The Billionaire's Dangerous Obsession I Escaped But He Found

The taxi pulled up to the curb, and Sophia Reed stepped out into the cool evening air. She tilted her head back and stared up at the hotel building that stretched into the darkening sky, all glass and steel and glittering lights. The Grand Aurelia. One of the most expensive hotels in Nightvale. The kind of place where a single night cost more than her monthly salary.Marcus had really outdone himself this time.She clutched her small purse tighter and tried to calm the nervous flutter in her stomach. Tonight was their 200-day anniversary. Two hundred days since Marcus had looked at her across a coffee shop, smiled like she was the only woman in the room, and asked her to be his girlfriend. He wasn't perfect. He forgot things. He wasn't always attentive. But he was safe. And after years of living under the shadow of Leonardo Ferri, safety was the only thing Sophia craved.She and Marcus had met back in college. He was a business major, quiet and unassuming, the type of man who held doo

Sophia zipped her suitcase with trembling fingers and dragged it to the front door. The apartment that had been her sanctuary for the past year now felt like a trap waiting to spring.She checked her phone. The taxi was three minutes away.Three minutes, and she would be gone. Three minutes, and she would never have to see Nightvale again. Never have to see Marcus's cold eyes or Bianca's venomous smile. Never have to look over her shoulder and wonder if today was the day Leonardo finally made good on his vow.Her phone buzzed in her hand. Her mother's name flashed across the screen.Sophia hesitated. She didn't have time for questions. She didn't have the strength for lies. But if she didn't answer, her mother would worry, and worry would lead to calls, and calls would lead to someone tracing them.She pressed the phone to her ear. "Mom.""Sophia? Where are you, darling?" Lily's voice was warm and lilting, the same voice that had sung her lullabies as a child, the same voice that had

The automatic doors of Starlight International Airport slid open, and Sophia stepped through them with a child holding each hand and the third gripping the hem of her coat.Heads turned immediately.It was impossible not to look. The three children walking beside her were dressed in matching pastel outfits, tiny sneakers padding against the polished airport floor. Each wore a bucket hat pulled low over their foreheads and a small face mask decorated with cartoon animals Chloe had insisted on the bunny one, Liam had claimed the dinosaur, and Tristan had quietly selected the one with stars. Only their bright, curious eyes were visible above the masks, darting around the terminal with barely contained wonder."Mommy, why is everyone staring at us?" Chloe asked, her voice muffled through the fabric."Because you three are the cutest people in this airport," Sophia replied, squeezing her daughter's hand. "Just keep walking, baby."A woman approached them before they reached baggage claim,

At the house on the outskirts of Nightvale, Martha was discovering that three children were significantly more work than one."I want Mommy," Chloe announced for the fourth time, standing in the middle of the living room with her bunny mask clutched in her small fist."Mommy will be back soon," Martha said, though she was beginning to wonder if that was true. The banquet should have ended by now."That's what you said an hour ago," Tristan observed quietly from his spot on the couch. He hadn't moved much since Sophia left. He sat with his star-patterned mask in his lap, his dark eyes fixed on the door, waiting."An hour is a very long time," Liam added, abandoning the toy cars he had been playing with. "Mommy said she would be back before we knew it. We know it now. So she should be back."Martha opened her mouth to respond, but Chloe had already moved on to a new concern."What if something happened to Mommy?" The question hung in the air, heavy and terrifying."Nothing happened to M

The first light of dawn crept through the floor-to-ceiling windows, painting the bedroom in shades of pale gold and gray. Outside, the city of Veridia was waking up traffic humming on distant highways, birds stirring in the hills, the world resuming its ordinary rhythm as if nothing had changed.But everything had changed.Leonardo opened his eyes and found Sophia lying beside him, her back turned to him, her body curled into itself like a wounded animal. She was still asleep, her breathing shallow and uneven, her bare shoulders marked with the evidence of the night before. The red marks he had left on her skin stood out against her pale complexion like accusations.He reached out and touched her cheek.The moment his fingers made contact, Sophia flinched. Her eyes flew open, and she shifted back across the sheets, putting as much distance between them as the bed would allow. Her expression was a mixture of fear and loathing, her body tensed for another assault.Leonardo's eyes darken