Chapter 36: The Ultimate Choice

"Don’t worry, Julian," Victoria whispered softly, her dark eyes hollow. "Even if you end my life, no one at Rose Manor will harm a hair on your head. You can keep the black card, and I will have my lawyers transfer all my assets under your name."

Her pale lips parted in a bitter, tragic smile. "If you kill me, you’ll be completely free."

"However... if you don’t kill me right now, it means you accept your fate. I will lock you by my side, and you will belong to me forever."

She braced herself, fully expecting him to drive the blade down to claim his freedom and her fortune.

Instead, Julian snapped out of his shock and violently tossed the dagger across the room. It clattered loudly against the hardwood floor.

"Victoria, are you crazy?! I’m not going to kill you!" Julian declared firmly.

Victoria froze. Her breath caught, her deep dark eyes brimming with absolute disbelief. "You... won’t kill me?"

"I’ve told you before, Victoria," Julian spoke earnestly, meeting her gaze without flinching. "I genuinely want to build a life with you. I am going to make myself fall completely in love with you."

Victoria searched his face desperately, looking for any trace of deceit or performance. Yet his eyes were clear, bright, and utterly sincere.

Could he really be telling the truth?

She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. On their very first meeting, she had forced him into her bed, and shortly after, she had locked him away. How could a man like Julian possibly harbor genuine feelings for someone as twisted as her?

"Julian," Victoria pressed again, her voice trembling slightly. "I’m giving you one last chance. Think carefully. If you refuse to kill me, you will have no one else for the rest of your life—and you will never, ever escape my side."

Julian nodded without a second thought. "I’ve already thought it through, Victoria. My answer hasn’t changed. But... I do hope you won’t keep me locked in this room forever."

If not for the random tasks assigned by that glitchy system, he would happily spend his days relaxing in luxury at Rose Manor. But he knew he’d eventually need to step outside to complete future prompts.

Victoria clenched her fists, her gaze darkening with suspicion. "Give you freedom? So you can run off to marry another woman?"

"That engagement was a complete setup!" Julian began explaining quickly. "The arrangement was originally between Leo and Miss Ross. But after her accident, Leo backed out and dumped the mess onto me."

"I have never even spoken to Miss Ross before last night! The only reason I went to the ballroom was to publicly expose Leo’s real identity and officially break off the agreement."

Julian reached for his phone on the nightstand, unlocking the screen. "If you don’t believe me, listen to this."

He tapped the screen, playing the audio file he had recorded.

His cold, distant voice echoed clearly in the quiet bedroom, explicitly telling Miss Ross that he had zero intention of marrying her and advising her not to waste her time.

The recording finished, and Julian locked his screen.

"Victoria, Miss Ross doesn’t compare to you in any way," Julian said seriously. "Unless I’m completely blind, why would I toss aside Victoria Sterling just to get engaged to her?"

He raised two fingers, making a formal gesture. "If even half a word I just said is a lie, may I be—"

Before he could finish the vow, Victoria reached out, her soft palm gently covering his mouth.

"Julian... don’t swear," Victoria murmured, her eyes softening into a warm, radiant gaze. "I believe you."

Just this once... I will choose to trust him.

Julian let out a long, silent sigh of relief. Pacifying a yandere heiress was truly an Olympic sport. If he had known he’d transmigrate into a world with an obsessive female CEO, he would have studied psychological negotiation tactics a lot sooner.

Victoria cupped his jaw, her thumb tracing his cheekbone. "Julian... if you ever lie to me again, I won’t just lock you away. I will personally destroy everyone you care about—including the Vance family."

Julian’s eyes lit up slightly at the mention of the Vance family being destroyed, but he quickly maintained his composure.

"Deal," Julian agreed softly. "I’ll be good. I’m not going anywhere."

Victoria’s lips curved into a faint, rare smile. Seeing him so gentle and compliant filled her chest with an overwhelming sense of warmth. As long as Julian stayed by her side, she was more than willing to fall into the sweet world he built for her.

"Victoria, you haven’t eaten since yesterday," Julian offered kindly, slipping out of bed. "Let me go downstairs and get you some fresh warm porridge."

He stepped out of the bedroom, where Butler Chen was still anxiously standing guard in the hallway.

The old butler rushed forward the moment the door opened. "Master Julian! How did it go? Has the misunderstanding with Miss Sterling been resolved?"

"Relax, Butler Chen," Julian smiled reassuringly. "She’s calmed down."

"Thank goodness! That is wonderful news!" Butler Chen breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Julian took the tray of warm porridge from the butler and returned to the master suite. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he supported Victoria against his shoulder, feeding her carefully spoonful by spoonful.

Victoria ate quietly, her dark eyes fixed on his handsome side profile.

Looking at her peaceful, relaxed expression, Julian couldn’t help but smile to himself. When she isn’t threatening to lock me in a crystal casket, she’s actually surprisingly cute.

For the next two days, Victoria set aside all her corporate duties. Afraid that Julian might disappear the moment she turned her back, she stayed inside Rose Manor, remaining attached to his side from morning until night.

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Thanks to all readers, i got contract and after a few Chapters i am going to set a Chapters on premium, so don’t waste money on it ,

Yes I said don’t waste your money .

And if you have webnovel reading addiction , just start writing a webnovel, ✍️

Because it’s true that , I have very serious addiction and i wested my 5 years on it .I read webnovels all the time ,and in remaining time I became maladaptive daydreamer , just thinking about fantasy imaging myself in that story,

Resulting i loss intrest in real life , I became introvert,loner . But I can’t put all the blame on this single reason, ofcourse there are other reasons so after writing a novel on my own, my addiction is just faded - if you have a addiction just give it try ,

And it doesn’t matter you get a contract or not , just write something( My assumption is that for gaing a contract you have at least 50 collections )

.....