Chapter: Chapter Fifty Four: What Do I Do With Her?AlessandroI stared at Malachai across my desk and for a moment, I thought I had misheard him. The room was silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall and the distant hum of traffic outside. His black eyes did not blink. His face did not move. He sat there like a statue, like death itself had decided to pay me a visit.Then I laughed.The sound came out cold and sharp, bouncing off the walls and filling the room with something that was not humor. It was the laugh of a man who had heard a joke so ridiculous that there was no other response."You came all the way from your hole in the ground," I said, leaning back in my chair, "to ask me to sell you something that is not for sale?"Malachai's expression did not change. "Everything is for sale, boy. You just have not heard the right price yet.""Do not call me boy.""You are a boy to me." His voice was low and smooth, like oil on water. "I was destroying empires while you were still learning to wipe your own ass. Do not forge
Last Updated: 2026-06-16
Chapter: Chapter Fifty Three: Why Was He So NonchalantElenaAlessandro was getting closer. I braced myself for what he was going to do to me. I gripped the sheets so tightly that if they had not been made of expensive fabric, they would have torn.But then his eyes seemed to clear.The darkness and the hunger were gone, replaced by something I could not name. He looked at me for a long moment. Then he bent down, picked up his robe, and left without looking back.I let out a whimper as the door shut.That was close. I had been so scared. But why did he change his mind? Not that I wanted anything to happen. I would rather die. But his sudden resignation was questionable.I took deep breaths to calm my racing heart.Then I stood up. Maybe he would let me go out. When I reached the door, I tried the handle. It was locked. Who was I kidding? I was locked and alone in this massive room that was big enough to be a city.I walked around. I touched his things. I opened drawers and found nothing interesting. Just papers and pens and a gun. I close
Last Updated: 2026-06-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty Two: You Are Far Away From Your TerritoryAlessandroI moved toward her. Each step felt heavier than the last. My body was screaming at me to go faster, to close the distance, to take what was mine. My head was winning the war, pulling me forward like a tide I could not resist.But then she backed away.Her body slid across the mattress, pushing herself toward the headboard, her hands gripping the duvet like it was the only thing keeping her alive. Her eyes were wide. Her lips were trembling. Her whole body was shaking.And I saw the fear.Not the fake fear that whores put on to make men feel powerful. Real fear. The kind that lives in the eyes of someone who has been hurt before and knows it is about to happen again.My head snapped back.The hunger vanished. The darkness cleared from my eyes. I looked at her, really looked at her, and I saw a girl who had been sold by her uncle, starved by maids, and thrown onto a bed by a man who kept calling her a property.What the fuck was I doing?I bent down and picked up my robe. I p
Last Updated: 2026-06-11
Chapter: Chapter Fifty One: Tonight Is The NightElenaI choked on my own saliva when I heard him give out an order to execute those maids.For what? For giving me more work? For spitting at my feet? For calling me names and taking my bread and laughing when I collapsed? Yes, they had been cruel. Yes, they had hurt me. But they did not deserve to die.This was his fault in the first place. He should not have sent me there. He should not have called me a property and thrown me away like garbage. Those maids were just doing what they had always done to new slaves. They did not know any better.Should I plead on their behalf? The thought came and went. Would he even listen to me? I was nothing to him. A property. A tool. A thing he bought with his money. Why would he listen to anything I said?Then he turned and leaned closer. I shifted back, trying to create space between us, but he pulled me closer. His nose grazed my forehead, his skin warm against mine, and I forgot how to breathe.He smelled like heaven. Like expensive soap and cl
Last Updated: 2026-06-09
Chapter: Chapter Fifty: War Between The Head and The Heart AlessandroI carried her to my room. She had stopped crying by then, only small sniffing sobs escaping her lips every few seconds. Her eyes were closed.She would not still look at me.Was she shy? Or was she scared? I did not know. I could not read her the way I could read other people. She was a mystery to me, a puzzle I could not solve, and that should have annoyed me. Instead, it made me want to look at her more.She was cute though. Her cheeks were red from crying. Her eyelashes were clumped together with tears. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed. She looked like a bunny. A small, frightened, beautiful bunny.I could not take my eyes off her.I walked through the corridors with her in my arms, her body light against my chest, her hair brushing against my bare skin. The guards stared but I did not care. Let them stare. None of them would ever understand what was happening inside my head.When I got to my room, her eyes fluttered open. She looked at me for a moment, th
Last Updated: 2026-06-09
Chapter: Chapter Forty Nine: The Devil's TwinElenaSurprisingly, Alessandro's voice was soft when he said my name at the door. And his eyes were worried as he looked at me, his grey eyes scanning my face like he was looking for something, checking for damage, making sure I was still in one piece.But I knew better than to celebrate. The devil going soft? That would only happen on a cold day in hell. This was Alessandro De Vercelli, the man who had called me a property in front of everyone. The man who had banished me to the slave quarters. The man who had made it very clear that I was nothing to him.Just as I predicted, his expression changed. The softness vanished and was replaced by something dark and cold. He walked into Lucas's room and stood before Lucas, who was already standing, his back straight, his chin raised, his green eyes steady.My heart could not help but beat for Lucas. He was stoic and unfazed, even as Alessandro towered over him, even as Alessandro's voice rose and his fists clenched. Lucas did not cower.
Last Updated: 2026-06-08
Chapter: Chapter Twenty Three: Not MotherIvyI slept better that night than I had in weeks.When I woke up, the sun was streaming through the curtains and Mrs Chen was already in my room, opening the windows, letting the fresh air in."Good morning, child," she said. "Did you sleep well?""Yes," I said. "I slept very well."Mrs Chen smiled. It was a warm smile. A mother's smile."I made you breakfast. Eggs and toast and fresh fruit.""Thank you, Mrs Chen."She left. I got dressed and walked to the dining room. The table was set for one. Dorian's chair was empty.I ate my breakfast alone. The eggs were good. The toast was warm. But I could not stop thinking about the way Dorian had looked at me last night. The way he had said my name. The way he had held me.Something had changed between us. I did not know what. I did not know if it was good or bad. But something had shifted.At 10 AM, I walked to the training room. Sofia was there, stretching on the mat."You look different," she said."Different how?""I do not know. Softer
Last Updated: 2026-06-06
Chapter: Chapter Twenty Two: The Art of Pushing AwayDorianThree weeks passed. Three weeks of meetings and shipments and contracts. Three weeks of telling myself I had made the right choice. Three weeks of not looking at her.I became good at it. The not looking. The not thinking. The not caring. I buried myself so deep in work that Marcus started making jokes about me becoming an accountant."The Irish are getting impatient," Marcus said, dropping a folder on my desk. "They want to meet her.""Not yet.""She has been here almost two months. People are talking.""Let them talk."Marcus did not move. He stood there with his arms crossed, staring at me like I was a puzzle he could not solve."You have not asked about her in ten days.""I have not needed to.""Mrs Chen says she is doing well. Eating. Sleeping. Training with Sofia." He paused. "She does not ask about you either."Something twisted in my chest. I ignored it."Good. That is how it should be."Marcus shook his head. "You are a fool, Dorian.""I am alive.""Are you?" He walked
Last Updated: 2026-06-06
Chapter: Chapter Twenty One: The Taste Of HoneyIvyI stopped trying.I stopped trying to figure out who was killing the brides. I stopped trying to earn Dorian's trust. I stopped trying to be anything other than what I had always been.Invisible.The first day, I sat on my bed and stared at the wall. Mrs Chen brought food. I did not eat it. Mrs Chen brought tea. I did not drink it. Mrs Chen sat beside me and held my hand and told me everything would be okay.I did not believe her.The second day, I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Mrs Chen brought soup. I ate a few spoonfuls. Mrs Chen brought tea. I let it go cold. Mrs Chen brushed my hair and told me stories about Dorian when he was a boy.I listened. I did not speak.The third day, I cried.Not silent tears. Not quiet sobs. Ugly crying. The kind that made my whole body shake and my throat hurt and my eyes swell shut.Mrs Chen was there. She held me. She rocked me. She whispered soft words in my ear."It is okay, child. Let it out. I am here. I am not going anywhere."I crie
Last Updated: 2026-06-02
Chapter: Chapter Twenty: The Devil I KnowDorianI went back to business.That was what I told myself. That was what I told Marcus. That was what I told everyone who looked at me with questions in their eyes.The shipments. The contracts. The deals. The endless dance of men who wanted what I had and would do anything to take it. I buried myself in it. Let the numbers and the names and the deadlines fill my head so I would not have to think about her.It did not work.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face. The way her tears had rolled down her cheeks. The way her voice had cracked when she said my name. The way she had stood in my doorway, small and broken and begging me to listen.I had told her to leave.I had told her I did not want her.I had watched her walk away and done nothing to stop her.Marcus walked into my office at noon. He had a tablet in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other."The Irish are asking about the alliance," he said. "They want to know when you are introducing the bride.""Soon.""You have b
Last Updated: 2026-06-02
Chapter: Chapter Nineteen: Truth ExposedIvyMrs Chen did not move from the bed.She just sat there with her hands folded in her lap and her silver hair pinned up neatly and her eyes that were not kind or gentle or anything I had seen before."Close the door, child," she said.I did not want to close the door. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I wanted to find Dorian and tell him that the woman he trusted was sitting on my bed like she owned the room.But my feet would not move. My hands would not move. My mouth would not open.Mrs Chen sighed. It was a soft sound. Almost sad."I said close the door."I reached behind me and pushed the door closed. The click echoed through the room."Good." Mrs Chen patted the bed beside her. "Sit."I did not sit.Mrs Chen's eyes hardened. Just a little. Just enough."I have been nothing but kind to you since you arrived," she said. Her voice was calm. Hurt. Like a mother scolding a child who had been misbehaving. "I have made you meals. I have cleaned your room. I have brought you tea ev
Last Updated: 2026-06-01
Chapter: Chapter Eighteen: The ChoiceDorianI could not stop thinking about it.The files. The photographs. The way Ivy had looked at me when she pointed out the pattern. The way her voice had been so sure, so certain, so convinced that Mrs Chen was a killer.I poured myself another drink and stared at the wall.The whiskey burned going down. It was the only thing I had felt in hours. The only thing that reminded me I was still alive.Marcus found me at two in the morning. He did not knock. Just walked in and sat down across from me."You look terrible," he said."I feel terrible.""Because of the girl?""Because of everything."Marcus leaned back in his chair. He did not say anything. He was good at that. Waiting. Letting me fill the silence with my own words.I did."She thinks Mrs Chen killed them. All twelve. She found a pattern in the files. The day they died. The day Mrs Chen had off. She thinks it is evidence."Marcus raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think?""I do not know what to think.""You know Mrs Chen. Yo
Last Updated: 2026-06-01
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