Death Wish

Max stood before Phoenix's room unsure of how to respond to her simple, yet nerve-wracking question. He thought of turning around and running back to his room.

However, when he imagined all the horrible things he stood to suffer at the hands of his boss, he swallowed his fear and calmly said, "It's Max, madam."

"Max, give me a few minutes. I will meet you downstairs." Phoenix replied in a calm but slightly authoritative tone as though she was the boss of the house.

"Yes, madam!"

Max bowed politely out of terror, even when there was no one to acknowledge his professionalism.

He wanted to say something additional but changed his mind and left. He was afraid of what Phoenix would do to him if he got her upset.

If she could callously stab the highly reverenced and domineering Dex Logan, then who was he, an old grey-haired butler with no penny or legacy to his name? She would just slit his throat and nobody would notice his untimely demise.

Max decided to act on Dex's last instructions to ensure that Phoenix had breakfast or whatever she wanted. He feared the consequences of not upholding Dex's request.

Dex was the type of boss that didn't talk much. He was a man of few words but lots of actions.

Every employee of the mansion knew well not to go against him or his decree. You would be signing your death certificate if you ever countered his directives.

Being the Logan family butler for almost twenty-five years, Max understood his boss perfectly. He had been with him from childhood and he knew him better than even his parents. He was careful never to get on his boss's employee's disciplinary list, as many who found their names there after three strikes, usually had no tales to tell.

"Is the dining room ready for our guest?" Max asked the head chef who was walking up to him.

"Yes, Sir!" The head chef replied politely. "I was actually on my way to inform you."

"Good! I hope you prepared different cuisines as the boss instructed?"

"Yes, sir, you can come to see for yourself." The head chef gestured in the direction of the dining room.

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Back in Phoenix's bedroom, she cleared her thought by chastising her weakness, before going to the bathroom.

However, when she saw the reflection of her swollen, reddened, and messy eyes, she almost broke the mirror in disgust.

"This is not me!" She fumed and wiped her misty eyes roughly until they began to hurt.

"Why did I allow this a**hole to get to me?" She scowled at her reflection. "Why did I show him mercy? I missed stabbing his heart on purpose and this is unlike me!" She ransacked her brain for a suitable answer to her question. But nothing reasonable surfaced in her memory.

"I can't believe that bastard made me cry. What would the gang think of me if they ever found out that I shed tears because of a man!" She fumed as an image of Dex's charming smiles crossed her mind.

"The next time that fool makes a nasty move on me like that, I will rip out his heart and feed it to his dogs." She said in a vengeful tone.

The thought of giving Dex a slow and excruciating death brought back peace to her troubled heart and a devilish smile to her face.

Feeling her sinfully calm self once again, she took off her clothes and entered the transparent glass shower cubicle.

Then she turned on the cold shower valve and trembled a little as the cold water splashed on her face and body; sending tantalizing shivers down her spine and calming her enraged nerves.

After Phoenix was done showering, she came out of the bathroom wearing a white bathrobe and a white towel wrapped around her head.

She walked over to the wardrobe which was heavily stocked with different elegant designer clothes and made a few selections that fitted her perfectly.

"How can this young man have a lot of female clothes and accessories stocked in this wardrobe? Is he into female fashion or something? Or does he have a flamboyant girlfriend?" Phoenix thought out loud as she dressed up.

"Wow! Perfect fit!" She admired her curvy reflection on the vanity mirror in the room. "At least my love-sick puppy has great taste in female fashion, no doubt. I think I need to explore this mansion thoroughly." She quickly styled and packed her hair into a ponytail before leaving her bedroom.

When Phoenix sauntered downstairs, she was surprised to see Max, two female staff attendants, and some uniquely dressed chefs standing at the bottom of the stairs and waiting on her as if she were an empress.

Aside from Max, who had a large bouquet of white roses with a heavenly fragrance in his hands, all the other chefs held different trays of mouth-watering cuisines.

"Max, what's the meaning of this?" Phoenix's forehead furrowed and her eyes narrowed as she stared at Max.

"The boss instructed me to present this to you..." Max stretched out his hands with the bouquet towards Phoenix. "...as a way of saying that he's sorry for hurting your feelings this morning."

"Hahaha!" Phoenix chuckled bitterly. "I think your boss has a death wish and this time, I will ensure he doesn't come back alive." Phoenix's stares turned horrendous and deadly.

"Get these flowers out of here before I kill someone." She boomed fiercely, sending waves of panic among all the chefs who had their heads bowed and breaths held.

Although a tiny fraction of her heart was touched by Alex's romantic gesture, the other major part of her heart was greatly infuriated by it.

Flowers were a trigger reminder of her innocent and unblemished life before she became the devil's whore like some of her former sex trafficking bosses would address her.

A horrible scene from her past life flashed through her mind as she glared at the flowers ferociously.