EmilyThe darkness didn’t fade. Not completely.I drifted in and out of consciousness, a fog clinging to my brain like a second skin. My limbs were jelly, my head throbbed with dull agony, and the cold from the floor seeped into my bones harshly. Voices reached me, muffled, disjointed but they were there, low and cruel, like demons whispering in a dream."She’s tougher than I thought," Naomi’s voice slithered through the haze, venomous and mocking. "Maybe we should’ve used more.""She’s not supposed to die yet," Marcus replied sharply. "Not until the shipment hits the water and the alarms go off. Then we’ll disappear, and she becomes James’s tragedy."James. The name snapped something in me. I groaned, a sound so weak it barely registered. My fingers twitched. My vision blurred. The sedative was wearing off, but slowly, painfully. I was tied down, ankles and wrists, bound with rough, biting rope that cut into my skin each time I moved and it was really painful, I really needed to do s
EmilyJames hadn’t spoken to me since that night. Three days. Three long, aching days of silence.He didn’t call for me. Didn’t look my way. I sat at dinners, quiet and cold, watching him from across the table as if I were nothing more than a ghost in his mansion.But something had changed. He was colder. Not angry. Not calculating. Just… distant. Like something inside him had gone numb.And then Naomi returned all of a sudden…. She strutted back into the estate like a phoenix reborn, lips redder than blood and hips swaying like she owned every inch of marble under her feet. Dressed in a wine-colored gown with a slit high enough to reveal legs made for sin, she didn't spare me a glance.James didn't say a word about it. Just sat there at the head of the table, pretending she hadn't been banished days ago.I kept my face unreadable, but inside, a thousand thoughts screamed. Why was she back? What happened between them? And why did James look like he'd swallowed poison but refused to sp
NaomiThe slap still echoed in my ears. The sting on my cheek was nothing compared to the humiliation burning inside me. In front of everyone, James, the guards, the staff, Emily had dared to strike me. And James? He did nothing.Just watched with that unreadable expression, as if I were some amusing spectacle.He sent me away that night. No words, no explanations. Just a cold dismissal.I left the estate, but not in defeat.This was just a temporary setback.James had always been mine, and I wasn’t about to let some pathetic girl take him from me. Either I kill her with my both hands or I pay someone to do it for me, but before that….I needed a plan.Someone who hated James as much as I did. Someone with the power to help me bring him down. There was only one man who fit that description: Marcus Grey.Marcus and James had a long, bitter history rivals since their early days in the business world. While James built his empire with calculated precision, Marcus clawed his way up through
EmilyThe moment the words left his lips "Tonight, you’re sleeping in my bed" something inside me twisted. A thousand alarms blared in my head, but I didn’t show it. I kept my chin high as I walked away from the dining room, the stains of humiliation still wet against my skin like cold water….The maids were already waiting for me in the corridor, like they’d been prepped for what was next. Without a word, they ushered me into another room a different one this time. Bigger. Brighter. More luxurious than any I’d been in since I got here.They didn’t just clean me up. They dressed me like I was going on a royal date. The silk black nightgown they picked barely touched my knees, thin straps hanging on my shoulders like whispers, the fabric hugging every inch of my skin. One of them dabbed a little perfume behind my ears. The scent was warm, sinful like temptation wrapped in petals.My heart was beating fast when they finally led me through a long hallway until we stopped in front of a da
Emily“Get cleaned up,” James said coldly, his eyes scanning me like I was some sort of lost cause. “We’re having dinner tonight. And I expect you to behave like a normal human being.”And then he walked away. No explanation. No apology. Nothing.Two maids came in moments later like they’d been waiting all along, dragging me into a bathroom that looked more like a museum than a place to wash. They scrubbed me like I was dirt beneath their nails, their faces blank and void of emotions, their hands rough. I bit back tears as they combed out my tangled dirty hair, forced me into a silk red dress that clung to every bruise on my body like it wanted to mock my pain.I stood in front of the mirror and barely recognized the girl looking back. She looked clean, polished, even beautiful but her eyes were empty. Hollow. Angry with regret and hate, my so-called father actually threw me into this.I wasn’t ready for dinner. I wasn’t ready for James.I was still suffering. Still broken. But I sh
EMILYIt’s been three days since the slap.Three whole days of darkness, silence, and hunger, I really suffered.They locked me in a freezing metal room with nothing but a bucket and a glinting lightbulb that buzzed like it was mocking me. I hadn’t eaten. I hadn’t bathed. I was losing my mind. My body was giving up. I was dizzy from standing. My lips were cracked and soared, I haven't really eaten for days. My stomach… empty.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw James’s face.That twisted smirk.That quiet storm in his eyes. That... kiss.I still felt it. On my lips. Like poison I couldn’t spit out.But I hated him. I hated him.“Open up,” a voice barked from outside the door.I didn’t move. The door swung open and the guards stepped in like champions...They didn’t say a word. They just grabbed me roughly like a dumb bag and dragged me by my arms across the hallway. I was too weak to fight. My bare feet brushed the cold concrete, but I barely felt it anymore,I was weak and tired all ov