Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE— Aphrodite —They say you never forget your first love.I think that’s a lie.You forget.Eventually.You forget the kisses, the late-night promises, the trembling hand that first reached for yours.What you don’t forget—what stays—Are the moments when you thought you were finally safe.---Godric was safety, once.Before he became a curse, before his voice made my spine stiffen, before I forgot how to sleep without waking in guilt—he was everything.The boy with bloody fists and bruised ribs who pulled me away from hell.The boy who gave me his coat on a freezing night and told me, “No one touches you unless you want them to.”I was fifteen.And in that moment, I believed him more than I believed in God.---We starved together.Slept in alleyways.Fought for scraps.But we smiled, too.He made me laugh when I hadn’t in years.Taught me how to spit like a street kid, how to lie like a rich one.I gave him my first kiss.He gave me the only name that’s ever stuck—

Last Updated : 2025-07-10

Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO— Aphrodite —It’s strange.I used to dream of silence.I thought silence would mean peace—no flashing cameras, no fake laughter, no goddamn headlines calling me a goddess when I felt like a ghost.Now the silence is constant.And it’s killing me.Because I’ve realized something.I didn’t crave quiet.I craved freedom.And Godric’s silence?Is just another kind of prison.---The penthouse he keeps me in is bigger than most hotels.Glass walls. Polished marble. Chandeliers that look like constellations frozen in crystal.It should feel luxurious.It should feel powerful.But I feel like a bird trapped in a jewel-encrusted cage.I pace the length of the bedroom like it’ll open if I just walk enough steps.Sometimes I count the floor tiles.Sometimes I talk to myself.Sometimes I lie on the floor in a silk robe and stare at the ceiling, wondering if anyone would even notice if I disappeared completely.---“You don’t need the world anymore,” Godric told me last week.

Last Updated : 2025-07-11

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE— Aphrodite —It’s strange, the way absence becomes a presence.The way silence starts to feel like a scream if you sit in it long enough.Godric hasn’t spoken to me today.Not one word.Not good morning, not a command, not a kiss on the forehead dressed up as affection.And yet I feel him everywhere.In the walls.In the cold air blowing through the vents.In the stillness of the bedroom, where nothing moves unless he allows it to.He’s not here.But his control is.His silence isn’t absence.It’s dominance.And I’ve learned that silence from Godric is never empty.It’s loaded.Waiting.---I used to fear his anger.Now I fear his quiet.Because that’s when he’s thinking.That’s when he’s watching.That’s when he decides who I’ll become next.---I sat on the floor this morning.Wrapped in the thin silk robe he gave me—champagne-colored, barely reaching my thighs.My legs curled beneath me, head resting against the edge of the bed, staring at the locked door like

Last Updated : 2025-07-12

Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR— Duncan —It’s the stillness that gets me.Not the silence.I’ve learned how to survive silence—my penthouse is full of it. I’ve made a goddamn home inside it. The echo of empty rooms. The low hum of a fridge I don’t use. My own breath, too loud in the middle of the night.No, it’s not the silence that rattles me.It’s the stillness.The way nothing moves. Nothing changes. Like time’s afraid to continue.Like it’s waiting—for her.---I don’t say her name anymore.Not out loud.Not even in the privacy of my own head.But she’s still there.In every face I pass that almost looks like her.In the rustle of a silk dress on a stranger.In the scent of roses when it rains.She haunts me without effort. Without presence. She doesn’t even need to try.She already broke me.And I’ve been keeping the pieces carefully arranged ever since.---That night, I didn’t want to go out.These days, I rarely do.What used to be obligation has turned into disgust. I know the faces. I

Last Updated : 2025-07-15

All Chapters of Worship Me, Duncan: Chapter 21 - Chapter 24

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24