Chapter 5 - Mistress
1051 Words
Krystal's POV
I stood there, pinned between Alex and his desk. My heart was beating so hard I thought he could feel it through my clothes. He didn't move away. Instead, he stayed close, his eyes looking at me like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
"You say the old Krystal is dead," he whispered. His voice was deep and it made my skin tingle. "But I don't believe you. I think she’s just hiding because she knows she got caught."
"I didn't get caught doing anything, Alex," I said, trying to push past him.
He didn't let me move. He reached out and put his hands on my waist. I gasped. His hands were warm, and they felt so familiar that it hurt. He squeezed my sides gently, and his face changed. A small, mean smile touched his lips.
"You feel different," he said. He moved his hands a little, feeling the curve of my hips. "Three years ago, you were much slimmer. Almost skin and bones. Now... you’ve filled out. You added weight in all the right places."
I felt my face turn bright red. My body had changed because I had Lysander. My hips were wider, and my curves were softer than they used to be. It was the mark of being a mother, but he didn't know that. To him, it was just a physical change.
"Stop it," I whispered, feeling embarrassed. I tried to pull his hands off me. "Don't touch me like that."
"Why not? Isn't this what you want? A rich man’s hands on you?" He leaned in so his nose was brushing against mine. "I know you need money, Krystal. I saw your bank account. I know how desperate you are."
"I'm working for my money," I said.
"You could be making a lot more," Alex said. His voice was like silk. "My father gave you a choice back then, and you chose the money. So, I’m giving you a choice now. Be my mistress. Work for me in the day, and stay with me at night. I’ll pay you ten times what this job pays. You won’t ever have to worry about bills again."
I stared at him. He was offering to buy me. He really thought that little of me.
"You want me to be your secret?" I asked. "While you go out with women like Bianca?"
"Bianca is for the public," Alex said. He moved one hand up to my neck. "You are for me. What do you say, Krystal? You already sold your soul once. Why not do it again?"
I couldn't stay in that room for another second. The air felt too thick. I used all my strength to shove his chest. He wasn't expecting it, so he stepped back.
"I have to go," I said, my voice breaking.
"Krystal, I’m not done talking to you!" he called out.
I didn't listen. I turned around and ran out of his office. I scrambled to my desk, grabbed my coat, and bolted for the elevator. My vision was blurry with tears. I felt so humiliated. He thought he could just put a price tag on me because I was poor.
I didn't realize that in my rush, I had left my phone sitting right on the edge of my desk.
Author POV
Inside the office, Alex stood by his desk, breathing hard. He was angry at himself for letting her get to him, and he was angry at her for running away. He walked out to the assistant’s area, intending to call her back, but the desk was empty.
Then, he saw it. Her cracked phone.
He picked it up, intending to keep it so she would have to come back to get it. But as he held it, the screen lit up. A notification appeared.
It was a text message. There was no name, just a phone number he didn't recognize.
The message read: “I’m waiting by the window. I miss you so much. Please come home soon.”
Alex felt like someone had punched him in the gut. His face went pale, and then it turned a deep, dark red.
"I miss you?" he whispered to the empty hallway.
His mind started racing. He thought about how Krystal was always checking the clock. He thought about how she refused to stay late unless he forced her. He thought about the "responsibilities" she mentioned.
He didn't think about a child. He thought about another man.
He thought about Krystal leaving his office, leaving his touch, and rushing home to lie in bed with someone else. Someone who was waiting by a window for her. Someone who owned the heart that used to belong to him.
"So that’s why you’re so different," Alex growled. He gripped the phone so hard the screen cracked a little more. "You didn't just take the money and run. You found someone else."
Jealousy, hot and ugly, burned through him. He had spent three years hating her, but he had also spent three years secretly hoping she was alone and miserable, just like he was. The idea of her belonging to another man made him want to break something.
He sat down at her desk, staring at the phone. He wasn't going to give it back. Not yet. He was going to wait. He was going to find out exactly who was sending her "I miss you" texts at night.
He didn't care about the rules anymore. He didn't care about being professional. He was going to find out where she went every night, and he was going to destroy whatever life she had built without him.
"You think you’re going home to him, Krystal?" he said to the quiet office. "Think again."
He tucked her phone into his pocket and walked back into his office. He didn't turn on the lights. He just sat in the dark, waiting for the morning, his mind filled with images of Krystal and a stranger. He was going to make her pay, and this time, he wasn't going to let her run.
- Writer
