Chapter 9: Paying with Your Body!

Sia Thubron felt a savage arm clamp around her waist. Her scalp prickled as panic surged up her spine. She shoved at him at once. "Let go of me! Let go!" Her small hands curled into fists. With one brutal pull, it felt as if her soul had been yanked clean out of her body. Fear flooded her misty eyes. Seeing her this frightened only brought the darkness in Liam Hawksford into sharper relief. With one hand, he hauled her straight back, pinning her against the glass behind the desk. Sia turned her head. It was broad daylight. Traffic streamed below, white-collar workers hurried along, and anyone in the building across the way only had to glance up to see everything. Her back pressed to the window, Sia stared at the dizzying drop. She was terrified of heights, and her legs trembled uncontrollably. Heat rushed into her face. On her pale skin, those clear, glass-bright eyes looked even more frantic. She braced both palms hard against his chest, refusing to let him close. That night, alcohol had lent her courage. In the clear light of day, she was painfully sober. She could not afford to get tangled up with him again. "Let go?" Liam's voice held a lazy bite. "That night, you held on pretty tight." Sia squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn't listening. She refused to listen. His other hand lifted her leg and hooked it around his waist. The moment her thighs pressed against his hard, powerful body, Sia jolted. She did not dare struggle anymore. She opened her eyes, staring up at him with a wide, watery look, like someone who had been bullied until she had nothing left but stubborn pride. "This is harassment!" she snapped, fury shaking her voice. Tears swirled at her lashes. "You used me for free, and I harass you." His deep, razor-edged gaze locked onto the trembling girl in his arms. "We really are… partners in crime." The shamelessness of it made Sia's face burn. "I didn't!" she shouted, flustered and indignant. "I paid! Fifty bucks was everything I had. I gave you my entire fortune!" When she wasn't stammering, she could sound surprisingly fierce. "So you admit it?" His low, clipped words ended on a single syllable that sent waves crashing through her chest. She panted from yelling, eyes flicking to him. Her brows drew together as her mind screamed, I'm done for. Sia jerked her head away, as if she wanted to bite her tongue off. Liam's gaze burned over her flushed cheeks, the elegant line of her swanlike neck, even the small pale curve of her earlobe that looked absurdly cute. "Since it was a transaction, I worked that hard, and you tried to fob me off with fifty bucks?" His handsome face was calm, but his eyes had turned hot. "Woman, doesn't your conscience hurt?" "My conscience is doing great!" Sia shot back. Anger tinted her clear eyes. When she craned her neck to argue, she looked like a ruffled little lion cub ready to pounce. Liam fell silent. Stubborn. It was the kind of silence that should have been safe, except their bodies were still pressed together. Sia felt the change in him, slow and unmistakable. She bit her lip hard, then shut her eyes as if marching to her execution, all the courage of someone with no money and only one life to give. His breathing deepened. Even the cool cedar scent on him seemed to grow stronger. The moment he touched her, his self-control turned useless. "No money?" Liam's voice rasped. "Then pay with your body." Sia snapped her head back, looking like she had seen a ghost. Tears clung to her long lashes. Soft and small, she somehow managed to look even more vivid when she was angry. "Just kill me!" she said, refusing to yield. Even with the situation this tight, she still carried herself with a stubborn, unbending spine. "Then pay up." Liam lowered his gaze, wicked as a devil. "Five hundred thousand. I'm giving you a discount." Sia felt like she was going to die, either from rage or sheer terror. "Five hundred thousand? Are you robbing me?" She had never even seen that kind of money in her life. She had dreamed of becoming "Tang Ten Billion," but the truth was she was broke. The Yoxal family had sent betrothal gifts worth millions, and Eva Thubron's family had swallowed every last cent. Five hundred thousand was impossible. She did not have a dime on her, and no amount of working herself to the bone would ever earn it. "That's insane!" Sia's lips parted in disbelief. "Do city people always play this big?" "Insane?" Liam's voice stayed low and rough, and in that position, they were a breath away from losing control. He did not want to stop. "My net worth is in the hundreds of billions. You slept with me five times in one night. One hundred thousand per time. That's fair." Sia wanted to cry herself to death. If regret came in a bottle, she would have downed seven or eight. If she could turn back time, she would never have provoked this devil with the lion's mouth. "I don't have money…" Her brows knitted tight, and her voice turned small and wronged. "C-can I work it off? I'll pay you in installments, okay?" She was broke. If the Yoxal family found out her conduct was this bad, the consequences would be brutal. But this new boss also felt like the kind of man you could not afford to offend. She truly felt like she was about to cry herself apart. "Fine." Liam watched her expression shift with leisurely patience. "Interest doubles every year." Sia's face went blank. She froze, stunned stupid. Five hundred thousand became a million in a year… He really was the kind of monster who ate people and left no bones. "Waaah…" Sia glanced at Liam, then her mouth crumpled and she burst into tears. She cried so hard it sounded like her heart was breaking. The moment she cried, a flicker of panic flashed in Liam's burning eyes. "Stop crying!" he barked. He could not stand women's tears. That night, when she had cried the first time, he had nearly lost control. "Waaah… just kill me," Sia sobbed, beyond caring anymore. "I can't pay it back." She could not. She really could not. Five hundred thousand was too much. She could not steal it, even if she tried. Her entire worldview shattered. "If you keep crying, I'll take you right here," Liam threatened, voice dark. "Pay with your body." Sia stopped instantly, like a switch had been flipped. She sniffled, hiccuping. Her lashes were soaked, her eyes rimmed red, her lips still pouting with grievance. "Waaah… President…" Sia tried to play pitiful, fishing for sympathy. "I-I really don't have money." He was so rich he surely would not care about a mere five hundred thousand. To him, it was nothing. To her, it was a debt that could kill. "Hm?" Liam did not buy her tearful act. But when fat tears slid down her cheeks, he still reached up and wiped them away. His warm fingers brushed the delicate skin at the corner of her eye. Sia tensed so hard her toes curled. She stared at the flawless, almost godlike man in front of her with wet, trembling eyes, not realizing how much that fragile look made her easier to want. "Since you won't choose either of those two roads," Liam said softly, "I'll give you a third." "What choice?" "Be my woman." "I won't!" Sia lifted her chin and refused on the spot, her sweet voice carrying a stubborn certainty.