talked to Sully. I'm going to work hard and pay it off myself, Felicia. You don't need to worry about me anymore. You have your own empire to run, your kids to look after..."

Before he could finish his sentence,

Felicia completely snapped. She hurled the porcelain bowl against the wall, shattering it into pieces, before systematically smashing every lamp and vase in reach Dorian shrank back against the headboard, too paralyzed to breathe

His pale, striking eyes went wide with sheer terror.

Even frozen in fear, he looked devastatingly handsome, but beneath that beautiful exterior was nothing but sickening dread.

"I want one answer from you right now. Are you going to stay with me or not? Save the pathetic excuses. I didn't build my empire on my looks. I built it with my brain.

"You're just a kid. You think you can play games with me? Don't act like I don't know exactly what you're scheming. You thought hiding behind the Everharts meant you could throw me away? I'm telling you right now—not a chance in hell."

Dorian was violently trembling. He had naively assumed Felicia would just find a new toy to replace him. He had no idea she was this psychotic. Just a few days ago, she had promised to let him go, only to immediately have Sully beat him half to death.

This was the woman who had spent years buying him whatever he wanted and speaking to him in soft, indulgent tones. Seeing her morph into this screaming monster cemented his decision—he would rather die than go back to her.

He was young. What if he accidentally offended her again down the line? Or what if he fell in love with a girl his own age? Felicia would probably have them both slaughtered just to make a point.

"I'll give you a minute to think about it. Do you want to come back to me? This is your last chance."

Dorian didn't even need to think. He looked her dead in the eye.

"I'm sorry, Felicia. I thought we already made this clear. You had Sully beat me to a pulp. I gave back everything you ever bought me. We're completely even."

Felicia stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. She reached out and patted his pale cheek. Dorian was too stiff with terror to pull away.

"Dorian, you still don't understand how I operate. I'm telling you to come back to me. I'll buy you brand new things. Didn't you love this. apartment? I'll buy you that

motorcycle you wanted or vel.no

sports car you point at. As long as it's within my power, I wifbgive you the world. I'll treat you even better than before—you just have to come back to me.

"If Sully put a three-million-dollar price tag on your head, I'll go talk to him. I'll pay the three million and buy you out completely. From now on you belong strictly to me. Doesn't that sound so much better than grinding your life away trying to pay* him off yourself?"