Chapter 39
A million questions bubbled up in Anathea’s mind, but she resisted the urge to ask them and shook her head. “Nothing.”
Gregory stared at her for a few seconds. When he found nothing amiss in her expression, he took her word for it and sat on the
couch. He crossed his legs casually and said, “Cut to the chase.”
He spoke to her so indifferently that she might as well be a stranger. His treatment of her now was worlds apart from last night
when he’d pinned her against the door and degraded her.
For a moment, Anathea couldn’t tell which was the real Gregory, not that it mattered now. She had come here for a purpose.
“Mr. Sinclair,” Anathea began.
However, Gregory snorted as soon as the words left her mouth. “Oh, are you addressing me as ‘Mr. Sinclair‘ now? You had no
trouble calling me by my first name last night.”
Stumped as Anathea was by his sarcasm, she maintained a placid expression and said courteously, “I came here to apologize for overstepping last night. I should have known my place.”
“And?” Gregory countered, slowly raising the teacup to his lips and taking a sip.
Anathea clenched then unclenched her fingers, “Do you think you could find it in your heart to spare the Jacobson family and
Eden Studio?”
Gregory was an apex predator who stood at the top of Castenia’s social pyramid, and she was no match for him. As such, she tried to appear as submissive as possible, playing up her vulnerable side to appeal to his ego and, hopefully, persuade him to go easy on
her family and the studio.
Unfortunately, Gregory didn’t buy her act at all.
“Did you forget what you did to me last night, Anathea? Do you honestly believe I’d overlook your insolence just because you’ve recalled your
manners?” A scornful laugh escaped him as he pointed at his lower lip. Anathea’s bite last night had left a mark, if
the scab was any indication.
Anathea regretted being so impulsive. She hesitated for a heartbeat before asking, “What can I do to make it up to you then?”
“What do you think?” Gregory leveled a knowing look at her, a humorless smirk tugging on his lips. “Do I need to spell it out for you?”
It seemed he didn’t intend to let her off easy.
Anathea lowered her gaze, her fingers clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
She knew what he was after, but she hated having to stoop so low and give him what he wanted when they were going to be divorced soon. Besides, he didn’t even love her. He only wanted to take his anger out on her physically.
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She chewed her lower lip. She prided herself on having boundaries, but Gregory had his ways of destroying them.
Anathea’s fingers uncurled as she looked up and met Gregory’s unyielding, demanding stare.
She drew a deep breath and slowly closed the distance between them, her hand reaching for her shirt buttons. However, just as she undid the first button, she realized the office walls were glass and that she could see the employees meandering outside.
She paused, and her fingers trembled.
Gregory leaned into the couch, his slender fingers drumming against the armrest to an unsteady rhythm as he eyed her lazily. He
drawled, “Why’d you stop?”
Anathea pinched the button and said self–consciously, “Can we close the blinds?”
With so many people walking down the corridor outside, no amount of mental preparation could make her abandon her dignity to
please Gregory.
Yet Gregory’s gaze darkened when he noted her flustered state. He parted his lips and denied her request outright. “No.”
Anathea’s brows furrowed. When she saw the wicked amusement in his eyes, she realized he was cornering her into giving up her job at Eden Studio. In other words, he never cared about her feelings and got off on her internal turmoil and humiliation.
She had to admit he played a good game, and he won. He’d been certain she couldn’t and wouldn’t stoop so low. He had her wrapped around his finger, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Anathea exhaled and said nothing.
“Is this all you’ve got, Anathea?” Gregory scoffed, making his contempt clear.
Anathea had lost. Her pride was her downfall.
She stopped digging her nails into her palms and turned to leave. But the next second, Gregory reached out to grab her wrist and pulled her toward him.
