Bound by law

Chapter 32: Crossing the Line

The drive back to campus felt like a blur, a mix of red-hot anger and disbelief swirling in Estelle's chest. The betrayal hit her like a freight train—Celeste had done this. She had crossed the line, meddled with Estelle's career, and manipulated her way into getting her fired from Scarlett's firm. The one place where Estelle had finally felt she could prove herself.

After packing her things, Estelle stormed across campus, her footsteps heavy and determined. She barely noticed the students around her, the crisp fall air, or even the sting of the cool wind against her face. Her mind was fixated on one thing: confronting Celeste Thorne.

When she reached Celeste's office, she didn't stop to knock or even hesitate. Fueled by the rage burning in her veins, Estelle flung the door open, storming inside.

Celeste looked up from her desk, startled, her usual composed expression faltering for just a second. She was mid-sentence, speaking into the phone, but her words trailed off when she saw the fire in Estelle's eyes.

Estelle slammed the door shut behind her, her chest heaving as she stood in the center of the room. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she shouted, her voice raw with fury.

Celeste narrowed her eyes and quickly hung up the phone, standing from her desk. "Estelle—what's going on?"

Estelle didn't hold back. "You know exactly what's going on!" she yelled, her hands shaking with anger. "You got me fired! You called Scarlett, didn't you? You had her fire me because you can't stand that I wasn't under your control anymore!"

Celeste's face darkened, her usual calm mask slipping. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said coolly, though her voice was laced with tension.

"Don't lie to me!" Estelle snapped, taking a step closer, her body trembling with the force of her emotions. "You couldn't stand that I was working with her! You hated seeing me succeed somewhere you couldn't control me, so you pulled strings, didn't you? You ruined my career before it even started!"

Celeste's jaw tightened, and she crossed her arms, her eyes flashing with a dangerous glint. "I didn't ruin anything. I did what I had to do."

"What you had to do?" Estelle repeated incredulously, her voice rising. "That internship was everything to me! You had no right to interfere!"

Celeste's voice dropped to a low, dangerous tone. "You don't understand the bigger picture here, Estelle."

"I don't care about your 'bigger picture'!" Estelle spat, her emotions boiling over. "You don't get to decide what's best for me. You don't get to control my life!"

Celeste took a step toward her, her eyes narrowing. "You were being used by Scarlett," she said coldly. "She wasn't going to help your career—she was going to destroy it, and I wasn't going to let that happen."

Estelle laughed bitterly, disbelief coating every word. "So you think you're the hero in this? You think ruining my career before it even begins is helping me?"

The two of them stood face to face, the room filled with a tense, suffocating silence. Estelle's heart pounded in her chest, her mind swirling with a mix of fury and betrayal. She had never felt so trapped, so out of control.

"I did what needed to be done," Celeste said, her voice cold but steady. "You're too important to waste your potential working for someone like Scarlett."

Estelle's hand moved before she even realized what she was doing. With a sudden surge of emotion, she slapped Celeste across the face, the sound of the impact ringing out in the small office.

For a moment, they both stood still, shocked. Estelle's hand still tingled from the force of the slap, her chest heaving with ragged breaths. Celeste's head had snapped to the side from the impact, but slowly, she turned back to face Estelle, her expression unreadable, the skin of her cheek reddening where Estelle's hand had struck.

The room was thick with tension, neither of them speaking, neither of them moving. The shock of what Estelle had just done hung in the air between them like a live wire.

Then, without a word, Celeste walked over to the door, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. Estelle's heart raced as she watched Celeste turn the lock, the soft click reverberating in the suddenly too-small space.

Celeste turned back toward her, her eyes dark and predatory, like a lion stalking its prey. Estelle's breath caught in her throat as Celeste closed the distance between them in a few swift strides.

Before Estelle could react, Celeste's hands gripped her arms firmly, spinning her around and pressing her back against the hard surface of the desk. The suddenness of the movement made Estelle gasp, her hands instinctively grabbing the edge of the desk for balance as Celeste's body pinned her in place.

"You think you can walk in here, slap me, and storm out like nothing happened?" Celeste growled, her voice low and dangerous, her breath hot against Estelle's ear. "Is that how this is going to go?"

Estelle's heart was racing, her pulse pounding in her ears as Celeste's grip tightened, holding her firmly against the desk. Her mind was reeling, still processing what had just happened—the slap, the anger, the overwhelming intensity of the moment. But there was something else now, something darker, more dangerous simmering between them.

She should have been scared. She should have been furious. But instead, all she could feel was the heat rising between them, the electric tension that had been building for weeks finally snapping into something raw, something undeniable.

"Let me go," Estelle whispered, though her voice lacked conviction. Her body betrayed her, leaning into the pressure of Celeste's grip, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

Celeste's lips brushed against the side of Estelle's neck, sending a shiver down her spine. "You don't want me to let you go," she murmured, her voice rough with barely contained desire. "Admit it."

Estelle's mind was spinning, her body responding to the heat and the power radiating off Celeste in waves. She could feel the strength in Celeste's grip, the way her body pressed against her, pinning her to the desk in a way that made it impossible to move, impossible to think.

"I—" Estelle's voice faltered, her words dissolving into a soft gasp as Celeste's lips brushed against her skin again, this time lingering longer, the touch more deliberate.

"You belong to me," Celeste whispered, her voice like a velvet command. "And you know it."

The words sent a jolt of heat through Estelle's body, her pulse quickening as her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to fight it, wanted to deny the pull between them, but there was no point. Not anymore.

She was trapped, and part of her didn't want to escape.