Chapter 400/Fine... Sir
Chapter 400
Robert’s point of view
With exhausted steps, I walked over to the drinks cabinet in the corner of the office. My hand shook so violently I nearly shattered the crystal whiskey decanter as I poured myself a heavy glass. I downed the amber liquid in one aggressive gulp, not even flinching. The burning sensation tore down my throat and into my chest, but it was nothing compared to the absolute fire that had been ravaging my insides since yesterday.
From the very second her pathetic excuse of a father had shown up with his pale, trembling face to tell me he had located her, I had turned into a literal madman, driving my cars at breakneck speeds just to claw her back. But the worst part of it all... was that godforsaken moment I had stormed into that bedroom and saw her on the bed next to that boy. In that fraction of a second, it felt as though the soul was being ripped right out of my chest with unbearable agony. I had to force myself to wear a dead, murderous mask as I aimed my gun at his skull, purely to hide my desperation to tear him limb from limb.
And then, when she screamed when her father choked out that he was her brother, Steve a sudden, overwhelming wave of relief had washed over me. A relief that should never have found its way into my chest. I hated her. I wanted to break her, to punish her for shattering my pride and running away from me. So how the hell was she still shaking me to my very core like this?
A sharp, consecutive knock on the wooden door shattered my chaotic thoughts.
I drew myself up, instantly freezing my features into an impenetrable, stone-cold mask. I barked in a dry, commanding tone:
"Come in."
The door swung open, and Julie stepped into the room with steady, defiant strides. This time, she was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans paired with a thick, high-collared blue wool sweater that covered every single inch of her neck. I stared at her, a dark resentment curling in my gut alongside a fierce, desperate urge to tame her blatant rebellion once and for all.
"Come closer," I commanded, my voice gravelly and absolute.
She took a few steps forward, stopping just before the edge of my mahogany desk. Her green eyes flashed with raw, unyielding defiance as she spoke in a breathless, daring tone:
"Look, Robert, I am not putting up with your sick little game for another—"
I didn’t let her finish. I brought my palm down onto the surface of the desk with a deafening crack that echoed like a gunshot through the room. Locking my dark, burning gaze onto hers with lethal intensity, I cut her off with a low, menacing roar:
"You will never call me Robert again. Do you understand me?! From this moment on, you will address me as ’Sir’... and only ’Sir.’ Is that clear, Julie?"
Julie’s green eyes widened in absolute shock and bewilderment for a few long seconds before her lips twisted into her signature cutting, mocking sneer. The words tore from her throat in a sharp, defiant burst, her posture instantly straightening with unyielding pride:
"’Sir’?! Have you completely lost your godforsaken mind, Robert?! I will absolutely never call you by that wretched title, not even if the heavens collapse onto the earth!"
I stepped out from behind the heavy mahogany desk, my strides slow, heavy, and deliberate. The sheer weight of my imposing frame closed in on her like a silent threat until I loomed over her completely. I leaned my torso down slightly toward her face, my hands remaining securely tucked into my pockets, and locked my burning, ruthless pupils into hers. Her frantic, erratic breath fanned against my jaw as I rasped in a low, terrifying hiss:
"You will do it... and you will do it regardless of your pathetic pride, Julie. Your precious brother Steve’s very life hangs entirely on the word that leaves your lips right now. Go on " I tilted my chin down an inch, narrowing my eyes. " show me your wretched stubbornness, for heaven’s sake, so I can see exactly how much his body can endure in return!"
Her features shuddered violently, the sharp color instantly draining from her cheeks. I caught the unmistakable flash of raw defeat and terror welling deep within her green eyes. She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned stark white with burning venom. She looked as though she were swallowing lethal poison, her jaw moving with painful slowness as she forced herself to look away from me. Finally, she spoke in a hoarse, breathless voice entirely drained of energy:
"Fine... Sir."
A dark, mocking half-smile played on my lips, savoring a temporary victory over her wounded pride. I took two steps back, uncrossing my arms as I seated myself with rigid grandeur into my brown leather chair. Interlocking my fingers slowly over my lap, I fixed her with a freezing, detached stare, my commanding tone slicing through the room:
"Excellent. Now, you will begin executing your duties without a single complaint. Take those papers scattered on the side table, sort them, and arrange them with absolute precision right now."
Julie turned sharply, her shoulders rigid as she moved toward the side table. Her steps were heavy and sluggish, as if she were dragging massive iron chains behind her. Bending her torso forward, her hands trembled with pure rage as her fingers aggressively snatched up the scattered files. In the dead silence of the office, her suppressed, ragged breaths reached my ears with crystal clarity.
I picked up a heavy crystal glass from the desk, swirling the dark amber whiskey inside, while my eyes tracked her every single movement. I watched the careless way she reached up and pinned her loose stray hair back to clear it from her face, and the venom that flashed from her green eyes every time she cast a stinging glance toward my desk.
I watched the slow fracturing of her rebellion with a dark, intoxicating rush of malice blended with bitter resentment. She had honestly believed she could leave my world with such effortless simplicity; she truly thought she could get away with what she did, damn it.
She marched back and slammed the first bundle of documents onto the edge of my desk with deliberate, aggressive force, creating a sharp crack. Keeping her eyes tightly averted from mine, her fingers digging into the wood, she rasped:
"I am finished sorting the first batch... Sir."
She spat the wretched title as if it were venom. I didn’t answer immediately; instead, I set my glass down with a slow, deliberate click that made her instantly stiffen. A cold smirk etched across my face. I picked up the documents with agonizing slowness, scanning them with flat indifference before tossing them carelessly back onto the table, letting a few sheets slide onto the floor. I growled in a rough, dry tone:
"Your arrangement is utterly pathetic, for heaven’s sake. Do you not even know how to organize dates chronologically? Resort them from the very beginning, Julie. Right now."
Her entire body locked up as if she had been struck. Her head snapped up instantly, her eyes blazing with fierce, unadulterated hatred as she took a sharp step forward, her voice choked with bitter oppression:
"I already arranged them exactly the way you asked! You are purposely doing this just to humiliate me, damn it, inventing pathetic excuses just to enjoy torturing me!"
I rose from my chair with terrifying slowness, my massive frame instantly dominating the space behind the desk. I walked around it until I stood mere inches from her trembling frame. I leaned down, grinding my teeth with raw, breathless violence as I dropped my voice to a low register that shook her very core:
"I am inventing nothing. You are here strictly to obey without a single discussion. And you know perfectly well what the consequences of defying my orders will look like, don’t you?"
Julie stared up at me, her chest heaving heavily as her green eyes overflowed with pure, venomous hatred. She didn’t utter another word. She aggressively snatched the papers back off the desk, turned on her heel, and marched back to her spot, dropping heavily onto the chair to organize them all over again.
The next hour dragged by like an eternity in hell. The only sounds fracturing the tense quiet were the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock and the rustling of paper that rose and fell with every muffled, heavy sigh escaping her chest.
I observed her from behind my desk, leaning back against the leather headrest. I raised my glass, sipping my whiskey with agonizing slowness, my eyes fixed on the stray locks of hair falling out of place as she strained with exhausting effort to focus on the endless numbers and dates filling the pages. Her hand shook visibly from the sheer weight of her pent-up fury. I slowly swirled the liquid in my glass, enjoying the dark, sadistic gratification deep in my gut. She was entirely in my hands now, compliant, even if it meant watching her precious pride slowly erode right in front of me.
Finally, her movements ceased. She stood up slowly, her spine stiffening as she took a long, steadying breath. Her fingertips were flushed red from the repetitive pressure, and her eyes were bloodshot with suppressed tears of rage she didn’t dare let fall. She walked toward my desk with leaden steps, looking as if she carried the weight of the entire world on her shoulders, then abruptly placed the flawlessly organized file directly before my hands.
I extended my arm with calculated slowness, my fingers deliberately brushing against hers for a fraction of a second as I took the documents. I raised the file, holding her frantic gaze as I brought it over the center of the empty floor. Then, with a thoroughly deliberate, precise flick of my wrist, I opened my fingers.
The papers cascaded through the air like dead autumn leaves, scattering into every single corner of the room, instantly destroying the chronological order she had spent a grueling hour rectifying with absolute dread. I looked down at the absolute chaos blanketing the floorboards, then slowly raised my eyes back to meet hers. Her green pupils dilated in pure, unadulterated shock and an indescribable brokenness.
Leaning back into my leather chair with an infuriatingly calm composure, I picked up my whiskey glass once more and murmured coolly:
"Oh!!... they slipped right out of my hand."