Chapter 7: Trapped in His Office

I froze in his arms, stiff as a corpse.

Couldn’t even breathe—my mind was screaming at me to do something, but my body wouldn’t move.

Too scared to move.

No, what does he mean by that?

Three years apart, and Derek is still obsessed with hurting or not hurting?

Those fifteen seconds felt endless.

Derek, like a ghost sucking the life out of me, only let go after he’d held me long enough.

The lights in the front row snapped on, and a spotlight suddenly shone on me.

"Wow, what a surprise!"

The host was thrilled:

"Looks like tonight’s lucky guest has appeared—our Mr. Stanton personally walked over to present tonight’s special prizes—"

"First, dinner with the president; second, a tour of his office; third, a look at his collection of luxury watches at home."

"Let’s give her a big round of applause!"

Thunderous applause erupted.

People all around shot me sympathetic or envious looks.

Me: "..."

I was full of question marks:

"What kind of lucky draw is this? Shouldn’t there be an actual lottery? How about I give up my spot and let everyone draw for fun..."

"Wow, our lucky lady is so happy she’s talking nonsense!"

The host cut me off, "Let’s have security escort her out to rest."

Before I could protest, four burly security guards appeared out of nowhere and carried me out of the ballroom.

Derek sat calmly in his seat, adjusting his cuffs.

After a while, he stood up and coolly tugged at his tie: "Excuse me."

The whole room watched him go, whispering like high schoolers at prom.