Renne spent the whole afternoon pretending not to be nervous. I could see it in the way he kept straightening the table, adjusting the napkins, checking the wine level in the glasses even though he had already checked them twice. He wanted the evening to look effortless, but his hands gave him away every time.
"This is just dinner," I reminded him lightly.
He nodded without looking at me.
"Just dinner," he repeated.
But we both knew it was more than that.
This was the night we would test The Bet.
I had agreed to flirt. To tempt. To create a moment that felt natural. It was supposed to be harmless. A doorway we could step through only if we all wanted to. I thought I was ready. I had rehearsed it in my head more times than I wanted to admit.
Then the doorbell rang.
Renne froze for a heartbeat. Only one heartbeat. Then he forced a smile and went to open the door.
I heard the door open. I heard Renne greet him with a polite tone that was just a little too soft. And then Master V stepped into the house.
I felt him before I saw him.
His presence settled over the room like warm air after a storm. Slow. Heavy. Commanding. When he walked into the dining area my breath caught without warning. Not because of how he looked, although he was striking, but because of how he carried himself. Calm. Certain. Completely at ease in a way that pulled attention without effort.
He nodded at me with a simple greeting.
"Caroline."
Just my name.
Nothing more.
Yet it felt like he had placed a hand at the center of my back.
I offered him a polite smile. I leaned just enough for Renne to notice. It was part of our plan. The beginning of the seduction. The start of the game we thought we were controlling.
Master V sat at the table, unhurried, almost amused.
Renne poured wine with hands that were a little too careful.
I tried to take the lead as planned.
"So Renne tells me you enjoy red wine," I said, letting my voice drop into something softer.
Master V's eyes moved to mine with an ease that made my stomach dip.
"I enjoy many things," he replied.
Not a flirt.
Not a tease.
Just a simple statement that somehow felt heavier than anything I had prepared for.
Dinner started quietly. Renne tried to keep the conversation going, but Master V guided it without ever raising his voice or asserting himself. He chose when he spoke. He chose when he listened. He knew the rhythm of the room better than either of us.
Each time I tried to flirt, he met me with calm eyes and a small knowing smile, as if he had already seen my plan before I acted on it. He was not falling into the seduction. He was watching it unfold.
Then I noticed something I was not prepared to see.
Renne was reacting.
His voice dropped every time Master V spoke.
His posture changed, shoulders drawn back, chin slightly lower.
He looked at me differently, as if checking whether I noticed the shift in him.
I did.
And the truth hit me slowly, like warm water rising around my body.
Renne was the first to lose control.
Not me.
He was drawn in by Master V before I even finished my first glass of wine. The fantasy he created had turned back on him, and he was responding to the man across from him with a quiet obedience I had never seen in him before.
Master V noticed.
Of course he noticed.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes moving between us with calm understanding.
"You two planned something," he said.
He did not ask.
He stated it.
My breath stopped.
Renne swallowed hard.
I felt my heart thrum in my chest.
The game was no longer ours.
Master V knew exactly what we were doing.
He knew exactly how the evening would end.
And for the first time since Renne proposed the idea, I was not pretending.
I wanted to see what he would do.
The Bet was already slipping.
And I was not even trying to win anymore.