CHAPTER 45: Avoiding her Captor

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• Corrupt Temptation   Chapter 60: The Unsettling Promise

  SLOAN. Albert clicked the heavy oak door of my bedroom shut behind him leaving me in the tense silence of my bedroom. Finally with his judgment evident in his eyes and his questions unsaid he had left. I had said Nothing important ignoring Ivy’s intense unfiltered pain as unimportant. A necessary lie. It was required by my authority and control. However the deception left a bitter aftertaste that obstinately clung to my senses tasting like ash on my tongue. The cool crystal in the decanter felt like a familiar weight as I made my way to the bar cabinet. The amber liquid of my strongest whiskey glinted in the gentle light as I generously poured it for myself. I required it. I required the burn the well-known remedy for the disturbing turmoil inside of me. My mind which is typically a stronghold of icy reasoning and a well-tuned apparatus of strategic thinking was under siege. It resembled a battlefield more than a precision tool covered in the unexpected rubble of unfiltered emotio

• Corrupt Temptation   CHAPTER 59: A Promise and a Renewed Search

  IVY Despite Sloans arms providing unexpected unwavering comfort my sobs continued to rage through me. His pricey shirt was soaked by my face stuck in his shoulder and my own tears were like abrasive acid on my flesh. His hushed assurances that he would find Willa were reverberating in my ears as he rubbed my shoulders and pressed me close to him. This brief brittle glimmer of hope was amidst the utter darkness of my sorrow. The room went silent but then a soft sound broke the stillness. Footsteps. Close. My eyes filled with tears darted to the door as my head snapped up. Sloan also tensed up and retreated a little from our hug. Albert loomed in the doorway like a menacing silent ghost. Despite his stiff posture and hands in his pants pockets his dark unreadable eyes scanned the scene in front of him taking in my tear-streaked face my unkempt appearance and Sloans arm still hanging loosely around me. The private moment was shattered. The unadulterated fragility of my loss revealed.

• Corrupt Temptation   CHAPTER 58: The Exposure

  IVY.The rageful sobs continued to rip through me leaving my chest hurting and my throat raw. Beneath my tear-streaked eyes the cold wood had become a blurred memory as I forced myself to get off the floor. With my hands clenched into fists and my bare feet sinking into the plush carpet I paced the opulent room like a frantic caged animal the crumpled photos of Sloan and Willa still burning in my brain. A betrayal. Only that feeling a bitter excruciating taste on my tongue resonated. He knew. He had known where she was all along. Holding her secret close he had let me suffer search and think she was lost. The thought was a constant source of agony. In this agonizing dance of grief and rage hours seemed to go by. I was unaware of the unrelenting passage of time as the light outside the enormous windows changed. I was engulfed in the malice of his cruelty and the blaze of his deceit. My red and swollen eyes were hazy with tears turning the lavish room into a blurry whirlpool of agony

• Corrupt Temptation   CHAPTER 57: The Face in the Photograph

  IVY. My breath caught in my throat. Cradled in my shaking hand the photograph showed a face I recognized. It was a face I had not seen in years a face I had assumed was forever gone a ghost in my mind, she was grinning. She smiled broadly and carelessly and her eyes glistened with an unbridled joy that broke my heart. It was the same smile that used to brighten our small claustrophobic apartment and that I recognized from old faded childhood photos. Willa. my sister. She was also standing next to Sloan. For a moment I felt an intense rush of pure unadulterated joy that made my head swim. Wille. She had survived. She had a smile. It felt like a physical ache a sudden intense light in the years of darkness that had engulfed me. A different kind of emotion a desperate overwhelming wave of hope blurred my eyes which had already been swimming with tears from the initial shock. But then like a poisoned bloom a terrible reality started to slowly and agonizingly unfold as I rushed to gath

• Corrupt Temptation   CHAPTER 56: Revealing Secrets

  IVY.The last traces of sleep had been washed away by Sloan’s warm shower and the unexpectedly good breakfast had filled the empty space in my stomach. I felt rejuvenated and nearly human once more. When I put on one of his immaculate white t-shirts it hung on me like a dress and had a subtle alluring scent that was all his own along with a hint of his pricey cologne. Fortunately I could still wear my own jeans so I put them on as well. Not likely a fashion statement. Survival and comfort? Definitely. But time seemed to be passing at a glacial rate. The spacious opulent bedroom which had seemed so promising for fun and investigation now seemed oddly vacant. I had used up all of its few secrets including its impossibly tidy closet, immaculate bathroom and lack of personality. Not a single secret compartment. Not a single covert love letter. Not a single scandalous photo of him acting in a human manner. He was genuinely a very dull wealthy individual. Due to the forced inactivity, my

• Corrupt Temptation   CHAPTER 55: The tyrant's lair

  IVY The door clicked shut stifling the gentle murmurs of Sloan’s departure and I found myself completely blissfully alone in his bedroom, a huge frighteningly plush room. Even in a tyrant's lair, dignity is crucial so I quickly wrapped myself in the oversized glittering white robe I had found.But it felt like a cloud against my skin. I felt like a cat that had just discovered the warmest sunniest place to nap and I stretched letting out a ridiculously unworthy yawn. It was morning and a full day spent in his room. I was going to have the best time of my life ahead of me or at the very least the most extravagantly scandalous. A giggle escaped my lips as I bounced on the bed testing its immense softness. For the time being a giddy feeling of mischievous excitement had taken the place of the terror guilt and heartbreak. It was my opportunity. My opportunity to pry, to look into it, to learn more about Sloan’s actual secrets which go beyond his immaculately fitted suits and his concer