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"Please, lower the price, Mr. Milverton."
Lady Catherine's eyelids seductively moved as she stared at the white-haired man in front of her. The media mogul Charles Augustus Milverton, or rather, the secret side of the man, the King of Blackmail, watched her with a merciless look in his eyes. Yet, Lady Catherine still hoped that she would be able to change Mr. Milverton's mind by using her charm. It always worked on men. This is how she got a wealthy husband and when he turned out to be horribly boring in the bed, a lover. She never expected that this would ever come to light, she hid her secret well - but Mr. Milverton somehow got one of the letters into his hands which she wrote to the young baron and he was here now to blackmail her. This turn of events was the worst case scenario Lady Catherine could ever imagine. She didn't have the money Mr. Milverton asked from her, but she couldn't let him send that silly letter to her husband. She was bored of her husband, yes, but she didn't want to say goodbye to her current comfortable life where she had everything. That young baron was unfortunately too poor for her taste.
"I am sorry, dear Lady Catherine, but I'm afraid that I can't do that." Mr. Milverton's smile widened for the words, showing that he was amused by them. "I don't want to cause you harm. It is purely a matter of business."
Lady Catherine doubted that. It was clear that Mr. Milverton enjoyed this very much, just like she could tell that her begging had no effect on the media mogul. But she didn't give up, she knew that she needed to fight for herself. She decided to start playing seriously. She stood up from the sofa and walked to Mr. Milverton, shrinking down to the floor before him. She wrapped her arms around the man's legs and laid her head down on his lap. She looked up at Mr. Milverton like that, knowing how irresistible she was in that position. No man was able to say no to her when she watched them like that. She whispered in her softest, most melodic voice.
"Can't you make... an exception in my case, Mr. Milverton?" She asked. "I can't give you the money you demanded... but I can offer you something else."
Her lips formed a smile. She was confident that she would succeed. She saw that the man's expression suddenly changed. She couldn't read anything out of it, but she thought that she was close. She blinked again - then in the next moment, the pain struck her head as a hit landed on her cheek.
"How dare you touch Mr. Milverton?" She heard the furious cry. She didn't need to look up to know that the one who punched him was the media mogul's secretary, who, until now, was sitting there and didn't interrupt the conversation. But Lady Catherine's seductive behaviour somehow got the worst of him so he acted without his employer's permission. Lady Catherine's face hurt, but she didn't move. She waited for Mr. Milverton to punish his secretary for hurting her like every gentleman would have done, but what hit her ears instead was the media mogul's cheerful laugh.
"Ruskin, Ruskin. You shouldn't hit a woman." He told him, but his voice showed that he actually had no problem with that. Lady Catherine looked up and she was angry. Being disrespected like that!
But what she saw made her understand everything. She knew that her charm would never work on Mr. Milverton and she was not surprised by the man's next sentence.
"But Ruskin is right. You should not dare to touch me." He said and he gestured at his secretary to remove Lady Catherine's arms from his legs. She got tossed back to the floor. She looked up again and saw the joy in the secretary's eyes. This glance made her even more sure of the reason for the failure. Mr. Milverton was not into women - and he already had a lover.
"So you can offer me something else, Lady Catherine?" Mr. Milverton tilted his head and the smile on his face became even more monstrous, excited like he was about to have more fun. "Well, then. I want to see your tortured, humiliated face, the despair shining in your eyes." He let out a chuckle. "Beg me on the floor while you lick my secretary's shoes. I need to make up to him for making him jealous."
Lady Catherine started trembling from the repressed anger and the shame. Asking her to lick someone's shoes? The shoes of a commoner? She beggingly looked at Mr. Milverton, but she saw no mercy in the man's snake-like golden gaze. She knew that she couldn't change his mind, she had no chance for it from the start. The only choice she had to save everything she had was to obey and do what the heartless man asked.
Everything she had - except for her pride.
She leaned her head down and she started to lick the secretary's shoes. She was disgusted by herself. And she didn't know that it was just for waste - and her calvary had only just begun.