6

ELENA

The moment the gate of Valeria’s mansion closed behind me, I knew my fate had been sealed.

The place was too quiet, too clean. The kind of silence that swallowed sound and left you all alone with your thoughts. I felt like I had been dropped in a different world, a world where rules bent for one woman, and that woman’s name was Valeria Moretti.

Marcus had given me to her. The truth sat heavy in my chest like a stone. No matter how many times I tried to turn it over in my head, it didn’t soften. Valeria wasn’t lying and Marcus didn’t make any attempt to defend himself. He hadn’t fought for me, he hadn’t warned me. He had just stood there and watched her take me.

As Collateral.

The guards led me through the long halls lined with dark art and cold marble. Everything smelled of leather and something expensive I couldn’t name. Power, or maybe. Control.

They stopped at a bedroom, pushed me in and told me to bathe.

It wasn’t a request.

In the bathroom, the warm water ran over my skin, but it didn’t calm me. It only made my thoughts louder. Marcus had lied to me all this time. The late nights, the secret calls. The way he always avoided my questions about his work whenever I asked. I had believed in his excuses because loving him felt easier than doubting him.

Now I knew better.

By the time I finished bathing, my hands were shaking.

I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped back into the room. That was when I saw the nightwear lying neatly on the bed.

My heart dropped.

It was silk. Thin, revealing in a way that made my skin crawl. I opened the wardrobe, hoping to find something more appropriate. A robe, a dress, anything.

There was nothing.

I had no choice so I wore it.

I had just tied the last strap when the door opened.

She didn’t knock.

Valeria walked in like she owned the air in the room. She was tall, calm and dressed in black, like she carried the night wherever she went. Her eyes swept me slowly, and I felt it everywhere.

The heat. The fear. The confusion.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” I snapped before I could stop myself. “What if I were naked?”

She scoffed, unimpressed. “You’re not.”

Then her gaze hardened. “Go take another bath.”

I frowned, looking down at myself. “I already did.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

Something about the way she spoke made my chest tighten. I shook my head. “No.”

The word barely left my mouth before she turned and spoke into her phone. “Get up here.”

Less than a minute later, two guards walked in.

Valeria crossed her arms, watching me like she already knew the outcome. “Now,” she said calmly, “are you going to do as I say or do you want them to help you?”

My throat burned. I hated this woman. I hated how she made the choices feel like mine when it wasn’t.

I turned without another word and waled into the bathroom.

As the water poured over me again, I cursed Marcus, I cursed Valeria and I cursed myself for ever thinking my life was simple.

When I finally came out, Valeria was still there, alone.

Waiting.

Her eyes locked onto mine immediately.I quickly wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly aware of how exposed I was.

“Can you leave?” I asked stiffly. “So I can change.”

“No.”

The word came out flat.

“Get dressed. I don’t have all night.”

“I’ll be faster if you can go,” I snapped, my voice rising. “Just leave.”

She stepped closer. Too close that I could feel her breath on my skin.

“I own you,” she said in a soft whisper. “And everything showing right now.”

Before I could move, her fingers brushed my arm. Just a touch.

Light. Slow.

My body betrayed me. I flinched, not away from her but inward. A sharp breath left my lips and I hated myself for it.

Her thumb traced my skin like she was testing a reaction. Like she already knew she had one.

“You’re mine now, princess,” she whispered.

My stomach twisted. Fear, yes, but not only fear. There was something else there, something I was too scared to put a name to.

She stepped back suddenly, her voice turning cold. “get dressed.”

I swallowed hard, my hands clumsy as I reached for the nightwear. I could feel her eyes on me the entire time. Not hungry, not rushed.

Possessive.

She sat down in a chair across the room, crossing her legs, watching me like this was exactly where she was meant to be.

“You’re more beautiful up close,” she said lighly.

I glared at her. “And you’re a pervert in person.”

A slow smile curved her lips. “Dinner in five,” she said. “Be downstairs before my guards come for you.”

Then she stood up and left the room, leaving the door open behind her.

I stood there for a while, my heart racing,my skin still warm where she had touched me.

She was a menace. A monster wrapped in silk and control. And what made it worse…

She had seen me.

Naked.

I wanted out of that mansion, out of her space, and out of whatever cage she had locked around me.

I took a deep shaky breath and headed for the door. But one thought scared me more than the rest.

I wasn’t thinking about Marcus

I was thinking about her.

The dining hall was massive. Perfect.

Long candles burned along the table, flames steady compared to the storm inside me. Valeria sat at the head of the table, calm and composed as always, cutting into her food as if this was just another quiet night in her life.

Food had already being served.

I took a seat opposite her,my body stiff, my chest tight. The smell of the food alone made my stomach turn. I stared down at the plates, untouched, the silverware arranged neatly like I was expected to play along.

I didn’t have the appetite for food. All I could think of was my apartment, my safe space. My messy couch. The small life I had built for myself. This place felt like a cage dressed up as luxury.

Valeria ate slowly and quietly. Every movement controlled. She didn’t rush, she didn’t even look at me.

That hurt more than I expected.

My chest tightened. tears blurred my vision before I could stop them. One slipped down, then another, landing silently on the tablecloth.

I hated being weak. I hated myself for crying.

To my surprise, Valeria reached across the table and slid a tissue toward me.

“Wipe your eyes,” she said calmly. “No crying at the table.”

That did it.

“I don’t want to e here,” I choked out. “I don’t want this. I want to go home.”

She didn’t pause. “Too bad,” she repeated, taking another bite. “You don’t have a choice. Not until your boyfriend pays me what he owes.”

“I have my own life,” I said quickly, desperation spilling out. “I have a job. A career. Please….please let me go. I’ll help Marcus raise the money. I’ll work with him. I’ll do anything.”

She finally looked up at me.

her eyes were dark and unreadable.

“You’re not obliged to pay me,” she said even;y. “He is.”

“Then let me go,” I cried harder this time, my voice breaking. “Please. The exhibition is in a few days. They need me. I canm’t just diappear.”

She didn’t respond. She simply went back to eating.

The silence crushed me. My sobs echoed loudly in the room, making me feel foolish and small. I realized that this woman, Valeria Moretti, wasn’t moved by tears. She wasn’t softened by pleading.

She didn’t bend.

Slowly, I wiped my eyed with the tissue she had given me. My hands trembling but my head began to steady. If crying wouldn’t save me, then soomethingelse would..

I straightened my back and then lifted my chin.

She might own this walls around me, the guards, the locks but she didn’t own my mind.

As Valeria finished her meal like nothing had happened, I made a solemn promise to myself.

I would find a way out of there. And when I did, I wouldn’t just escape.

I would expose her.

The monster behind the silk.