Chapter 67

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His eyes flew open at some eerie sensation. Dane reflexively jumped up and looked around. He strained his ears, but there was no sound.

...Was it my imagination?

There was no noticeable change. Yet somehow, the chilling sensation didn't disappear. Dane reached out and turned on the lamp on the side table. After confirming once more that he was alone in the room, he got out of bed and slowly prowled around. Only after touching each wall and examining every corner of the furniture did he finally let out a "ha" sigh. It was just his imagination after all...

Just as he was thinking that and about to return to bed, something caught Dane's eye. It was the window with thick blackout curtains. After standing there for a moment, staring, he suddenly flung the curtains open.

"Ha."

An incredulous sigh escaped him. There was nothing outside the window. Seeing it blocked by a pitch-black wall, he was momentarily speechless. He immediately tore off the curtain, wrapped it around his hand, and broke the window glass, then clutched his hand with a curse as a stinging pain spread. Being careful not to step on the shards, he felt outside the broken glass, but he wasn't mistaken. The rough texture was definitely a rock wall.

What is this...

He couldn't understand the current situation at all. As he stood there with a furrowed brow, something flashed through his mind.

No way.

Dane urgently rushed out of the room. Small lamps were lit at intervals on the walls, making it not difficult to distinguish objects, but it was excessively dark.

Shouldn't it be daylight by now? Could it be that the sun still hasn't risen? That must be it, it must still be night...

He ran around the house here and there, forcibly denying the ominous premonition that kept rising. And finally, Dane could only stand in the middle of the living room with a dumbfounded expression. The entire house was the same. The villa, which had clearly been on the ground, was completely surrounded as if it had sunk into the earth.

This son of a bitch...

Though he was dumbfounded, there was only one person who could explain this situation. Dane, with anger rising to his head, shouted.

"Greyson Miller!"

* * *

Flinging the door open violently and entering, Dane let out an incredulous "ha" sigh. The culprit who had created this absurd situation was shamelessly sound asleep, even wearing a sleep mask.

This damn bastard.

Dane didn't hold back and walked over with heavy steps, snatching away the sleep mask.

"Wake up, right now!"

"Ah..."

At Dane's shout, Greyson, who had been lying with his eyes closed until then, let out a reluctant exclamation and slowly showed signs of waking up.

...Yeah right, he was probably just pretending to be asleep.

It wasn't the first or second time he had been deceived by this damn bastard. Dane ground his teeth and waited for Greyson to get up. But he showed no sign of getting up from his place. Instead, Greyson continued to lie peacefully with his eyes closed and recited as if singing.

"I need a kiss to wake up."

Instead of a kiss, Dane mercilessly slapped Greyson's cheek. And then he roughly grabbed the collar of Greyson, who was surprised and covering his cheek with one hand while blinking, and dragged him toward the living room with large strides.

With a thud, Dane threw Greyson onto the sofa and stood with his arms crossed, looking down at him.

"Now, tell me."

Though he spat through clenched teeth, Greyson just sat with a swollen face, looking to one side. He was clearly showing with his whole body that 'I'm very upset,' but that wasn't Dane's concern. The fact that he was wearing cute pajamas with puppies drawn on them made Dane even more angry. Where did those come from?

Since it's a villa, there would probably be a few sets of clothes to wear somewhere.

After convincing himself, Dane pressed Greyson harshly.

"What's all this about? What are you plotting! Tell me right now! Or I'll just...!"

Dane, who had raised his hand to hit Greyson again, hesitated.

Ashley Miller might have abused his son.

Of course, that too would be this man's abominable lie. Though thinking that, he couldn't easily raise his hand. He had already beaten him up several times and shouted at him, but once that thought came to mind, it became difficult to continue.

In the end, Dane had no choice but to sit on the opposite sofa and speak in a more subdued tone.

"Explain what's going on."

Though he tried to be as calm as possible, it wasn't easy, of course. To Dane, who was glaring with full anger, Greyson finally opened his mouth. In a mischievous voice.

"I clearly told you."

"Told me what?"

His fist clenched involuntarily at the abominable face. Greyson rolled only his eyes to look at Dane and then smiled slightly.

"I told you, it's a villa my father built to imprison Daddy."

"So?"

The word 'imprison' was strangely irritating.

"Are you saying you've imprisoned me? Does that make sense?"

Dane pointed out his error in disbelief.

"Joshua will be coming soon. Would that be possible? That guy was a search specialist. Would he not be able to find this?"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. Dane pointed at Greyson with his finger and continued.

"And you seem to be forgetting, the chip inside your body is telling everyone exactly where you are. And you're imprisoning me? Here? Do you think you can succeed?"

To Dane, who snickered and leaned back on the sofa, Greyson gave a faint smile. Just as he felt an ominous premonition, Greyson opened his mouth in a slow tone.

"They won't find it."

Dane didn't respond immediately. Still deeply buried in the sofa, he paused before opening his mouth.

"...What?"

"They won't find it, no one will."

Greyson, who readily said the same thing as before, smiled with a grin. Only then did Dane slowly detach himself from the backrest.

"What are you saying, explain so I can understand."

A rough voice leaked through his clenched teeth. To such a Dane, Greyson still calmly continued.

"This is a villa Papa built to imprison Daddy."

"You said that earlier."

He was now sick of hearing the same words repeated. When Dane showed irritation, Greyson smiled again, raising the corners of his mouth.

"That's why no one can find it."

Dane was left speechless. To him, who was looking with wavering eyes, Greyson added.

"When the villa is hidden underground, a jamming signal automatically activates, preventing any communication from connecting. So even if they follow my chip, it's impossible to find."

Dane was dumbfounded by the unimaginable story. You're saying this seemingly ordinary villa has such a feature? Why on earth?

Why would you imprison your partner in the first place?

None of it made any sense. But there was no time to think about anything else now. He focused on the immediate problem. There was still a flaw in Greyson's words.

Wouldn't Chase Miller know about this fact as well? If so, it would still be easy to find...

"He doesn't know."

As if he had peeked into Dane's mind, Greyson suddenly said. When Dane met his gaze, he shook his head as if regretful and sighed.

"That's why he should have taken an interest in his family earlier. If he had, he would have known about this secret device."

The color gradually drained from Dane's face. Reality slowly sank in. Is it true? Did that bastard really imprison me? Saying no one can find me?

"No way, you're ly..."

"It's true."

Greyson simply crushed Dane's last hope. Smiling brightly as if he couldn't contain his joy.

"You can't get out of here until I let you out."

Dane looked at him completely dumbfounded. Greyson giggled.

"Shut up, bring the mansion to the surface right now!"

Dane shouted roughly as he jumped to his feet. It was nonsense. Just the two of us here? Is he trying to drive me crazy? It was absolutely unacceptable.

"Is being with me that bad?"

"Of course!"

Dane grabbed Greyson's collar, who was pathetically pretending to be pitiful, and roughly pulled him to his feet.

"Bring the mansion up right now! Do it right now! Or I'll kill you!"

Of course, it was an impossible threat. He knew well that if he killed Greyson Miller now, he would be trapped in this absurd space forever. But he just couldn't stand it.

Whew, Greyson let out a sigh.

"If you hate it that much, I guess I have no choice."

What? That easily?

As Dane hesitated, Greyson removed his hands and turned around. Greyson would also know well that Dane couldn't really kill him. Despite this, Dane couldn't help but be suspicious of him acting so compliantly. What is he thinking?

Dane stared intently at Greyson's back as he crossed the living room. When he opened a drawer in a cabinet on one side, there was a remote control inside. If he just pressed that button...! The moment Greyson placed his thumb on the conspicuously red button, Dane momentarily felt hope. But.

"Oh dear."

Greyson dropped the remote control on the floor. When Dane froze at the action that was clearly intentional to anyone watching, Greyson raised his foot and mercilessly stomped on the remote with his heel. With a crunch, the remote shattered into pieces. Dane was so shocked that he couldn't even speak. To him, who just stood with his mouth open, Greyson opened his mouth.

"What should we do, it's broken."

Greyson looked at Dane with lustful eyes, even with a blush on his cheeks, and said.

"Let's get along well from now on, Dane Striker. It's just the two of us here."

It was the most terrifying thing Dane had ever heard in his life. Looking at Dane, who had turned completely pale, Greyson was smiling brightly.