Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
She stepped into the dressing room, reached for the door to shut it behind her, and started unfastening the wide-sleeved opera costume-when she heard the click of a lock.
Her heart sank.
She lunged for the doorknob and twisted hard.
It wouldn’t budge.
Whoever was outside had locked it from the hallway.
“Who’s out there? Sinton, is that you?!”
She had always thought Simon was a lunatic.
But if he wanted to teach her a lesson, he’d do it in the open-not in some sneaky, underhanded way like this.
Her instincts screamed that this wasn’t Simon.
It had to be Wendy and her daughter.
They were trying to trap her. Force her into a corner. Use something against her to make her agree to settle.
And right now, there was a very real chance someone was waiting for her inside this room.
Someone they had sent.
The dressing room had one of those big wardrobes with two doors.
And just as the thought flashed through her mind, she heard a rustling sound from inside the wardrobe.
The color drained from Lily’s face. Her entire body tensed. She didn’t go check-it was too risky Instead, she backed up, pressing herself flat against the wall, eyes fixed on the wardrobe.
A second later, the doors creaked open, and two short, wiry men stepped out.
They weren’t tall, but their arms were roped with lean muscle-clearly trained, and dangerous. One look at the menace in their eyes, and she knew they weren’t here to talk.
There was no way she could overpower them.
Her heart pounded furiously in her chest as she desperately searched for an escape.
But the door was locked tight. She was trapped-caged like a bird, with nowhere to run.
“Lily?
They already knew who she was. They must’ve seen her photo before coming.
In an age where filters were everywhere, they had assumed her pictures were heavily edited.
What they hadn’t expected was that in real life, she was even more stunning than in the photos-by a mile. The two exchanged a quick glance, then swallowed hard in unison, dark and twisted desires sparking in their eyes.
But Wendy had given them strict orders-not to push too far, not to make Lily feel cornered enough to do something reckless. They needed to get the photos, not provoke a catastrophe.
Besides, if they got the five million Wendy promised, they could sleep with all the women they wanted. Sure, none of them would look like Lily, but with the lights off and their imagination, it’d be close enough.
“What do you want?” Lily forced herself to stay calm, her voice sharp. “Did Wendy and Elsa send you? How much are they paying you? I can pay you more. Just let me leave.”
One of them laughed, a low, cruel sound. He had a skull tattoo on his left arm. “You think we’re that stupid? If we let you go now, you’re not gonna pay us. You’ll call the cops.
His voice turned colder. “We don’t want to rough up a pretty little thing like you. So how about this-take your clothes off, let us snap a few photos, and we’ll let you walk out of here. Sound good?”
Lily understood immediately.
Elsa and Wendy wanted blackmail photos-shots of her completely exposed, humiliated.
With pictures like that, they could force her into settling. She wouldn’t want such images internet She’d have no choice but to give in
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But there was no way she was going to let that happen.
She had already tested James in secret. Her only option now was to stall for time
“Ten million.
She pressed herself tighter to the wall and kept her voice steady. “I won’t call the police. Give me your account number-I’ll transfer the money right now. If ten million isn’t enough, I’ll double it.”
The two men looked at each other.
For a moment, they hesitated. Wendy had only paid a one-million deposit. Even with the balance, that would only be six million.
Lily’s offer blew that out of the water.
Temptation flickered in their eyes.
But they didn’t trust her. One of them sneered. “You? Please. Everyone knows you’re just some washed-up has-been that John tossed aside. Like hell you have twenty million. Quit wasting our time and take your clothes off. Don’t push your luck.”
“I have money.”
Lily didn’t want to bring up her relationship with James-especially not to these two. But she wasn’t stupid. She knew when to use leverage, even if it meant bluffing.
“I’m James’ wife. The Luke family’s daughter-in-law: Sure, Wendy and Elsa have money-but do you really think they can compete with the wealth of the richest family in the country? You really want to risk pissing off the Luke family for them?”
At the mention of the Luke family, both men blanched.
James had been in a coma for four years.
But his reputation still carried weight. His brilliance, his ruthlessness-everyone knew who he was. No one wanted to cross him.
One of them muttered under his breath, “Is she really James’ wife?”
“Who knows? But Madam Luke’s defended her before. And with a face like that, she probably did manage to hook him. If she’s really the Luke family’s daughter-in-law… maybe this isn’t worth it.”
“We can’t let her go! If we do, she’ll send Madam Luke after us, and we’re dead. But if we get those photos? She won’t dare touch us. Hell, she’ll probably pay us herself to keep quiet.”
The other nodded, eyes hard. He turned back to Lily and growled, “Stop using James to scare us! You’re stripping-whether you want to or not. I’ll count to three. If your clothes aren’t off by then, I’ll do it for you.
“One Two Three
The moment that man shouted the final court, his voice dripping with threat a chill shot op Lity’s spine, every hair on her body standing on end.
She saw the sneer on his face as he lunged at her-but instead of dodging, she clenched the sharp hairpin in her hand and stabbed it at him with all her strength.
Yes, Lily had a defensive hairpin on her.
After losing her small cross-shaped knife at the Charmer, she bought several self-defense hairpins online.
These pins were double-layered.
On the surface, they looked like regular accessories.
But inside, a narrow, pointed blade could be pulled out-perfect for protection.
She’d worn that exact pin tonight for rehearsal.
And the moment she heard the door lock from the outside, she had quietly drawn the blade.
“Ahh! B*tch!”
The man had never expected her to be armed. She stabbed him again and again-shoulder, thigh, and between the legs-until he screamed in agony and collapsed, writhing on the floor.
The other man rushed at her to help.
Neither of them had brought weapons tonight-they were only here to take compromising photos.
Lily knew she couldn’t win in a pure fight.
But with one of them writhing on the ground and a weapon in her hand, she still had a chance.
“Put the knife down, b*tch!”
The second man approached her cautiously, glaring.
And then, like a panther, he suddenly pounced, trying to snatch the hairpin away.
Lily quickly hid it behind her back and, gritting her teeth, kicked him square between the legs.
As he doubled over, groaning in pain, she seized the opportunity and stabbed him several more times in the thigh.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.