Jerry's panic instantly changed into fury. "You bastard!" he shouted. "How dare you touch my woman! I'm going to kill you!"
Janet turned her head to see who was making such a fuss. "Jerry?" she asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Who is he?" Jerry demanded, furious at the thought of what was going on here. "What are you two doing?"
"What I do is my own business," Janet replied, scowling at him. "Why did you barge into our room? Who let you in?"
"I was wondering why you were always avoiding me," Jerry said, his brows drawing down. "And all this time, you've had a bit on the side!"
Janet snorted and said, "Jerry, don't think too highly of yourself. Why shouldn't I see any man I choose? Why shouldn't I have some fun? I don't have to report to you. Yes, your family wants a marriage alliance with mine. But we don't have to be the ones to provide that. We've only met once. I'm not hiding from you; I just have my own life, and I am not your woman. Don't be ridiculous."
She glared at him. "Get out of here right now. Mind your own business."
A vein was throbbing on Jerry's forehead. "Janet, you're a smart woman," he said. "If I tell your family about you and this man, do you really think he'll get out of the city alive?"
Janet hadn't realized that Jerry was so despicable, and she couldn't believe he really wanted to see Alex dead.
To her, Alex was just a sweet young man who could hold his liquor and who had a sense of justice. He was also from out of town, so he couldn't possibly know the power the Warner family had.
Just as Jerry had said, if her family learned that she had spent the night with a strange man, then Alex would be in for a huge amount of trouble.
Janet and Alex had met by chance. Not only had he driven off the two scumbags who had wanted to take advantage of her drunken state, but he had taken her to a hotel and let her sleep it off. He was a truly honorable man, and she didn't want to see him get hurt.
"I drank too much," she told Jerry, sighing. "All he did was keep me safe. He never touched me."
"You expect me to believe that?" Jerry asked, his lip curling. "Look at the way you're dressed. If I were to send a picture of you like this to your family, do you really think they'll let this guy go?"
As he spoke, he took out his phone and snapped several pictures of Janet and Alex.
"What exactly do you want?" Janet demanded.
She knew that it was just as Jerry had said. If those pictures fell into the hands of her family, then she and Alex would be in trouble. Her family might regard her as an outcast, and they might even have Alex killed.
Janet repeated, "What do you want from me?"
Jerry waved the phone in his hand. "If you promise to marry me, then I'll delete these pictures. But this guy has to leave town. I don't want to be cheated on for the rest of my life."
Janet was much more clear-headed now, and her bright eyes shone with her usual intelligence and acuity. "Marriage?" She snorted. "No way in hell. And don't tell me that I have to keep away from him. I told you that he and I don't have a relationship, but even if we did, it would be none of your business. Two of your family's heirs, Quincy and Gabe, are dead. Do you really think you're the most promising one left? You want me to be your bargaining chip, don't you? Well, I'm telling you, don't even think about it.
"You aren't going to be the head of the Rimmer family, so you don't need to spend all this effort trying to climb the ranks. As long as the Rimmer patriarch is still alive, then you don't have a chance."
As she spoke, she deliberately placed her hand on Alex's shoulder and stroked it.
"Shameless bitch," Jerry said, clearly furious at her. "Well, since you're refusing to cooperate, you have only yourself to blame. I'm going to make these pictures public.
"If I press this button, you'll be disowned by the Warner family. They'll also hunt down this lover of yours. I'll count to three. If you still refuse to marry me, then it's all over for your friend here. At least, that way, I know you won't be able to cheat on me with him."
There was a sinister look on his face as he raised his phone. On the screen were ten pictures of Janet and Alex leaning against each other.
This was a choice with life-changing consequences. If she made the wrong decision, then it could badly affect her family and possibly her own future.
Alex had become Janet's weak spot. If Jerry sent out those pictures, then she would be the laughingstock of the entire city by the next morning.
But how could she agree to marry Jerry? She had been fighting the family pressure for a long time and had rejected this marriage alliance four times over the last three months.
How could she give up the fight now?
Oh, my God, she thought. It was all because of those five glasses of wine we drank. It was all that young man's fault. If we hadn't had that drinking contest, then I wouldn't have been in such a helpless state. But if it hadn't been for him, then I would have gotten drunk alone, and then I would have been picked up by those two men. That would have been even worse than this.
Any way she looked at it, the young man had saved her, so she couldn't let him get hurt, or even killed, for his kind actions.
She didn't hesitate. Without waiting for Jerry to start counting, she raised her hand and surrendered.
"All right," she said. "You win."
She spread her hands helplessly and said, "I will fulfill the engagement, but I want to make it clear again that this matter has nothing to do with this man. I don't even know his name, and he's completely innocent. He saved me by bringing me here. Without him, who knows what those two scumbags would have done to me. Don't make things difficult for him. Let him go."
"Let him go?" Jerry repeated incredulously. "Janet, do you think I'm a three-year-old? If I let him go, then how can I be sure you'll keep your promise? If you change your mind and refuse to marry me, I can't force you. That means he can't leave, unless we…"
He trailed off, with a scheming look in his eyes. He looked at the big bed beside him, and then he leered at her.
"I'd heard that the descendants of the Rimmer family are sinister, cunning, and full of tricks," Janet said, frowning at him. "Now, I finally understand what they meant."
"What?" he asked, his tone icy. "What do you expect me to do? If I let him go, then I have no guarantee that you'll keep your promises." He shrugged. "He stays until we're married. I'll release him afterward."