Chapter 4

My coming-of-age gift from my mother, an antique revolver engraved with my name, was destroyed.

It was now sitting in pieces on my bedroom floor.

I immediately checked the security footage. It showed that Essa was the only one who had sneaked into my room last night.

I grabbed my car keys, floored the gas pedal, and headed straight to the nightclub Julian owned.

I kicked open the door to the VIP lounge.

Julian was lounging on a leather sofa, looking thoroughly relaxed.

His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing fresh love bites.

Essa was pressed against his chest, holding a glass of wine and giggling.

I marched over, grabbed the ice bucket from the table, and dumped the freezing water and ice right over Essa's head.

"Ahhhh!" Essa shrieked.

Julian frowned and waved off the bodyguards stepping forward. "Valentina, what the hell is wrong with you?"

I glared coldly at the pathetic-looking Essa.

"You broke the gun in my room, didn't you? Who gave you the right to touch my things?"

Essa wiped the ice water from her face, her eyes instantly welling with tears.

She threw herself into Julian's arms, trembling violently. "Julian, I didn't! I didn't do anything!"

She cried perfectly, looking like a total victim. "Miss Valentina, you cannot just frame me like this because I am a maid! I only went in there to clean!"

I let out a cold laugh.

"You were the only one who went in. Who else could it be?"

Essa stiffened, crying even harder.

She gripped Julian's shirt tightly. "Julian, she has never liked me. Back at the estate, she used to hit me and abuse me for no reason! I endured it all, but now she is framing me for this. She wants me dead!"

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve to show off some purple bruises.

I watched her spew pure nonsense with a cold stare.

Then I turned my eyes to Julian.

His face was dark, and he did not say a word.

We had known each other for fifteen years and dated for five.

He knew how much that gun meant to me. He also knew I was above using cheap tricks to frame a maid.

His silence actually brought a sliver of relief to my heart.

He believes me, right?

Essa gritted her teeth and suddenly spoke again.

"And... the reason Valentina is so mad is probably because I accidentally saw all the photos of Kian in her room. I even saw her diary. She wrote that she has always been in love with Kian, and that Julian was just a distraction..."

I was so furious I almost laughed.

I raised my hand, ready to slap this wretched woman across the face.

Who would believe such a ridiculous lie?

But Julian's face instantly turned to ice. He caught my wrist mid-air and glared at me.

"What, angry because the truth came out?"

"As the heir to the Marino family, what kind of boss bullies an innocent civilian?"

"Today, I will teach you some manners on behalf of Don Marino."

He turned to his bodyguards, his voice freezing cold.

"Lock her in the underground storage room. No one lets her out without my orders."

"Let her reflect on how to treat her subordinates, and how to be an obedient woman."

My body went completely rigid.

Storage room. Underground.

I have severe claustrophobia.

It was the trauma left behind from when I was kidnapped by a rival cartel and locked in a shipping container for three days and nights.

Julian knew this better than anyone.

He was intentionally using the cruelest method to break me and force me to beg for mercy.

Two bodyguards immediately stepped forward and grabbed my arms.

"Julian! Do not you dare?!"

"Take her down."

He turned his back to me, pulling Essa back into his arms without giving me a single glance.

I was dragged roughly into the underground room.

The heavy iron door slammed shut with a loud bang, and the lock clicked.

Darkness instantly swallowed me whole.

There were no windows, no light. Just the nauseating smell of mold.

Fear coiled around my neck like a cold, poisonous snake, tightening its grip.

I slid down the iron door and collapsed on the floor, gasping desperately for air.

Breathing became harder and harder. Cold sweat instantly soaked through my back.

That suffocating feeling of waiting to die in the shipping container crashed down on me.

Trembling, I pulled my phone from my bag.

The screen lit up with a weak glow. One percent battery left.

In my sheer panic, my brain stopped working.

Acting purely on instinct, my fingers dialed the most familiar number.

Ring, Ring.

It connected.

If Julian just picked up.

If he just heard my trembling voice...

"Sorry, the number you dialed has been disconnected."

The screen flickered once, then went completely black.

He hung up.

Knowing full well I was having a claustrophobic panic attack, he hung up on me without mercy.

I bit my jaw so hard I tasted blood.

No one was coming to save me.

The love I was so proud of, the man I desperately protected, he had personally pushed me into hell.

I hugged my knees to my chest, curling into a ball, shivering helplessly in the dark.

Time stretched on forever.

The lack of oxygen made me dizzy, and my consciousness began to slip away.

Just as I thought I was going to die down there,

Bang!

A deafening crash echoed as the door was kicked open from the outside.

The blinding hallway lights poured in.

I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, greedily inhaling the fresh air rushing in.

Standing in the doorway, silhouetted against the light, was a tall, broad-shouldered figure.

His chest was heaving; he had obviously sprinted all the way here.

The familiar scent of gunpowder mixed with aggressive, cold cologne boldly pushed the darkness away.

It was Kian.

He looked down at me. For once, that face that was always at odds with me held a look of undeniable heartbreak.

His voice was hoarse, carrying an almost imperceptible tremble.

"Valentina, I thought you were tough."

"Why do you look so pathetic?"