Chapter 55 Chapter 55
Sophia’s POV
I’d insisted on seeing him, despite Kai’s objections, despite my father’s explicit orders that I stay away from anything related to the interrogations happening in the lower levels of the mansion.
But I needed answers. Needed to understand why Tyler, someone I’d trusted enough to be intimate with, had tried to kill me.
Kai had finally relented, probably figuring it was safer to let me see him under supervision than risk me sneaking down there on my own.
The dungeon beneath our mansion was a place I rarely visited, a dark, cold space where my father’s enemies were brought for questioning.
Tyler was chained to a chair in the center of one of the rooms, and Marco had clearly been working on him. His face was a mess of bruises, his lip split and bleeding, one eye swollen nearly shut. His clothes were torn and stained with blood.
He looked up when I entered, and something flickered in his eyes, fear, recognition, maybe even regret.
“Sophia,” he rasped, his voice rough.
I circled him slowly, taking in the damage Marco had inflicted, the way Tyler flinched when I got too close.
“Why?” I asked simply. “Why did you try to kill me?”
Tyler’s eye fixed on me, and I saw him weighing his options, deciding how much truth to tell.
“I was paid,” he finally admitted.
“By who?” I demanded.
“I don’t know his name,” Tyler said quickly. “Some young guy approached me about a week ago. Tailed me after I left your place one night. Offered me money, a lot of money, to bring you in.”
“Bring me in where?” I pressed. “To who?”
“He didn’t say,” Tyler said. “Just said I needed to get you unconscious and meet him at a specific location. He’d handle the rest.”
My stomach twisted. Someone had been planning to kidnap me, had paid Tyler to drug me or knock me out and deliver me like a package.
“How much?” I asked coldly. “How much was I worth to you?”
Tyler hesitated, then mumbled, “A thousand dollars.”
The number hit me like a slap. A thousand dollars. That’s all my life was worth to him.
“You tried to sell me for a measly thousand dollars?” I said, my voice rising with hurt and fury. “I trusted you. I let you into my life, into my bed, and you were willing to hand me over to some stranger for pocket change?”
“I needed the money,” Tyler said desperately. “I’m in debt, Sophia. Bad debt. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Everyone has a choice,” I said coldly.
A thought flashed through my mind, dangerous and tempting.
Tyler had proven he was willing to do anything for money. And right now, I needed someone willing to do something very specific.
“Kai,” I called out. “Marco. Everyone. I need the room.”
Kai stepped forward, frowning. “Miss Sophia, your father gave explicit order….”
“I don’t care what my father said,” I interrupted. “I need to talk to him alone. Just for a few minutes.”
Kai and Marco exchanged looks, clearly uncomfortable with the request.
“Please,” I added, softening my tone. “I just need some closure. Some answers he won’t give with everyone watching. Five minutes.”
After a long pause, Kai nodded reluctantly. “Five minutes. We’ll be right outside.”
They filed out, the heavy door closing behind them with a metallic clang.
I turned back to Tyler, who was watching me warily.
“Do you want to live?” I asked bluntly.
“Yes,” he said immediately, desperately. “God, yes. Please, Sophia. I’m sorry. I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?” I repeated, pulling out my phone.
I scrolled through my photos until I found one of Hailey, a candid shot I’d taken at school before all this started.
I held it up for Jake to see. “Do you recognize her?”
He squinted at the photo with his good eye. “No. Who is she?”
“Her name is Hailey,” I said. “And she’s the reason my life is falling apart. The reason my father barely looks at me anymore. The reason everything is going wrong.”
Tyler's expression shifted to understanding, then calculation. “What do you want me to do?”
“If I release you,” I said slowly, “could you charm her? Get close to her? And then eliminate her?”
The word ‘eliminate’ hung in the air between us, its meaning crystal clear.
Tyler swallowed hard. “You want me to kill her?”
“I want her gone,” I said. “However that needs to happen. And in return, I’ll pay you enough to start a rich life in a different continent. Far away from your debts, far away from all of this. A fresh start.”
I could see him processing, weighing the moral implications against the promise of escape and wealth.
“How much?” he finally asked.
“Fifty thousand dollars,” I said. “Enough to disappear and live comfortably for a while. Maybe more if you do it cleanly.”
His eyes widened. Fifty thousand was life-changing money for someone like him.
“I’ll do it,” he said quickly, desperately. “Yes. I’ll do whatever you need.”
His desperation was intoxicating. The power I held over him in this moment, his life literally in my hands, his future dependent on my word, it turned me on in a way I hadn’t expected.
“You’re hurt,” I observed, moving closer. “Beaten. Bleeding. Helpless.”
“Yes,” he breathed, confusion and fear mixing in his expression.
“And that makes me feel powerful,” I admitted, my voice dropping lower. “Seeing you like this, knowing I control whether you live or die, knowing you’ll do anything I ask.”
I reached out and traced a finger along his bruised jaw, and he flinched but didn’t pull away.
“I want you,” I said bluntly. “Right now. Like this.”
“Sophia, I can barely move,” he protested weakly. “The guy broke something, I think my ribs…..”
“I don’t care,” I interrupted. “You said you’d do anything. So do this.”
And despite his injuries, despite being chained to a chair in a dungeon, despite everything, he did.
The sex was rough and painful and wrong in every possible way. But the power of it, the absolute control I had in that moment, was addictive.
When it was over, I stepped back and straightened my clothes while Tyler slumped in the chair, exhausted and hurting.
“Remember our deal,” I said coldly. “Get close to Hailey. Eliminate her. And you get your money and your freedom.”
“I remember,” he gasped.
I walked to the door and knocked. Immediately, it opened, and two guards I didn’t recognize stood there.
Just regular guards who didn’t know my father’s specific orders.
Perfect.
“Release him,” I commanded. “Let him go. And don’t tell Kai or my father. This is family business that’s been handled.”
The guards looked uncertain. “Miss Sophia, we have orders….”
“And I’m giving you new orders,” I said, using every ounce of authority I’d learned from watching my father. “Release him now, or I’ll make sure you’re the ones chained up down here next.”
They hesitated only a moment longer before moving to unlock Tyler’s chains.
He stumbled to his feet, barely able to stand, but managed to shuffle toward the exit.
As he passed me, I grabbed his arm. “Don’t make me regret this,” I whispered. “If you fail, or if you betray me, I’ll make what Marco did to you look like a massage.”
“I won’t fail,” he promised, his voice hoarse. “I’ll get close to her. And when the time is right, she’ll be gone.”
I watched him limp away, supported by the guards who were escorting him out through a back exit.
What had I just done?