All Chapters of The Captive Heart : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

MASSIMOI slip into Chiara's room while she is passed out from all the crying she did today. Perhaps it was too early to show her that she can't leave and she really has to stay here whether she likes it or not?I stand over Chiara's bed, I find myself captivated by her peaceful form. She's lying on her back, her jet black hair fanned out around her head like a dark halo. I'm struck by the stark contrast between her dark locks and the soft, golden light of the room, which illuminates her features and makes her look vulnerable and delicate. Her long lashes rest against her pale skin, casting a subtle shadow on her cheeks. I notice the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath, and her lips are slightly parted, as if she's waiting for something - or someone. Her arms are relaxed at her sides, and her hands are curled into loose fists, giving her an air of quiet determination, even in sleep. I feel a pang of... something, as I gaze down at her. She's so beautiful, I want her to

CHIARAIrene's expression changes, and she looks away, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "I once had a crush on him, I mean, who wouldn't? He is a big, strong, and dangerous man and he was good to my family. I don't have a crush on him anymore though. Right now, I respect him and I am loyal to him".I nod my head, trying very hard to know what the little pang in my chest just now signified. Am I jealous? She does know and understand Massimo a lot better than I do and I can't help but feel a little left jealous... just a little though."I don't see what's likeable about him. He is an asshole", I mutter under my breath and Irene shakes her head with a smile.Irene's smile widens, and she leans in closer. "You're just saying that because he hasn't really left the best impressions with you," she whispers. "But trust me, Chiara, Massimo is a good man. He's just... complicated and dangerous...and dark."I raise an eyebrow, skeptical. "Complicated and dangerous?" I repeat. "That's one way to

CHIARAI've lost track of time. I don't know how long I've beenhere and I don't want to know, it would just remind me ofthe people I left at home... my parents, they must be soworried. I tried my best to stop thinking about thisnegatively and I'm just being positive right now. It could bealot worse. I could have gotten kidnapped by sextraffickers or murderers or... anything worse than what Ihave right now.I think it has been a week since Massimo fucked meunder water, and since then, he comes home much earlier,finds me and fucks me. Sometimes, we talk. He still keepsalot of his secrets from me, but he shares somethings withme. Like how his relationship with his mum has been overthe years, and how extremely wealthy he is.Imade it a daily routine to always leave the mansionafter breakfast and explore which ever part of the forest myfeet lead me to. It has been really fun, nature is fun andpeaceful. There are lots of fruit trees in the forest and I hadto improve my tree

MASSIMOThe house was too quiet.I hadn’t noticed it at first. The sky outside was already bruising into night by the time I returned, my shoes carrying traces of dust from the outer path, my head preoccupied with the meetings that had dragged me longer than I liked. But the moment I stepped into the villa, something pressed at me...something very wrong, something missing.It took only a breath to realize what it was.Chiara.Her presence always lingered. In the faint sound of pages turning when she locked herself away in the library. In the soft pad of footsteps overhead when she tried to pretend she wasn’t pacing. In the delicate, stubborn quiet she carried even when she refused to acknowledge me.But now… there was nothing.The silence of the house felt like a wound.I didn’t even take off my jacket. I went straight upstairs, my strides sharp, my pulse already tightening in my throat. Her room was the first place I checked...empty. Bed untouched. Curtains drawn wide as though she

CHIARAI woke to silence.Not the silence of peace, but the kind that wrapped around me like a heavy blanket, pressing down, suffocating. My lashes fluttered open slowly, as though weighed with stones, and the world swam in hazy fragments of light and shadow. For a moment I had no bearings, no sense of time, no sense of where I was. Only the overwhelming disorientation that clung to me like a fog.The ceiling above me came into focus first. High, white and familiar. A slow turn of my head told me what my sluggish mind couldn’t yet process. I was in my room. The one Massimo had given me here in his godforsaken mansion. The sheets were tucked around me with neat precision, their scent faintly infused with lavender and something sharper beneath it...antiseptic.And then memory slammed into me.The forest.Mr uglyThe knife.The gunshot.Massimo’s arms.My heart stuttered, thudding painfully against my ribs. I shot upright far too quickly, my breath catching, panic rising sharp in my thro