Victoria’s slender, lily-white fingers reached out and hooked under Julian’s chin, tilting his face up. Her red lips parted slightly. "You’ve got quite the nerve, haven’t you? Daring to take advantage of me, hmm?"
Julian tried to reason with her. "Miss Sterling, let’s be fair here. It wasn’t me taking advantage of you—it was you who took advantage of me! You were under the influence of that drug at the hotel, remember?"
Back then, she had clearly been the aggressor, pinning him down and leaving him with zero choice. He couldn’t resist, so he had no option but to go along with it!
"Then you were the one who seduced me," Victoria stated calmly, without a hint of hesitation.
Julian: "..."
Fine. Whatever you say, boss lady.
"Good boy." Victoria leaned down, her soft, perfumed hair brushing against Julian’s cheek and tickling his skin.
With her hovering so close, Julian caught the subtle, intoxicating fragrance emanating from her body. In the web novel, Victoria was described as possessing a natural, hypnotic scent—and smelling it up close now, it really was addicting.
Victoria’s red lips parted as she whispered softly against his ear, "Seducing a high-society woman comes with a heavy price, you know."
Julian’s expression turned deeply conflicted. Good boy? Bed-slave?
Any man with an ounce of pride would fight back against being talked to like a pet!
"Your punishment will be to serve as my personal bed-slave," Victoria said, raising a dark eyebrow in challenge. "What do you think?"
Julian thought weakly to himself, Do I even have a choice?
She was a ruthless yandere heiress. He was certain that if he dared to utter the word "no," she would find a far more painful way to break his spirit.
"Fine... I’ll be your... bed-slave," Julian grumbled, his voice faltering slightly over the words.
Saying those words out loud crushed his dignity just a little bit. He never expected that as a grown man, he would fall to the point of being bound to a mattress to keep a terrifying CEO entertained.
At least the person taking advantage of me is a drop-dead gorgeous heiress, he consoled himself. It’s not the worst deal in the world.
"So obedient," Victoria murmured, a satisfied smile curving her lips.
Deep down, however, she knew he was merely putting on an act to keep her placated. No man would willingly remain chained up as a woman’s captive canary. The moment he spotted a vulnerability, he would run away from her side without looking back.
She had witnessed that pattern firsthand when she was a child. She had seen how her own father had desperately fled from her mother’s side.
Her father had eventually succeeded in escaping, living with the woman he truly loved for two whole years. During those two years, her mother searched the globe for him so frantically she nearly lost her sanity.
When her mother finally tracked her father down, she realized she couldn’t risk him escaping ever again. So, rather than chaining him up a second time, her mother killed him with her own hands.
After taking her husband’s life, her mother committed suicide right beside his body. Before dying, she left strict orders for their bodies to be sealed inside a single glass coffin and cryogenically preserved together. Her mother had believed that in death, they would finally belong to each other for all eternity.
Victoria had originally thought she was different from her mother.
As it turned out, from the very first moment she had laid eyes on Julian in that hotel room, that same dark possessiveness had awakened inside her. She wanted to lock him by her side forever.
If he ever insists on running away... well, I’ll just turn him into a specimen too.
A sudden, inexplicable chill ran straight down Julian’s spine, making him shiver involuntarily.
"Remember your words," Victoria whispered, her warm breath fanning against his throat. "Stay by my side faithfully."
Julian grumbled internally. Bed-slave? What kind of twisted possessive fetish does this web novel billionaire have?!
...Though he had to admit, the sheer absurdity of it was kind of thrilling.
Victoria reached for the buttons on Julian’s shirt.
Julian’s mind immediately began racing. If she wants to take my clothes off, she’ll have to unlock these metal cuffs first. The second my hands are free, I’ll flip her over and take control!
Every time they were together, she was taking the lead and pinning him down. It was terrible for his ego.
To his absolute shock...
Victoria didn’t bother looking for keys. She simply grabbed the front of his shirt and ripped—shredding the heavy fabric right open!
Holy shit! Julian stared in disbelief. As expected of a web novel world! Even high-end designer clothes get torn apart like tissue paper by the female lead!
Victoria gazed down at Julian’s exposed chest, her dark eyes deepening. Her slender fingers landed on his abdominal muscles, slowly tracing their way down, inch by inch.
Every place her warm hand touched sent a sharp shiver through Julian’s core.
Victoria admired his body, a dark smile playing on her lips. It was this body that had given her such intense pleasure at the hotel. In fact, all day today, she had been unable to focus on work, thinking only of doing it with him again.
She reached down, her fingers firmly interlacing with Julian’s hand, locking their fingers together against the sheets.
"My little bed-slave... serve me well tonight."
"Also," Victoria added softly, "remember my name. I am... Victoria Sterling."
Julian coughed weakly. "Victoria, can we at least—" Let me be on top for once?
Before Julian could finish his sentence, Victoria leaned down and sealed his lips with her own.
She remembered how addictive kissing him had been. The instant her lips touched his, her cold composure melted away, replaced entirely by raw, overwhelming desire.
She instinctively dominated his mouth, her kiss clumsy yet fierce, as if she wanted to completely devour him alive.
Julian couldn’t get another word out.
The vast master suite fell quiet, save for the heavy, suggestive breathing of the two figures on the bed. The temperature in the room soared.
Julian gave up trying to negotiate and let himself sink into the warmth.
Whatever, he thought, surrendering completely. There’s nobody else in this room to see it anyway. If I’m stuck on the bottom, so be it.
And so, Julian was thoroughly, relentlessly dominated by Victoria Sterling all night long.
Meanwhile, outside the master suite...
The news that Victoria had brought a young man back to Rose Manor and locked him inside her private bedroom had already spread like wildfire among the estate staff.
A group of housekeepers whispered hushedly in the secondary hall.
"Have you heard? Miss Sterling brought a man back tonight and locked him in her bedroom. It’s been over three hours, and neither of them has come out. What do you think is going on in there?"
"I heard the guy offended Miss Sterling in public, so she brought him here to punish him."
"That makes no sense," another senior maid chimed in, shaking her head. "Miss Sterling is a total germaphobe; she never allows any man into her private quarters! If she just wanted to punish an enemy, why bring him into her own bedchamber? I don’t think this ’punishment’ is what you guys think it is."
A suggestive, knowing look appeared on the maid’s face. "Locking a handsome guy to her bed with silver chains... sounds pretty intense to me!"
"No way! That’s impossible!" a junior servant argued. "With Miss Sterling’s icy personality, how could she fall for a man? Let alone lock him in her own bedroom?!"
The very idea was completely mind-boggling to anyone who knew the ruthless CEO.
"You don’t understand," the senior maid whispered dramatically. "Someone as cold as Miss Sterling will avoid normal men like the plague, but the moment she meets her fated one, she turns completely obsessed! That’s how these dynamic power couples work. If you don’t believe me, just wait until tomorrow morning and see if that guy comes out alive!"
"Place your bets! Place your bets!" a third servant giggled quietly. "I bet a hundred dollars Miss Sterling is torturing him!"
"I bet three hundred on torture!"
"Five hundred!"
Inside the bedroom, as the hours ticked by toward dawn, Julian deeply realized just how terrifyingly unstoppable Victoria Sterling truly was.
Fuck!
He couldn’t even move his arms or legs, meaning Victoria was doing all the physical work herself—yet she somehow possessed the insane stamina to keep going for hours without stopping!
Even trained male athletes can’t last this long! How is this woman such an absolute freak of nature?!
Julian stared at the ceiling in complete exhaustion. No way. As soon as I get out of these chains, I need to start hitting the gym twice a day and reclaim my dignity.
When the storm finally subsided, Victoria collapsed against Julian’s chest, resting her head over his heart. Her breath was warm and steady, her striking face carrying an expression of pure, deep satisfaction.