CHAPTER 16

SELENA

Julia dropped to her knees like a woman possessed, dragging Stephen’s pants down without hesitation. My heart pounded as I stood frozen in the corner of the VIP room, my mind screaming for my body to move, to run. But I couldn’t—not with the way she touched him, like I didn’t exist, like I was a ghost drifting in and out of their twisted scene.

The music outside thumped violently against the walls, a mocking soundtrack to my humiliation.

She took him into her mouth, slow, sensual, confident. I flinched like I’d been slapped.

Tears welled in my eyes before I could stop them. Hot. Angry. Helpless.

Why? Why would he do this to me?

My chest heaved as I whispered, "Please… stop." The words barely left my mouth.

He didn’t even flinch. Instead, he leaned his head back, groaning in pleasure, gripping Julia’s hair like she was his salvation.

This wasn’t just cruelty. This was destruction. I wasn’t jealous God no I was broken. Shattered into pieces by the one person I had trusted with the last bit of myself.

If my father were still alive, this would never be my reality. I would be far away, maybe running my late mother’s boutique, maybe living with peace. Instead, I was here… in a nightclub’s backroom, watching the man who was to protect me reduce me to nothing.

I turned my head away, unable to bear it.

“Don’t you dare look away,” Stephen growled, his voice sharp and cold, slicing through the thick air like a blade. “Not unless I tell you to.”

My eyes widened as I slowly turned back, trembling.

He ripped off Julia’s dress like it was tissue paper, his hands tracing her skin with a kind of hunger that should’ve made me sick but all I felt was numb. Numb… and lost.

She moaned. He moved. They tangled together like they were performing for me, putting on a show meant to crush whatever dignity I had left.

I wanted to scream. To vanish. To die.

Was this the punishment he promised? For hugging Adam? For daring to speak to another man?

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood.

“STOP!” I screamed, the word erupting from my chest like a volcano. Both their heads snapped toward me.

Stephen’s expression shifted just slightly. A flicker of something passed through his eyes.

Regret? Guilt? No. Control.

“Please,” I whimpered, falling to my knees. “Please… just stop.”

I was sobbing now, shoulders shaking as I clasped my hands in front of me like I was praying. “I won’t run. I won’t disobey. I swear… just don’t do this. I’ll do anything. I’ll obey every command.”

Stephen stepped away from Julia, walking toward me with slow, deliberate steps. His bare chest rose and fell as he knelt in front of me and cupped my face gently so gently it felt like a betrayal.

“You shouldn't have made me this angry, Selena,” he said quietly, like I was a fragile child being corrected. “If you'd obeyed, you wouldn’t have seen this. You are mine… and I will break you then rebuild you until you fit perfectly into my world.”

His thumb wiped away a tear, but it did nothing to erase the damage.

***********

JULIA

Selena’s scream pulled me out of the heat of the moment. I blinked, stunned, as the fog of lust began to clear.

Why had he brought her here? Why make her watch?

A thrill ran through me earlier when I saw the pain flash in Selena’s eyes the way Stephen touched me, kissed me, like she was just a shadow. For a moment, I felt powerful. Triumphant. I was the one in his arms. I was the one giving him pleasure.

But now, something shifted.

Stephen stood over Selena, his attention fixed entirely on her. The softness in his eyes… I’d never seen that look before. Not once. Not even when we were alone.

And then I heard it.

“You are mine.”

He said it to her. Not me.

My stomach twisted.

Who the hell am I to him, then?

I stood there, naked, discarded, watching him cradle her face like she mattered. Like she belonged to him in a way I never did. I swallowed hard, fists clenched at my sides.

Could it be true? Was Stephen falling in love with the girl whose father was responsible for his mother’s death?

Never. I won’t let that happen.

My fingers trembled as I yanked my dress over my body, the fabric sticking to the sweat on my skin. I didn’t care. I needed to get out of there out of that room where he’d looked at her like she was something precious.

The door slammed behind me, muffling the sound of the club’s heartbeat. The hallway outside spun slightly, the dim lights streaking across my vision like stars falling from a dark sky.

He chose her.

That thought throbbed inside my skull like a drumbeat. Over and over. He chose her.

I pressed my back to the wall, breathing hard, fingers twitching with fury.

I gave him everything my body, my loyalty, my time. I endured his silence. I matched his madness. I bled for him.

And yet… in that moment, it wasn’t my name on his tongue. It wasn’t me he reached for.

It was her.

My lips curled, not into a smile but a snarl, as my thoughts narrowed into a single, dangerous point. I didn’t need to scream or break down or cry. I needed to strike.

Then it came to me clear and sharp, like lightning splitting the sky.

His mother’s ashes.

The one thing in this world he still held sacred. I’d seen how he stared at that silver urn on the shelf in his study. How he talked to it sometimes, when he thought no one was watching. How he guarded it like it was the last piece of his soul that hadn’t turned to stone.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

If I could make it seem like Selena was the one who ruined it if I could crack that urn and let the past scatter into dust at her feet he would lose it. That cold, controlled mask would shatter. The demon buried under all that restraint would rise.

He’d look at her not with longing but with hate.

And me?

I’d be there, arms open, smiling sweetly, like I always was. The only one who truly understood him.

Because Stephen belongs to me.

And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hey lovely readers,

Whew what a chapter, right? Emotions ran wild, secrets deepened, and Julia’s twisted obsession is only just beginning to unfold. This story is taking a darker turn, and I’m loving every second of it. I hope you felt every sting of betrayal, every ounce of heartbreak, and the slow unraveling of the characters' sanity.

Things are about to get even more intense, so buckle up.

As always, thank you for reading, reacting, and sharing your thoughts. Your support keeps this world alive.