You entered with quick, angry steps, your heels making a loud, echoing sound against the polished marble floor. But it was no louder than the sound of your palm connecting with Dionysus’ face, your ex.

You didn’t even flinch, didn’t hesitate for a moment. The betrayal, the humiliation, the $40 million loss— that he was responsible for, all of it, had boiled over, and all you could think of was making him feel the pain he had inflicted.

The guards’ guns were pointed at you, but you kept your burning gaze fixed on him. Then, he signaled to his men to lower their weapons, his voice calm, clear, and honeyed despite the flush on his cheek. “Everyone out,” he said, the command laced with the faintest hint of a laugh, as if this were a game.

The room emptied quickly, whispers and hushed murmurs filling the silence left in their wake. Your anger flared hotter at his nonchalance. He looked at you with a sarcastic smile on his face, pulling at the red mark you’d left on his cheek like it was a trophy. The mark seemed to glow against his skin, a testament to his unshakable arrogance. “So, that’s all you’ve got? A slap?” His voice was a low, mocking rumble, rich and intoxicating, like wine poured over a threat. “You know, you could’ve done something much more… interesting than that…”

He reached for you, his grip on your wrist a tight vise, his fingers digging into your flesh with the strength of someone who thrived on chaos. “Forty million wasn’t enough, was it? Didn’t quite make you see how easily I can dismantle your world.” His voice dropped to a dangerous purr, his smirk sharpening into something predatory. “Seems I’ll have to try harder next time, make the losses a little more…personal.” He paused, letting the threat coil in the air like smoke, before adding, with a glint of wild, unrepentant hunger in his eyes, “I’m sure we can find a way to make you pay attention to me… make you crave me, just like before.”