A faint, elusive fragrance drifted in the air.
That scent… He narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling how a peculiar aroma had robbed him of con- sciousness in the cabin last night.
His gaze swept the room before landing on Lisa, clad in pajamas and eyeing him warily.
“Not offering me coffee?”
His voice carried the rasp of recent sleep and an undeniable edge of command.
Lisa crossed her arms, expression frosty. “None!”
Watching her stubborn defiance, the irritation in Alexander’s chest gave way to a strange fascination.
He advanced step by step, his towering frame radiating intense pressure.
“Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”
Lisa retreated until her back hit the cold wall.
“Explanation for what?”
“For instance, what did you use to knock me out last night?”
He closed in, his piercing gaze seeming to strip her bare.
She turned her face away, tone glacial. “I’ve no idea what you mean.”
“Lisa.”
Alexander murmured her name, lifting her chin with a finger, forcing her eyes to meet his.
“I find you utterly inscrutable. You’ve surprised me at every turn.
Care to enlighten me?”
Defiance flashed in Lisa’s eyes as she held his stare unflinchingly.
“Mr. Ford, three years have passed. Whether you see through me or not–it’s over. Isn’t it?”
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Her attitude could freeze blood.
“If you wish to stay by my side, I might extend the arrangement.”
The words escaped Alexander before he could think, startling even himself.
Lisa laughed suddenly, a challenge in her eyes. “Mr. Ford, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for me?”
In one swift motion, his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her close.
His gaze dropped to the faint red mark on her pale neck-
A trace of his loss of control last night.
Alexander’s eyes darkened instantly, primal hunger swirling within. He bent to her ear: “Beg me!
Let me keep you for three more years!”
Beg him!
Lisa shoved him away violently, as if touched by something vile, revulsion blazing in her eyes.
“It’s late, Mr. Ford. I need sleep. Leave.”
Her dismissal was blisteringly clear.
Alexander stumbled back, fury rising. “Lisa, who are you?
What did you want by coming to me?”
Had he asked this earlier, she might have answered.
Now? She wouldn’t.
Her lips curled in a mocking smile. “Perhaps… exactly the kind you despise most.”
“Mr. Ford, I’ve no idea what madness brought you here tonight. Just sign the divorce papers,
and we go our separate ways!”
She paused, deliberately raking him with her eyes, voice barbed. “What’s the point of demanding who I
am now?”
His eyes darkened as he approached, warm breath fanning her face.
“Don’t you feel any attachment at all?”
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His restless fingers hooked a stray lock of her hair, demanding an answer.
Lisa’s gaze turned ice–cold, sharp as shattered glass.
“Alexander, the game’s over.”
Over!
Is!
The!
Game!
Each word hammered his chest like a sledgehammer, stealing his breath. How dare she treat their mar- riage like plaything?
Staring at her impassive face, he fought the urge to strangle her–to demand why she discarded him so easily. Yet stronger still surged the need to crush her in his embrace, to make her beg beneath him until tears soaked his shirt.
These warring impulses left him unmoored. Clinging to fractured pride, he ground out: “Even divorced, you’ll never marry Aaron. No one touches what’s mine.”
In his mind, her defiance could only stem from Aaron. Who else would abandon being wife of the wealthiest man?
Lisa: “.
11
Had he lost his mind? Dictating her post–divorce life?
Since when did he turn so obsessive?
Shouldn’t that be reserved for Vivian?
Calmly she countered, “Rest easy, Mr. Ford. I’ll die alone. Satisfied?”
Alexander: ”
No!
“1
When did his docile wife grow this razor–tongued?
Where did this confidence–no, she’d always had it.
Her piano mastery, multilingual fluency, that “Nine–Ball Queen” title…
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She radiated like lodestone to his iron core.
This damned possessiveness took root.
He’d never surrender her.
Frustration prickled his skin–this woman was a migraine incarnate.
Suddenly, an alarm blared from the next room, bathing walls in eerie crimson.
What?
Lisa lunged toward the monitor, eyes locking on flashing alerts:
[WARNING!
Multiple unknown IPs detected!]
[Firewall Layer 1 breached!]
[Data leakage in progress…]
Blood–red warnings pulsated like a fibrillating heart. Her data packets were under siege.
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Fingers flew across the keyboard before thought formed. Code cascaded as she fortified firewalls, patched vulnerabilities.
But the assault multiplied–three new attack vectors bloomed for every sealed breach. IP addresses flooded the screen like locusts.
“Damn it!” Sweat beaded her forehead as keystrokes became blurs.
Whoever hacked her database now proved the aristocratic family grew desperate.
Alexander watched data streams flash across her monitor.
She kept fortifying the firewall, rapidly typing the encryption key 02090630 along with other charac-
ters.
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