, pressed in on me from all sides. For five years, I had avoided events like this, trad

ferent. Julian

d face worn smooth by time. My grandmother's watch. I felt a lump form in my throat. He was buying it for m

his voice cutting through the polite applause. "One million,"

ne me from the start, and looked directly at me

age where his executive assistant, Brianna, stood watching. S

ne, his voice booming through the ballroom, "

He slid my grandmother's

s agreed to

s a physical weight, crushing me. Through the blur of faces,

ow falling over my table. His voice

kitten. This chang

don't have to stop. My

his Mistress, his submissive. I followed his rules, I accepted his control, because I believed in the sanct

red that trust int

st the floor. The sound was loud in

aid, my voice flat and em

eaving him, the watch, and