The sound of Viktor's heavy boots echoed in the corridor. His presence on the other side of the door created a suffocating tension. Alia waited by the door, coiled like a spring. Without a moment's hesitation, as Viktor grabbed the handle, Alia unleashed a devastating 'Sikaran'—the Filipino martial art technique of rapid, powerful kicking. As the door cracked open, she delivered a thunderous kick aimed at Viktor's knee and lower torso.
But Viktor's movements were as alert as a beast. He anticipated the strike, instantly maintaining his balance, and caught Alia's airborne leg in his powerful grip. It was as if he had been waiting for exactly this moment.
With a sharp jerk, he pulled Alia from the room into the corridor. Alia's lethal Sikaran strike only served to further incite Viktor. Pulling her by the leg, he tossed her onto the corridor floor.
Standing over her, gripping her ankle in his iron-clad fist, Viktor leaned down to lock eyes with her. His gaze was filled with a terrifying satisfaction and authority. He said calmly, "Did you think you could escape me with these small kicks of yours, Alia? The more you fight, the more this darkness of mine will consume you."
Lying on the floor, Alia realized that Viktor's possessiveness had reached a point where every counter-move she made only fueled his fixation on her. Viktor tightened his grip even further. The pressure of his fingers on Alia's ankle felt as if it would crush the bone. He dragged her across the floor toward a darker corner of the corridor. Viktor's gaze was fixed—there was no mercy, only a demonic resolve to completely immobilize her.
He hoisted her leg up to his shoulder level, robbing Alia of even the slightest ability to maneuver. Then, Viktor leaned over her and whispered, "The fight is over, Alia. I told you, there is no way to escape from my world. The more you try to break these chains, the more ruthlessly I will keep you under my control."
Under the weight of Viktor's body, Alia was completely pinned to the floor. In the dim light of the corridor, Viktor's shadow loomed over her, making him look like a massive beast. Alia's strength was fading fast, and Viktor's cruel possessiveness was pushing her deeper into an abyssal void. Viktor's every move was absolute and inhumane. It was as if he wanted to crush Alia's existence under the weight of his own dominance. Every muscle in Alia's body tensed in agony. Her body could no longer endure this extreme pressure. Faced with Viktor's monstrous aggression, Alia gasped, crying out in a broken voice:
"Viktor... stop! Please... I will die if you do this. Don't you realize my body cannot take this? This is too much... the pain is too great!"
But no sound from the outside world was reaching Viktor's ears. His eyes held only a blind trance. He seemed to enjoy Alia's cries even more. Leaning in close to her ear, he spoke in a grave, trembling voice:
"Dying? Reaching the peak of this destruction is our destiny, Alia. I will cross every boundary to claim you as mine, beyond anything you could ever imagine."
Viktor did not loosen his hold even slightly. Instead, he pressed down even deeper onto Alia, as if trying to merge her into every fiber of his being. Alia felt that this cruel love of Viktor's had brought her to that gray line between life and death, from which there was no turning back.Faced with Viktor's demonic aggression, Alia could no longer suppress her agony and rage. Her entire body was trembling, her eyes a mix of tears and fury. She lashed out at Viktor in Russian with a sharp, blistering insult:
"Ты больной ублюдок! Кто так проявляет близость? Это не любовь, это насилие!"You sick bastard! Who gets intimate like this? This isn't love; this is violence!"
Gasping, Alia looked into Viktor's eyes and added, "I am not a doll for you to break and rebuild whenever you please! This sick madness of yours isn't giving me love; it's only bringing death right before me."
Alia's stinging Russian insult struck Viktor like a whip. But the intensity of the darkness in his eyes did not fade; rather, Alia's rebellion only incited him further. Without loosening his grip in the slightest, he leaned toward her face and said in a chilling voice, "You are right, Alia I am sick. And you are the only medicine that keeps driving me further into madness." Alia's agonizing scream and her insult were met with Viktor's immovable intensity. He remained firm over her, his muscles as rigid as steel. Looking down at Alia, Viktor flashed a cruel, crooked smile. He said in a chilling, sharp Russian tone:
"Ты должна была знать, с кем имеешь дело, Алёнка. Все русские мужчины такие. Мы не просим мы берем то, что принадлежит нам по праву." You should have known who you were dealing with, Alia. All Russian men are like this. We don't ask we take what belongs to us by right."
Hearing this, Alia felt a volcano erupting within her. She knew this arrogance and sense of male entitlement were just parts of Viktor's psychological warfare. Bursting with loathing, she glared at him and retorted, "Your head! Your sick Russian male entitlement has driven your own head mad, Viktor! Whatever you think you are, you are actually lower. This forced possession isn't love; it's your own failure!"
Alia's defiant and fiery gaze flared like sparks of fire before Viktor's eyes. Viktor realized that while he could pin her body down, he would never be able to tame her indomitable spirit. At the height of Alia's agonizing cry, the silence of the corridor was shattered by a sound Knock, knock, knock!
Viktor's focus snapped instantly. A splash of cold reality hit his demonic trance. He shifted some of his weight off Alia and turned toward the door. His eyes still burned with the remnants of rage and intensity, but his predatory instincts sharpened.
Viktor roared in Russian:
"Кто там?! Какого чёрта?!" Who's there?! What the hell?!)
From the other side of the door, the trembling voice of a bodyguard replied, "Boss, there's an emergency... someone important is here to see you immediately."
Viktor let out a long, frustrated breath. His eyes returned to Alia, who lay curled in pain and humiliation. He realized that under the pressure of the moment, he had to let go of his 'prey'. He gripped Alia's chin tightly and whispered through gritted teeth:
"You got a reprieve for today, Alia. But once this party ends, you won't have anywhere to hide from my darkness."
Viktor stood up. The monstrous pressure on Alia's body vanished, but she remained numb on the floor. Adjusting his jacket, Viktor stormed toward the door with immense annoyance, as if someone had just interrupted his most addictive vice. Viktor was striding toward the door in deep annoyance when Alia, summoning her remaining strength, sprang up. The cruelty of his words and the thought of him walking away ignited a strange madness within her. She reached out and gripped his expensive silk tie, pulling it hard to stop him.
Viktor's gait halted instantly. As he turned, he saw Alia holding his tie, pulling him toward her. Her eyes still held traces of vulnerability, but her voice carried a strange, stubborn defiance.
Looking directly into his eyes, Alia whispered, "Hummmm... you are not going."
Viktor stood frozen for a moment. He hadn't expected Alia to stop him like this. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, followed by a terrifying, satisfied smirk. He made no move to loosen his tie from her grip. Instead, he leaned in closer to her than ever before.
His hot breath brushed against her face. Viktor spoke in a slow, deep voice, "Do you know what you are doing? You are telling me to stay, even though you were talking about dying just a moment ago? Are you drowning completely in the addiction of my darkness, Alia?"
He leaned into her ear and whispered, "Fine. I'm not going anywhere. Let those outside wait. But for stopping me like this you will have to pay the price in full."
Viktor pulled her back into his embrace, abandoning the urgency of the situation outside. The world beyond that corridor door ceased to exist for him; his universe had narrowed down to just Alia and the destructive tension between them. Alia's sudden defiance and the way she pulled his tie had snapped Viktor's last thread of patience. He pulled her closer and planted a fierce, possessive kiss on her lips. That kiss was filled with dominance, obsession, and the intoxicant of forgetting the world for a moment. Alia, perhaps, had no more reservations; she surrendered herself to that destructive pull.
At that very moment, the bodyguard, driven by the urgency of the situation, pushed the door open to summon his boss. But what he saw inside made his blood run cold. In that corner of the corridor, Viktor and Alia were in such an intimate state that should never have been witnessed by anyone.
The bodyguard froze like stone. His hand slipped from the door handle. He instantly lowered his gaze and stammered nervously, "Opps... sry ! I... I didn't see anything! I was just...!"
Viktor didn't pull away from Alia; instead, he kept her shielded against his chest and fixed a cold, icy gaze on the bodyguard. That look alone was a death sentence.
Viktor remained silent for a heartbeat, then said in a deep, grave voice, "You've just shortened your own lifespan. You're lucky to be alive tonight only because Alia is keeping me occupied. Now get out and shut that door!"
The bodyguard didn't wait another second, fleeing with hurried steps and slamming the door shut. The suffocating silence returned to the corridor. Viktor turned back to Alia, his crooked smirk now mixed with a strange pleasure at having been caught.
"See, Alia," Viktor whispered, "the terror people feel when they stumble into my realm of darkness. Now tell me, shall we finish what we started, or should I go check on that 'urgent' visitor?"