SINFULLY YOURS

Chapter 54: Chapter 54. Target Her Alone

Chapter 54. Target Her Alone

His fingers felt warm, yet slightly cold—a strange mix of both as they traced calmly against her cheek.

Her neck slightly ached from the way she had her head angled back just to look up at him.

So freaking tall, she thought, her eyelids fluttering together. She was lost in a daze. She felt his hand slide across her cheek down toward her jaw. Then, his thumb brushed lightly against her bottom lip, sending a tingling hot sensation flooding through her nerves.

She swallowed with a hard gulp, her eyelids fluttering and her heart pounding in her chest. She knew she definitely hadn’t started it. What the hell? she thought, staring up at him as he looked down at her.

She saw the slight smirk on the corner of his lips. The way those sharp, glittering diamond eyes stared at her with such intensity made her feel like he was manipulating her—like he was controlling her with his senses. She felt frozen, locked in ice. For some strange reason, she couldn’t move.

His fingers lingered against her lips for a while. She saw the way his eyes raked all over her face.

”Goddamn it, aren’t you such a cute little thing?” he murmured.

She frowned slightly. What the hell is going on? Where the hell did he come from? How the fuck did he get into our estate? She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

He took the opportunity to gently pull her bottom lip away from her upper lip. Her eyelids fluttered and she flinched, the racing of her pulse relentless. It almost felt like her veins were about to erupt.

Literally on fire.

”As much as I’d love to stay and keep on playing—to keep on admiring this magnificent beauty—I have work to do.”

The calmness and smoothness of his voice felt like a live electric circuit rushing through her body. She vibrated, still finding it hard to move. She saw his eyes look around, his eyelids squinting slightly.

”Your friend has noticed your absence.”

He dived back into her gaze with a smile, then breathed out.

”I am going to miss you, Señorita,” he said. ”I hope we can meet again. But for now, you have something important to do for me. You are going to be a very, very big help in bringing them down.”

He spoke with a smile, then gently pulled his hand away from her lips. Mia remained frozen, staring at him with wide eyes and parted lips, totally dazed.

He chuckled, then placed both of his hands into his pockets. ”God, you look so fucking cute right now,” he said with a grin.

He chuckled again and turned around. The moment he turned—

”Mia!”

Rosa’s voice echoed across the backyard, but Mia didn’t move.

”Mia!” Rosa’s voice snapped again.

This time, Mia jerked, blinking rapidly as she snapped out of her daze. Her eyes darted around. She frowned in confusion when she realized she was standing in the backyard of her mansion.

She began to scratch her hand and rub her head. What the fuck? she thought. How the hell did I get here?

”Mia!”

She heard Rosa’s voice behind her and quickly turned. Rosa rounded the corner, rushing toward her with worry written all over her face.

”What the fuck? Where were you? How did you get here? What were you doing out here? I was looking everywhere for you!” Rosa said.

Mia’s eyelids fluttered. ”I am...” She looked around, scratching her neck. ”I don’t... I don’t... I don’t know,” she replied with a frown, her eyes shifting to the side.

Rosa stared at her with squinted eyes. ”Are you okay?”

Mia blinked, staring at the ground near her feet. ”I don’t... I don’t know.”

Rosa scoffed, staring at her with a raised eyebrow. ”That’s fucking ridiculous, Mia. What do you mean you don’t know? You don’t know if you’re okay?”

Mia blinked and looked up at her. She chuckled nervously and rubbed her neck. ”It’s just... I don’t know, I’m just confused,” she admitted with a frown.

She placed her hand against her lips. A lingering sensation remained—too hot, piercing against her senses, impossible to detangle from her mind.

”I don’t know why I have this strange feeling, like I wasn’t alone a few minutes ago,” she said.

Rosa’s eyes widened. She began looking around quickly, as if searching for someone. ”Really? What? Was there someone else? Was it an attacker? A kidnapper?” she asked rapidly.

Mia looked around and chuckled weakly. ”Well, there’s nobody here, right?”

Rosa frowned at her. ”Girl, you are losing it.”

Mia rubbed her neck again. ”I don’t know. My mind is just... I’m just confused, because I was in the living room a few minutes ago. I don’t know how I got out here. How did I get here?” She looked around again.

Rosa’s eyes widened. ”Oh my God, girl, you’re slowly getting dementia,” she said sarcastically.

Mia turned to her, shooting her a sharp glare. Rosa quickly raised both hands in surrender.

”I’m sorry, my bad! I just had to say it because that’s freaking weird. How the hell can you tell me you don’t know how you got from the living room down to this place?”

Mia folded her arms and breathed out. ”Well, maybe I was just lost in my own thoughts,” she said.

Rosa suddenly stopped, her expression turning serious. ”Wait. You said you don’t know how you got here, right?”

Mia looked at her and nodded. ”Yeah.”

”How did it feel? Did it feel like a certain portion of your memory is blank? Like you were in the living room, and then the rest of your memory went dark until you found yourself out here?”

Mia nodded eagerly. ”Yes! Yes, exactly. That’s what it feels like.”

Rosa’s eyes widened. Her mind instantly flashed back to Mr. Don’s mansion—the moment she felt embarrassed by him seeing her exposed, the way he touched her, and the blank space that followed in her mind.

”Yeah, that’s so freaking weird,” Rosa said with a frown, staring at the ground as she tapped her cheek in confusion.

”Anyways...” Mia quickly snapped her hands together. ”It’s probably just my brain playing tricks on me. Ah, I should just get inside. I’m feeling so tired.”

Rosa tried her best not to think about it further. But she had this strange feeling that told her she couldn’t ignore this weirdness for long.

A short while later, both of them sat on the sofa. Mia was typing quickly on her phone.

”I don’t have the strength to cook,” Mia said. ”I guess I’ll just order takeout or something. What would you like to eat?”

Rosa was still lost in her own thoughts, picking at her fingernails. Mia’s eyes drifted from Rosa’s hands up to her face, and she let out a quiet sigh.

”Are you still really worried about that?” Mia asked.

Rosa looked up at her. ”I don’t know... the whole situation is just confusing me.”

Mia chuckled softly. ”Just forget about it, okay? It could just be nature playing tricks on our minds. It might not actually be anything serious.”

Rosa pressed her lips together. ”Yep, I guess I’d love to believe that.”

Mia smiled. ”Are you hungry?”

Rosa blinked. ”Ah, just get me whatever you’re getting yourself.”

”Okay, sure. No problem then.”

Rosa twisted her lips. Suddenly, her phone vibrated on her lap. She picked it up and saw an incoming call from none other than Mrs. Lee. She frowned and ground her teeth.

Oh, good fucking Lord, she thought. Why the hell haven’t I blocked this number?

She stared at the ringing screen.

The call continued, the device buzzing persistently in her hand. Mia paused and looked over at the phone.

”Are you going to pick that?” Mia asked.

Rosa shook her head and set the phone face down. ”It’s not anyone important.”

Mia frowned, picking up the phone to look at the caller ID. She scoffed. ”I’m still surprised you have her number. Why the hell haven’t you blocked her yet?”

Rosa shrugged. ”I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought about it.”

”Do you want me to do it for you?” Mia offered.

”No, it’s fine. Just leave it. I’m not going to answer.”

Moments later, the call ended, followed by a double vibration signaling a missed call notification.

Rosa frowned, looking down at her phone on the cushion beside her. She knew the kind of person Mrs. Lee was—relentless. If her calls went unanswered, her next move was always a text message.

She clenched her fists tightly, then breathed out in exasperation, dragging her palm slowly down her forehead.

Let me just get this over with, she thought.

She picked up the phone, unlocked it, and opened her messages. Tapping on Mrs. Lee’s thread, she went straight to the latest text.

Hope you are thinking about what I said, Mrs. Lee’s message read.

Rosa flinched, gripping her phone tightly. Jesus, can’t she just give me some breathing room? she thought, staring at the screen with a heavy frown.

Her heart began to throb. She closed her eyes and exhaled sharply.

* Ping.*

A follow-up message appeared.

The clock is ticking.

That single sentence felt like a ticking time bomb. Her heart beat so fast it felt painful, her grip tightening on the casing as her breathing grew shallow.

Then, a link flooded straight into her inbox.

Rosa flinched. She stared at the URL hesitantly before slowly hovering her thumb over it. She tapped it, and a banner flashed across her screen. It was an official, boldly designed notice from the university board stipulating that the deadline for tuition payment was in two days.

The words stared back at her from the screen as if they were designed specifically to target her alone.

She closed her eyes and ground her teeth.

Oh, good fucking Lord.