Chapter 109
Zarek:
”
After a moment of silence, he raised an eyebrow. “Are you deliberately torturing me?”
“I swear to God!” Charlotte clutched her chest dramatically. “I’m trying to save you! Who else would go to such lengths? You think hauling all that ice upstairs was easy? I’m genuinely hurt you’d suggest otherwise!”
Her expression was pure theater.
Looking more wronged than Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello.
Zarek lifted his arm from the icy water and rested it on the edge of the tub. “Well then, thank you for your exceptional care. Should I nominate you for ‘Secretary of the Year“?”
“I’d accept it graciously,” Charlotte replied with a straight face.
Zarek stared at her before breaking into laughter–genuinely laughing from frustration.
He’d been soaking for over an hour, his face nearly blue from the cold. Throughout, his “thoughtful” secretary had periodically tossed in more ice cubes.
“I think that’s enough,” he said, making a move to get up.
“No, you can’t get out yet!”
Charlotte rushed over, bending to press her hands on his shoulders, her expression dead serious. “Just because you feel better doesn’t mean it’s over. This is exactly when the drug rebounds–and it comes back even stronger!”
Zarek leaned back against the tub, expressionless.
“Has it occurred to you this method might be completely useless?” His tone carried a barely perceptible edge.
“How could it be useless? You said you felt better, which proves the drug is working its way out.” Charlotte patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Just hang in there a little longer, sir. Trust me, this works.”
As she straightened up, a hint of mischief played at her lips.
Just as she started to step back, her wrist was suddenly gripped and she was yanked into the bathtub with surprising
force.
The shock combined with the icy water made her yelp. “What are you doing?! It’s freezing!”
She thrashed, trying to climb out.
Underwater, strong hands locked around her waist. “Oh, so you do understand what ‘freezing‘ means?”
Charlotte’s teeth chattered as she pushed at his hands, now genuinely annoyed. “Why did you pull me in?! Let go so I
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can get out!”
Zarek asked again: “Is it really cold?”
Charlotte: “Of course it’s cold! It’s ice water, what did you expect?!”
She wanted OUT!!
Zarek tightened his grip slightly, pulling her closer. “Then don’t you think I might be cold too?”
Charlotte stopped struggling, glancing sideways before meeting his eyes again. “Our situations are completely different. You’ve been drugged. You need the ice to cool down. I imagine… you don’t even feel the cold.”
“Of course, if you’re truly suffering, you can get out.”
“I’m just trying to help you! You wouldn’t be so unreasonable as to take your frustration out on me, would you?”
Zarek responded with a cold laugh.
His deep eyes gazed at her steadily.
Charlotte felt chills that had nothing to do with the water.
She was already cold, but now she felt frozen.
Underwater, her leg cramped, forcing her to change position from sitting sideways to straddling the tub–putting them directly face to face.
Zarek appeared momentarily caught off guard.
Charlotte: “…”
She tried prying his hands off. “I need to get out!”
The hands around her waist tightened almost painfully. Heat from his palms penetrated through the ice water as his face moved closer. “I think you’re right. I should persevere. Join me.”
Charlotte’s heart pounded wildly.
He was acting strange again.
Whether hallucinating from the cold or from fear, she suddenly felt like… the air had become foggy. Through the haze, she saw his black robe clinging to his muscular chest, water droplets condensing on it, emanating something unmistakably like desire.
The robe unfurled in the water like a black lotus…
“Sir, you–you–you can get out now! Really, really, it’s f–f–fine now!”
Charlotte pressed both hands against his chest.
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ner expression was determined, but her stuttering revealed her panic.
She didn’t care if he was having another episode–she refused to be the “antidote.”
“You said this works, so I believe you.”
Zarek shifted position, pinning her beneath him. His ice–cold lips released scorching breath as he leaned toward her face.
Charlotte twisted away forcefully, gripping the edge of the tub to pull herself out.
His broad chest pressed against her back, though he didn’t go so far as to press his hips against her. He merely held her in place. “Ms. Whitmore, why are you in this position? Is this your preference?”
Charlotte felt heat rush to her face.
She hated that she immediately understood his implication!
This drug was truly powerful! How was an hour–long ice bath not working?!
“You’re not thinking clearly! Please calm down! Don’t ruin your reputation–I’m innocent in all this!”
“I don’t particularly value my reputation,” he murmured, his breath falling on her collarbone.
Charlotte was on the verge of a breakdown.
She thrashed in the water as if trying to break through the bathtub.
Zarek hadn’t expected such an intense reaction. He couldn’t keep her still–she was like a fish flipping wildly, and what had been manageable suddenly escalated as her movements hit every sensitive area.
“Stop moving!”
The sudden command made Charlotte freeze.
They both went still.
Their bodies pressed together, like a bomb that could detonate at any moment, every tiny movement charged with
tension.
Charlotte leaned against the tub, her face burning red.
She briefly closed her eyes. Even in this crisis, her mind unhelpfully supplied a thought… That level of arousal would be the death of her.
Behind her, his breathing was heavy.
The ice water had warmed to room temperature, perhaps even heating up.
Charlotte didn’t dare look back, nor did she dare move… staying still might give her a chance, but moving would
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surely…
After what felt like an eternity:
“Is there enough ice?”
His voice sounded utterly exhausted, like someone who had suffered serious injury.
“Yes! Yes! I’ll get it right away!”
Charlotte spoke quickly.
Zarek leaned back in the tub.
Charlotte scrambled out… when she finally stopped moving, she found herself standing soaking wet in the kitchen, with no memory of how she’d gotten there.
She considered simply leaving the villa entirely.
After ten minutes of internal debate, she gritted her teeth and got more ice.
Her plan was to leave the ice outside the bathroom door, then return to her room and lock herself in.
But when she returned with the ice, she discovered that the door that had been locked was… his.
Shouldn’t she be the one locking doors and being afraid??
Charlotte stood there holding the ice, questioning everything she thought she knew.
Morning.
Charlotte woke up at nine.
After returning to her room in the early hours, she had anxiously listened for any sound from next door.
After focusing intently for half an hour without hearing a thing, she finally took a hot shower and got back into bed. Still, she slept fitfully, only managing to doze off around six.
She got up and dressed, then approached his bedroom door with quiet steps.
She raised her hand to knock, then pulled back, pressing her ear against the door to listen for movement inside.
The moment her ear touched the door, it swung open.
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