Chapter 137 Chapter 137
Sophia’s POV
I could see Louis wavering, feel him slipping under my gaze. The way his breathing had changed, the way his eyes kept dropping to my lips, he was falling for it.
I let him believe the obvious lies I was feeding him, let him think this was real desire and not calculated manipulation.
“Say it,” I whispered, my hands still on his chest. “Say that I own you. That you’re mine.”
Louis hesitated, clearly fighting an internal battle.
“Come on,” I coaxed, my voice sultry. “Just admit it. You’ve always been mine, haven’t you?”
I leaned in closer, my lips brushing his ear again as I whispered, “We’ll have some fun in my bedroom. Just like we used to. Remember how good it was?”
I pulled back and took his hand, tugging him gently toward the direction of my new room.
“Come with me,” I said. “Let me remind you what you’ve been missing.”
To my satisfaction, Louis followed. His resistance was crumbling, and I could feel the power returning to me, the sense that I still had control over something, over someone.
Even though I had no actual use for Louis. Even though I didn’t really want him anymore, not the way I once had.
But I needed to prove I could still pull him in. Still make him want me.
We reached my room at the end of the east hall, and I led him inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.
I turned to face Louis, and slowly, deliberately, I began to strip down. I pulled my shirt over my head, watching his eyes follow my movements.
But when Louis stepped forward to touch me, I gracefully moved away, avoiding his reach.
“Not yet,” I said with a small smile. “Let me set the pace.”
I removed another piece of clothing, teasing him, keeping him at arm’s length even as I undressed.
But then Louis suddenly pulled back completely, his hands dropping to his sides.
“I shouldn’t be doing this,” he said, his voice strained. “Sophia, this isn’t right. I should go.”
Panic flared in my chest. He couldn’t leave yet.
“Choose wisely, Louis,” I said, my voice taking on an edge of warning. “I’m being nice to you right now. Offering you something most men would kill for. Don’t throw it away.”
Louis still looked conflicted, torn between desire and duty, between what he wanted and what he knew was right.
I walked up to him slowly, putting vulnerability into my expression, softening my eyes.
“I never got over you completely,” I whispered, the lie rolling smoothly off my tongue. “All these years, Louis. I’ve tried. I’ve dated other people, tried to move on. But part of me has always been yours.”
I saw the hesitation in his eyes, saw him wanting to believe me.
“Don’t you feel it too?” I pressed.
Louis opened his mouth to respond, but I caught movement in my peripheral vision.
Benita was passing through the hallway. I could see her through the crack in the door I’d deliberately left open.
Perfect timing.
Before Louis could say anything, before he could pull away or reject me, I grabbed his face and kissed him forcefully, making sure the movement was visible from the hallway.
I heard footsteps pause outside my door. Benita had stopped, she was looking in.
I waited for her reaction, the gasp, the hurt, the anger. Waited for Benita to see me kissing Louis and feel the sting of rejection, of losing his attention to me.
But when I glanced toward the door while still pressed against Louis, what I saw in Benita’s eyes wasn’t pain or heartbreak at all. It was disgust.
And something else, a look that clearly said, “Really? This is what you’re doing? Shut the door, will you?”
Then Benita just walked away, completely unbothered, like what she’d witnessed was pathetic rather than threatening.
The indifference was more insulting than anger would have been.
Just as I was processing this, Louis’s hands came up and pushed me away firmly.
“Stop,” he said, his voice hard. “Sophia, stop this.”
But I’d already gotten what I wanted. Benita had seen us. Had seen Louis in my room, kissing me.
“Leave,” I said coldly, my tone completely shifting from seductive to dismissive. “I’ve already done what I wanted to do.”
Louis stared at me, realization dawning on his face. “You used me. This whole thing was just…”
“A game?” I finished for him. “Yes. Now get out.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Louis said, anger flashing in his eyes. “I knew better than to fall into your manipulation, but I almost did. I almost let you…”
“But you didn’t,” I interrupted, crossing my arms over my partially undressed state. “So congratulations on your moral victory. Now leave my room before I scream that you forced yourself on me.”
Louis’s face went pale, then red with fury.
“You wouldn’t,” he said.
“Try me,” I challenged. “Who do you think they’d believe? The daughter of Damien Alejandro, or the guard who was found in her bedroom with her half-naked?”
Louis clenched his jaw, clearly fighting the urge to say something he’d regret.
Instead, he just turned and stormed out of my room, his footsteps heavy with anger.
“I knew better than falling into your manipulation!” he shouted back before disappearing down the hallway.
I closed the door and leaned against it, my heart pounding.
The plan hadn’t worked the way I’d intended. Benita hadn’t cared, I want her to be seething with anger.