Reclaiming Her Heart

Selena was now confined in a windowless room, with only a transparent glass panel above her head through which she could see the blue sky. She had no idea whether she was in the city or the suburbs.

She also didn't know how long she had been unconscious; she had woke up in this room.

She thought of the small snake that had bitten Raymond and belatedly felt a sense of fear.

The venom was highly toxic and could be fatal. How was Raymond now, and what was Mario's purpose?

"Open the door! Open the door!" She pounded on the only door in the room, but after two hours, no one answered.

Exhausted, she sat on the floor and heard footsteps outside the door.

The door opened, and Christopher's alter ego walked in.

The only thing in the room was a clock on the wall, and it now showed nine o'clock at night.

Christopher's alter ego saw her curled up on the floor, hugging her knees tightly, and a smile played at the corner of his mouth.

He knelt on one knee, grabbed her chin, and scrutinized her face.

Selena, repulsed, tried to slap his hand away, unable to comprehend how the gentle Mario she remembered could have turned into this. She also had questions swirling in her mind about the connection between this man and William.

Everything that happened last night couldn't have been orchestrated by Mario alone; William was the key player.

She didn't want to doubt William, but the box with the venomous snake was given to her by William himself.

She closed her eyes, her head aching from overthinking, unsure of what role William played in all this.

It was when she was holding the dagger that Raymond came over.

Her mind flashed back to Raymond's expression when he was bitten by the snake; he looked up at her, his eyes filled with disbelief. Selena felt nothing but excruciating pain.

Now, with her chin held firmly, Selena looked at Mario with utter disdain.

Christopher's alter ego merely raised an eyebrow, his hand brushing her brow and eyes.

"Selena," he called her name, his voice deceptively tender and gentle.

Selena frowned in disgust. "Get lost!"

She shoved him, but he didn't move; instead, he pulled her closer, his eyes tracing her face. "I dreamed about you. It's so strange."

"Don't disgust me," Selena said, her face remaining calm as she lowered her eyelashes, refusing to meet his gaze.

Christopher's alter ego released her, stood up slowly, and left the room without a second glance.

As soon as the door closed, Christopher's alter ego stood outside, hearing Christopher's voice in his mind. "You'll regret treating her like this sooner or later."

Christopher had wanted to stop what happened last night but was powerless because the alter ego had control of the body at the time.

He had tried to persuade him, but Christopher's alter ego wouldn't listen.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Christopher's alter ego suddenly punched the wall, his face darkening. "Why would I regret it, Christopher? I'm helping you. Last time, I used her to get the chip, and I found that threatening you with her works quite well. Now, as long as you help me with this experiment, I'll let her back to be with Raymond. How about that?"

Christopher said nothing.

Christopher's alter ego walked downstairs, took a sip of the strong liquor on the table. "When you come to your senses and decide to help me with this experiment, I'll let her go. You know I have no bottom line and will do anything. Didn't my last trick make her feel pain? She still thinks she had sex with me. She and Raymond already have a rift, and this time, I've made her the target of everyone's anger. Christopher, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve."

His long fingers swirled the glass in his hand, his legs casually propped on the table. His eyes gleamed with a seductive light that matched his face, making him irresistibly alluring.

"Mario, I've told you, I can't experiment on myself. The only person who can complete the experiment alone is under government surveillance, but you just don't believe me," Christopher said.

"You've been doing research with those people since you were a teenager. Why can't you do it? This body must be mine, Christopher. You need to disappear."

Christopher fell silent; reasoning with Mario was futile.