Chapter 5 WITH YOU.

~~~SOPHIA.

“How much?” he repeated.

I swallowed hard, my chest feeling tight and my skin too aware of itself, like I had suddenly become visible in a way I couldn’t reverse.

“Yes,” I pushed, forcing my voice steadier than I felt. 

“You talk about money, so how much are you willing to pay me?”

There, I had said it. My stomach twisted instantly, like my body was rejecting the words even before my mind caught up.

Alexander tilted his head slightly. “Depends,” he said.

The single word shouldn’t have done anything to me, but it did.

“Depends on what?” I asked, sharper now and defensive.

His gaze stayed on me. “On what you think you’re worth.”

That did something ugly inside my chest, weaving heat, anger, and shame all tangled together. 

I laughed once, short and sharp, like I was mocking him and myself at the same time.

“Okay,” I said, stepping forward without thinking. “If I ask for… let’s say… a hundred thousand dollars. Something insane like that, would you even give it to me?”

He paused, tilted his head, and then, “I’d give you twice that,” he said calmly. “Every month, for as long as the arrangement stands.”

Silence followed and it pressed against my ears until I thought I might hear my own heartbeat crack. 

My breath caught. 

Twice? Every month? 

For fucking him?!

My brain tried to reject it immediately because it had to be a trick, a game, or something cruel. 

But Alexander’s face didn’t change even slightly, and that was what made it worse. 

Men who were joking smiled, and men who were bluffing looked away, but he didn’t do either. He just stood there like he had already decided the outcome and was waiting for me to catch up.

My throat went dry as I wondered if he was serious. My mind betrayed me anyway, and images flickered through my head. My rent paid, debt gone, silence from collectors, and breathing without fear for the first time in years. And then there was me, here, with him.

My stomach turned violently. “No,” I said quickly, almost too fast, like I was trying to outrun the thought. “No, that’s insane. You are insane.”

A small smile tugged at his mouth. He looked fucking amused. “That is not all you’d be getting,” he said.

My brows snapped together. “What else?”

He didn’t answer immediately, bringing back that pause again, like he was choosing which part of me to break first. “I’d be settling your debts,” he added finally, “separate from what I pay you.”

My breath stuttered. Of course he would, and of course it wouldn’t just be money. As my pulse climbed, he started again, “And I’d give you…”

I snapped suddenly, a laugh burst out of me, unexpected and uncontrolled, which shocked even me because it wasn’t funny. This was madness.

“God,” I said, shaking my head as I took a step back. “You’re such an asshole.”

His eyes stayed on me. “Careful, bunny.”

That nickname hit something raw inside me, something I hated reacting to. “Don’t you fucking call me that,” I snapped immediately.

His gaze didn’t even flicker. “Decide,” he said simply. “I don’t have all night.”

“I would rather keep struggling till I die,” I said, my voice rising and shaking now, “than become someone’s… plaything.”

The word tasted disgusting on my tongue. I turned sharply, too fast, and before I could second-guess myself, I walked straight into the bathroom attached to his office, locked the door, and just stood there breathing hard. My reflection stared back at me in the mirror showing red lingerie, messy hair, flushed skin, and a woman who had just been offered a price tag. 

And for half a second, half a second I hated myself for it. I had almost calculated it. I had almost named a number.

My stomach dropped. “No,” I whispered to myself. “No, no, no.”

I stripped it off quickly and aggressively, like I could erase the entire moment from my skin. By the time I pulled my dress back on, my hands were shaking. I hated him, and I hated the offer, but more than anything, I hated that my mind had even tried to survive inside it.

When I stepped out, the air felt colder. Alexander was still there in the same position with the same calm expression, like I hadn’t just unraveled in his bathroom and like nothing had changed. But everything had.

I lifted my chin. “I’m done,” I said firmly. “This is sick. You’re sick.”

He watched me, quietly. “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked.

“Yes,” I snapped instantly. “What are you even thinking? Why would you even propose something like that? Are you…”

I stopped because he moved, not toward me, but past me to his desk. My eyes followed him despite myself as he opened a drawer and pulled something out. It was a small device, a remote, and my brows pulled together instantly.

“What the hell is that?”

He didn’t answer and just pressed a button. With a loud click, a sound came from the door as the lock lightly shifted and disengaged.

My stomach dropped, and my voice came out sharp. “What did you just do?”

He finally looked at me again. “Leave.”

I blinked once, then twice. “You could have unlocked it this whole time?”

Silence was my only answer, and something inside me snapped and it was not fear, or attraction, but humiliation.

I took a step forward. “You let me panic,” I said slowly. “You let me think I was trapped in here with you.”

His expression didn’t change. “I didn’t let you think anything,” he said. “You assumed.”

My breath hitched because he was right, and I hated that too. He started walking toward me with slow, controlled steps, and though my instincts told me to move back, I only managed one step, then another.

But he kept coming until there was nowhere left to retreat, and my back hit the edge of the desk. I froze as he stopped just in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat of him, and close enough that my thoughts started breaking apart again

His gaze dropped briefly, just once, to my breasts, then came back to my eyes. 

“Happy New Year, Sophia,” he said quietly.

My pulse stuttered as he leaned slightly closer, not touching, but just enough to make my breathing unstable. “See you next week.”

And then he turned away just like that, offering no explanation, no reaction, and no emotional aftermath. 

Nothing. It was like I was already scheduled, and like this wasn’t an ending, but a continuation.

I stood there frozen for a second too long, trying to process what had just happened, until anger finally broke through everything else. I grabbed my bag, muttering, “Unbelievable,” under my breath, and I walked out with fast, hard steps. 

My heart was still hammering, not because I agreed, and not because I lost, but because somehow, I felt like I had just walked out of a room where I should’ve never been the one in control to begin with.