All Chapters of While You Were Sleeping, I Waited: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

(Author’s POV)The dungeon beneath the Ashford Estate disappeared behind Stefan as he walked through the silent corridors. The heavy frosted-glass door slid shut, sealing Stefan away in the silence of his private bathroom. Without a sound, he stripped off his clothes, discarding them carelessly onto the dark marble floor, and stepped into the spacious walk-in shower.The piercing, ice-cold water cascaded over his body. The frigid stream hit his skin, instantly turning into steam as it rolled off his heat-radiating, tense muscles. Stefan planted his right palm flat against the wet wall, bracing his weight against it. His head hung low, black hair plastering against his forehead as water slicked down his face, masking the dark intensity in his eyes.To anyone e

(Author’s POV)The next five days passed in careful secrecy. Behind the locked doors of her bedroom, Ruby pushed her body to its absolute limits.Marcus continued visiting discreetly. His rehabilitation sessions became increasingly intense as her body grew stronger. He had Ruby executing squats, holding herself upright on the compact parallel bars hidden beneath her mattress, and practicing walking in straight lines across the room. Her legs, once thin and ghostly from atrophy, were reclaiming their muscle tone at an astonishing speed.The raw, unyielding determination to heal was burning so fiercely in her eyes that even Marcus, who had trained world-class athletes, was left in absolute awe."I've never seen anyone fight their own nervous system the way you do, Ru

(Author’s POV)For the next three days, Ruby’s bedroom transformed into a high-stakes sanctuary of creation. She selected the first theme, ‘The Rebirth of a Shadow’. It mirrored her own existence so perfectly that she didn’t even need to sketch a preliminary draft, the imagery spilled directly from her mind onto the massive canvas like blood from a freshly opened wound.The second-round submission required participants to send a physical painting rather than a digital copy. That meant she couldn't simply upload her work. She had to somehow get the painting out of the mansion without anyone finding out and that proved far more difficult than creating the artwork itself.During those three days, Ruby divided her time carefully. Half of it went toward painting. The other half went toward o

(Author’s POV)Ruby stood motionless in the middle of her room. Richard’s sickening, insatiable greed and Camilia’s venomous, burning hatred swirled in her mind, over and over like a broken record, like knives digging repeatedly into old wounds but beneath the disgust, a profound sense of clarity settled over her and she would tear down heaven and earth to reclaim what her parents had left for her.Suddenly a melodic ping shattered the silence of the room. Ruby blinked, snapping out of her trance. Her gaze flicked toward her desk, where her laptop sat wide open. With a slow, deliberate stride, she walked over to the desk and pulled the laptop closer. The sender's address instantly made her breath hitch,’The International Crown Art Competition Committee’.As her eyes raced across the text, her eyes widened and her jaw slackened in absolute, stunning shock.‘Dear Participant, We are exceptionally proud to inform you that your physical submission, titled 'The Rebirth of a Shadow,' has pa

(Author’s POV)Only one day remained before the finale of the International Crown Art Competition. A single step away from the stage that could change everything. Inside her bedroom, Ruby sat at her desk, her laptop screen illuminating her face in the dim afternoon light. Her fingers moved fluidly across the trackpad as she scrolled through the massive wave of media coverage dominating the global news outlets. The entire art world was in a state of absolute frenzy. Broadcasters were airing live segments from London’s grand auditorium, showing the sprawling, extravagant stage arrangements being erected in the background with gilded easels, pristine blank canvases, and advanced overhead cameras designed to stream every single brushstroke to millions of viewers worldwide.