LOGINMy Uncle Leonard and I.Chapter 1Samuel.I’ve been trying to act normal since I woke up but my stomach’s been off the whole time. Boxes are already stacked in the hallway. Leonard’s in the kitchen when I come down, pouring coffee like it’s just another Sunday.“Sleep alright?” My uncle, Leonard asks without looking up.“Yeah. Fine.” I take the mug he pushes toward me. “Thanks.”He glances over. “You were up late.”“Just thinking about the place. Lists and stuff.”Then he nods, slow. “Lists.” Leonard leans on the counter. “Weather’s decent. Thought we’d hit the trail before it gets hot. Last proper walk for a bit.”I hesitate. “I should probably finish packing.”“It’ll be there later. You’ve been stuck inside all week.”I don’t push it. We change into shorts and old shirts and head out the back path that cuts into the woods. After twenty minutes of climbing I yank my shirt off and shove it in my waistband. Leonard does the same a minute later. Sweat’s already darkening the hair on his
My Girlfriend Dumped me.Chapter 2Arvin.I closed the master bedroom door behind me the way he told me to. The room was quiet and dim, curtains still half drawn from the morning. Edward stood near the foot of the bed, sleeves rolled up, watching me without saying anything at first.“Come here.”I walked over. My pulse was already loud in my ears.He pointed at the bed. “Face down. Arms out. Legs apart.”I hesitated just long enough for him to raise an eyebrow. That was enough. I climbed on and settled the way he wanted. Cool sheets against my chest and stomach. I heard the soft clink of metal and then leather cuffs closed around my wrists, then my ankles. He checked each one, tugging once to make sure they held.“Too tight?”“No.”“Good.” He tied a blindfold over my eyes. The world went dark. His hand rested briefly on the back of my neck. “From this morning on you belong to me in every way that matters. Body, schedule, obedience. You don’t get to argue about it anymore. You don’t ge
My Girlfriend Dumped Me.Chapter 1Arvin.I never thought the end would come over burnt toast and cold coffee.Samantha stood on the other side of the kitchen island in my apartment, arms crossed so tight her knuckles were white. Her voice stayed low but it cut straight through me.“You said you’d have something lined up by last week. That was three weeks ago, Arvin.”“I know. I know I did. The interviews keep falling through.”“Falling through or you just stop showing up after the second one?”I set the mug down harder than I meant to. “That’s not fair.”“Isn’t it? I covered your half of the rent last month. I drove you to those interviews. I sat here night after night listening to you say tomorrow would be different.” She shook her head. “I’m done waiting for tomorrow.”“Sam, come on. We’re not throwing four years away over a rough patch.”“It’s not a rough patch. It’s a pattern. You lost the last job because you kept showing up late. You lost the one before that because you argued
He Would Only Accept My Body.Chapter 4Pavi.The basement smelled of concrete and wood oil. Natum switched on a single overhead light that left the corners dim. The beam ran the length of the ceiling, thick and scarred from years of use. Floor bolts sat ready near the workbench. On the small table lay the paddle, a black sleeve, a plug with a remote, a plain leather hood, and a bottle of lube.He did not ask if I was ready. He simply pointed at the center of the floor.“Clothes off. Fold them.”I stripped. The air was cooler than upstairs. I folded each piece and set the stack on the stool. When I straightened he was already holding the padded cuffs.“Wrists.”He fastened them high on the beam so my arms stretched and my heels lifted off the concrete. Then he spread my ankles and locked them to the bolts. The position left me open and balanced on the balls of my feet. My breath came shorter.Natum picked up the ledger from where he had set it on the workbench and opened it.“First en
He Would Only Accept My Body.Chapter 3Pavi.I had stood in front of Natum’s house for about with my finger still on the bell, tapping constantly, because I was sure Natum's home. He finally opened the door about ten minutes later. Natum looked at me the way he always did, no surprise, no anger, just that quiet assessment that made my shoulders tighten.“Come in.”I followed him down the hall. The study lamp was already on. The thin black ledger sat in the center of the desk, closed this time, a pen laid parallel to its edge. He sat first. I stayed on my feet until he nodded at the chair.“Sit.”I sat. My hands found each other in my lap and locked.He opened the ledger and turned it so the pages faced me. The entries were neat, date after date, amounts that started at one hundred and eighty thousand and grew with every missed principal payment and every partial interest transfer I had scraped together. The final line was written in darker ink. Balance due in full. Default.“You stop
He Would Only Accept My Body.Chapter 2PaviI told myself the first three months were the hard part. The servers were live, the pilot with the two warehouses was running, and I was sleeping on a cot in the back of the office more nights than I slept at home. The money from Natum was moving. Payroll went out. The routing algorithm actually worked on the test routes. I called him once in those early weeks, standing outside the office with a coffee that had gone cold.“It’s holding,” I said. “The first week of data looks clean. No major drops.”His voice came back even. “Good. Keep the books tight.”“I will. I’ll send the first interest payment on time.”“Do that.”I hung up feeling like I had proven something. The feeling lasted until the fourth month.One of the warehouses pulled out with almost no notice. Their operations manager called me on a Tuesday afternoon while I was watching the live dashboard.“We’re stepping back, Pavi. Corporate decided the pilot window is closed. Nothing
“Absolutely not.” I crossed my arms, glaring at mum as she folded my pink sweater into the bag. “I’m not spending an entire weekend in some dusty cabin with Aunt Linda and her arrogant sons. Especially Caleb.”Mum didn’t even look at me. “Sera, honey, it’s a mini family reunion. Your aunt hasn’t se
Emily's povI slammed the front door harder than I meant to, my university backpack still slung over one shoulder. The house smelled the same, with Mark's cologne hitting my nostrils. I’d been back less than two hours and we were already fighting.“You can’t just tell me what to do anymore, Mark! I
Elena's povI’ve been an electrician for fifteen years, and I thought I’d seen every kind of weird shit people hide in their walls. But nothing prepared me for what I found in Mrs. Elena Voss’s bedroom closet.She was a high-end client, mid-thirties with a classy style. She ran a consulting firm fr
I shifted under the thin blanket on the floor of Sarah’s bedroom, the hardwood floor pressing uncomfortably against my hip. The clock on the nightstand glowed at 1:17am.Sarah’s soft snores filled the room, steady and deep. We’d stayed up late watching movies and gossiping like always. But tonight,







