Vengeance in His Bed

"I know she is not your fiancée," Shalen repeated, her voice smooth and measured, echoing slightly in the confined space of the vehicle.

Jannah felt her jaw tighten. She turned her head away, staring out the window at the passing concrete of the outer district, her hands clenching into fists against her lap. The woman’s calm tone made her blood boil, but what bothered her even more was the suffocating scent of expensive perfume that now filled the back seat, mixing dangerously with Dorrent’s scent.

Shalen pulled a slim tablet from her briefcase, tapping the glass screen with her manicured fingernails. She shifted slightly on the seat, leaning closer to Dorrent. Her short skirt pulled up even higher on her thighs, but she did not seem to care at all.

"Sir, before we reach the lower sectors, there are three urgent matters from the company that require your approval," Shalen began, her tone shifting seamlessly into that of an executive assistant. "The quarterly yield reports for the sub-city logistics grid have been finalized. The board is pressing for your signature on the expansion budget before the market opens tomorrow."

Dorrent did not look at the tablet. His eyes remained fixed on the side of Jannah’s face, watching the way her hair fell over her shoulder, completely ignoring the proximity of the golden-haired woman sitting next to him. "Approved," Dorrent said flatly. "Tell the board that if any department manager complains about the resource allocation, they can submit their resignation by noon."

"Understood," Shalen replied, typing quickly on the screen. "Second, the legal team representing the Moscow family sent a formal query this morning regarding the joint infrastructure accounts. They are demanding an immediate freeze on all shared sector development projects until the formal separation contract is signed by your father."

"Let them freeze it," Dorrent growled, his voice deep and unbothered. "Tell our legal department to counter by pulling our automated security details from their western trade warehouses. Let us see how long his company lasts without Grefo protection."

Jannah sat in complete silence, listening to them trade multi-billion-credit decisions as if they were discussing the weather. She felt entirely out of place, completely excluded from a world built on power, wealth, and corporate warfare. An uncomfortable tightness settled in her chest. She hated Dorrent, and she hated the fact that she was sitting in the same car while this polished, beautiful woman handled his life so effortlessly.

Dorrent suddenly turned his head away from Shalen. His intense gaze locked onto Jannah’s tense profile. He noticed the way her fingers were digging into her skirt, her body pressed hard against the opposite door just to keep her distance.

"Jannah," Dorrent called out softly.

Jannah did not answer. She kept her eyes glued to the window, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.

"Jannah," he repeated, his voice dropping into a low, commanding rasp. "What position would you like to take in my company?"

Jannah’s head snapped around, her eyes flashing with anger as she glared at him across the seat. "What?" she spat, her voice laced with disgust. "Stop mocking me, Dorrent! What position could I possibly take in your multi-billion-credit company? I don’t have a college degree. I didn’t grow up in your high-district schools. The absolute best I could probably do at Gammar Tech is become a cleaner who wipes your office floors, but I am not interested in your pity or your jobs!"

Dorrent leaned his back against the seat, studying her flushed face with a calm, unreadable expression. "About that..." he murmured smoothly. "Do you have a high school degree?"

"Yes!" Jannah yelled, her chest heaving as her pride flared up. "I graduated from the sector academy with top marks in life sciences! But it looks like my dream of ever stepping foot into a university is completely dead now, thanks to you and your ridiculous forced marriage!"

The bitterness in her voice hung heavy in the air. For years, ever since she was a young girl working alongside her grandfather in the small slum clinic, Jannah had harbored one desperate, hidden dream. She had wanted to go to a university, to study proper medicine, to earn a degree that would allow her to save lives without living in the dark shadows of illegal underground trading. She had been saving every single credit she earned from her herbal remedies and her secret singing performances at the town square. But now, trapped under the Grefo name, branded by an S-tier Alpha, that dream felt entirely impossible.

Dorrent’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He looked at her tight jaw, hearing the genuine frustration behind her words.

"Marriage does not stop a person from continuing their education, Jannah," Dorrent said, his voice carrying a strange, steady weight that caught her off guard. "I can take you to any university of your choice and pay for your tuition. You are still very young. You have not been left behind by your agemates at all."

Jannah froze. The sharp words she had prepared to hurl at his face completely died on her tongue. Her eyes widened slightly as she stared at him, her heart skipping a chaotic beat. A university of my choice? The thought hit her mind like a sudden, blinding light in the dark. Could she really go? Could she actually step out of Dorrent’s suffocating presence, and walk through the gates of a real academic institution away from him?

She looked at Dorrent’s handsome face, trying desperately to find the trap hidden beneath his calm words. "Oh, really?" Jannah scoffed, though her voice lacked its earlier venom, a subtle spark of hope flickering in her eyes despite herself. "A university of my choice? That’s great. Then I want to go to Leewood University in GeeCee country."

Dorrent’s relaxed posture instantly rigidified as his jaw locked tight.

"No way," Dorrent delivered flatly, his voice dropping an octave into a growl. "You cannot live that far away from me."

Jannah let out a harsh, incredulous laugh, her anger flaring back up twice as strong. "Didn’t you just say I could choose any university of my own choice?!" she demanded, leaning forward and pointing a finger at his chest. "How are you already standing against it?! You just said it two seconds ago! You are a hypocrite!"

"You know damn well why," Dorrent growled, his chest expanding as he glared at her stubborn face. "You know I cannot live far from you. Your body belongs near mine, and your frequency is locked to me. I am not sending you across the continent to another country where I cannot see you every single day."

He abruptly turned his head toward Shalen, his voice returning to a sharp, administrative command. "Shalen. Look into the best universities nearby. Find the best ones within driving distance of the estate for Jannah."

Shalen bowed her head slightly, her fingers already flying across the screen of her tablet. "No problem, Sir. I will compile a list of the elite local institutions immediately." She then turned her blue eyes toward Jannah, offering a polite, professional query. "Jannah, what specific course would you like to pursue?"

Jannah felt frustration crash over her. He had offered her a dream, only to instantly put an iron leash on it, forcing her to stay within his immediate reach. Her eyes burned with resentment as she looked between Dorrent’s unyielding face and Shalen’s polished composure.

"Just forget about it!" Jannah spat out bitterly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and leaning back against the door. "If it’s not GeeCee country, then I am not going anywhere! I won’t go to any of your local puppet schools!"