Chapter 1 · Mind Reader Fallen For Me

The cold blades of the scissors pressed against my throat.

"Say that again." Orion Blackthorne's voice was low, sweet as honey laced with poison.

I looked at his devastatingly handsome face, beautiful to the extreme yet utterly devoid of warmth, and gathered every ounce of courage I had. "Orion, we're breaking up."

He laughed, "Isolde, stop trying to get my attention like this."

*****

'Oh crap, he's smiling. In the original story, whenever he smiles, someone dies. Am I seriously going to be the first expendable character to get killed off right after transmigrating?' My body trembled uncontrollably, like a leaf caught in the autumn wind.

Orion Blackthorne was the craziest yandere villain in this whole story, and my fiancé.

And me? I was Isolde Fairchild, the vicious side character who kept digging my own grave on his road to darkness, only to have my neck twisted by his own hands in the end.

His slender fingers pressed just firmly enough, and the sharp blades of the scissors traced a pale line across my skin.

A cold shiver raced up my spine, chilling me to the bone.

"You don't want to break up," he said, his tone firm, as certain as if he were stating an undeniable truth. "You want me to kiss you."

'Are you out of your mind? I want you gone, like, as far away as possible. You're a dangerous lunatic. Total control freak,' I roared inwardly.

But fear strangled my voice, and all I managed were shaky, broken syllables. "N-no, that's not."

Orion's deep eyes were bottomless and unreadable. He leaned in close, his warm breath ghosting over my ear. "See? You're contradicting yourself again."

He pulled the scissors away and tossed them onto the luxurious rug, where they landed with a soft thud.

The next second, he grabbed my wrist, pulled me into his arms, and sent me tumbling onto the plush bed.

The world spun wildly.

He hovered above me, hands planted on either side of my body, casting his shadow over me and trapping me beneath him.

"Baby, next time you want me, just say so." His voice was husky, laced with the desire I'd just stirred up. "Playing these dangerous games makes me worry for you."

'Worry for me? Yeah, right. That's just a twisted way of saying you're about to murder me. All I want is to get as far away from you as humanly possible and keep my poor little life intact.' I squeezed my eyes shut in despair.

Why couldn't he hear my thoughts?

Oh, right, in the original plot, Orion's mind-reading was limited to the female lead, Wisteria Blackford.

For someone like me, the evil supporting character, he had nothing but sheer disgust for me.

My whole job was to make him hate me enough to kick me out, so I could finally be free to do whatever I wanted.

But now, things were totally off-script.

Not only did he not hate me, but he was actually getting even more worked up?

Then, suddenly, his lips claimed mine. The kiss was hot, forceful, and with a possessive tenderness.

My mind went completely blank.

Honestly, ever since the moment I time-traveled here, nothing in this world has made sense.

The next morning, I woke up on a bed so big it could fit a soccer team, aching all over.

Orion was already gone.

On the nightstand, there was a black card and a note.

The handwriting was razor-sharp, like a blade: [Go wild with my money. Love, Orion.]

'Yeah, right. Is this hush money? Awesome. Grab the cash and bounce, I ought to be here,' I thought.

I sat up with a jolt, snatched the black card, and nearly planted a kiss on it out of sheer excitement.

The first step to piss him off failed.

The second step was to make him mad.

I jumped out of bed, threw on the gaudiest outfit I could find, and dialed Orion's number.

"Hey, Orion," I said, putting on my best gold-digger voice. "What's the limit on this card? If it's not enough, I'm not interested."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

'Hurry up. Call me a gold-digger. Say I'm materialistic. Then kick me out already.' I waited nervously for his judgment.

But instead, Orion let out a deep, sexy laugh through the phone.

"No limit," he replied. "Everything I own is yours, no exceptions."

'Wait, what?' I wondered.

"Fine, then I'm heading to Gilded House today and booking every single one of your priciest toy boys." I raised the stakes, testing how far he'd let me go.

The guys were all possessive, and Orion was on a whole other level.

He was definitely going to lose it.

"Go ahead," Orion said, his voice laced with indulgence. "Have fun. I've already had Soren clear the place out for you. Make sure you stay safe. Don't let any of those scumbags touch you."

Then the line went dead.

I stood there, phone in hand, totally dumbfounded. 'Wait, this isn't how it's supposed to go. Shouldn't he be storming in, furious, yelling at me, "Isolde, how dare you?"

'And why is he even clearing the place out for me? What's his deal?'

*****

An hour later, I was standing in the deserted lobby of Gilded House, watching Soren give me a ridiculously deep bow.

"Ms. Fairchild, Mr. Blackthorne said you're the only boss here today," Soren announced.

Dozens of drop-dead gorgeous male models were lined up, all staring at me, nervous and excited.

I was speechless. 'Well, that backfired. Totally blew it.'

Bracing myself, I pointed at the burliest guy. "You, come over and give me a back massage."

Then I singled out the most handsome one. "You, sing for me."

As I enjoyed their attention, I kept sneaking glances at the security camera in the corner. 'Orion, are you seeing this? I'm making you a cuckold. Hurry up and get furious. Just break up with me already.'

*****

Little did I know, up in the penthouse office of Blackthorne Group, Orion was watching everything go down on the security feed. He wore a fondly exasperated smile, equal parts helpless and doting.

He heard it all, loud and clear.

I screamed in my heart, 'Ugh, this is so boring. Orion's much more handsome than they are.

'Even these toy boys' abs can't hold a candle to Orion's. Man, I'm really putting in way too much effort to dump this guy.'

Orion switched off the monitor and called Soren. "Soren, see that Ms. Blackthorne gets home safely. And let her know I'll be home early tonight."

He couldn't wait to reward his adorable sweetheart for pulling out all the stops just to catch his eye.

Chapter 1

The cold blades of the scissors pressed against my throat.

"Say that again." Orion Blackthorne's voice was low, sweet as honey laced with poison.

I looked at his devastatingly handsome face, beautiful to the extreme yet utterly devoid of warmth, and gathered every ounce of courage I had. "Orion, we're breaking up."

He laughed, "Isolde, stop trying to get my attention like this."

*****

Orion Blackthorne was the craziest yandere villain in this whole story, and my fiancé.

And me? I was Isolde Fairchild, the vicious side character who kept digging my own grave on his road to darkness, only to have my neck twisted by his own hands in the end.

His slender fingers pressed just firmly enough, and the sharp blades of the scissors traced a pale line across my skin.

A cold shiver raced up my spine, chilling me to the bone.

"You don't want to break up," he said, his tone firm, as certain as if he were stating an undeniable truth. "You want me to kiss you."

'Are you out of your mind? I want you gone, like, as far away as possible. You're a dangerous lunatic. Total control freak,' I roared inwardly.

But fear strangled my voice, and all I managed were shaky, broken syllables. "N-no, that's not."

Orion's deep eyes were bottomless and unreadable. He leaned in close, his warm breath ghosting over my ear. "See? You're contradicting yourself again."

He pulled the scissors away and tossed them onto the luxurious rug, where they landed with a soft thud.

The next second, he grabbed my wrist, pulled me into his arms, and sent me tumbling onto the plush bed.

The world spun wildly.

He hovered above me, hands planted on either side of my body, casting his shadow over me and trapping me beneath him.

"Baby, next time you want me, just say so." His voice was husky, laced with the desire I'd just stirred up. "Playing these dangerous games makes me worry for you."

Why couldn't he hear my thoughts?

Oh, right, in the original plot, Orion's mind-reading was limited to the female lead, Wisteria Blackford.

For someone like me, the evil supporting character, he had nothing but sheer disgust for me.

My whole job was to make him hate me enough to kick me out, so I could finally be free to do whatever I wanted.

But now, things were totally off-script.

Not only did he not hate me, but he was actually getting even more worked up?

Then, suddenly, his lips claimed mine. The kiss was hot, forceful, and with a possessive tenderness.

My mind went completely blank.

Honestly, ever since the moment I time-traveled here, nothing in this world has made sense.

The next morning, I woke up on a bed so big it could fit a soccer team, aching all over.

Orion was already gone.

On the nightstand, there was a black card and a note.

The handwriting was razor-sharp, like a blade: [Go wild with my money. Love, Orion.]

'Yeah, right. Is this hush money? Awesome. Grab the cash and bounce, I ought to be here,' I thought.

I sat up with a jolt, snatched the black card, and nearly planted a kiss on it out of sheer excitement.

The first step to piss him off failed.

The second step was to make him mad.

I jumped out of bed, threw on the gaudiest outfit I could find, and dialed Orion's number.

"Hey, Orion," I said, putting on my best gold-digger voice. "What's the limit on this card? If it's not enough, I'm not interested."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

'Hurry up. Call me a gold-digger. Say I'm materialistic. Then kick me out already.' I waited nervously for his judgment.

But instead, Orion let out a deep, sexy laugh through the phone.

"No limit," he replied. "Everything I own is yours, no exceptions."

'Wait, what?' I wondered.

"Fine, then I'm heading to Gilded House today and booking every single one of your priciest toy boys." I raised the stakes, testing how far he'd let me go.

The guys were all possessive, and Orion was on a whole other level.

He was definitely going to lose it.

"Go ahead," Orion said, his voice laced with indulgence. "Have fun. I've already had Soren clear the place out for you. Make sure you stay safe. Don't let any of those scumbags touch you."

Then the line went dead.

I stood there, phone in hand, totally dumbfounded. 'Wait, this isn't how it's supposed to go. Shouldn't he be storming in, furious, yelling at me, "Isolde, how dare you?"

'And why is he even clearing the place out for me? What's his deal?'

*****

An hour later, I was standing in the deserted lobby of Gilded House, watching Soren give me a ridiculously deep bow.

"Ms. Fairchild, Mr. Blackthorne said you're the only boss here today," Soren announced.

Dozens of drop-dead gorgeous male models were lined up, all staring at me, nervous and excited.

I was speechless. 'Well, that backfired. Totally blew it.'

Bracing myself, I pointed at the burliest guy. "You, come over and give me a back massage."

Then I singled out the most handsome one. "You, sing for me."

*****

Little did I know, up in the penthouse office of Blackthorne Group, Orion was watching everything go down on the security feed. He wore a fondly exasperated smile, equal parts helpless and doting.

He heard it all, loud and clear.

I screamed in my heart, 'Ugh, this is so boring. Orion's much more handsome than they are.

'Even these toy boys' abs can't hold a candle to Orion's. Man, I'm really putting in way too much effort to dump this guy.'

Orion switched off the monitor and called Soren. "Soren, see that Ms. Blackthorne gets home safely. And let her know I'll be home early tonight."

He couldn't wait to reward his adorable sweetheart for pulling out all the stops just to catch his eye.