Millie had no idea why she was so stimulated recently, but she had no way of release. Indeed, women had their needs once they matured.While her thoughts were running wild, the bathroom door swung open. Startled, Millie sank into the bathtub and hugged herself."W-What do you want?" she asked."I thought it over and decided that I can't leave.""What?"Pierce paced toward her step-by-step. "You're always the one helping me with my needs. Now that I know what you're going through, it'd look bad if I did nothing about it. I can take care of your needs, too.""Never mind! I'll find a solution. I can buy a toy, or call someone—""Call someone?" Pierce's face turned dark."No, I was just running my mouth. I'd never do something like that. I'll buy a toy—"But it was too late—Pierce already joined her in the bathtub. It was a double bathtub, so it was large and had more than enough space for two people.Millie was in her bathing suit, but in contrast, Pierce had already changed
Millie didn't know that even before finishing, love-making could put her through a rollercoaster ride, lifting her high and throwing her down.In the beginning, she bit her lip, refusing to make a sound because she thought that she was being too promiscuous and shameful.However, Pierce always had his ways and patiently coaxed her so that she would relax little by little.He would even encourage her, saying, "The sounds you make are cute."Millie, you look really good like this. Don't be so nervous and relax, otherwise you won't feel good. Follow my rhythm."Suddenly, he asked a random question, "Millie, you've never called me hubby, have you?""Yeah," Millie mumbled in reply. Covered in sweat, she gasped for air. The pleasure had brought her waves of spasms."Will you call me hubby?"Millie's body turned stiff when she heard this. Calling Pierce hubby was more embarrassing than moaning. Their relationship was inappropriate. While they resembled friends with benefits, they we
Mille folded the tie neatly and placed it into the drawer.She then got up and went to the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror.Her face was still visibly flushed, and even though Pierce and her had not gone all the way, the teasing alone had already worn her out.Millie wondered what would happen if they were to reach that final step. Then, she immediately splashed her face with cold water to stop her mind from wandering further.Pierce did not want to go all the way with her. The only time he had ever brought it up was because she wanted to go public about her past.He mentioned that he would take responsibility for the rest of his life so long as she became his wife. Given his sense of duty and responsibility, he felt obliged to protect her once he had taken over her body.It served as a shackle of sorts.Pierce resisted that notion deep within his heart. Even as he reached orgasm, he had taken several steps back so as to put some distance between Millie and himself.
Millie felt a little embarrassed after reading the message.She didn't blame Pierce for anything since she wasn't forced into it. If anything, she also willingly joined in at the end.Millie hesitated for a while and texted her reply: "It's not what you think. Something urgent just came up at the studio, so I had to leave. You don't have to stay at the company. Come home tonight.""Alright, then let's have dinner together tonight."Millie felt a mild headache come on. In truth, she didn't feel like having dinner with Pierce either. But if she were to refuse, he would probably assume that she was still hung up over what happened last night.So, she had no choice but to accept. Pierce replied, "I'll pick you up at six.""I might still be busy with work by then. I'm actually not sure when I'll be able to leave.""It's fine, I'll wait for you."Millie had no words left to argue.The studio had gotten significantly busier recently. Wanda's public apology paired with Millie's repu
At that moment, Julian called out to her, "Millie, there's a question that I've been meaning to ask you for some time.""Fire away, Julian," Millie replied."Who do you think is better-looking, me or Pierce?"Millie choked on her food and coughed so hard that tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. What sort of question was that?"Eat slowly, nobody's going to take your food away from you." Julian patted her on the back.Millie finally regathered herself after a while and quickly said, "Both of you are good-looking in your own way!" She wasn't going to offend anyone here. Julian's smile widened. He then put a hand on his cheek before continuing to ask, "Then from the two good-looking options you have, choose one who is better looking.""Julian… What a shallow question…""Just say it, I want to know too," Pierce said, his voice low and pleasing to the ear.He looked at Millie calmly, as if he was saying that he wouldn't be angry even if she felt that Julian was better-loo
"Let's go home, I'm tired." Millie didn't want to discuss it, so she changed the topic.Pierce looked at her in frustration, but he could only drive her back home. Millie pretended to be asleep on the way home to avoid the awkwardness of being alone with Pierce. When she returned to the villa, she went directly upstairs. She didn't allow Pierce to sleep in the room, either. …The next day, Millie overslept on purpose so that she wouldn't have to leave the house with Pierce. When she went downstairs, she found that the housekeepers were energetically decorating the living room. "What are you doing?""It's Mr. Atkinson's birthday in a few days. We're secretly putting up some decorations to give him a surprise."Millie lightly knocked her head. She had been so busy that she'd forgotten Pierce's birthday at the end of the month. "How do you usually celebrate?" she asked."Ms. Sammy would buy a cake and make a home-cooked meal for him, and there'll be presents too.""Despi
No one was cooking in the kitchen. Were they going to eat out?As Millie was pondering this, the sound of a car horn honking came from outside. Unexpectedly, Samantha and Pierce arrived together.Samantha, who was usually lively and chatty, silently stood behind Pierce. She was unusually subdued that day."You're back! Are we eating out tonight? Should we bring the cake with us?" Millie asked.Pierce froze, his expression dark as he stared at the cake on the table. He questioned, "Did you prepare this?""What's wrong?" Millie instinctively took a step back as a chill ran down her spine. Pierce's gaze was terrifying.Just then, Samantha quickly spoke up, "Pierce, Millie just joined us recently and isn't aware of this. Don't be mad at her. "You know… Pierce was kidnapped at his birthday party when he was a child and almost died. He hasn't celebrated a birthday since then."Millie's face became ashen at her words. It was Samantha who had suggested celebrating Pierce's birthda
"How dare you hit me? Why are you all just standing there? Help me already!" Samantha became agitated and called for help.The maids came forward at her command, clearly siding with Samantha. Although the maids' movements were light, Millie could feel them sneakily battering her. When they grabbed her arms, their fingers cruelly dug into her skin.Millie felt pain all over her body. The maids subtly pinched her thighs, her waist, and other places concealed by clothing. Some even covertly pricked her with needles.Their methods were calculated and sinister, and it was obvious that Samantha had prepared them for this in advance.The pain was so intense that cold sweat dripped down Millie's face, and she realized that she had to get out of there immediately.Knowing that she was at a disadvantage, Millie acted quickly. If they managed to restrain her, she would sustain numerous injuries in the most covered up places that were not easily detectable when one looked at her.With he
That night, Millie couldn't sleep at all. She tossed and turned, unable to quiet her thoughts.When morning finally arrived, she immediately got up, washed up, and packed her things to head to the hospital. Pierce saw how anxious she was but said nothing. He simply accompanied her to the hospital without a word.Once Millie got there, she took over looking after Stefan from Agnes and Robin. She urged them to go home, wash up, and get some rest."Pierce and I are here. We'll take good care of him," Millie said reassuringly."Alright. I'll leave Stefan in your care then," Agnes replied.Only then did she finally leave, walking away with slow, heavy steps.After that, Millie changed into sterile clothing and entered the ward.Stefan looked weak, but his spirits seemed a little better. When he saw Millie, he even forced a smile and greeted, "You're here.""Does your wound hurt?" Millie asked in concern."No, not really. I have painkillers and a PCA pump, so I barely feel anythin
In the end, she and Stefan were simply not meant to be. The distance between them only grew wider as life went on. He should never have saved her.Pierce held Millie close. "Don't overthink it. The doctors are still working on him. We'll know once they come out. He's tough. He'll be fine.""Pierce, why did he have to do that? My heart feels so heavy." Millie wept."I know, I know." Pierce gently patted her back. He understood exactly how she felt.He wasn't afraid of Stefan scheming against him, but what worried him more was that Stefan would suddenly change and sacrifice himself to make amends for his past mistakes.If he had remained cruel, Millie could have hated him completely. But now, by repaying his debts bit by bit, he had placed Millie in an impossible position. She couldn't love him, but she also couldn't bring herself to hate him.Soon, Agnes and Robin arrived too.Agnes had aged significantly in the recent months, and she seemed to be in noticeably weaker spirits as
"Stefan, are you okay? Hold on! I'll take you to the hospital right away," Millie urgently said."Are… Are you hurt anywhere?" Stefan asked in a trembling voice, forcing himself to endure the pain.Even at a time like this, he was still worried about her."I'm okay… I-I'm fine," Millie replied with a slight stutter."That's good." Stefan breathed a sigh of relief.Millie glanced at the rotting, festering wound on his back and couldn't help but anxiously tear up. She didn't wait for Pierce and immediately hailed a cab.Meanwhile, the surrounding crowd had subdued the attacker—it turned out to be the disgruntled Carlos who had been fired. Even as he was restrained, he kept screaming that he wanted to kill Millie and make Pierce regret it for the rest of his life.As the commotion went on, Millie helped Stefan into the car. His back was so badly wounded that he couldn't lean against the seat. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat
Yulia's words had tainted Pierce's ears. Since that was the case, he would find a way to make sure she could never speak again.If it had been the Pierce of the past—the one who worked as an anti-smuggling officer—he would never have considered such an option. But now that he was freed from the constraints of that identity, there were some matters that he no longer had to be so cautious about.He was never a purely kind person. His heart was far darker and more calculating than most could imagine. He could be a ruthless executioner without a shred of hesitation, or he could appear as an untouchable, noble paragon of benevolence.After resolving the situation with Yulia, Isabella felt relieved and invited Millie out for drinks.Millie was glad to hang out with her. Sharon had taken Tristan abroad, so she no longer had a drinking buddy."You have no idea how utterly disgusting that Yulia made me feel. It was like someone had forced a mouthful of dirt down my throat!" Isabella comp
Yulia locked herself in her room. She was curled up on the bed, disheveled and unkempt.Her phone screen was lit as she scrolled through the comments under Pierce's latest Twitter post—all of them were insults directed at her. She had completely lost herself in obsession."I did nothing wrong! Why should I apologize? Pierce is the heartless one! He betrayed me! Even as a woman, I have more courage than he does! Mom, I want to appeal my case. I want to sue him a second time. That lawyer was useless…"Helena had finally reached her breaking point and delivered a heavy slap across Yulia's face. Yulia's head snapped to the side as a clear handprint formed on her cheek."When will you wake up? Everyone can see that Pierce never liked you! In fact, if you hadn't done all those ridiculous things, he wouldn't even know who you were! How long are you going to deceive yourself? You're completely delusional!" Helena roared.Then, she added, "And even if… even if something had actually happ
Yulia wept and continued to blabber in her livestream. "If you don't love me, then why did you stop others from hurting me and take me to the hospital? If you don't love me, why did you pay for my medical expenses?"Can you swear that you didn't feel even a tiny bit of emotion when we locked eyes in front of that bakery? I understand that marriages in wealthy families are complicated and involve many parties' interests, where one small move can set off a chain reaction. "I was so considerate of your predicament, but what did you do to me? To protect yourself, you threw me under the bus. Pierce Atkinson, is this fair to me?"After saying all that, she burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Meanwhile, viewers in the livestream showered her with virtual gifts, comforting her and telling her not to cry, claiming their hearts ached for her.Millie came across her livestream as well. The platform's algorithm had pushed it to her feed, so there was no avoiding seeing it.She was sp
"No! Mr. Atkinson, you can't do this! I did it for you!" Carlos cried."I don't know Yulia personally, nor did I secretly ask you to take care of her. No wonder she kept misinterpreting my intentions and tried to get close to me. You were part of the reason that she's delusional," Pierce said with a scoff.Yulia must have assumed that all the special treatment Carlos had given her was Pierce's doing. Naturally, she would have started to fantasize.Pierce also reflected on himself. He never should have sympathized with her or helped her in the first place. When he saw her, he had been reminded of Millie from years ago and had wanted to make up for his inability to help her back then in some small way. Never did he expect that it would cause so much trouble for him.Whatever compensation John decided to ask from Yulia was none of his business too.After that, Pierce sent Carlos away and began addressing the false rumors spreading online."Well, well. You seem to have a lot of rom
Yulia believed that Pierce must have felt the same way. Since fate had brought them together, how could she possibly give up?Now that Pierce had paid for her hospital stay, she felt she should recover properly and not waste his kindness.…Meanwhile, back at Atkinson Group, Tobias never mentioned the matter to Pierce. The situation had been urgent when Yulia was hospitalized, and anyone would have covered the cost in such circumstances. After all, a life was at stake.Tobias reported, "Mr. Atkinson, the former Head of Sales, Carlos Reyes, keeps asking to see you. The receptionist has alerted me about this multiple times. He said he needs to see you for something important. Do you want to meet him?""Is he the one Mills fired?" Pierce coolly looked up."Yes," Tobias replied."Useless trash like him isn't worth my time," Pierce indifferently responded. After all, anyone who crossed Millie had also crossed him.So, Tobias immediately informed Carlos that if he ever came again, he
Yulia kept waiting for an opportunity, but the two times she saw Pierce, he was with Millie. The sight of this drove her mad with jealousy. How she wished she could tear Millie apart. If it weren't for her, she wouldn't be struggling just to get into Atkinson Group now.And so, Yulia obsessively staked out the parking lot every day like a madwoman. As a result, she had grown noticeably thinner. Sometimes, she saw Tobias. However, she didn't approach him. But finally, after nearly a week, she found her chance.Pierce had arrived alone with no one in the passenger seat. Just as he got out of the car, a shadow flitted into his peripheral view. As a former police officer, his reflexes were sharp. He immediately subdued the person with a grappling move."Ow… Ouch! It hurts…" Yulia pitifully whimpered.Pierce hadn't seen Yulia's face yet. He only realized that it was a woman and that she posed no real threat. So, he released his grip.However, upon realizing that it was Yulia, he