All Chapters of HARSH: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Olivia’s breathing was coming in shallow gasps. She crept closer to the cave’s entrance, her were shaking.“Please,” she whispered, clinging to the stranger’s promise. “Please come back.”The light sound of footsteps reached her ears, breaking the silence. A man comes out from the shadows. For a moment, relief passed over her as she recognized the stranger’s face.But the relief was short. Blood stained their shirt, the dark blood spreading across the fabric.“You’re hurt!” Olivia said, rushing toward them. The stranger jaw clenched in pain. “I’m fine.”“No, you’re not,” she argued, her hands moved uncertainly over their wound. “Let me help.”“There’s no time,” they said sharply while glancing towards the forest. “They’re regrouping. We should move.”Olivia hesitated with concern towards them. “You’re bleeding…”“I said I’m fine!” the stranger raised their voice, harsher than intended.The anger in their voice startled her into silence, but the glimpse of guilt in their eyes softens th

The growls outside the gap deepens into loud snarls, echoing through the tight space. Olivia pressed herself against the rocky wall. The stranger adjusted their grip on the knife.“Stay close to me,” they ordered. Olivia’s fear turns into frustration. “I’m not useless! If we’re going to survive, I need to know how to help!” The stranger’s eyes go over her. “Survival isn’t about fairness. It’s about doing what it takes to stay alive.”“They’ll level us out,” the stranger said. “The creatures will attack them first, but it won’t hold them off for long.”“Then, what do we do?” Olivia whispered.The stranger looked at the narrow space, in thought. “We need to force them into each other’s path. Let Victor’s men deal with the creatures.”Olivia nodded, though her mind was racing. “How do we do that without getting killed?”A surge of hope crossed them. “We bait them.”Before Olivia could ask, the stranger crawled toward the gap’s edge. Carefully, they throw a small rock in the opposite dire

The moon was high in the sky, casting shadows across the expansive grounds of Victor’s mansion. The night was cold, rustling the trees as Olivia stepped quietly into the garden, her breath small and quick. She had thought she was free. For a few moments, she could pretend to forget the grip of Victor, who had on her life. But even in this illusion of freedom, she wasn’t truly free. That constant and suffocating control remained settle deep within her.As she goes around the garden, she saw a man standing under near the fountain, his features were half-hidden in shadow. His name was Richard, a stranger she had met only a few days earlier in town. He had been kind, gentle in a way Victor never was.It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. She told herself that. But tonight, the loneliness and suffocation she felt inside Victor’s house had driven her to seek someone to talk with.Olivia approached Richard with a careful step, as if she were walking on weak glass. But she never noticed that s

Victor had always known how to take people according to his will, his power, his dangerous allure. But Olivia was different. She had resisted him at every turn and yet the more she pushed back, the more he wanted to claim her.As the days passed, their encounters became more charged. She didn’t love him, but he knew she couldn’t deny the attraction that pulled her closer to him each time. That’s what haunted him. He knew it wasn’t enough to simply control her body anymore.Victor was standing in front of the large window in his study, watching the rain outside. His thoughts were far from the business matters. Olivia had resisted him, but now…she was slipping. He could feel it but couldn’t quite understand. Was this love? Or was it just obsession? A need to control, to possess every part of her until there was nothing left of the woman?The next morning Olivia woke up and her eyes fell upon the tray of breakfast placed neatly on the side table. It was a disturbing routine, Victor’s way

Sleep was indefinable, and every creak, every light rustle of the wind, set her nerves on tip.Victor’s earlier words echoes in her mind: “You can try to run, but I’ll always find you.”She clenched the sheets in her fists, her teeth grinding in frustration.But her thoughts were cut by an unfamiliar sound. It wasn’t the usual sound of the house’s nightly activities or the soft footsteps of the guards guarding outside. This was something sharper.Her heart raced as the sound grew closer; a slow, and calculated sound just outside her door. She froze, her heart pounding in her ears.The handle of her bedroom door twisted slightly, stopping just short of unlocking.Someone was there.Olivia got out of bed, her movements were quiet and cautious. She pressed herself against the wall near the window, her eyes were fixed on the door. For a moment, the handle stilled.And then, without warning, the door burst open.Victor was in his study, seeing his documents under the light of his desk lamp