Her Black Belt Ex Tried to Humiliate Me at the Dojo — He Didn’t Know Who I Was
Chapter 4
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"Right... the watch," Brandon sighed heavily, playing to the handful of students who had stopped drilling to watch the drama. "You know, Sarah, you left a lot of junk in my office. Took me forever to clear it out. I think I tossed most of it."Sarah let out a sharp gasp. "You threw it away? You said you had it!"Brandon held up his hands defensively, a mock apologetic look on his face. "Hey, relax, babe. I didn't say I tossed the watch. It's in the safe back there. But I'm busy teaching a master class right now—you guys are interrupting my flow.""We can wait," I said. It was the first time I had spoken. My voice was calm, flat, projecting neither fear nor aggression, just a statement of fact.Brandon's eyes narrowed. He didn't like my tone—it lacked the deference he demanded in his building. "Is that right, accountant?" Brandon sneered, shifting his weight. "You guys can just stand here and disrupt my vibe? See, in my dojo, we have respect. We don't just walk in off the street and make demands of the master."I almost laughed at the word master, but I kept my face impassive. "We aren't making demands. We're retrieving personal property. We'll wait by the door until you're finished." I put my hand on Sarah's arm, signaling for her to step back.But Brandon wasn't going to let his audience down; he wasn't going to let the new boyfriend walk away without being diminished."Tell you what, Cole," Brandon called out, stepping over the half-wall into the walkway, invading our physical space. He was a good four inches taller than me, and he used every bit of it to loom. "Since you're so eager to stand around in my house, why don't you earn that watch for her?"The gym went completely silent. The heavy bags stopped swinging. The hip-hop music suddenly sounded absurdly loud in the tense quiet. Everyone was watching.Sarah stepped between us, her panic breaking through. "Brandon, stop it. Don't do this. Give me the watch and we'll leave."Brandon gently but firmly moved Sarah to the side, never taking his eyes off me. "I'm just being hospitable, Sarah. Your new guy comes into my gym, disrespects my space, acts like he owns the place... I think it's only fair he steps on the mat. Dojo rules: an outsider interrupts a class, they have to spar a round with the instructor. Nothing crazy—just some light, friendly rolling. Right, Cole?"He was trapping me: if I said no, he humiliated me in front of Sarah and his entire gym; if I said yes, he planned to beat me bloody under the guise of a friendly spar to prove to Sarah that her new man was weak. It was a flawless, sociopathic social trap.I looked at Brandon, really looked at him. I saw the slight flare of his nostrils, the tension in his traps, the eager gleam in his eye. He was a bully—a bully who had learned just enough martial arts to enforce his will legally."I don't have any gear," I said mildly.Sarah grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. "Cole, no. Don't. Please, let's just go. I don't care about the watch."But she did care. I had seen her cry looking at old photos of her dad. I wasn't leaving without it.