Chapter 8: Defiance

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• Devil's Bidding   Chapter 19: All for nothing

  Arabella Where was the third guard? I wondered. And suddenly I heard a low grunt, and my heart plummeted.No. Please no.It had to be him, the last security guard.Was he awake? Had he heard me?I dove to the floor hiding behind a plant, my breath trapped in my throat. The cold concrete bit into my knees as I waited in absolute stillness, heart pounding madly against my ribcage like a warring drum.This was it, I'd be caught. I wouldn’t make it.I’d come all this way for nothing. I squatted there holding back tears. I closed my eyes for a moment waiting for when I'd be discovered. Seconds passed. Then a full minute. Nothing.No footsteps, only my madly beating heart.Swallowing hard, I crawled out from the shadows, inching forward slowly. There was no one in sight. I walked on looking for the last guard and then I found him at the gate house. There he was.Slouched over a table, completely out cold.I released a shaky breath, relief flooding through me.That’s when I saw it.A c

• Devil's Bidding   Chapter 18: I've come this far

  Arabella Three days. That was all the time I had before Lucas returned.I sat quietly in the kitchen. Anna had already agreed to let me bake tomorrow evening. I’d asked innocently enough, and she’d smiled, pleased at how well I was “adjusting.” That part was settled. Tomorrow would be the day I'd leave. All I needed now were the pills.My gaze flicked to the far corner, where the first aid box sat behind the counter—locked, but not unreachable.It was just I and Sophie here right now. Now would be the best time. “Let me help,” I said lightly, approaching Sophie with practiced calm as she sorted the vegetables for dinner.She smiled and moved aside, letting me join in. Sneaking into Anna’s room and getting her phone to contact Mona again was a lost cause. I didn't want to risk it. I'd have to get out first, then call Mona later. That was the order. That was the only way.I picked up a knife, its metal gleaming under the warm kitchen lights. My heart drummed a wild rhythm in my c

• Devil's Bidding   Chapter 17: The plan

  Arabella I forced the tremor from my voice, swallowing the rising dread as I asked, “When would he be coming?”Sophie barely looked up, casually brushing flour off her hands. “In four days, I think.”Four days.The words echoed, detonated in my skull like a bomb. I nodded slowly, numbly, as if that information hadn’t just shattered the ground beneath me.“I’ll miss you guys too,” I said softly, my voice layered with a fragile sweetness I didn’t feel. I looked down at the dough, kneading it like my life didn’t depend on getting out of this place before that deadline. Four days.If I was moved to Lucas’s penthouse—his real lair, the fortress where he ruled behind marble walls and impenetrable security—then I was finished. There would be no doors accidentally left unlocked. No casual staff leaving phones lying around. Cameras watching my every move. No freedom.No hope.We finished the baking, the kitchen humming with warmth and the scent of sugar and vanilla. The pastries came out gol

• Devil's Bidding   Chapter 16: Running out of time

  ArabellaI studied the house more, observing everyone and everything.One thing became clear early on—how the staff operated as a tight-knit unit.They all gathered in the kitchen for meals, especially dinner, before retreating to their individual stations for the night.There was an easy rhythm to the house. Predictable. Familiar.And contrary to what I initially thought, the place wasn’t swarming with security.When I first arrived, it had felt like eyes were everywhere—like the very walls were watching me.But the truth?There weren’t many guards at all. Barely any, in fact.Not that it made escape any more possible.Even without guards, the maids alone could overpower me if I made a funny move.And the gates were far from the main house, enough that I’d never reach them in time.Still, I paid attention.From Sophie, I learned things.Anna took long showers every night. The butler’s daughter was pregnant and due to give birth soon.Other tidbits, small and seemingly useless on the

• Devil's Bidding   Chapter 15: Escape plan

  “Fuck you, Lucas!” she screamed, her glare a blazing inferno of hatred, her tear-streaked face unyielding despite the tremors racking her small frame. She lunged forward, desperate to escape his presence, but a searing pain shot through her ankle, radiating up her leg. Her knees buckled, and she crumpled to the cold stone floor, a sob wrenching from her throat. Even as pain consumed her, she kept her eyes locked on Lucas, shooting lazers at him with them. He frowned,momentarily softening as he squatted beside her.“Stay away from me!” she yelled, her voice cracking, her good leg lashing out in a weak attempt to kick him. She’d twisted her ankle.Not just now, it had happened earlier when she tripped, but the pain had been buried beneath adrenaline and anger. Now it roared to the surface, merciless.Lucas loomed above her, his gaze unreadable, his towering presence making her seem impossibly small. She hugged her knees sobbing on the floor, her long hair tangled around her tear

• Devil's Bidding   Chapter 14: Drawing first blood

  Arabella Painful laughter tore from my throat. It was jagged and hollow, like something broken scraping against bone. I threw my head back and laughed, my chest ached from the force of it. The reality—was much worse than the initial truth of things that had been dangled in front of me. Things I’d allowed myself to believe.I had been blind.Willfully, pathetically blind.Tears sprang to the surface, hot and stinging, blurring the edges of my vision as I choked on another laugh.How foolish I had been.How small.How stupid.I couldn’t even argue with him. He was right to call me that.Stupid.Simple-minded just as he sneered. My laughter faded into a choked gasp, my hands trembling as I pressed them to my face, nails digging into my skin as if I could claw away my own naivety.“How long?” I pressed, my voice barely above a whisper. “How long have you been planning this?”His lips curved, but there was no amusement in it—only a cold satisfaction.“Years,” he said. “It took years. Pa