Chapter 64: The Lead

"I won't," she straightforwardly denied. She wanted to convey her disdain for him.

"And I wasn't asking for your opinion."

"I'm not coming with you," she stated with finality.

He raised his brow. "Are you denying my order?" His voice dropped to a lower octave,

catching her breath. Her heart beat spiking. She could call it the 'Shehryaar Affect'. He just

had to drop down his voice a few notches and she would already start panicking.

"I-I'm just... I don't want to come."

"Deny me once more, and I'll lock you up in one of my cells," he said, standing up to his full

height.

As soon as he stood up, her feet instinctively moved back slightly.

The color drained from her face as she listened to his threat.

"L-look, I've to take care of my friend."

"So, are you denying me?" he asked, leaning forward on the table, placing his hands on the

desk.

"Uh-uh, no. I'm not. I just—"

"And," he held her hand as she stood near the table and brought her closer to him, "I still

have some things to settle with you."

She blinked with confusion, at the same time trying to pry his hands off when he tightened

his grip. "Remember, sweetheart," he placed her small hand on his stubble and caressed her

cheek, "you had become so encouraging that day that you almost forgot whom you were

talking to and at whom you raised your hand," he whispered the last part, "I'm a bit caught

up," he moved closer to her face, but she turned her head to the right as their lips almost

grazed each other, "but I'll even myself out with you in Dubai," he said, biting her earlobe.

"D-don't t-t-touch m-me," she stuttered badly.

"And I know how to do that," he continued murmuring near her ear while looking at the

distant wall. "You’ll have nowhere to go. I promise."

He stated it so casually that she couldn’t tell if it was a threat or if he was merely talking

about the weather.

Her insides trembled at his voice and his presence so near to her, while his threats kept

flooding her mind; she had long forgotten how to breathe.

He pulled back, taking a sharp breath, while her face had gone pale.

"All I can say to you right now is your fate depends on you," he said, and she couldn’t grasp

what he meant, as her mind was still reeling from his previous words.

"You may take your leave and start your preparations for our Dubai trip."

Upon getting his permission, she hurriedly moved away from him.

"I d-don't want to go to Dubai," she whimpered when there was a safe distance between

them.

"Cell no. 6 is empty, where I take those who disobey me a lot. Would you like to have a

visit?"

With horror etched on her face, she abruptly shook her head, her eyes fearfully watching

him.

"Then do as I say. And about your friend, I remember she has a fiancé. What was his name?"

he tried to recall, tapping his finger against his forehead. "Ahmed. He can take care of her

while you're away."

"He can't. Only I-I can," she tried to reason.

"Again, I wasn't asking. You're coming with me. End of conversation. Ahmed will take care

of your friend. You may take your leave," he said, leaving no room for further discussion.

With her heart in her throat, she turned around to leave when her eyes fell on the table in

front of the sofa.

Her phone was there. She remembered placing it there when she had gone to her office to

retrieve that file.

"Oh, my phone," she muttered, grabbing it from the table and walking out.

As soon as she exited, the first thing she did was take deep breaths. His presence always

suffocated her tremendously.

She had to figure a way out of that Dubai trip. God knows what he would do to her. She felt

like burning her own tongue at that moment.

Why did she have to say all that to him? She was now in deep, deep trouble.

She went to her office and sat on her chair, trying to think of a solution.

Nothing came to mind, so she decided to use her phone.

Upon unlocking it, she found the voice recording she had been about to send to Ahmed was

still going. In her hurry, she hadn’t pressed the stop button, and the phone was still

recording. It was already several minutes long. She pressed the stop button and then began

to play it back, hoping it would distract her for a few moments.

She continued listening while fast-forwarding, when suddenly something caught her

attention.

It was his voice, followed by a woman's voice. She supposed it was the same woman she had

seen in his office.

The woman greeted him, but she heard no response as they began to talk about some

business deal. Her eyes widened when she heard the wordsmoney laundering.

Her heart began to beat wildly in her ears. She held her breath.

She felt as if she had planted a hidden recorder in his room. And suddenly, the fear of being

caught by him made her breath hitch. As she held the phone, where his voice was playing,

her hands shook badly, life leaving her legs, her face turning pale.

She began to worry that he would catch her, and the thought alone unnerved her. To calm

herself down, she drank a glass of water. It felt as if she was a witness to a murder

committed in the dead of night, and the murderer hadn’t yet realized she had witnessed his

crime. She needed to run and find a safe place before being caught.

She felt exactly like that witness.

When she was calm enough, she began to think clearly.

In that moment, she knew what she had gotten her hands on.

It was the lead she had wanted.