Her Pov:I look at him, but it's as if I can't see him. Instead, I see those people from there. From that hell.My fingers clench around the glass tighter. So tight I can feel my knuckles whitening. I want the pain to flush into my skin and pull me from the web that I am falling into again.I move my eyes from him as he lets go of my chin, but I still can't escape those words in my own mind. "You are a whore Maryline. You like it or not!" A voice in my head keeps repeating it.I close my eyes as I repeat in my mind. I am not a whore. I am not a whore... But all I can hear is cruel laughters and all I can see is those red eyes. The marks on my back burn brighter. The marks of the whipping. I squeeze my eyes tighter.The choking ,the beatings, and the injections all rush into me as I slightly tremble. Tears welling up to my eyes. They kept me hungry for 3 days, and after that, they pushed a shot into me, and the next day, I found a man lying beside me. Naked. All used.And then another
Her Pov: I stare at the closed door, my body trembling with quiet sobs. I donât know why I care so muchâwhy his opinion of me matters, why the way he sees me cuts so deep. But it does. It matters more than it should.My heart twists painfully as I replay the moment he walks away, not even sparing me a single glance. That hurts more than I can put into words. The distrust in his eyes, the quiet hatred buried beneath his gazeâit shatters me. And no matter how much I try to push it away, the truth lingers: his absence feels heavier than it should.I stare down at my hands, watching as shards of broken glass pierce my skin, their jagged edges buried deep. Blood smears across my palms, trickling down my wrists, staining my clothes in dark, crimsonstreaks. It should hurt. I should feel the sting, the sharp bite of pain.But all I feel is nothing-just an empty, aching numbness that stretches from the inside out, swallowing me whole. I had only wanted to see a flicker of trust, a shred of b
Her Pov:I have no idea how long Iâve been drifting through this suffocating darkness, the silence pressing in on me like a living thing. Then, just as a shiver runs down my spine, I catch the faintest movementâa shadow shifting within the black void. My breath hitches.âWhoâs there?â I whisper, my voice barely breaking the oppressive stillness as I strain to make out the figure lurking in the dark.Silence answers my question, thick and unyielding. The only sound is the faint, rhythmic beeping of machines, a steady pulse in the stillness. My eyes adjust, tracing the vague outlines of the furniture in the dimly lit cabin. The walls, the bed, the quiet hum of life-supporting devicesâtheyâre all real.Maybe this isnât a nightmare. Maybe Iâm not trapped in some fever dream, lost in the abyss of my own mind. Maybe the darkness isnât just in my head. Itâs real. And Iâm still inside it.I drag my body up on my bed as I try to get down from the bed. A tremor runs through my legs as I will t
His Pov:I suck in a sharp breath, struggling to steady my racing pulse as I slam the door shut behind me. Her eyesâcold, filled with nothing but raw hatred. Not just anger. It's not just pain. But pure, unfiltered loathing. The way she looked at me, the way she recoiled, as if my very presence was something vile.And then her wordsâno, not words. A threat. A warning laced with venom. Donât touch me.As if my touch was poison. As if I hadnât already done enough damage.I stepped out, forcing distance between us, not because I wanted toâbut because for the first time, I feared that staying would only shatter her more.âNoah, call the doctor,â I grit out, my voice sharp with urgency.He nods and rushes off without hesitation. I barely have time to take another breath before he returns, followed by a group of doctors and nurses, their hurried footsteps echoing through the hallway. They push past me, swarming around her, their voices a blur of medical jargon and clipped orders.I take a s
His Pov: Because for the first time in my life, someone else's suffering felt worse than my own.No... I can't walk away. I won't... My steps falter as I halt in my way. She has to know that she is not pregnant with my child. Her fucking wish came true. And also... She has to know what is wrong with her. She has to know about her addiction. She has to answer my every single fucking questions. Why did she never once mention the drugs she used to take? Addiction to drugs is not something that happens over the day.She has to crave for them. But then... Why did she never ask me for them? Let's say she was hesitant, maybe afraid. But then why did she never try to get them behind my back? How can she be so dumb that she never realised that she's addicted to the drugs she was dependent on?I turn to go back to her cabin, but my phone buzzes in my pocket, making me halt. I take out my phone as I see the contact on the screen, Father. If it was in other circumstances, I would have ignored
His Pov:All? Maybe not all... Maybe except her...Rosalina... Almost all except the one with her.... Because with her, neither do I have gratitude for her nor do I have any profit keeping her. But do I even have any relation with her? No.... She's....She's just there... Without any relation...Except maybe the one I have with her. The relation of an owner and a property.I shake that thought of for now as I focus back to Father's question. "I have information on them. Either they give us the deal or they meet their ruin." I conclude as father drags a smoke emphasising on every of my single words before a smile creeps on his face very slowly.A year ago, the Irishes tried to smuggle drugs and illegal weapons at Milan, and they succeeded. Or so do they think. Neither the smuggled drugs nor the illegal weapons reached their destination. Their first crime was to smuggle the drugs and those weapons in my fucking arena and their second crime was to ever underestimate what Leonardo Luciano
His Pov:I watch her, and my blood turns to ice as rage floods my veins, burning hotter than fire. All I see is red. Whoever did thisâwhoever made her look at me like thisâwill suffer. I will tear him apart, rip the flesh from his bones, and paint my walls with his blood for daring to break her like this. For putting that fear in her eyes.She stands before me, trembling, her face drained of all colour, her soft features twisted in a way I have never seen before. Horrorâof that bastardâbleeds into her wide, stricken eyes, turning them into bottomless wells of unspoken terror. It knocks the breath from my lungs, an invisible hand wrapping around my throat, squeezing.She looks at me as though I am something unspeakable. Something she can not bear to see. And even though she just took someone else's name but she looks at me with that gaze of her. At me..The weight of it crushes down on me, thick and suffocating, coiling around my ribs like a vice. My mind races, grasping for a reason,
His Pov: I run my fingers through her silky dark brown hair, feeling the tremors of her quiet sobs as they shake her fragile frame. Her fists clutch desperately at my shirt, the fabric growing damp with her tearsâbut I couldn't care less. What mattered was the way she fit against me, small and trembling, as if she was trying to disappear into my presence.I inhale deeply, letting the scent of roses and a faint trace of antiseptic medicine wrap around my senses. It clings to her like a ghost of past pain, something she hasnât quite escaped.A voice cuts through the air."Boss?" Noah's tone is careful, laced with a quiet reverence. He knows better than to intrude, but heâs checkingâensuring the situation is under control.Rosalina stiffens at the sound, suddenly aware of herself, and I feel her attempt to pull away. But I donât allow it. Not yet. I know she isnât ready, not when her body still trembles against mine, not when I can still feel the uneven rhythm of her breathing.Without
Her Pov:"Don't fucking touch me..." I hiss and his eyes darken so much they get just like the night.Dark... Unsettling...He tilts his head a little as a smirk takes over his face. A smirk is so dangerous. As he leans over me, his mouth reaches just to the shell of my ear as his hand squeezes my hands painfully."You..." His voice is low, a dark promise against my skin as his hand drifts up my thigh, slipping beneath the soft folds of my baby pink dress."Don't..." A breath catches in my throat as his fingers graze the sensitive flesh of my inner thigh, teasing, lingering."Get to..." His lips ghost over the shell of my ear, warm and tantalizing, sending a shiver down my spine."Stop me."I try to push his hand away, my fingers wrapping around his wrist in a feeble attempt to resist, but he doesnât yield. Instead, he presses me back, pinning me against the cold railing with nothing but his presence. A gasp escapes meâa sharp intake of breath, equal parts defiance and submission. His
Her Pov:The glass slips from my fingers.Time slows as it falls, spinning through the air before crashing against the marble floor. The sound of shattering fills the roomâa sharp, piercing noise. But I donât hear it. Not really. Not over the deafening silence that rings in my ears, the blood roaring through my veins. I donât even feel the icy droplets of water splattering against my bare skin, the tiny shards slicing against my ankles.Because all I can see is them.She is draped against him, her body moulded to his like she was made to fit there. A short red dress clings to every soft curve, vibrant against her golden skin, her blonde hair cascading in waves over her shoulders. She is stunning. Effortless. Everything I am not. And her handsâthose delicate, manicured fingersâare cradling his face with a familiarity that makes my stomach churn. Like she belongs there.And him?His lips.His lips are on hers.The breath in my lungs vanishes, like Iâve been punched in the chest, hard en
Her Pov:It has been two weeks since I found out I was addicted to drugs. Two whole weeks of living through a walking nightmare, clawing my way through withdrawal, fighting demons I never even knew existed inside me. The past fourteen days have been nothing short of hell. My body revolted against me, turning into a prison of agony and desperation. Sleepless nights melted into torturous days, where reality blurred into something grotesque. Nightmares didn't stay confined to sleep; they slithered into my waking moments, twisting shadows into monsters, whispering voices into my ears that werenât there. My own mind betrayed me, playing tricks so cruel I lost touch with what was real and what wasnât.I would wake up drenched in sweat, heart hammering against my ribs, gasping as if I had just surfaced from drowning. My skin burned and froze at the same time. My stomach twisted into knots of nausea that never truly left. Some days, the weakness was so severe that even the act of standing
His Pov:And Iâm still paying her back.Even now.But hereâs the truth Iâve been avoidingâthe truth that stings like a blade pressed against my throat.I didnât remember Aunt Rachel.I only remembered the debt.I buried her somewhere deep, in the same place I shoved all the emotions I refused to feel, all the memories too painful to hold. She was lost in the graveyard of everything I had to kill inside myself just to survive.But thenâI look at her.At the woman sleeping just a few feet away. At the slow rise and fall of her chest, at the softness in her face now that she isnât watching me with those sharp, searching eyes.And suddenly, sheâs there.Aunt Rachel.Because of her.Because of the words she murmured so carelessly, not realizing they were pulling something out of me, I thought it was long dead. Not realizing how easily sheâs stripping away the armour Iâve spent years building.She doesnât even know.She has no fucking idea what sheâs doing to me.She shifts restlessly, her
His Pov:My grip on the spoon tightens, the metal cool against my skin as I absorb her words. My gaze sharpens, studying her carefully, measuring the weight of what sheâs just said."Even when she was sick most of the time?" My voice is quiet but firm, edged with something I canât quite nameâcuriosity, disbelief, maybe even fear. I test the question as if pressing on a bruise, unsure if it will bring relief or pain.She meets my eyes, and for a moment, I think I see hesitation flicker there. But then she nods slowly, deliberately, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Yeah."I wait for her to elaborate, for her to fill the silence stretching between us, heavy with things unsaid. And then, as if sensing my need for more, she does."Even then. Because love isnât about convenience," she murmurs, her voice steady, but thereâs something raw beneath it, something real. "It isnât about ease or perfection. Itâs about staying. Even when itâs hard. Even when it hurts. Itâs about choosing them,
Her Pov:"I have only ever cooked for you."The words roll off his tongue so smoothly, so effortlessly, yet their weight settles thick in the space between us, heavy like the scent of something simmering too long on the stoveârich, intoxicating, impossible to ignore.He doesnât look at me, but he doesnât have to. He knows Iâm staring. Knows my lips have parted just slightly, knows my breath has hitched in my throat.He can feel itâthe shift in the air, the way the room seems to shrink around us, pulling us into something close, something intimate. The way my fingers tighten around the edge of the counter, as if bracing myself for the impact of something I donât quite understand.Because there is something here. Something unspoken, something undeniable. It coils between us like the heat from the stove, like the scent of charred sugar and slow-burning longing. My pulse hammers against my ribs, and still, he doesnât look at me.But I know he feels it, too.And for the first time in what
His pov:âSay it.âMy voice is low, rough, an unrelenting command wrapped in a whisper. âSay youâre mine.âShe stiffens, her breath coming in uneven gasps, her lips trembling as if she wants to speak but can't force the words out. Her hands, small and delicate, tremble at her sides, fingers curling as if gripping onto invisible resolve. Her lashes flutter, her throat bobs in a shallow swallow, and I see itâthe war raging inside her.She wonât say it. Not yet. But I need to hear it. I need the syllables to spill from her lips, to wrap around me like chains, to solidify what I already know to be true. She belongs to me. And soon, sheâll understand that. Sheâll surrender. Sheâll accept it. She has no choiceâIâll make sure of it.A slow smirk tugs at my lips as I move, scooping her into my arms with ease. Her body is light, fragile against mine, but she gasps, startled, her fingers fisting the fabric of my shirt near my chest. I feel the tremor in her touch, the unspoken question lingerin
Her Pov:"Good girl." He murmurs.. I barely register the words at first, but when they sink inâwhen I hear the way he murmurs them, low and satisfiedâsomething inside me snaps."Good girl."The moment shatters, and I am dragged back into reality with a force so jarring it makes my head spin. What the fuck am I even doing? How could I have parted my lips for him, given him the chance to take control again?Again.My stomach twists violently as shame and fury war within me. Just this afternoon, his hands had been on me, fingers tracing my skin with a possessiveness that made my knees weak.I hadn't resisted. I hadn't fought. Instead, I had meltedâmelted into his touch, into his heat, into the way his breath had ghosted over my skin like a promise he had no intention of keeping.But himâheâs cruel.He felt it. I know he did. The heat between us, the raw, unspoken hunger. And yet, just when the fire threatened to consume us both, he had pulled away. Like it meant nothing. Like I meant no
Her Pov:"What the fuck do you think youâre doing, Rosalina?" His voice is a low growl, rough and edged with something I canât quite name. His breath fans over my lips, scorching and suffocating, as his darkened eyes pin me in place. His jaw is tight, a muscle ticking as if heâs barely holding himself back.My throat constricts my chest tight with the realization that even death is not an escape. Even in my most desperate moment, he still found me, still pulled me back from the abyss. There is no outrunning him. No hiding. No freedom from the force that is him. And that realization sends a bolt of frustration through me.With a strangled breath, I shove at his shoulder. "Why do you care?" I hiss, my voice shaking with a mix of anger and something far more dangerous.But before I can push him away, he movesâfaster than I can react. His hand clamps around both of my wrists, forcing them above my head in one swift motion.My back collides with the cold wall, my pulse hammering as his b