Chapter 3

Tears welled up, blurring my vision, as I curled into myself, unable to stop the tremors that wracked my body. I had barely begun to recover from the last time, but here I was again, on the floor, broken and helpless. I couldn't fight it. I couldn't fight him.

Colton's breathing grew heavy, erratic, and I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves, suffocating me, pushing me deeper into the floor. His eyes were wild with rage, locking onto me like a predator that had cornered its prey. I wanted to hide from it-hide from him, from this. But there was nowhere to go.

"Fucking stand up!" he roared, his voice ripping through the silence of the room like a violent storm.

The command was laced with so much fury, so much hatred, that I couldn't help but flinch. My body reacted before my mind could even catch up-flinching back like I was about to be struck again. It was automatic. I had been conditioned to shrink away from him, from his anger, from the unpredictable cruelty that simmered beneath his skin.

I wanted to scream at him, to beg him to stop, but I couldn't. The words were stuck in my throat, buried beneath the weight of all the pain, all the helplessness.

I wanted to fight, but my body wouldn't cooperate.

I wanted to leave, but there was no way out.

Colton's patience snapped like a fragile thread, and before I could even brace myself, his hand shot out and grabbed me, yanking me upward with an unrelenting force. I gasped, my vision momentarily spinning from the sudden motion, and before I could react, he was dragging me toward the corner of the room. My heart hammered in my chest as I recognized where he was taking me-the closet.

No. Not again.

The very thought of that suffocating, dark space made my stomach twist in terror. Every part of me screamed to get away, to escape, to run as far as I could from that damn closet. I struggled against his grip, trying to pull my body away, but his hold was ironclad. I kicked and squirmed, desperation flooding my veins. I couldn't let him lock me in there again. I couldn't do it.

"No! No! Please, don't!" I signed frantically, my hands trembling, my body shaking with fear. Please, not the closet. Please, don't put me there again.

My eyes locked onto Colton's face, pleading with him to understand-pleading with him to stop-but it didn't matter. His gaze was colder than ice, his expression darker than I'd ever seen before.

Colton didn't care.

He never cared.

With one harsh, violent motion, he pulled my hair back, forcing my head to tilt up as I yelped in pain. His fingers dug into my scalp, and his grip tightened around my hair until I thought it would tear from my skull.

"I don't need your answer!" he hissed through gritted teeth, his breath hot against my face. His eyes were sharp, filled with a fury that left no room for argument. "I said get in!"

I tried to shake my head, my body instinctively trying to pull away, but Colton was relentless. His strength was overwhelming, and no matter how much I fought, no matter how much I screamed in silence, I was powerless to stop him.

Every muscle in my body screamed in resistance, but it was no use. Colton's grip on me was unyielding, and I was trapped-trapped in his world, in his twisted control, with nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape.

Tears blurred my vision as I was shoved into the suffocating darkness of the closet. My heart raced, pounding in my chest as I staggered back, feeling the cold wood against my back. The air felt thick, like I was suffocating on the weight of his words, his presence, and his control. I slammed my fists against the door, desperate to break free, desperate to do something-anything-but the walls around me felt like they were closing in, suffocating me with the heaviness of my own helplessness.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to beg him to stop, to let me out. I wanted to fight with everything I had, but I couldn't. The words were trapped in my throat, the tears in my eyes, and my body was too broken to do anything more than collapse into the dark corner of the closet, trembling uncontrollably.

I heard his voice from outside, cruel and commanding, as he spoke his final, damning words.

"You will stay there for two weeks! Got it?" Colton's voice rang out, harsh and final, like a decree from a king to his prisoner. "Don't you dare do anything stupid! Remember this... you can't leave me-because you're mine!"

His words were like ice-cold chains wrapping around my heart, tightening with every syllable.

You're mine.

The thought haunted me as the door slammed shut, sealing me in complete darkness. I heard his footsteps retreating, and the sound of his presence was like a heavy weight, pressing down on me, suffocating me even in his absence.

I was alone again.

Alone in the suffocating dark.

The thought of being trapped here for two weeks made my chest tighten, my body shivering from fear and the growing despair that settled into my bones. The memories of the past, of Colton's cruelty, of how he'd shattered any hope of freedom, washed over me like a storm. And I was left drowning in it, with no way out.

I didn't know how I would survive this. Two weeks felt like a lifetime.

I slumped against the wall, hugging my knees to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible, as if that would make everything go away, as if it would protect me from him. But I knew deep down, nothing would protect me. Nothing but the darkness and the constant ache of knowing I was never truly free.

I don't want to be here.