"I want to hear you say it, Summerine."

But if this was the price she had to pay for her freedomandhis—-

Her eyes started to sting as she forced herself to meet his gaze.

Say it.

Her heart started to hammer.

Say it.

Her lungs started to burn.

Say it.

And when her lips finally parted—-

"No, it's n-not true," she heard herself choke out.

"Then just tell me his name."

His tone had actually turned cajoling, but this only freaked her out. It was as if her husband had turned into a complete stranger, and his Perfect-Gentleman persona was nothing but a sham.

"I give you my word I won't harm him."

Thiswas the real Ryu Harcourt all along—-

"I just need to get rid of him."

And did hejustthreaten to commit murder?

"W-What exactly do you mean?" Summerine stammered.

"Why do you even ask," her husband asked in a suddenly cold voice, "when you say you're not having an affair?"

"Because you're scaring me!"

"Good."

Summerine was horrified.Was he actually happy that he was scaring her?

"You need to understand from now on that I am not the kind of personanyonewants to mess with."

"I u-understand!" And she really,reallydid, more so than he probably imagined.

"So, let's do this again, shall we?"

"B-But—-"

"Who's the guy?"

Summerine had barely started shaking her head when she saw Ryu close his eyes as if needing to control himself from strangling her...and the sight was enough to have her entire body shudder.

"I-I'm n-not—-"

"Stop lying to me."

The softness of his voice was like having the sharpest blade press against her throat, and Summerine felt as if she was about to faint at the sound.