CHAPTER THREE

The moment the door closed behind Alexander, I dug into my bad and fished out my phone.

I had to speak to my husband. I needed to -

Let him know that I wasn't mad at him and he could tell me the truth.

I needed to hear him tell me that he's been blackmailed and manipulated by Alexander because I knew he would never do something like this to me.

I was already pacing in the room as I dialed his number.

The same number I’d called a thousand times before. Through late nights. Stupid fights. Every little moment I once thought meant something.

It rang once.

Then again.

Then someone picked up.

But it wasn’t Derek.

Oh it wasn't Derek's voice that I heard from the other end of the line.

It was a woman's voice.

And she was laughing.

“Well, well,” she purred. “Look who finally called. Sophia.”

The way she said the name with venom dripping from her voice sent shivers down my spine.

I froze. “Who is this?”

“Oh, honey,” she said between giggles, “does it matter?”

“Where’s Derek?” My grip tightened on the phone.

“He’s… a little busy right now.” As if to verify that, a muffled moan came in the background. “But I’ll let him know you called. Right after he finishes thanking me for helping him clear his debts.”

My stomach twisted. “What are you talking about?”

“Just what you heard me say, Sophia. Oh I guess I have to thank you too - for serving as a good collateral.”

“Excuse me?!”

“You really thought he loved you?” she laughed. “That man couldn’t stand you. You were just leverage, sweetheart. A ticket out of the debts we have accumulated over the years.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, it is,” she said, voice turning cruel. “He lost you on purpose. We planned it. Every step. And now he’s free.”

My heart slammed against my ribs and every words she said just felt like she was twisting a dagger through my chest.

“And you?” she added, almost sweetly. “You’re exactly where we wanted you to be. With that monster.”

It was all a plan.

“Give the phone to Derek.” I gasped out but she chuckled and I could have sworn I heard his chuckle too.

“He doesn't want to speak with you - there's nothing left to say between you two.”

The line went dead before I could respond.

I stood frozen staring at the phone in shock as if I could take back everything I just heard if I stared at it hard enough.

Maybe I've been hallucinating and if I dial the number again Derek would answer me and clarify all these.

But I wasn't hallucinating…

My legs buckled, and I took a few staggering steps towards the bed, dropping onto edge, breath coming fast.

They used me.

My chest tightened as the woman's voice echoed in my head over and over again.

They used me.

Derek, the man I married—the man I trusted—handed me over like I was nothing. And that woman…

I didn’t even know her name. But I’d never forget her laugh.

Derek really sold me out. This wasn't a dream.

What had Alexander said?

/you really have this delusional perfect reality wrapped around your mind don't you?/

I let out a bitter laugh even as I felt tears freely sliding down my cheeks.

The man had seen right through me within just two hours of meeting me.

He had known just as everyone knew - everyone except me - who Derek truly was.

But I always knew and that was the most painful thing. I knew how greedy and selfish he was yet I was too delusional to accept it.

Derek had…

Another shudder wrecked through me as the reality hit me all over again.

I was just a tool for him and his…lover?

How did I get here? How had I allowed myself to be so foolish?

I wiped my face, swallowing the sob in my throat stubbornly.

Five years I was being played and I blindly danced to the tone of their twisted music.

I'd be damned if I just sit here crying over them too.

I was done letting some macho men control me or play me for a fool.

Derek would pay for this - for treating me like a property and selling me off like a lamb, I'd ruin him.

But first I would get the hell out of here, no matter what it costs me.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

The house was too quiet.

So quiet that each step I made made a sound that followed me as I walked down the hallway.

Alex was no where to be found - not that I was even looking for him but at least I was half expecting him to waltz in our of no where so he could try again to exercise his claim on me.

Bastards!

All of them.

I walked barefoot, the marble cool beneath my feet as I wandered past silent halls and closed doors.

There were no cameras - I kept checking carefully as I kept walking.

I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for.

Maybe an escape. Maybe a crack in this perfect Ice

Then I saw it.

The door at the end of the hallway.

Slightly open. Barely lit. And something about it made my skin crawl.

Perhaps this could lead me somewhere.

I smwalked through the door and the moment I stepped inside the house my breathing stopped.

The room was dark, windowless. Lit only by a dim lamp in the corner.

But that wasn’t what froze me.

It was the walls…what hung on the walls

Photos.

Of me.

Hundreds of them. Printed, framed, some in color, others in black and white and scattered all over the walls.

Me at a coffee shop. Me getting into my car. Me at a bookstore. Me laughing with friends, standing alone, even crying in my old bedroom. Moments I barely remembered.

It was a shrine.

Dedicated To me.

Panic surged in my throat as I backed away, heart pounding.

Who the fuck was this guy?

I turned, ready to bolt—only to crash straight into him.

Alexander.

His hands gripped my arms to steady me. His body was a wall of calm steel.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice low.

I shoved his hands off me. “What is that room?”

“You shouldn’t be in there.”

I looked up at him, breathing hard. “You’ve been watching me.”

His jaw flexed. “I told you not to wander.”

“So you stalked me instead?”

“I don’t owe you answers.”

“Don’t you?” I snapped. “You bring me here. Trap me. Your men drag me like a prisoner, and then I find that—a room full of my life like I’m some pet project?”

“You’re not a prisoner.”

“You have a damn shrine of me!”

His expression darkened. Not in anger but something far more dangerous.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said flatly.

“Then explain all these!”

He stepped closer. “Don’t go where you’re not allowed, Sophia. This is my house. My rules.”

I stared at him, chest rising fast. “You’re insane.”

He leaned in, voice like ice.

“Stay out of what doesn’t concern you.”

Then he turned and walked away.

What doesn't concern me?

The bastard literally has about a hundred photos of me in a dark room and somehow that doesn't concern me?

I'd be fucking damned