Married to My Twin’s Husband

Chapter 7: The Interrogation Room

The click of the heavy oak lock sounded like a gunshot in the silent room.

My breath caught in my chest, completely paralyzing me. I was trapped behind Julian’s massive mahogany desk, my fingers frozen over the open secret compartment containing his private financial ledgers.

There was no back door, no balcony to escape from, and no time to slide the heavy false panel shut without making an incriminating sound.

Julian stepped further into the study. He had discarded his suit jacket, his white linen shirt unbuttoned at the throat and his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the lean, corded muscle of his arms.

He looked every bit the fierce, unyielding king of his empire. But the moment his dark gaze swept the room and locked onto me standing in the shadows of his private desk, his entire posture turned predatory.

"What are you doing in here, Vivian?" Julian’s voice was dangerously quiet, lower than a whisper, yet it vibrated through the very walls of the room.

I forced my trembling hands to drop to my sides, desperately trying to step away from the desk so his view of the open ledger would be blocked by my dress. I lifted my chin, forcing Vivian’s cold, defiant smirk onto my face despite the fact that my knees felt like water.

"I was looking for you, Julian," I lied, my voice wavering slightly before I caught myself. "The house is huge, and the maids said you were working. I didn't think it was a crime to step into my own husband's office."

Julian didn't answer immediately. He walked slow, deliberate steps toward the desk. Each click of his leather shoes against the hardwood floor felt like a countdown to my execution.

He didn't stop until he was standing on the opposite side of the desk, leaning forward slightly, his large hands gripping the edge of the wood. The scent of his cologne woodsmoke and sharp mint flooded my senses, instantly bringing back the intoxicating memory of our explosive kiss on the balcony.

"You're lying," Julian murmured, his pitch black eyes boring so deeply into mine that I felt completely naked under his gaze. "You never look for me.

And you certainly don't look for me in the dark with the lights turned off."

He slid his gaze down to the side of the desk. My heart stopped.

With a slow, fluid movement, Julian reached across the desk and pulled the open drawer completely outward, revealing the secret partition.

He looked down at the shuffled financial tokens and the private offshore bank ledgers I had been frantically digging through just seconds prior.

When he looked back up at me, the dark heat in his eyes had turned into pure, freezing ice.

"Corporate bank routing numbers. Offshore account codes," Julian read aloud, his voice dropping into a deadly, gravelly register. He stood up straight, looming over me like an executioner.

The Vivian I know doesn't even know how to balance her own credit card statement. She hires people to do her math. So tell me... why is my wife suddenly trying to access five million dollars of untraceable company funds in the middle of the night?"

The exact number hit me like a physical blow. Five million. He knew the exact amount I needed, or perhaps he was just guessing based on the specific high value ledgers I had touched.

"I... I needed to buy something," I stammered, completely losing Vivian's arrogant mask. The fear was too real, too suffocating. "An investment. A piece of art. I didn't want to bother you with the details."

"An investment?" Julian let out a low, humorless laugh that sent a sharp chill straight down my spine. Before I could move, he walked around the desk, his massive frame completely trapping me against the high leather chair behind him. He reached out, his hand wrapping firmly around my wrist.

His grip wasn't painful, but it was an iron cuff. There was absolutely no escaping him. "You are a terrible actress, Vivian. Your skin is cold, your pulse is racing against my thumb, and you look at me like you're waiting for me to strike you."

He pulled me closer, forcing me to stand flat against his chest. The proximity was intoxicating and terrifying all at once. I could feel the hard, steady rhythm of his heart against my own frantic ribcage.

"Let go of me, Julian," I whispered, tears of pure frustration and fear finally welling up in my eyes.

Julian’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the tears slipping down my cheeks. His thumb softened against my wrist, his grip loosening just enough to slide his hand up to my jawline.

He tilted my face upward, his gaze scanning my bare, freckled face, searching for the arrogant, malicious woman he thought he had married. But all he found was a trembling, terrified girl.

"Who is blackmailing you?" Julian suddenly asked, his tone shifting from cold fury to a sharp, intense curiosity.

My breath hitched. "W-What?"

"You heard me," Julian murmured, his face hovering just inches from mine.

His breath brushed against my lips, making my head spin. "You're desperate for five million dollars in untraceable cash. You're crying in the dark. Someone is holding something over your head, and you're stupid enough to try and steal from me to pay them off."

He leaned in closer, his lips almost brushing the shell of my ear as he whispered his ultimatum.

"Tell me who it is, Vivian. Tell me the truth right now, and I will destroy them for you. But if you keep lying to me... if you dare to step foot in this study to steal from me again, I will personally hand you over to the police for corporate espionage, and your family's little empire will burn to the ground by tomorrow morning."

He pulled back, his dark eyes demanding my surrender.

I looked at his sharp jaw, his fiercely protective yet dangerous gaze, and the lie choked me.

If I told him the truth that I wasn't Vivian, that I was Elena, and that my twin sister was the one blackmailing us he wouldn't protect me. He would realize our entire marriage was a fraud.

He would put me in prison.

Before I could formulate a reply, the heavy silence of the study was shattered by the sharp, piercing ring of my phone inside my dress pocket.

Julian’s eyes snapped down to my pocket. He didn't wait for my permission. He reached into the silk fabric of my dress, his warm hand brushing against my hip as he pulled the glowing smartphone out.

The screen flashed brightly in the dim light of the study, displaying the exact same blocked number from the night before.

Julian stared at the screen, his jaw clenching into a hard, dangerous line.

He looked back up at me, a dark, knowing smirk slowly spreading across his lips. "Let's see who our little ghost is," he whispered.

Before I could scream, before I could grab the phone from his hands, Julian swiped the screen and pressed the phone to his ear.