The Ultimatum

POV: Sumi

Sumi had been driving in silence ever since Eli slipped back into the car. Not a word. Not a breath out of place. Not even a glance exchanged.

The car was quiet.

Too quiet.

The kind of quiet that presses against the eardrums, filling every possible space with the things a person doesn’t want to think about.

Sumi sat rigid in the passenger seat, spine straight as a rod, hands clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles had turned white. She stared ahead at the ribbon of road and the pale glow of passing streetlights. Each beam washed over the dashboard and briefly illuminated the tremor in her breath.

Beside her, Eli sat with the relaxed ease of someone who had never once lost control of anything in his life. One hand draped over his knee, the other tapping absently against the window. There was no tension in him. No lingering adrenaline. No remorse—almost as if the encounter with Ortega had simply been a way to burn off some passing irritation.

Sumi’s gaze flickered sideways before she could stop it, drifting lower for the briefest moment. A stupid, instinctive thought struck her—of course he’s relaxed… after what just happened. Eli’s eyes shifted, catching the direction of her glance. Her face flushed hot, and she snapped her attention back to the road, mortified.

He looked as if the last twenty minutes hadn’t altered him at all.

But Sumi’s mind wasn’t quiet—far from it.

She had seen everything — not the graphic details, but enough. The way Ortega’s authority shattered in minutes. The way her voice broke. The way she obeyed him without hesitation, stripped of every shred of the iron posture she once carried. A transformation so **** it felt unreal — and shamefully, Sumi felt a sharp twist of jealousy she couldn’t admit to herself.

And the worst, most shameful thought she couldn’t outrun:

For one terrible moment… she had wished she were in Ortega’s place.

I shouldn’t have seen that.

I shouldn’t have stayed.

I should have walked away the moment I understood what was happening.

And worst of all—

He’s Mei’s boyfriend. My daughter’s boyfriend. God…

Yet every time she tried to shove the memory into a dark corner of her mind, it pushed back. Sharper. Louder. More vivid.

Eli’s voice.

The tone he used.

The way Officer Ortega’s entire posture collapsed under it.

The authority he carried without lifting a finger.

The calmness in his eyes.

The total and unnerving absence of fear.

Everything about it was wrong.

Unethical.

Unthinkable.

And yet—

…it was the most dominant, commanding thing she had ever witnessed.

That truth terrified her more deeply than anything else.

Her chest felt tight. Thoughts tumbled over each other, chaotic and contradictory. She tried desperately to hold onto her moral compass, but it spun wildly, refusing to give her a clear direction.

What she had seen between Eli and Ortega wasn’t normal. It wasn’t acceptable.

But it had awoken something. Something Sumi didn’t want to name.

The silence stretched between them until Eli finally pulled into the clinic’s parking lot. The soft crunch of gravel under the tires felt too loud in the quiet.

Only then did he speak.

“Sorry for taking so long with Officer Cumpig,” he said lightly—too lightly—like someone commenting on a long line at the checkout. “Hope the show wasn’t too boring.”

Sumi’s breath caught. The words hit her like a spike.

Her throat tightened. When she found her voice, it felt small, fragile.

“You… you’re Mei’s boyfriend...how.c...could you do this to her”

Eli breathed out a quiet laugh.

“Mei isn’t my girlfriend,” Eli said calmly. “She follows me because she wants structure—someone who doesn’t hesitate, someone who doesn’t flinch. She wants to be close to strength, just like you.” He shrugged lightly. “That’s not romance, Sumi. That’s just the correct order.”

The certainty, the offhand dismissal, shook Sumi more than she expected.

She turned to look at him—really look at him—and instantly regretted it. His eyes found hers, steady and knowing, and her pulse jumped.

She didn’t understand him.

She didn’t understand herself.

Eli leaned in slightly—not enough to invade her space, but enough to disturb her equilibrium.

“There’s always room in my world, for litle rice sluts,” he said quietly. “And you saw everything you needed to see out there. Didn’t you? You can have what Mei has—her certainty, her stability, her place. Look how happy is as my bitch, how satisfied. That kind of clarity is rare. You want a strong family? Then you want someone capable of leading it.”

Her breath shuddered. Words formed and died on her tongue. She wanted to say something—she wanted to defend Haruto, to defend her family, to tell herself that this was wrong. But she couldn’t. Deep down, she knew what she wanted… but she couldn’t admit it, could she?

“Your reaction says enough,” Eli murmured. “You think about me—and what you saw—all day. Even if you pretend you won’t.”

The worst part was—he wasn’t wrong.

He reached for the door handle.

“Here’s the deal,” he continued. “I’m going inside to check the rooms. And you? You’re going to work.”

Sumi blinked, thrown by the shift. Her confusion felt like fog settling over her thoughts.

“You’ll pretend everything is normal,” he said, voice maddeningly calm. “But you won’t stop replaying what you saw. You’ll compare everything—everyone—to me. And eventually, you’ll understand what that means.”

He let that hang between them for a moment.

“You have until four o’clock,” Eli added quietly. “If, before then, you come find me and ask to step into my world, I’ll give you exactly what you’re reaching for—no pretending, no halfway.”

Her voice cracked. “And if I don’t?”

Eli pushed the door open.

“Then we meet back here at the car,” he said. “You showed me the rooms, we talk contracts, I open a little gym under your practice… and this stays what it looks like on paper.”

He held her gaze.

“Just business and family my dear mother in law. Nothing more. No second chances.”

He stepped out of the car, but paused before closing the door. Turning back, he held her gaze.

“But if you do…” His smile was faint but sharp. “Then we both understand what that choice says.”

The world tilted under her. Her breath faltered.

“And if I don’t?” she whispered.

Eli didn’t hesitate.

“Then I misjudged you,” he said. “And I don’t spend time on people who don’t know what they want.”

He shut the door.

The click echoed in her chest.

Sumi sat frozen, staring at the clinic entrance where Eli disappeared inside.

Her hands shook uncontrollably. Her thoughts spiraled so fast she couldn’t catch a single one.

Why can’t I breathe?

Why can’t I ignore him?

Why does Haruto come to mind—why does that comparison hurt so much?

Why does it feel like I’ve already made a choice I don’t remember deciding?

The engine ticked softly in the suffocating stillness.

For the first time all morning, Sumi realized she wasn’t afraid of Eli.

She was afraid of herself.

Afraid of what she might do next.

Afraid of what part of her had awakened.

And afraid of how impossible it felt to put any of it back to sleep.