The first thing that greeted Juliette as her feet stepped onto the last stair was darkness. Her eyes couldn’t see clearly, and she had to be careful if she didn’t want something terrible to happen. Juliette scanned her surroundings, and with her vision diminishing, she needed to find the light switch. With that thought in mind, Juliette stepped into the room and walked while feeling the wall.
She glanced at the stairs. Juliette didn’t have much time, and she needed to get out of there quickly if she didn’t want Robbin to get suspicious. Robbin was never careless; if this were indeed a secret room, he wouldn’t let any gaps be visible. Whatever it was, whether Robbin did it intentionally or not, Juliette didn’t care. She had to find out what was in this room.
It didn’t take long for her to find the light switch finally. Juliette pressed it, and the room that was previously pitch dark was now filled with bright light. She even had to blink a few times to adjust her eyes to the change.
When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she immediately scanned the surroundings. Her breath caught, and her entire body froze, blood rushing from her head as she shivered at what she saw in front of her. “He’s truly lost it…” Juliette whispered in horror.
Her legs moved, and she walked deeper into the room. Her eyes were glued to the photos mounted on the walls and the paintings that adorned them-photos and paintings of her from her teenage years to adulthood. Juliette reached out, grabbed one photo, and examined it. It was from her school graduation ceremony. Anthony and her mother stood on either side of her, both smiling broadly.
Then Juliette placed the photo she was holding down and reached for another. This time, it was a photo of her sleeping… wait a minute! This photo was taken five years ago! The night of her best friend’s birthday party. Juliette’s face grew pale as she realized the fact; she searched for more photos. Her heart sank when she saw a picture of herself intoxicated and under the influence of drugs, behaving like a slave. Her mouth fell open in disbelief that the man even displayed photos from that night. So he didn’t just use them as a threat?
Juliette took a step back. Then her gaze shifted to a table where a laptop sat quietly, turned off. Hurriedly, she approached the computer, powered it on, and cursed softly when she saw that it was password-protected.
Unconsciously, Juliette bit her nails. Her eyes scanned the entire room. She wanted to cry seeing all her photos displayed. When she exercised, ate, watched movies, cried, summer vacations-all the moments that she no longer remembered were on the walls of this room. She didn’t know when or how the man had gotten all those photos. Her eyes continued to observe the room until they stopped at a point: a cabinet, but it wasn’t that-it was the object hidden behind it. Squinting to see in detail, she realized that the hidden object was a large painting lying on the floor, covered by a cloth.
Ignoring the laptop that was still on, Juliette approached the painting. If all the paintings were displayed on the walls-which, unfortunately, were paintings of her-she was curious why this one was underneath, covered, and hidden. With curiosity, she reached for the painting and looked at what was depicted on the white canvas. Juliette pulled off the covering cloth and could only freeze in place. Her grip on the painting slipped, and it fell to the floor, revealing the top of the painting. Slowly, Juliette crumpled to the floor, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
The painting she saw was just like the other paintings displayed on the walls. The subject of the painting was herself, but what made Juliette’s reaction different was that she was depicted inappropriately in the painting. Very inappropriate. In the painting, she was not wearing a single piece of clothing. The background of the painting was a room. She was lying on her back on a bed, her hair splayed across the sheets, and her gaze directed toward the ceiling, showing an expression as if she were in ecstasy. Her hands were bound with chains, her legs hanging off the edge of the bed and spread open, displaying-Juliette stifled a scream that threatened to escape her lips. With a sudden burst of strength, she stood up again, lifted the painting, and slammed it down before stomping on it. It was a painting of her that was incredibly humiliating.
After she was satisfied with destroying the painting, Juliette wiped the tears flowing down her cheeks. She returned to the laptop, trying to unlock the password. Her brain had to work twice as hard. Every number she tried related to Robbin turned out not to be the correct password. Even essential numbers related to her didn’t unlock the laptop. She tapped her foot impatiently. Her eyes were drawn to the ruined painting, and at that moment, Juliette thought of a number to unlock the laptop.
Then her gaze swept the room again before stopping at a point. A photo of herself dancing on the dance floor during her birthday five years ago. Was that the password? Juliette asked herself hesitantly but decided to try her luck. A small smile slowly spread across her lips when she saw the laptop screen open. It seemed luck was on her side. Her guess was correct, although it took quite a while and a lot of mental effort.
Juliette immediately checked all the contents of the folder on the laptop. The first was a photo folder filled with pictures of herself-which no longer shocked her. After finishing, Juliette opened the following folder, which was the document folder. She couldn’t check everything due to limited time, but nothing suspicious appeared in the document folder she opened. If there were another chance, she would return to Robbin’s secret place with a flash drive and copy all those documents. Then Juliette turned to the last folder, which was the video folder. She clicked on that folder and saw so many videos inside. Curiously, Juliette clicked on one of the videos. Her heart felt like it stopped beating when she saw the backdrop of her room in the video. Soon after, she entered the room wearing all black, indicating that this video was taken during Anthony’s funeral, and the timestamp showed it was at night.
Suddenly, Juliette remembered the night when Master D came to her room. Indeed, she saw herself in the video stumbling and falling to the floor, and then shortly after, the sound of the door opening, and… Juliette could only stare in shock at what happened. She quickly closed the video window, not wanting to see any more of it. Juliette didn’t want to relive that lousy memory. She opened other videos, which also featured her, whether in her apartment, her room at the De Lavigne residence, her office at the studio-all the places she had been being in those videos, and suddenly Juliette remembered Leo’s message in his letter back then.
He’s always watching you. Wherever and whenever, including the apartment-Juliette glanced back at the laptop screen, and Leo was indeed correct. But looking at all the videos, it was clear that none of them originated from this laptop, indicating that Robbin had another place to monitor her. She hurriedly closed the video window and folder before shutting down the computer. She could use everything in that place as evidence, but Juliette didn’t have her phone to take videos or photos. Juliette walked around the room again before returning to the desk where the laptop was. The messy desk filled with sheets of documents didn’t attract her attention because she was more interested in the computer. Still, now that she was done with it, Juliette began to feel intrigued by the documents.
Among all these documents, could Juliette find what William wanted? But in her rush, she wasn’t focused on searching. Of all the documents she looked through, most were about business, finance, or other things related to Robbin’s work. However, her movements halted when she spotted a suspicious report. A report signed by Robbin and another person. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she read the contents of the report, which turned out to be an agreement for the purchase of-not a thing, but a woman, a year ago.
Was this one of Robbin’s darkest secrets? Buying a human from an illegal place. Then where was that woman now? Juliette pulled out the agreement document, and on the back was the identity of the woman who was treated like a commodity in the transaction. When Juliette saw the photo displayed, her heart stopped. The woman in the picture-faintly, Juliette heard voices and quickly returned the contract to its place and closed the documents.
Juliette also remembered to hide the pieces of the ruined painting under the table before hurriedly turning off the light and running down the stairs. She immediately closed the secret place by putting the bookshelf back in its original position before returning to the sofa, lying down, and covering herself with a blanket. At that moment, the study door opened, and Robbin stepped in.
Juliette glanced at the clock on the wall and didn’t realize that three hours had passed. That meant she had been in the secret room for a long time, but Juliette didn’t expect Robbin to return so quickly. A soft sigh escaped her lips. The photo of the woman she had seen last was still vividly etched in her mind; Juliette remembered what she had seen in the hotel room. No doubt about it! One by one, the man’s secrets were finally being revealed. Beneath all his angelic traits, Robbin turned out to be a terrifying devil. Of course, that made Juliette widen her eyes at the man who had once been the person she loved, but there was something else that disappointed her: the item she desired was nowhere to be found in that room.
Because only with that could Robbin be made to speak.
“Why aren’t you sleeping, Kitten?” Robbin’s question, right beside her ear, pulled Juliette from her thoughts. She blinked quickly and turned her head towards Robbin, who was squatting next to the sofa. Instinctively, she pulled the blanket up to her chin, thinking it would protect her from a dangerous predator like Robbin.
“How do you know I’m not sleeping? I might have just woken up and you returned shortly after.” Juliette said, trying to sound clever.
Robbin pulled the corner of his mouth into a crooked smile. His hand reached out and gently stroked Juliette’s head, making her succumb to his touch.
“You don’t need to know the answer, Kitten.” Did Robbin know that she had entered that room? Was this all a trick to trap her? Juliette wondered internally because the tone and answer from him were suspicious. “Oh, right! I wanted to tell you something.”
“What is it?” Juliette murmured.
“The company’s anniversary celebration will be held after I return from Singapore. You know what I mean, right?”
Juliette’s eyes widened, and she intended to get up. Still, as if knowing her intentions, Robbin pressed down on both her shoulders, forcing her back to lie on the sofa. Robbin removed his tie and jacket and then joined Juliette on the couch. He pulled her into his embrace and inhaled deeply the aroma emanating from her. This scent made Robbin feel so addicted.
“Robby…” Juliette’s murmur was muffled as her face was buried in Robbin’s broad, shirt-clad chest.
“Soon you will be my wife.”
Juliette lifted her hands and gripped Robbin’s shirt tightly, wrinkling it. “Aren’t you going to the office?” she asked again.
“I’ve already held a meeting via video conference, so I don’t need to go to the office. I decided not to go because after our moment earlier, I thought about spending some time alone with you before my departure to Singapore.”
No! Juliette was instantly filled with panic upon hearing Robbin’s words. If Robbin said that to her, then-Juliette’s breath hitched as she felt Robbin’s hand moving towards her exposed sensitive spot, uncovered by underwear. “Robby…”
“Shhh… shhh… do you want to know something, Juliette?” Robbin whispered in the woman’s ear. His hand moved to play with Juliette’s sensitive spot so slowly and intoxicatingly that she couldn’t focus on what Robbin was about to say. “The love I have for you is so dangerous, Kitten, so don’t ever play with this.”
Instantly, Juliette came to her senses and widened her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I will kill you with my own hands if you do that, and I’m not joking, Julie.”
Juliette felt her blood run cold. If she were standing right now, she would have collapsed to the floor. Her body trembled in fear, and her chest felt tight. She felt Robbin’s arms tightening around her, and his hand movements on her lower body began to speed up. “Robby… please stop…” Juliette whispered.
Robbin chose to ignore Juliette’s pleas and instead changed their positions. He moved over Juliette’s body, pinning her down with his weight, making it impossible for her to move. Then he opened her legs, positioning himself between them. After that, Robbin removed the belt that wrapped around his waist and used it to tie Juliette’s hands together, rendering her unable to resist or fight back.
“Robby, please…” Juliette pleaded again. “My body is still tired…”
“Shhh… let me fill you up until you forget all that hatred you have for me, making you fall in love with me,” Robbin whispered in Juliette’s ear. He unzipped his pants and pulled out his manhood, thrusting it into Juliette’s body with one mighty push.
Juliette could only close her eyes and let Robbin take control of her body. Her hands moved to wrap around Robbin’s neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck, yet her eyes gazed at the ceiling of the room with a clear expression of hatred.
‘Fall in love, he says? Even if that were to happen, I won’t allow my heart to feel fulfilled and happy by experiencing feelings of love for you.’
….