LOGINHAZEL I was right to be scared. Because the next day, I got up while he was still sleeping. Of course, I hadn't slept all night. I took a quick shower, went downstairs, prepared breakfast, left his food for him, and then locked myself inside the library.He didn't come looking for me, and I managed to avoid him the entire day. We didn't meet for lunch. We didn't meet for dinner, and for the first time in days, I thought maybe he wasn't going to come for me.I was wrong. He did. He knocked on the library door, and I pretended I hadn't heard him. But I never expected what happened next. The knocking suddenly became pounding. Hard and Violent.The door shook beneath every blow while my heart climbed into my throat. Then it went quiet, and I heard his footsteps walking away. For one brief second, I thought he'd given up.Then I heard him come back. This time he was carrying something heavy. The first hit splintered the wood. The second cracked the frame, and the third sent the door crash
HAZEL I walked back to the bedroom. It was no longer the room where Harris had planned a beautiful night for us. It was the room where everything changed.I stood there, unable to move. Harris noticed and walked farther into the room."Hazel," he called softly.I looked at him but didn't make a move."Come inside," he said, opening the door wider.I hesitated for a second before finally stepping in. It felt like I was walking into a place that could hurt me. He went to sit on the bed while I remained standing, looking around the room as though I were seeing it for the very first time. I had only come back here a few times to collect clothes before returning downstairs. Eventually, I stopped coming altogether and simply wore whatever clothes I'd already taken with me."I wanted to tell you something," he said quietly.I looked up at him."I never wanted to hurt you.""I know you say that.""And I mean it," he replied, sitting forward. "I lost control... but I'm not that person."The w
HAZEL Everything got way worse after that talk. Not better. Not fixed. Worse. That night, I decided it was better to stay downstairs again. I didn't want to be near him; I didn't want to be in that bedroom. Not after everything that had happened there.So I took a blanket, found a place on the couch, and tried to convince myself that I could get through another night. I heard Harris moving around the house. The sound of his footsteps, the turning off of lights and the quiet movements of someone who was still awake. Then I heard him go upstairs. And finally... I relaxed. Just a little. I thought I was safe; I thought I could finally sleep, but that didn't happen. Because the moment I closed my eyes, something inside me shifted. Something felt different and Wrong.I opened my eyes, and there he was. Harris was standing over me. Watching me. My entire body went tense."Let's go to bed," he said. His voice was calm, too calm."I don't feel like going to bed," I responded.I immediately
HAZEL I wasn't the same Hazel who walked into Axel's mansion. I couldn't be. Being in that mansion had changed me.Axel had changed me. What happened there had changed me, and maybe... Maybe it wasn't completely bad.I wasn't as naive as I used to be, and I had seen things, Experienced things. Things that control the world. Things that I never wanted to think about again. But Harris didn't seem to see that. He only saw the pieces of me that didn't fit the image he had created. The memories of the person he wanted me to still be."I spent all this time saving you," he whispered. His voice broke slightly. "And now I feel like I don't even know who I saved."The guilt hit me immediately. Because despite everything... Despite the fear, despite the pain. A part of me still cared about him."I never wanted to hurt you," I said softly.He laughed quietly. A broken sound."But you did."I looked down. "I did," I whispered. The admission surprised him. I looked back at him."But you hurt me
HAZEL "No." I shook my head immediately. "I already told you what happened.... I was trapped."He shook his head."That's just the thing..... I don't believe you."I lowered my eyes, searching for words I couldn't find. "I wanted to come back to you," I told him. "I did. And I thought about you too, every day."He stared at me."Then why does it feel like I lost you before I even got you back?"Silence."You're different, Hazel." He added.I had no answer. The room fell silent again. Then Harris spoke."Did he love you?"I frowned."What?""Axel." His eyes were filled with something I couldn't identify. "Did he love you? Did he have any feelings for you?"I looked away and slowly shook my head."I'm not sure that man loves anyone.... Least of all me." I said bitterly.Silence settled between us again."Did he treat you better than me?" he asked.The answer was clear, Simple. Because when I thought about Axel... He had never laid his hands on me. He had never forced me to do anything.
HAZEL His voice softened."What happened while you were there?""You told me nothing bad happened to you." He added. "Then what really happened? What happened in there?"His eyes stayed fixed on me."If he didn't force you....then what does it mean? Does it mean you slept with him willingly? Does it mean you slept with somebody in that house willingly?"I couldn't raise my head to look at him. Silence settled between us. He swallowed before speaking again."Just talk to me, Hazel." He said. "Maybe you needed to sleep with someone to get something. Maybe it was food, maybe it was supplies, or maybe it was a phone call home. Whatever it was....just tell me."I didn't respond."If they hurt you... If he forced you... If he hit you.....just tell me. Let's be honest with each other."I kept staring at the floor."Hazel..." He called my name. "We can't move on like this. We have to talk this out. We have to move forward together. So please..."His voice became almost pleading."Just tell m
HAZEL“Nothing… just that you like to stir trouble everywhere you go, don’t you, Hazel?” Nico says, "Cool," almost teasing.I start breathing hard, the anger, the panic, and the humiliation pressing down on me. Nico notices and says, “Come on, let’s go outside.”He takes my hand and starts leading
HAZEL“Nico,” I begin, my voice trembling. “You’re freaking me out, okay? I don’t care if he decides to kill me. I guess it was a long time coming....”He stares at me, unblinking. “He already sold me in there...to that man called Mac,” I say, the words tumbling out. “I’m supposed to go spend the n
HAZELWhile I’m fighting with my inner self, Axel suddenly just stops laughing, just as quickly as he started. His laugh dies in his throat, and his face slips right back into place.It strikes me how easily he could do that. How easily he could switch from one person to another. As if the laughter
HAZELAxel nods once, his jaw tightening. “Okay. That’s how you want to do this?”I shrug, feigning innocence. “I don’t know What you mean.”He moves toward me, quick, silent, and my breath catches. He’s never hurt me, not physically, not once, but I’ve only been here three months. I don’t really







