Chapter 9 One Steamy Night... Again.

Just when Michelle thought that her day would be getting better, hell opened up to deliver the devil that had ruined her sanity.

Ashley clearly knew a lot of things about Ethan, and the way she talked gave Michelle a hunch that the woman also knew about his unusual hobby. What's worse was that she told her that Ethan married her so he could use her as his subject, his slave.

Her stomach twitched at the thought that Ethan would use her sexually. She kept biting her lips until she tasted the metallic blood on them.

She was inside the bedroom when the door swung open. Ethan entered inside and their gazes immediately locked.

He stared down at her blankly, and it frustrated Michelle that she couldn't see any emotion in his marble gray eyes. It was as if he mastered the art of coldness so well that no one was allowed to see a single weakness, even in his eyes.

"I need to talk to you," she uttered firmly while sitting down on the bed.

"Sure, let's talk with some wine." Ethan walked to the table across from the bed, where there was a small cellar of wine.

"I'm not going to drink while I talk to you." Michelle recalled that the last time they drank; she ended up in bed with him and had lost her virginity.

"But I will."

She clenched her jaw. "I want to know the pros and cons of this agreement we have."

Ethan turned to her, now holding a glass of wine as he leaned against the wall.

"The pros." His brow arched. "Your father's debt is paid. You get to live a comfortable life with me and can focus on building your career without worrying about money."

"And what are the cons? The ones you want to get in return?"

"You consider my wants as cons?" The side of Ethan's lips curled into a smirk.

Michelle scoffed, "I do. That's why I want to know about it."

"You surely do sound offensive. Do you think I'm a bad person?"

"I do," she answered without breaking their eye contact. "In fact, someone told me that you set this all up."

Ethan's eyes narrowed. There, she got his full attention.

Michelle let out a bitter sigh before she stood up and faced him.

"How dare you lure my father to borrow money from a loan shark in the casino? You pushed him to gamble, which forced him to come to me!" Michelle couldn't control her emotions anymore. She raised her voice, her chest tightening with every word she said. Breathing heavily, she continued, "You purposely offered him a deal so that I'd become your object!"

"I don't fucking comprehend, Michelle."

"That woman, Ashley! She told me everything!"

"What's everything?" Ethan looked at her angrily.

"That you framed me into this whole damn contract marriage because you wanted me to become your slave!" She marched towards him with gritted teeth. "Isn't that correct?"

Ethan's expression darkened as he looked at her. He pressed his lips together, forming a thin line. His breathing was ragged, and all Michelle could see behind his eyes was wrath.

"That isn't true." His words were dangerous.

"Stop denying it!"

"I'm telling the truth!"

"No, you're not!" she spluttered, then she pointed to the door. "I saw it. Those freaking things you have behind that red door. I saw everything! You're a sadist! And you want me to become your slave to fulfill your disgusting needs!"

For a brief moment, Ethan was lost for words. He shot him a glare, and the only thought he processed was the fact that Michelle lied to him when he asked her if she entered that room.

"You lied," he said angrily.

"I did, because at first I decided to ignore that side of yours, but it all made sense to me now!" Michelle gave him a look of disgust. "You're a cruel man who uses women as sex slaves. I can't believe how rotten you are inside!"

Ethan could no longer contain his anger. He threw the glass of wine on the floor and gripped her arm tightly.

"What did you say?!"

Michelle whimpered in pain, but her eyes didn't show any remorse at all.

"I said, you are rotten!" she shouted.

"You'll see the rotten side of me then!"

Ethan dragged her out of the bedroom. "Let go of me! You, sick!"

He dragged her into the hallway, and as they walked, her heart pounded aggressively inside her chest. All she could feel was dread. It was as if she was facing her biggest nightmare.

"Where are you taking me?!" she shouted continuously, but Ethan didn't answer.

When she figured out that they were heading to the red door, her breath hitched. Ethan did not hesitate to open it and dragged her inside, and that was the only time he let go of her. Locking the door, Ethan couldn't stop clenching his jaw.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Michelle yelled in his face and was on the verge of crying.

"You!" Ethan took her chin and gripped it tightly. "You and your bad mouth!"

Michelle shoved his hand away and stepped back. Her whole body was trembling. Being in the room that was filled with sex materials made her want to vomit.

"Go ahead and look at every filthy thing here. This is my rotten side!" Ethan raised his voice. "Fucking judge me all you want, Michelle!"

A pang of anxiety went through her. She embraced herself while her eyes started to look around. Her eyes couldn't seem to take it, from the leather typed bed, handcuffs, ropes, dildos, vibrators, and other objects which were used to torture women.

"This is the side of me you chose to judge," Ethan said firmly.

"What do you want me to think?" Michelle fired. "Ashley clearly told me how sick-"

"You chose to believe that insane woman instead of confronting me!" Ethan's chest went up and down. "That's my problem with you, Michelle. You believed a stranger?"

"That's because you're also a stranger to me!"

Silence filled the room, and the only thing Michelle could hear was the loud beating of her heart. He stared at her blankly. For a split second, she regretted what she said. She knew she screwed up, but she reminded herself that she had the right to act that way.

Ethan shook his head afterward, spun around and held the doorknob.

"W-Where are you going?"

"Who fucking cares?" Ethan's voice was low and sarcastic.

He then pulled the door open and walked away, leaving Michelle in confusion.

***

Michelle stayed in the secret room for hours, sitting on the little stairs near the door while embracing her knees. Hot tears streamed down her face as she thought about all the decisions she had made in her life.

She never had it easy. She managed to thrive, enduring the rat race and juggling between her work and studies, but still, she knew it wasn't enough.

She stared straight at those things across her. A bed, and alongside it was a stand filled with ropes, handcuffs, blindfolds, and many other things. At first, she was totally frightened by them, but as she looked at them longer, they looked just ordinary, like a mere thing.

A mere thing that wasn't so solid to judge a person immediately.

Michelle knew she went overboard and she regretted it. Everything happened that she just didn't know what to believe anymore.

Shutting her eyes, she leaned her head for a bit on her knees, and afterward, she finally stood up and wiped her tears away.

Michelle was about to leave when the door opened. She sucked in a breath when Ethan entered the room, and stared down at her in confusion.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked in his husky voice.

Michelle could smell the scent of whiskey, and with Ethan's face a bit reddened, she figured out that the man had gone out for a drink.

"I-I don't know..." She wiped her wet cheek again.

She got a vision of her running, and staying away from Ethan, but her feet couldn't even move a bit. Her conscience was telling her to apologize to him, but no words would come out of her mouth.

"Were you waiting for me?"

She blinked, and looked up to meet his gaze.

When their eyes met, she felt her entire body tense up. The way he stared at her sent shivers down her spine. She felt breathless, and could only swallow hard before she shook her head.

"No..."

The longer she looked at him, the more she felt as though her hormones started to rage within her. Ethan's stare grew darker. Seeing his wife looking up at him with her eyes radiating lust was something that made her cock thump. It was as if it was demanding him to do something beyond simply staring at her beauty.

His jaw clenched, as he gritted his teeth, then shut his eyes for a bit. When he opened them, he saw Michelle biting her lower lip, which made his palm twitch.

"Fuck, I have enough," he cursed under his breath.

The next thing he knew was that he marched towards her, with one goal in mind-to kiss her.

Michelle drew in a breath when Ethan closed the distance between them. He cupped her face with one hand, drew her in at the waist, and claimed her lips in one swift motion.

She felt so aroused at what he did that even though her mind was screaming to push him away, her body did otherwise. She could feel Ethan's crotch hardening in his pants and throbbing in her lower belly.

But she didn't feel scared.

Instead, she kissed him back, hard. She ran her hands through his hair, pressing her body against his to feel him more.

Their tongues met, danced while tasting each other, and after a few seconds, they began losing control.