Chapter 3

I shake my head No.

Again and again, I just shake my head, wishing this whole thing was just a crazy nightmare. But Alexander just stands there by the door, watching me with this cold, calculated smile.

His dark eyes are literally gleaming with amusement because he loves watching me crumble right in front of him.

He isn't even speaking. He’s just watching. Like a literal predator toying with its prey.

I try to process what I just said, to make sense of the fact that I just admitted my biggest secret to this billionaire monster, but my brain is completely fried.

"A son?" Alexander laughs, low and cold. The sound of his mockery slices straight through me. "You have got to be kidding me, Elena. A secret kid? Who the hell is the father?"

My breath catches.

"It doesn't matter who the father is!" I whisper, my voice shaking so hard.

"He's not in the picture. He never was! But my son... his name is Leo. He needs me, Alexander! He's only four years old. He has nobody but me!"

Alexander just scoffs. He walks away from the door, coming back toward me like a shadow.

"I never said I cared about your kid," his tone is dripping with pure venom. "And I never said you had any right to negotiate with me. You think a secret baggage changes anything?"

"Please don't separate me from my baby," I beg, the tears falling so fast they are blurring my eyes. My throat feels completely closed up, but I force myself to speak.

"It's been so hard already. I’m just a broke mom living on tips. Please... just let me go back to him. I won't tell anyone about the wedding setup. I swear!"

Another cruel laugh erupts from his mouth.

"Why the hell would I do that?" He tilts his head, his expression totally dark and dangerous.

"I, Alexander Vance, am a man of my word. I paid off your father's bills, and I bought your contract. I don't give refunds, and I don't care about your sob stories."

He leans back against his desk, looking completely at ease while I'm a complete mess on his floor.

"You should know by now, Elena, I never lose and I never back down. Ever."

"But I... my son can't survive without me, I thought..."

"Elena, you thought wrong," he continues mockingly. "I didn't expect the replacement bride to come with a whole bastard child.

What happened to the innocent stepdaughter act? The life outside must have been a real walk in the park if you're sleeping around and getting pregnant at nineteen, huh?"

I have nothing to do but cry, letting the tears ruin the front of this stupid white dress.

He stands up and walks right up to me again. Slowly. Purposefully. When he reaches me, he lifts a hand and wipes a fresh tear from my left cheek. I flinch, but I don't move. I'm too scared of what he'll do to my dad or Leo if I pull away.

Then, to my absolute horror, he puts his finger in his mouth and swallows my tears.

"I love the taste of your crying," he murmurs, his voice so calm it makes my skin crawl.

"There's going to be a lot of tears for you in the future."

Panic completely swells inside me. Leo. I have to think of my baby. He needs his mommy. I have to survive this absolute psycho.

"I do not belong to you," I force as much strength into my voice as I can, staring up at him from the floor.

"I am a human being. I’m not some object you can just keep in a cage. So please, just let me go get my son."

Silence. The room is dead quiet.

Then—he laughs. It's deep. Dark. Totally amused. He actually claps his hands together like I just performed a trick. "That was one hell of a performance," he says sarcastically.

"Now. Clean yourself up."

His voice is filled with command, power, and absolute authority.

I freeze. My face is still completely sticky and ruined from what he made me do earlier. Some part of me wants to scream and slap his face, but I’m literally trapped.

"Are you going to let me bring him?" The thought slips from my lips before I can stop it.

"If I stay... if I do what you want... Can I bring Leo here?"

He laughs. Slow. Dark. Twisting his fingers back into the loose strands of my hair, he pulls it lazily, like a cat toying with a trapped mouse.

"Why would I want a toddler running around my penthouse?" His tone is almost amused.

"Think of all the hassle—dealing with toys, babysitters, the press finding out my new wife already has a kid. It'd be such a headache. And you are not worth it."

He leans in close, his breath warm against my neck as he whispers, "I could just lock you in the dark and make sure you never see him again if you keep talking back to me."

A shiver of horror runs through me. My eyes widen with pure fear, and he chuckles. Then, just like that—his expression shifts again. Cold. Detached.

"Get up. Little butterfly."

I hesitate for only a moment before pushing myself off the floor. My knees are literally aching from being on the hard ground. What choice do I have?

He looks down at me, playing with my hair, touching my face, running his fingers along my lips as if he's testing me, toying with me.

My stomach twists with absolute nerves. I don't know what he wants from me next.

Desperate, I finally whisper, "What do you want, Alexander? What will make you let me go back to my son?"

He brushes his fingers across his lips, slow and deliberate. "You have no choice."

His voice is calm, but something is terrifying beneath the surface.

"From now on, you have no say. What I say goes." He tilts his head, watching me cry. "If the media finds out about this kid—if they find out my new wife is a liar with a secret bastard—it makes a mockery of the Vance Empire."

He trails off, studying my terrified expression. Then, his voice drops, mocking. "And for what? What exactly have you been doing all these years, Elena? Who is the guy who knocked you up and left you to live in rags?"

I shake my head, my breath catching in my throat.

I can't tell him.

I won't. If he finds out who Leo's father really is, we are both dead.