Top Assassins Call Me The Lady Boss-Chapter 97: Still leaving the Villa

Chapter Ninety Seven

He didn’t make a sound.

Not a flinch. Not a groan. Nothing.

Only the faint tremor in his clenched fists betrayed him.

The silence that followed was thick, suffocating. The men around them shifted, uneasy, but she barely noticed.

Her eyes locked onto his, searching, and waiting for the crack... for the moment he would break, the moment he would confess.

But there was nothing.

Nothing but quiet pain and something else. Something deeper.

Something like betrayal.

And yet, she still couldn’t see it. Her mind was too clouded with the hunger for the truth to realize...

She was torturing the one man who would have died for her.

Everyone saw how disappointed he looked so why was she not seeing it?

"Boss..."

She turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on the man who had spoken. His face was tight with unease, and his fingers twitched at his sides as if controlling himself. "He is one of us."

The words rang in her ears, but she was too angry to believe them.

’He is one of us.’

Was he?

Her fingers tightened around the still-warm knife. And then, without a moment’s hesitation, she threw it.

The blade sliced through the air and before anyone could do anything, It buried itself deep in his skull with a sickening thunk.

The man didn’t even make a sound. Just dropped where he was standing. A few sharp inhales were heated for a short while

Then the room went dead silent. Nobody showed any reaction or murmured like they did.

They shuffled their feet as they took an unconscious step back. No one dared to speak. No one even moved after.

She turned back to him— the man bound to the chair. The one whose silence was driving her deeper into madness. He was no longer Cole to her. He was a nameless carcass to her.

His face had finally changed. Not in fear. Not in anger. But something else. Something raw.

His throat worked as he swallowed, eyes flicking down to the fresh corpse, then back to her.

She ignored the slight shake in her hands as she stepped toward the tray again. The tools waited for her, glinting for attention, each one offering a different kind of pain.

Her fingers skimmed over them once more.

Then, she found it.

A thin, hooked blade that was small, sharp, and designed for peeling flesh from bone.

Perfect.

She picked it up, rolling it between her fingers, feeling its weight.

Then, she turned back to him.

"Let’s see how much more you can take."

But when she looked up— when her eyes met his— something in her chest twisted.

The fire in his gaze was gone. Not because he had accepted his fate, not because he had surrendered to the pain.

No.

Because he was hurt.

Not by the blade. Not by the burns.

By her.

His lips were slightly parted, his breaths shallow and uneven, but he never looked away. There was no anger in his face, no hatred. Just... disbelief.

As if he couldn’t comprehend that Asli, his leader, his boss— was doing this to him.

That she had doubted him.

Her stomach tightened, but she pushed it down, burying it beneath the rage that had fueled her from the beginning. He had to be lying. He had to be.

Because if he wasn’t...

Then she had made the worst mistake of her life.

Her fingers tightened around the hooked blade, but she didn’t move.

He just kept looking at her with that same look of betrayal, disbelief, and pain.

And that was when it hit her.

If she had truly believed he was guilty, she wouldn’t have used a knife. Even the burn had been controlled.

If she had known— really known— that he was a traitor, she would have used something worse. More painful and dangerous .

She would have made him suffer.

Her grip loosened. Then, with a sharp exhale, she tossed the blade back onto the tray. It clattered against the metal, loud in the tense silence.

Her men waited, eyes flickering between her and the man still tied to the chair. No one dared to speak.

She stepped closer, and stared down at him. His breath was uneven, his wrists red and raw from the restraints, but he never looked away.

She did. Just for a second. freewebnoveℓ.com

"Untie him," she said finally, voice cold.

No one moved at first. Then, one of them hesitantly stepped forward, loosening the ropes around his wrists, then his ankles.

She crossed her arms, watching as he slowly rolled his shoulders, flexing his stiff fingers. He didn’t speak. He didn’t ask questions. He only just clenched his jaw as if to control the pain she inflicted on him.

She hated that. She knew he was innocent so why was he not asking her any questions. Why was he not demanding she apologized? Why was he not threatening to leave? Why was he not demanding a huge sum of money for what she had done to him?

"Pack your things," she said. Her voice was flat, and emotionless. If he was this calm, then he could probably be planning his revenge against her.

But this was Cole. The voice in her head reminded her of who was truly before her. However, who could’ve thought that Cole would be one day tied in one of the chairs in the torture room?

"You’re leaving the villa."

She quickly turned on her heel before he could say anything. Before she could say anything. She walked out.

Not a glance back. Not a pause. She made her way through the halls with her tensed body.

Her bedroom was dark when she entered. She locked the door behind her, exhaling as she pressed her hands against the cool wood. Her chest felt too tight and ber hands ached.

But she had made her decision.

She would not let him stay.

She poured herself a drink, downed it in one go, and let the burn settle deep in her stomach. She didn’t want to turn him into a monster. She wasn’t sure she was ever going to apologize to him.

Then, her phone buzzed.

She picked it up, scanning the message.

’I’m not leaving, boss.’

Her fingers clenched around the glass.

’I’ll take this as my break since I’ve never had one before.’

She exhaled sharply through her nose, jaw tightening.

Of course he would do this.

Of course he would stay.

Would she let him have his break? Would they be able to act like that never happened? Why would he still want to be beside her?

’But in return? You would tell me exactly who had whispered that lie in your ear. And I would kill them for it.’ this followed and she smirked.

Unfortunately, who he was, was more.

Her grip on the phone tightened as she reread the message.

’I’m not leaving.’ she read the text message over and over again. She wanted to be sure she was reading right.

A breath she hadn’t realized she was holding slipped past her lips. Her fingers twitched, as if debating whether to reply, but she set the phone down instead.

It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.

She had told him to go. She had wanted him to go.

Hadn’t she?

Her nails tapped against the glass in her hand. The ice had melted, and the liquid inside now was a mess... just like her thoughts.

She leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind replayed everything: the accusations, the heat of the knife, the look in his eyes when she had done the unforgivable.

If I had killed him...

She swallowed, hating the thought. Because she knew what would have happened. It would have broken something inside her.

No, it would have shattered her completely.

Because for all her strength, for all her ruthlessness, she had never been prepared to let him go.

She had grown up with him. He had been by her side long before she had built a name for herself. Whether she accepted it or not, Cole was part of that name.

She didn’t need anyone. Had never needed anyone.

But him?

Whether she needed him or not, he had always been there.

When she worked herself to exhaustion, he worked harder just so she wouldn’t have to carry everything alone. When she didn’t ask for help, he gave it anyway.

She could handle everything on her own. She wanted to handle everything on her own.

But knowing he was always there, that he always would be... made it easier.

And now, she had almost lost that.

Not because he had betrayed her.

But because she had let herself believe that he did... That he could betray her.

Her jaw clenched.

She would find out who truly was behind it.

And when she did, they would be the ones tied to the chair and he’d give him the chance to pay them back.

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Ps: This Chapter is not edited due to a busy schedule. Will edit it later. Enjoy reading.