Chapter 158: Finding Out The Truth!
NO ONE’S POV
She walked over to the shelves with trembling steps, staring blankly at the items arranged there. These were hers. Every single one of them.
There were a few of her private digital sketches printed out, her favorite hairband, and even the exact shade of lip gloss she thought she had dropped under her bed weeks ago. These were small, everyday things that she hadn’t even consciously realized were missing from her apartment.
Her eyes widened in absolute shock. What on earth were they doing here? Why would her cold boss have a collection of her personal belongings in his private master bedroom?
A sudden panic surged deep in her chest as an impossible, terrifying thought flashed through her mind. Dante... no, no... it can’t be,she whispered, shaking her head aggressively to deny it.
But her denial didn’t last long. The heavy fog in her brain was completely gone now, and the vivid, passionate memories of the night before came rushing back in full force. The intoxicating scent of his body. The suffocating weight of his body. The raw, terrifying obsession burning in his frosty eyes.
"Mine," his deep voice echoed clearly in her mind, "Every single part of you."
And then, the final piece of the puzzle clicked.
The chilling whisper he had repeated right into her ear while pinning her wrists above her head.
"Don’t you remember what happened last time when you drank so much... Viella?"
With that name echoing in her head, Vivien stood completely stunned, the towel slipping from her hands and dropping to the floor. He had said Viella. He hadn’t called her Vivien. He had used her name from the book!
That could only mean one thing.
He... he is Dante! He’s back?!!
Her heart pounding so loudly she could hear it in her ears. Fuck, I completely trapped myself without even knowing it! No wonder everything felt so strangely familiar yet terrifying.
She walked over to the vanity and stared at her reflection in the large mirror, tracing the faint lines of her face. No wonder I look exactly like Viella now... he did this on purpose. He kept me close, stole my things, and waited for the perfect moment to confirm my identity! It wasn’t his assistant’s idea but his!
A cold sweat broke out across her skin. The realization that her grumpy, intimidating boss was actually the obsessive, dangerous character from the book made her blood run cold. Last night wasn’t just a random mistake caused by alcohol- it was a trap, and she had walked right into it.
"I don’t care anymore," she whispered fiercely to her reflection, her panic hardening into pure survival instinct. "If my theory is right, I am not staying a single second longer in this house, and I am definitely not staying anywhere close to him!"
Ignoring the deep ache in her muscles, she quickly began looking around the room for her shoes and a way out before the beast returned.
She stormed down the grand hallway, her bare feet clicking against the cold marble floor as she headed straight for the massive front door. She grabbed the handle and yanked it with all her might.
To her complete lack of surprise, the heavy door didn’t even budge. It was firmly locked from the outside.
"This absolute bastard!" she hissed, kicking the bottom of the door in pure frustration.
Ah, hell no. She was not doing this twisted prison shit again! This wasn’t the novel where a plot device or a secondary character could just swing by. This time around, she was completely on her own. She didn’t have a single soul to come and rescue her from this madhouse.
"Oh, Lily, I seriously wish you were here right now," she muttered under her breath, turning around to pace back into the living area.
She checked the first-floor windows, the patio doors, even the small ventilation spaces in the kitchen. Everything was securely locked down.
Trapped and defeated, she forced herself to scan the rest of the room. On the sleek dining table, a covered plate of freshly made food and a glass of juice had been left out for her. She glared at it and decided to completely ignore it.
Who knew what kind of sedatives or tracking drugs he had slipped into the food this time?
After discovering the stolen items in his room, her trust in him was at an absolute zero. She wasn’t touching a single thing in this house.
Hopelessly, she trudged back to the center of the room and collapsed onto the plush couch. She buried her face in her hands, her brain working to connect the dots.
I just don’t get it... how can he even be here and living here as a CEO? she thought wildly. Don’t tell me he actually died right alongside Viella in that mansion fire, and somehow reincarnated or crossed over into this world too?
A sudden, bitter pang of emotion rose up in her chest at the thought of their tragic end in the book, but she quickly shook her head to clear it.
No, no! Don’t feel sorry for him! He is still the exact same obsessive, terrifying maniac! If he’s been playing the role of my grumpy boss and deceiving me for this long, who knows what else he has done behind my back?!
Suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind. She remembered a few weeks ago when she had fallen into an unnaturally deep sleep after staying late at the office, waking up the next morning with slightly plump, swollen lips and faint, unexplainable friction marks on her skin. Back then, she had just brushed it off as an allergic reaction or a restless night of tossing and turning.
She stood up from the couch so fast her head spun, her eyes wide with pure revelation.
Don’t tell me those nights were also... I was literally drugged and handled by him while asleep!
The absolute realization of his shameless, sneaky audacity completely shattered her fear, replacing it with an explosive rage.
"Oh my Lord, I am actually going to murder him!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs to the empty, locked mansion, her fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
Once all her explosive anger was finally spent, Vivien forced her breathing to slow down. She couldn’t just sit here and wait for him to return. She decided to head up to the second floor, hoping to find an unlocked balcony or a window close enough to a tree to jump from.
As she searched the long, quiet upstairs hallway, she stumbled upon a heavy double door that was slightly ajar. Pushing it open, she realized it was his private study. The room smelled faintly of old paper and mostly like him. Driven by pure survival instinct, she began sifting through the neatly stacked folders on his desk.
To her shock, she found her own complete background profile- but right beneath it was a file labeled Enzo
"Does he already know about Enzo’s real identity?" Vivien pondered aloud, her heart skipping a beat.
Before she could think further, her fingers brushed against another folder. It was Amelia’s file, filled with detailed financial records and personal history. "Seems like he investigated all of us quite well..." she muttered, a chill running down her spine. Dominic hadn’t left a single thing to chance.
As she continued to scan the desk, her eyes fell on a photo frame. Strangely, it had been placed face-down on the wood, deliberately keeping the image hidden.
Vivien reached out, her fingers just brushing the edge of the frame to flip it over, when the entire mansion suddenly plunged into pitch-black darkness.
The lights went completely off. The electronic hum of the house died. Vivien froze, her eyes widening as she strained to see through the gloom. What just happened?
Before she could even take a step toward the door, she felt the unmistakable sensation of cold metal pressing firmly into the center of her back. A gun.
"Don’t turn around," a sharp voice hissed from the shadows. "Leave right now before I kill you here."
Vivien’s breath hitched. It was a female voice. Her mind raced in total confusion- was this an assassination attempt on Dominic, and she had just accidentally walked into the crossfire?
Without letting Vivien speak, the mysterious woman kept the weapon pressed against her back, guiding her swiftly through the dark hallways and down to the front entrance. The locks clicked open, and the woman roughly pushed Vivien out into the cool morning air before instantly slamming the door shut and locking it from the inside.
Vivien stumbled onto the porch, gasping for air. She quickly looked around and noticed Dominic’s elite guards slumped over on the ground, completely unconscious. This was the absolute perfect time for her to escape.
But a massive question marks lingered in her mind. Who on earth was that woman? Why did she help me escape when she could have just pulled the trigger?
Whatever! In the end, I have my life! I better run!
Shaking off the confusion, Vivien turned and bolted down the long estate driveway as fast as her sore legs could carry her, not looking back even once.
Inside the darkened mansion, the mysterious girl stood perfectly still by the massive glass window. She watched Vivien’s retreating figure disappear past the iron gates, a low, wicked smirk playing on her lips. Everything was going exactly according to plan.
Slowly, she lifted her wrist and checked the glowing screen of her watch. The power would be back on in less than two minutes. It was time for her to clean up her tracks and make her own quiet escape before the master of the house returned.
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TO BE CONTINUED
