Cruel Intentions -1999- Page

“I pretend not to care,” he says, voice low. “But I read your article. You believe people can be better. I want to know what that feels like.”

The game is over.

New York City, December 1999. The millennium is looming, but inside the penthouse of Sebastian Valmont, time is stuck in an endless loop of champagne, cocaine, and casual destruction. Sebastian (28, beautiful in a ruined way) lounges in a silk robe, reading his late father’s leather-bound copy of Les Liaisons dangereuses . Across from him, his step-sister, Kathryn Merteuil (27, blonde, razor-sharp, wearing a cashmere twin-set as armor), sips a martini and smiles. cruel intentions -1999-

He cannot go through with it.

But his eyes linger on a photograph of Annette in the school yearbook. She is smiling at something off-camera. It is not a seductive smile. It is a kind one. “I pretend not to care,” he says, voice low

“You get the car. But if you lose—if you fall for her—you give me your vintage Leica camera collection.” I want to know what that feels like

Kathryn proposes a bet. “Screw Annette Hargrove—and not just physically. Make her fall in love with you. Then dump her so publicly, she’ll transfer back to Ohio by Christmas. Do that, and you can have my brand-new Jaguar.”