Chapter 8 The Knight Who Came Too Late
761 Words
The resentment that had been building inside me for so long finally boiled over. I whipped my hand around and slapped Clare hard across the face.
The c***k of skin on skin cut through the low music like a gunshot. The whole room went still.
Clare looked stunned for a second, her hand already flying up to hit me back. But then she remembered Eldon was watching and stopped herself.
Instead, she threw herself into his arms, voice trembling with fake tears. "Mr. Haywood, she hit me!"
"I do not need your help taking it off. I will do it myself."
The whip marks on my back still burned, but I reached for the straps of the lingerie anyway, fingers shaking.
"Alisson, stop! Eldon, you heartless bastard!"
The door slammed open from the outside. A tall, broad-shouldered man with sharp, handsome features stood in the doorway, breathing hard.
"Kendrick?"
I was shocked to see him, but the shame that flooded through me was even stronger.
Kendrick Gilbert was the son of the biggest shareholder of this club and an old classmate from college. Back in freshman year, he had chased me relentlessly for three whole years.
When Eldon found out about it, I paid for it with weeks of punishment. In the end, Eldon had a quiet word with Kendrick's father, and the next thing I knew, Kendrick had vanished from campus and been shipped overseas.
He sprinted toward me, but the two bodyguards grabbed him before he could get close.
"You sick bastard! If you do not want her anymore, then let her go! Whatever money you spent on her, I will pay it back!"
Eldon turned his head slowly and looked at me. He ran his fingers from my cheek down to my chin, tilting my face up roughly. "My dear Alisson, are you touched? Someone is here offering to buy your freedom."
The mockery in his eyes sent a chill straight through my bones.
He stood up, pulled his pants back on, and fastened his shirt without any hurry. Then he looked at Kendrick with pure disdain. "You think you can afford what I spent on her?"
"How much was it? A few million? Tens of millions? Name the price and let her go! I will pay it!" Kendrick's eyes burned with rage as he fought against the guards holding him.
His words made Eldon laugh, low and cold. He looked Kendrick up and down, and the smile slowly froze on his face. His voice dropped into something dangerous. "Ah, I remember you now. The lovesick fool who would not stop chasing her. Kendrick Gilbert, right? It has been a while. Hope you have been well."
Kendrick's face flushed with fury. "If you had not threatened my father, telling him that if I ever showed up near Alisson again, you would make sure I disappeared from this world, do you think he would have sent me abroad? Eldon, you are engaged now. You have your own life and your own family. You can let her go. What you are doing is unfair to both women!"
Compared to Eldon, Kendrick still looked so young and naive. His words sounded like a child playing pretend. They carried no real weight.
"Mr. Gilbert, Alisson belongs to me. Whether I release her or not is my decision. Out of respect for your father, I will let this slide today. Now get out."
The first part sounded almost polite, but those last three words dripped with lethal warning.
I forced myself up on trembling legs, grabbed the coat from the floor, and pulled it around my body. "Kendrick, please just leave. I can handle this myself."
"No! I am taking you with me!"
The second the words left his mouth, the air in the room turned thick and suffocating.
"Mr. Gilbert, if you insist on staying, I will not force you to go. Instead, let me treat you to a little show."
Eldon yanked me up and locked me tight against his chest. His mouth brushed my ear, voice low and magnetic. "Baby, make sure you put on a good performance. I want Mr. Gilbert to enjoy every second of it."
Then his eyes turned to ice. "You two, come here."
His bodyguards stepped forward at once.
My heart lurched with terror. I stared at Eldon, who had already pulled Clare back into his lap on the sofa.
"Eldon, what do you want them to do to me?" I asked, voice shaking with fear.
"Alisson, you are smart enough to figure it out."
- Writer
