Obsession

Morbid Obsession

"I wanted power, you wanted a muse. We both got exactly what we came for..."

Sienna froze. The color drained from her face as the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.

Memories she’d glossed over earlier flashed through her mind with terrifying clarity: Jaxson appearing at the cemetery was strange enough, but there were very few people in the world powerful enough to treat Jaxson Miller like a personal chauffeur. Sienna looked at Sebastian, a cold dread expanding in her chest. She instinctively leaned back, trying to put distance between them.

In the next heartbeat, he yanked her back by the throat with a single hand.

"Why the sudden retreat?" Sebastian’s voice was low, raspy, and dangerously dark. "If we're just keeping up appearances, shouldn't you show me what you're actually capable of?"

His gaze was void of warmth.

Sienna had always been wary of him—from the very first moment they met—but she was rarely one to play the submissive role.

Today, however, she didn't get angry. She didn't even try to explain herself. She bit her lip, her slender fingers trailing down the front of his shirt until they reached his belt buckle. With her long lashes lowered and her expression soft, she looked entirely compliant.

She was being disturbingly "good."

The silence stretched for thirty seconds, the tension pulling the moment into something agonizingly long and fragile.

Click.

The buckle gave way. The fragile silence shattered along with it.

"You really do know how to follow orders," Sebastian sneered, a cold laugh vibrating in his throat as he gripped her long hair.

He was never a man of moderation; he didn't understand the concept of gentleness. But the moment he met those haunting eyes of hers, his grip softened despite himself. He shifted his hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her away.

"Isn't this what you like?" Sienna asked, looking up at him with a defiant tilt of her head.

The room fell into a heavy, absolute silence.

The atmosphere was frigid. Sebastian’s expression was terrifyingly dark, yet she dared to keep pushing.

"Isn't this all you ever wanted?" Sienna let out a soft, mocking laugh. Her eyes, naturally upturned at the corners, glimmered with a seductive, sharp light. "From the very first night, it was a deal. I wanted power, you wanted a muse. We both got exactly what we came for."

Her red lips brushed against the tension of his desire. "I thought it was the kind of understanding we didn't need to put into words."

She needed his influence for her revenge; he had seen her and wanted a beautiful addition to his collection.

Sebastian’s lips curled into a jagged line. "Exactly what we came for?" he ground out, each word dripping with a lethal, suppressed rage. "Maybe I should give you exactly what you deserve."

Outside the glass, the evening stars were bright. No mist, no rain—a rare, crystal-clear night of deep indigo.

The lights of Victoria Harbour sprawled at the foot of the mountain, a flowing river of neon and traffic bleeding into the sea.

Despite her biting words, her movements were stiff.

Caught in a deadlock where neither could back down, Sebastian was suffering as much as she was. He had zero patience left. He clamped his hand around the back of her head, forcing her face toward his. "Why stop now?"

She had a way of pulling a man in with a single look, but she never seemed to go all the way with him.

And it drove him to the brink of losing control.

Sebastian’s eyes were filled with a detached, icy coldness. He pressed down on her neck, his posture rakish, wicked, and entirely hedonistic. "It’s not like you haven't done this before."

Sienna’s lashes fluttered. She said nothing, her only instinct to push him away.

Before she could process the chaos of the moment, Sebastian scooped her up by the back and tossed her onto the bed. He loomed over her, pinning her legs down, his shadow swallowing her whole.

The night was heavy; the mountains and sea merged into one.

The villa at Repulse Bay was ablaze with light, the crystal chandeliers glowing with a blinding brilliance. Sebastian pressed into her, his breath hot against her ear as he traced the line of her throat down to her tattoo. The light was completely cut off.

He could feel her heart racing against his chest, a frantic rhythm of pure nerves.

Sienna shivered, a cold chill racing through her. She knew exactly what was coming, but pinned beneath him, she was helpless. She let out a sharp "Ow!"

Sebastian pinched her cheek, his tone mocking. "I haven't even touched you yet. What's the 'ow' for?"

"You twisted my ankle," Sienna snapped back, her voice rising in defiance.

Sebastian felt the anger simmering in his gut, but seeing her clearly reluctant yet too proud to beg off, he felt a sudden, dark amusement. It killed the rage before it could boil over.

"You were wearing four-inch heels this afternoon," he noted, his hand trailing over her skin. "Stop acting."

"That was because of you!" Sienna’s voice grew frantic. "You're the one who shoved me! I was almost healed, but then..."

Sebastian propped himself up on his elbows, staring down at her in silence.

Sienna continued to list his crimes with breathless intensity.

Finally, his last shred of patience snapped. Without warning, Sebastian leaned down and bit her lip, his kiss violent and consuming. He took her breath away, locking his hands around her knees and continuing on his own terms.

He was a force of nature—he gave no choices, took no refusals. He was absolute.

Sienna’s lips curled into a faint, pained smile. Her breathing was ragged, her features flushed with an indescribable, haunting beauty. "Taking what you want by force... how very ungentlemanly of you."

"Gentlemanly?" Sebastian let out a low, dark snort. Seeing her go from submissive to biting in a heartbeat made his blood boil. He looked rakish, wild, and entirely untamed. "You weren't worried about my manners when you were begging for my help."

Sienna felt a spark of fury, but any movement was crushed by his weight. She had no choice but to endure him.

The incense in the room slowly burned to ash.

The night was a fever dream of passion and power, the bed a silent battlefield. The air was thick with the scent of spent desire—a mix of pleasure, obsession, and a lethal, close-quarters combat of the soul.

"Don't ever mistake my patience for a weakness, Sienna," Sebastian whispered, brushing a damp lock of hair from her temple. His voice was cold, devoid of warmth or emotion. "I hate it when people test my limits."

Sienna closed her eyes and gave no answer.

Only when the space beside her went cold and the sound of his voice faded did she open her eyes. She stared up at the blinding brilliance of the chandelier, her expression hollow.

It was almost funny, really. She felt... sick.

There was no use making excuses. When she met him in the South, she was drowning and she grabbed onto the only hand reaching out. She had used him. A calculated beginning, a dishonest continuation—she deserved whatever this was.

But she couldn't stand the way he looked at her. It felt like a blade through her heart, a dull, aching throb. She didn't know what she wanted anymore. She had destroyed the Hensleys; her revenge was complete. She had no more reason to stay by his side.

I told myself it was just for the plan. But now?

Is it because I actually love him?

Sienna slowly raised her hand, tracing her numb cheek and wiping a smear of red from the corner of her mouth.

The next day, the plane touched down at Pudong International Airport.

Back in Shanghai, an email from her professor in the States arrived. She had to design a financial model for a project on international capital flows and hedge funds. Sienna hadn't taken the summer courses, but she still had to complete the assignment. She spent the next four or five days buried in work, barely leaving her apartment.

Chloe came over once and got a headache just looking at her screen.

"I’m not trying to be a pest, but what is wrong with you? You’re already a genius at art and restoration—why are you killing yourself over a Business degree?" Chloe sighed. "I’ve never met someone who avoids enjoying life this much."

It was a question many people had asked.

Before meeting Sebastian, Sienna’s grades were good, but her life was dedicated to opera and dance. Her voice was like crystal—clear and sweet—and her movements had a natural, ethereal grace. At fifteen, her "Flying Swallow" dance had stunned the industry.

To everyone else, she was a star in her own world. There was no need to waste energy on anything else.

"I’m just doing it for fun," Sienna replied, her eyes never leaving the monitor.

"You're practically a polymath at this point. That's not 'fun,'" Chloe muttered. "Something must have really set you off when you picked this major."

Sienna’s fingers paused. She drifted back into the past—

After she started living with Sebastian, he taught her everything. She grew accustomed to liking the things he liked, venturing into the worlds he occupied. She tried rock climbing, racing, MMA, painting... she tried to become his perfect reflection.

Moving from fund management to stocks, futures, and finally picking her major... it felt like a natural progression.

Slowly, she had wanted to close the distance between them.

Sebastian might have been a monster, but he possessed a brilliant, terrifying competence that left others in the dust. Long ago, she had looked up to him. There had been a spark of genuine admiration, a hidden piece of her heart that belonged to him—

A piece of her heart that had nothing to do with revenge.

The accident four years ago had taken everything. The Hensley CEO had been driving drunk, the cameras were "broken," and there were no witnesses. He’d paid his secretary to take the fall and settled the matter with a check.

Two lives were worth exactly fifty thousand dollars.

She had no family left. After the crash, she couldn't sleep. She had PTSD; she’d once knelt in the rain at the cemetery until she lost consciousness. Her life was a loop of nightmares and cold sweats. Only the sharp sting of pain made her feel real.

So, after three years with Sebastian, it was impossible not to depend on him.

When you're in the dark, you cling to the first sliver of light you see.

Maybe a hopeless love isn't as good as being completely sober, but a person needs something to live for.

She had used her beauty as bait to catch him for her revenge. She had spent two years dismantling the family that killed her parents. But what now? Aside from the hate, she needed a feeling, a goal, to keep her grounded in reality. Even if it was a delusion, even if it ended in heartbreak, it was better than being empty.

She didn't want to be a songbird in a gilded cage. She wanted to be his equal, in his own world.

That was why she had picked his major two years ago. A naive, childish dream.

But choosing a university abroad meant a long-distance relationship. Sienna guessed Sebastian wouldn't approve, so she had hidden the application process from him until she was practically out the door.

Two years ago, he had cornered her at the airport.

"You think you can just fly away, Sienna?" Sebastian had sneered, catching her by the neck and lifting her toward him, his entire aura radiating fury. "You want to leave me that badly?"

Sienna had swatted at his hand, struggling. "I'm with you every single day! Don't you get bored of me?"

"No." Sebastian pulled her closer, his dark eyes locking onto hers with a piercing intensity. "Cut the crap. If I’m bored of someone, they don't get to 'make space.' I'm the one who decides when it's over."

"But you're always busy! I can't exactly follow you into boardrooms," Sienna countered.

"Who says you can't?" Sebastian arched an eyebrow, a sudden flash of rakish charm in his eyes. "Aren't we together every night?"

Sienna had choked on her words, her ears turning pink with a mix of embarrassment and rage. "Sebastian! You’re sick!"

"Am I?" Sebastian had pinched her cheek, his smile devoid of its usual darkness. "Going all this way, making all this effort... you could have just asked me. If you ask, is there anything I wouldn't give you?"

She couldn't tell if he was being cruel or simply didn't care, but his smile in that moment was breathtaking.

"I don't need your charity," she’d snapped.

Ah, to be young and reckless.

Sebastian had always been a man of iron pride—bold, brilliant, and vivid. Like a spring stream cutting through the ice, his dark, brooding nature was masked by a clean, sharp charisma. He was devastatingly easy to love.

Back then, she had hidden her feelings from him, letting her secret heart be carried away by the hot summer wind at the airport.

And just like that, they had been together for three years.

Sienna’s lashes lowered, hiding her thoughts. She didn't look up from her laptop, her voice steady. "Stop bothering me, Chloe. I have to finish this audit today." She reached out and playfully pinched Chloe’s cheek. "I’ll hang out with you this weekend. Be a good girl and go play."

"..."

Chloe touched her face, feeling strangely teased. "You really do act like a total heartbreaker sometimes."

Sienna laughed.

Maybe in these three years, everything had changed.

But it was too late to turn back. When they were intimate, she loved it when he kissed her ear. When they walked, she instinctively hooked her pinky around his. In the study, she used his personal seal on her calligraphy. She had seen him move mountains with a word and held him in his moments of rare tenderness.

Once you’ve seen a man like that, there is no escaping him.

The sun was high and the day was clear.

After Chloe left, Sienna drifted off to sleep in the garden pavilion of the Emerald Estate villa.

In her haze, a shadow fell over her.

Sienna felt someone take her hand, their fingers interlacing with hers. They gave her hand a firm, mysterious squeeze. By the time she blinked her eyes open, the hand was gone.

A sharp, cold fragrance hit her. Sienna didn't even need to look to know who was standing there.

What kind of devilry is he up to now?

Dappled sunlight filtered through the flowers, casting shifting patterns across the walkway. Sebastian was inches away. He caught her hand again, fiddling with something on her finger. His crisp shirt brushed against her cheek—soft, light, and maddeningly itchy.

Sienna’s breathing hitched.

Sebastian looked down at her, his voice low and calm, though the tone was dark.

"Not sleeping?"

It was a question, but he said it as a statement of fact.

Sienna’s lashes twitched. Her palms grew damp, her heart racing.

For some reason, he made her nervous today.

Not wanting to face him, Sienna kept her eyes shut, determined to play dead.

Then, a sharp pinch.

Sebastian squeezed her chest, his voice cold and heavy.

"Still acting?"