LOGINThe next morning, Junior woke up listless.He hadn't slept well last night. Nightmares kept coming even though Clarissa held him until morning.He went down to the dining room with lazy steps. His face gloomy.Clarissa, still upset and sleep-deprived from the whole night, tried to look cheerful. Smiled widely when Junior sat in his chair."Good morning, darling. Sleep well?"Junior shook his head slightly. Didn't answer with words.Clarissa suppressed a frustrated sigh. She pulled out a chair and sat beside Junior.The servants began serving breakfast.But Junior just stared at the plate in front of him without touching it.His eyes swept the large dining room.Empty.Usually his grandmother sat at the end of the table. His father in the head chair. And lately Alina in the farthest chair.But this time, only him and Clarissa.The long table felt too vast. Too quiet."Mama," Junior finally asked. His voice small. "Where is everyone?"Clarissa picked up her fork. Cut the egg on her own
Daniel did not sleep all night.He simply sat on the sofa, watching Alina cry through nearly the entire night. Doing nothing but looking. Listening to the sobs muffled by the blanket. Witnessing his wife's body tremble with each shuddering breath.Hour after hour passed in a silence that hurt.Dawn arrived. Around four in the morning.Alina's crying finally subsided. Her body stopped shaking. Her breathing slowed into the uneven rhythm of sleep.Daniel rose from the sofa with careful, deliberate movements. His legs were stiff from sitting motionless for hours.He approached the bed with cautious steps.Alina had fallen asleep curled into herself. Her face was still hidden beneath the blanket she had pulled up to cover nearly her entire body.Daniel drew the blanket back slowly. Easing it down until Alina's face came into view.Her eyes were swollen. Her eyelids puffy from crying too much. Her cheeks damp with tears that had not yet fully dried.Daniel touched that face with trembling
Daniel carried Alina back to the room after bathing her.The woman's body was limp in his arms. Like a soulless doll.He sat her on the edge of the bed. Took a clean towel and dried her hair carefully.Alina didn't react. Just sat still with an empty gaze fixed on one spot on the floor.Daniel opened the closet. Took out a clean nightgown. Returned to Alina's side and began dressing her.Lifting her hands one by one. Sliding them through the sleeves. Buttoning the front with slightly trembling fingers.Alina just let him. Didn't help. Didn't resist. Just... existed.Like a living corpse still breathing.When he finished, Daniel stepped back. Stared at his wife's pale face."You need to eat something," he said softly. "You haven't eaten since this afternoon."No answer.Not even a blink to show Alina heard him.Daniel walked to the table. Took the food tray a servant had brought earlier. Chicken soup and bread. Light food that was easy to digest.He returned to the bed. Sat beside her.
Emma's hands gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white."Mrs. Helen," she said, voice tight with controlled panic. "What happened? Is Alina hurt?""I... I don't know, Miss." Mrs. Helen's voice trembled. "But her door is locked from the outside. And when I asked if she was alright, she told me to go away. Her voice was—" She choked. "—broken, Miss. Like something terrible happened."Emma closed her eyes briefly.Every instinct screamed at her to drive straight to that house. To break down the door. To get Alina out.But Rachel's earlier warning echoed in her mind.*Don't go to the Blackwood house.*If Emma charged in now—without evidence, without legal backup, without a plan—Daniel could have her arrested for trespassing. Could call security. Could spin it as harassment.And Alina would be even more isolated.Even more trapped."Emma?" Mrs. Helen's voice was small. Frightened. "What should I do?"Emma forced herself to think.To be strategic instead of emotional."Mrs.
In the downtown penthouse, Margaret sat rigidly in front of her laptop screen. Three monitors displayed CCTV feeds from Alina's room. The footage from two hours ago was still playing on repeat. And Margaret couldn't stop watching. Couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. But the evidence was right in front of her eyes. Her son—Daniel—had raped his own wife. Brutally. Without mercy. Margaret heard Alina's screams through the audio feed. Saw the futile resistance. Saw the undisguised violence. Her hand trembled on the mouse. Her face pale. "No," she whispered. "Impossible. Daniel wouldn't—" But he had. The footage was irrefutable. Margaret slammed the laptop shut. Stood. Paced the room. Her breathing ragged. This wasn't her son. The son she raised wouldn't do something like that. Daniel was an honorable man. Educated. Civilized. Not... not a monster. But the footage— Margaret stopped. Shook her head hard. "It's her fault," she
Alina screamed.The sound tore through her throat.But no one came.No one cared.Daniel dragged her to the center of the room. His grip was like iron on her arm."Let me go!"He slapped her face.Hard.Alina's head jerked to the side. Her cheek burned."Quiet."His voice was no longer the voice of the husband she once knew.This was the voice of a stranger.A monster who had been hiding behind a mask of honor all along.Alina tasted blood in her mouth. Split lip."Daniel, please—""Please?" He laughed. Bitter. Cruel. "You're begging now? After you left Junior? After you planned to run away? After you made me look weak in front of everyone?"He shoved her onto the bed.Alina fell. Bounced on the mattress.Tried to get up but Daniel was already on top of her.His body weight pressing down. Trapping."Don't do this." Alina's voice trembled. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Daniel, don't—""You're my wife." His hands ripped at the buttons of her shirt. "You're mine. And I'm going to make
At ten past five in the evening, Alina's bedroom door opened slowly.Mrs. Helen entered with a dinner tray—chicken soup, white rice, and warm tea. But what made Alina's heart beat faster wasn't the food.Under the napkin covering the tray, there was something rectangular in shape. Small. Hidden.Mr
Alina struggled—hands pushing Daniel's chest desperately, head trying to turn away from the lips pressing firmly against hers.But Daniel's hand behind her head was too strong. His position too calculated.She couldn't break free.Water from Daniel's mouth flowed—carrying the bitter medicine forcib
Morning came with light that was too bright.Alina opened her eyes slowly—her head still heavy, her body felt like lead, her mouth dry with the familiar bitter taste of antibiotics.It took a few seconds to orient herself.She was in her room. In her bed.But there was something different.Warmth.
At the opposite end of the corridor, in the master bedroom that had just become hers, Clarissa Sterling stood before the large mirror with a practiced confident smile.Maroon lingerie—delicate lace that barely covered anything, with strategically placed details—hugged her body perfectly. She turned







