Chapter 4

That thirty-million-dollar threat became a curse, initiating a new round of torment.

Twenty days until the wedding.

Because the Apex Estate was heavily guarded, the stalker seemed to have vanished. My frayed nerves finally relaxed a little, and I asked Julian if I could see the venue for our rehearsal dinner.

Julian gladly agreed.

He had rented a massive luxury yacht for the event.

By evening, the wind over the water was strong. Julian had to take an urgent international video call, so he left the bodyguards outside while I rested alone in the VIP lounge on the second deck.

The room was quiet, filled only with the sound of waves hitting the hull.

Suddenly, with a sharp click, all the lights went out.

The entire second deck plunged into pitch-black darkness.

My heart gasped. I stood up to feel my way to the door, but in the dark, I heard incredibly soft footsteps.

"Who's there?!" my voice shook.

The guards outside didn't answer.

The footsteps stopped less than two feet away from me. A faint scent of expensive cologne drifted past.

Then, a deep, digitally altered voice whispered right into my ear, so close I could feel his breath:

"Fifty million, plus three villas in Tuscany. Chloe, this is your last chance."

He called me Chloe.

Only my parents and Julian called me Chloe!

"Who are you?! Get away from me!" I screamed, grabbing a glass from the table and hurling it toward the voice.

The sound of shattering glass pierced the dark. I ran blindly toward the door, but my foot came down hard on the shards. A sharp, agonizing pain shot through me, and I collapsed, hearing a sickening crack from my right ankle.

"Ah!"

I curled into a ball on the floor, crying out in pure despair. "Julian! Help me! Julian!"

Suddenly, the door was kicked open with a loud bang.

Light flooded the room. Julian rushed in, looking like a savior emerging from the light. A crowd of panicked guards and staff followed behind him.

"Chloe!"

He rushed over and scooped me up. Seeing my bloody foot and swollen ankle, his eyes turned red with fury. He roared at his men, "Are you all useless?! What do I pay you for?! Search the yacht! Turn this ship upside down!"

I clutched his tie, trembling in his arms. "He was just here... he called me Chloe... Julian, I'm so scared, I'm so scared..."

"You're safe, I've got you," Julian whispered, kissing my forehead repeatedly. "No one can take you away. You are mine."

He held me tightly all the way to the hospital.

As the doctor cleaned the glass shards and put my ankle in a cast, I was sweating from the pain. Julian put his hand over my mouth. "Bite me. Don't hurt yourself."

Looking at the blood on his cuffs, my tears fell. I bit down hard on his hand. He didn't even flinch, using his other hand to wipe my tears.

In that moment, I truly believed he was the man who loved me more than life itself.

But then.

After the doctor left and Julian went to the bathroom to wash the blood off his hands, his jacket slipped from the bedside chair. The old flip phone—the one that was supposed to be with a "hacking team"—slid out of his pocket.

The screen lit up with a new notification.

As if possessed, I reached out and tapped the screen. There was no passcode.

The message was brief:

"Mr. Vance, we've done several rounds of threats now. Should we continue?"

My blood turned to ice.

Those words felt like a scalpel, slicing right through all my terror, my gratitude, my breakdowns, and my tears.

I stared at the screen, a loud, high-pitched ringing filling my ears.

The sound of running water in the bathroom stopped.

I quickly slipped the phone back into his jacket pocket, lay back on the bed, closed my eyes, and forced my breathing to slow down.

Julian walked out, his steps light.

He came to the bedside, tucked the blanket around me, and then pulled out his phone to check it. I could feel his gaze on my face, lingering for so long that it took everything in me not to open my eyes.

Finally, he turned and stepped out of the room to make a call.

The door wasn't fully closed. His whispered voice drifted in from the hallway:

"The test is over. I'll wire the remaining balance to your account. Tell Victoria to cancel the next phases. She's on the verge of a breakdown."

"...Yes, the results are perfect. She doesn't trust anyone but me now."

I opened my eyes in the dark.

Tears ran down silently, cold and biting.

There was no crazy stalker.

It was just the man I was about to marry, hiring people to put me through a sick "loyalty and dependency test."

Every desperate cry for help, every tear I cried in his arms, and every ounce of panic I felt had been nothing but data points on his perfect progress report.