Chapter 5
639words
Theodore blocks the doorway.
Like a wall.
Those bloodshot eyes scan me meticulously.
From my terrified face.
To my hands gripping the suitcase.
Finally, landing on the phone screen.
The call is still ongoing.
"Hang up."
The imperative tone, restoring the coldness of a tyrant.
My fingers stiffen as I press the hang-up button.
"Mr. M" exits the call.
The screen goes dark.
Theodore lets out a short, cold laugh.
"Ivy."
He pronounces my name with a playful tone that sends chills down my spine.
"Or should I call you, Miss Siren, worth fifty million?"
Caught in the act.
But I absolutely cannot show weakness.
"Since you already know," I force myself to look directly into his eyes.
This time.
No longer mute.
I use my original voice—cool, steady, yet carrying the familiar rhythm that haunts his midnight dreams.
"Then step aside."
"Money and services exchanged, transaction complete."
Theodore freezes.
His hand, extended midair, stops in place.
Even in his fury, bodily instinct remains more honest than the mind.
This is the first time in half a year of marriage that "Ivy's" voice is heard.
Not Siren's voice through electronic currents.
Not the mute's dull breathing sounds.
It's a living, immediate sound wave.
That voice...
That voice that can instantly make his screaming nerves resonate.
Identical.
He stares at my lips as if he's seen a ghost.
His pupils contract violently.
"So..."
He murmurs, his expression dazed.
"This is your voice..."
He looks at me like I'm a statue that has suddenly spoken.
"You just didn't want to hear it."
I coldly retort.
"You said my voice polluted the air. So I shut up."
"Now, get out of my way."
This sentence ignites even greater fury.
"Shut up? I see you've been enjoying this act!"
The shame of being fooled overcomes his shock.
He suddenly grabs my wrist!
"Let go of me! Theodore!"
"What if I don't? Will you continue pretending to be mute to fool me?"
He drags me out of the nanny's room like he's taking out trash.
Dragging me all the way.
Throws me onto the leather sofa in the living room.
On the coffee table, that signed "Divorce Agreement" is still there.
Theodore picks it up.
Tearing it apart methodically.
Paper scraps float down like snowflakes.
"Trying to leave?"
He looms over me, his eyes dark.
"Taking the 50 million you obtained through fraud, plus the 2 million from just now, and planning to walk away?"
"You transferred that money voluntarily."
I grip the sofa armrest tightly.
"And I accepted that 2-million check as a settlement. It's legal."
"Legal?"
Theodore leans forward, trapping me in the corner of the sofa.
"Ivy."
Cold fingers trace across my cheek.
"Using a false identity, concealing facts, inducing the victim to transfer huge sums."
"The Winterbourne family's legal team has a hundred ways to classify this as major financial fraud."
He reaches out and roughly extracts the 2-million check from my pocket that hasn't even had time to warm up.
He pinches it between two fingers.
Riiip—
Just a piece of waste paper.
"Fifty million."
He whispers in my ear, like a demon's murmur.
"An especially enormous amount. Enough for you to rot in prison for decades."
"Your creditor received the money, but what about you?"
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison?"
My heart contracts violently.
He's right.
That fifty million, I used it all to settle accounts with my creditor, not a penny left.
Now I'm penniless and suspected of being a "fraudster."
"What do you want?" I grit my teeth.
Theodore narrows his eyes, enjoying my desperate situation.
"From today on, you're not going anywhere."
"Since you are Siren, since your voice is worth fifty million."
"Then stay here and repay your debt slowly."
