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Everett smiled then, dark and triumphant, leaning back in his chair like he was enjoying every second of this. “No.”

“What?” I asked, the blood draining from my face. All these years he’d promised he was keeping my money safe, that he was investing it for me for when it was time for retirement. He’d told me that was how he handled finances for all the women who worked in the business.

He’d taken care of all my bills, my clothes…everything. But he’d also always told me when he was depositing money in my account. Even though I’d never seen it, never been able to use it freely, it had felt like mine.

But maybe it was just another way I’d been stupid and completely missed him manipulating me.

I was such a fucking idiot.

“That’smymoney.”

“I own you, Sloane. Everything you have is because of me.” He shook his head, like I’d disappointed him. “This is your last chance. If you choose to do this, I’ll have no choice.”

“No choice?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“But to treat you like the property you are,” he said, his voice dripping with venom.

He picked up his papers and began reviewing them again.

The threat sank into my chest, and a stark fear filled my insides. I’d had all sorts of emotions about my uncle over the years, but the terror I was experiencing right now…that was new.

“What about everything you’ve said over the years…about how this job was me choosing power. Huh? What about that?” I threw out desperately, hoping I could get him to see reason.

Everett glanced up, a cruel smirk dancing across his lips. “Haven’t you felt powerful? You sold your body at eighteen because you were so scared of actually having to work hard. You were a miserable, weak, useless girl, and I made you into someone that made men drop to their knees. You were nothing. And I made you into this.”

He pushed up from his chair and leaned forward.

“Everything comes with a price, and transforming someone as worthless as you…well, the price was far more than you’lleverbe able to pay.”

My hands trembled, my body shaking from the weight of his words. Tears burned at the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

“I hate you,” I managed to choke out, my voice cracking.

He shrugged and walked around his desk, his smirk never fading. “It’s better that you get this through your stupid brain before it’s too late.Youhave no choice. You made sure of that at that auction. And now you’llneverhave a choice. You belong to me, and you’llneverescape.”

I stumbled back, my legs shaking as I tried to process what he was saying. My chest was tight, my throat burning with the threat of tears.

His hand shot out before I could react, his fingers clamping down hard on my chin, forcing me to look up at him. The grip was painfully tight, his eyes dark and full of rage. I tried to pull away, but he held me there, his face mere inches from mine.

“You really think you can walk away from this?” he hissed, his voice low, dangerous. “You think you can just waltz into my office, spout some nonsense about love, and that’ll be the end of it?”

I couldn’t answer, couldn’t move. His grip was like a vise, and my fear of him only grew.

“Answer me!” he shouted, shaking me hard enough that my teeth rattled.

“I—” The words caught in my throat, but I didn’t get a chance to finish. His grip shifted to my shoulder, and before I could do anything, he threw me to the ground.

I hit the floor hard, the impact sending a jolt of pain through my body. But before I could even try to get up, I heard the unmistakable sound of leather sliding through a belt loop.

I froze.

“I think I’ll give you a taste of what you can expect if you choose wrong, Sloane. Remind you what I do with useless things,” he said coldly, stepping toward me, the belt hanging loosely in his hand. “It seems like the right thing to do, don’t you think?”

I rolled over and tried to scramble away, my heart pounding in my chest, but I wasn’t fast enough. He raised the belt, and the first strike came down hard across my back, the sting of the leather biting into my skin. I cried out, curling in on myself, but it didn’t stop him.

The belt came down again. And again.

I lost count after the third hit, my mind slipping into a fog of pain and fear. Each strike sent a sharp, searing pain through my body, and the sound of the leather cutting through the air was the only thing I could focus on. My arms wrapped around my head, instinctively trying to shield myself, but it was useless.