Chapter Three

Valerie’s POV

“You can’t do this!” I wanted to scream the words, to chase after them, but my voice stayed trapped in my throat as I watched the red taillights of the SUVs disappear into the thick gray fog. They drove away calmly, as if they hadn’t just destroyed my life, leaving me standing there alone—soaked, shaking, and frozen in disbelief.

For a moment, I couldn’t move. Then panic slammed into me as I turned and ran toward the massive front gates of my father’s penthouse, my heart pounding so violently it hurt. I reached for the handle, expecting it to open the way it always had, the way it had since I was a child.

Instead, my hand struck something cold. I looked down and gasped. Heavy iron chains were wrapped tightly around the bars. Two massive red locks hung at the center, gleaming beneath the security lights like angry, watching eyes. I grabbed the bars and pulled with all my strength, desperation surging through me—but they didn’t move an inch.

“No!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “No! let me in…This is my house! This is my father’s house!”

I slammed my fists against the gate again and again. The metal rang beneath my blows as pain exploded through my hands, the skin on my knuckles started to bleed, but I barely felt it. I kicked the gate, shouted for the security guards, for the butler, for anyone who might be inside.

But no one answered.The house remained dark and silent. The penthouse that once echoed with my father’s laughter and music now stood silent and lifeless, like a sealed tomb. It felt as though Barrister Jaden hadn’t just locked the gates—he had locked my entire life inside and thrown away the key.

Eventually, I stopped fighting. I stood there for what felt like hours, rain soaking through my clothes. The only sound was the steady tap, tap, tap of rain hitting the roof of my car behind me. I was shivering uncontrollably, my thoughts spinning in useless circles. I needed help. I needed someone to tell me this was all a nightmare—that I would wake up any second now in my warm bed, my father still alive, my world still intact.

With numb fingers, I pulled my phone from my pocket. My hands were so cold they looked bluish, shaking so badly I could barely hold the screen steady. I dialed Mike’s number, my last safe place, the man who had promised to protect me.

Ring… ring… ring…

“Please,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Mike, pick up. I need you. I need you so much right now.” It went straight to voicemail. I called again, and again. Ten times. Then twenty, his phone was on, I could hear it ringing every time, but he just wasn’t answering.

A hollow, icy feeling spread through my stomach. Where was he? Why wasn’t he here when my entire world was collapsing? I forced myself to move before fear rooted me to the ground. I couldn’t stay here. I kept thinking about the message from the unknown number—the predators. I felt watched, exposed.

 I walked quickly to my car—the sleek black Mercedes my father had given me for my twenty-third birthday. My legs felt weak as I slid into the driver’s seat. My wet silk dress clung heavily to my skin, cold against the leather. I slammed the door shut and started the engine.

There had to be a reason Mike wasn’t answering. Maybe his phone battery was down. Maybe he was already at his apartment, waiting for me, ready to hold me and explain everything. I clung to that hope as I drove through the storm.

The city blurred past me, streetlights smearing into streaks of yellow against the black sky. Every time a black SUV passed by, my heart leapt into my throat, my hands tightening around the steering wheel. “Please be there,” I whispered. “Please, Mike. I need you.”

I reached his apartment building far too quickly. I didn’t even park properly—I left the car crooked in the parking space and ran toward the entrance. The doorman tried to stop me, his voice muffled by the pounding in my ears. I must have looked unhinged, soaked and shaking, my dress ruined, but I didn’t care.

I rushed past him and slammed the elevator button repeatedly, my chest tightening as if the air had been sucked from my lungs. When the doors finally slid open, I stepped inside. The mirror caught my reflection, but I barely recognized myself.

My hair hung in wet, tangled strands. My eyes were red and swollen from crying, my face pale and hollow. I looked like a ghost—like someone already half gone. Tears burned my eyes again. I looked so broken.

The elevator stopped, and I ran down the hallway toward Mike’s door, my heart racing with fragile hope. Then I froze. The door wasn’t closed, It was slightly open. A thin line of warm light spilled into the dark hallway.

“Mike?” I called, my voice sharp with fear as my trembling hand reached for the handle. “Mike, are you in there? It’s me—Valerie. Something terrible happened. They locked me out. They said my father owed money. I have nowhere to go.” I pushed the door open slowly.

I expected him to rush toward me. To apologize. To hold me and tell me everything would be okay instead, the apartment was filled with sound.

A sound that made my blood turn cold. The noises drifting from the bedroom were unmistakable. Soft gasps. Low moans. The rhythm of two people completely lost in each other. They were the sounds of passion. Of pleasure.

Not grief. Not fear. Not loss.

My bag slipped from my hand and hit the floor with a dull thud. My heart, which had been racing for hours, seemed to stop altogether. It felt like I had stepped outside my own body—like I was watching my life fall apart from a distance.

I moved forward, fury and disbelief pulling me deeper into the apartment. My feet carried me, but I couldn’t feel them. The air was warm, thick with the scent of his expensive cologne and burning candles. That smell had always made me feel safe. It reminded me of nights I was wrapped in his arms, of promises whispered in the dark. Now, it felt like poison.

I reached the bedroom door, and It was also open just a crack, light spilling onto the carpet. I pushed it wider with one trembling finger.

and everything I thought I had left, shattered in silence.