“Why? Anything special you saw in it?” Shouldn’t I just walk away? But here I was, asking questions to him out of my stupid curiosity. As far as I knew, he had never been to any charity functions, let alone donating a million in a day.

He stepped close, his stormy gray irises peered into mine. “What do you see in them?”

I titled my head, my brows creasing.

“I—a rose?” I uttered, glancing back at the painting.

“And?” he probed.

“And…” My gaze flickered in the backseat again. “And some rosebuds…” My eyes widened as realization set in.

“Exactly. Rosebuds and a beautiful blooming rose,” he whispered, easing closer. “Ring a bell, Rosebud? Or, should I say, my Rose?”

My breath hitched at my throat at his words. He-he remembered. He remembered what he said to me on my ninth birthday.

A shaky breath escaped my lips. If he remembered, then he also knew of the feelings I’d harbored for him for all these years. I was right, he knew. He knew everything.

“You…” I gulped the lump down my throat, my heart pounding.

“Yes, I remember everything. You know why I bought it?”

I shook my head, still reeling from his revelation.

“Because the moment my eyes fell onto this rose, it became mine. And I don’t let go of anything that belongs to me.”

A gasp slipped through my mouth. Even though someone else would think that he was talking about the painting, I knew he wasn’t. Those intense gray orbs of his were on me as declared his claim.

And I don’t let go of anything that belongs to me.

Something ticked in my head as I remembered my message to him last week. It was his reply to me.

Just three months, and I will be free of this contract soon. You can’t keep me here forever.

THIRTEEN: THE VIP ELEVATOR

“So, you mean he declared that he wants you? That you’re his?” Cassie asked, with her jaw on the floor.

“He didn’t exactly say that.”

“But this is what he meant with whatever he said. Even a kid can see through it!” she argued.

I threw the cards we were playing on the table and leaned back against the black leather couch, huffing. After the auction, I got a call from her to meet at her place. Suffering from a feeble flu and bored at home, she wanted my company.

“God, I’ve seen people being crazy in love before. But this? This is insane!” She shook her head in disbelief. “Buying an entire company just to bring you closer to him, forcing you to join the board meetings so he could see you more and wasting a million on a painting?”