ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 104: Real threat

She stood and took a step back. "I just want to be alone."

Demian stared at her for a long moment, then turned away without another word. The bedroom door closed with a sound too sharp to be accidental.

In the corridor, Demian halted. "Sean."

Sean, who had been reviewing reports, looked up at once. "Your Grace?"

"What happened to Valerie?"

Sean hesitated. "I... don’t know for certain."

"Call everyone assigned to her chambers."

Several servants gathered, their faces tense. Sera and Lira stood at the front, exchanging glances before Sera finally stepped forward.

"Your Grace," she said quietly, "before you returned... Lady Ivanka came."

The air around Demian seemed to freeze.

"And?" His voice dropped, dangerous.

"They spoke for quite some time," Lira added softly. "After that, Lady Valerie... changed. She didn’t want to be touched, refused to eat, and asked us not to summon you."

Demian’s fist clenched.

Ivanka.

Without another word, he turned and strode out of the castle.

Upstairs, Valerie stood by the window. She watched Demian leave, his face dark, his steps heavy with fury. Her chest tightened.

Gone again, she thought bitterly. Always leaving.

She didn’t know or perhaps didn’t want to know that Demian’s path was not leading away from her, but straight toward the source of that fury.

Ivanka was at her residence when the door was thrown open.

"Demian—"

"You went to my castle."

The tone of Demian’s voice made Ivanka fall silent. She had never seen him like this cold, furious, and leaving no room to breathe.

"You spoke to Valerie," Demian continued. "What did you say to her?"

Ivanka let out a small, bitter laugh. "So now I’m the one to blame?"

"I’m not asking for wordplay," Demian snapped. "I’m ordering you to answer."

Ivanka stepped closer, her eyes gleaming. "I only told her the truth. About her position. About that child."

Demian took a step forward. "You had no right."

"I have every right," Ivanka shot back. "I am your mate. Your fiancée. The woman who was meant to stand beside you."

"You do not have the right to touch her," Demian said, his voice low but vibrating with restrained violence. "Not with your words. Not with your threats."

Ivanka laughed again, sharp this time. "Threats? Don’t be absurd. If that woman breaks, don’t blame me. She chose to step into a world she could never win."

Demian stared at her for a long moment, then spoke softly dangerously.

"Go ahead."

Ivanka fell silent.

"And you will learn," Demian continued, "what kind of consequence awaits you."

Silence swallowed the room. Ivanka looked at him, finally realizing something she had long ignored the man before her was no longer someone she could control with childhood memories or old bonds. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He had chosen.

And his choice was not her.

Ivanka stared at Demian, her eyes blazing with layered fury offended, jealous, wounded, and humiliated all at once. The air between them felt oppressive, as though a single breath could ignite an explosion.

"So now," Ivanka said slowly, choosing each word with care, "you are threatening me?"

Demian did not answer at once. He stood rigid, shoulders squared, jaw set. His face no longer held the expression Ivanka once knew no softness, no instinct to placate. What remained was cold resolve, like freshly forged steel.

"I am not threatening you," he said at last, his voice low and even. "If you feel threatened, that is your own perception."

The words struck Ivanka harder than a shout. She let out a short laugh, hollow, never reaching her eyes."How bold of you," she said. "No one has ever dared to treat me this way. And it should not be you, Demian. I am your partner. Our bond was formed long before that woman ever existed."

Demian nodded slightly, as if acknowledging that every word was true. But there was no regret in his acceptance."I have never forgotten," he replied. He took one step closer, his gaze hardening. "And perhaps because of that... I want to destroy it."

Ivanka froze. For a moment, the world seemed to stop. The words were too clear, too cruel. She looked at Demian, searching for the man who once swore loyalty to her, who stood beside her since childhood yet all she saw was someone who had chosen his path without looking back.

"You won’t be able to," Ivanka said at last, her voice trembling with forced conviction. "That bond will not break. Not now. Not ever. Even if we have to die for it, Demian."

Demian did not retreat. Instead, he looked at her in a way that made her skin crawl."I can," he said calmly. "And you simply don’t yet understand what is happening."

Ivanka laughed this time loudly, almost hysterically."Ah... so this is about her," she sneered. "Because your whore is pregnant, is that it? Because she carries your child, you think you are brave enough now to dream of breaking free from me?"

Silence fell between them. Demian did not deny it. Did not refute it. His silence became the clearest confession of all.

Ivanka stopped laughing. Her eyes darkened, hatred thickening."So that’s it," she murmured. "You chose her."

Demian drew a deep breath."I chose to protect her."

Ivanka scoffed. "Protect her?" She stepped closer, staring up at him from a dangerously short distance. "Then don’t blame me if I destroy her."

Demian’s expression changed instantly cold, sharp, lethal."Go ahead," he said without hesitation. "And you will learn what kind of consequence awaits you."

Ivanka fell silent. This time, it was not just anger that stopped her but the realization of something in Demian’s eyes she had never seen before.

Unyielding resolve.

"So now you are threatening me?" she asked again, her voice weakening despite her pride.

"I am not threatening you," Demian repeated, his tone still low. "But listen carefully. Do not disturb her again. Do not approach her. Do not even speak her name if you still wish your life to remain intact."

Ivanka stared at him for a long moment. The wound in her chest yawned open, mingled with a corrosive fury."No one is allowed to do this to me," she said quietly. "And it should not have been you."

Demian turned his face away for a brief second, as if restraining something."I know," he said. "And that is exactly why I am saying this now."

Ivanka let out a small, bitter laugh."Very well," she said. "Then we shall see who breaks first."