Her trembling hands clenched the edge of the bed. Why does it feel like the walls themselves are closing in on me? she thought. But before she could gather her courage, his footsteps echoed—slow, deliberate, predatory.

“Do you really think,” he whispered, voice dripping with venom and something darker, “that I’d ever let you go after tonight?”

Her heartbeat faltered. There was something terrifying in the way he looked at her—not just anger, not just obsession, but a hunger to break her piece by piece.

She wanted to scream, to fight, to run—but instead, her lips betrayed her. “Why… why are you doing this?”

His bitter laugh sliced through the tension. He leaned closer, so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her skin. “Because you chose to wear my ring. And once you did, you stopped belonging to yourself.”

Her world shattered again. The realization hit her harder than any slap could. He wasn’t her savior. He wasn’t her partner. He was her prison.

But deep inside that breaking heart, a flicker of fire refused to die. She lowered her gaze, hiding the storm that brewed within. If he thinks I’m weak, he’s already lost. One day… he’ll regret underestimating me.

And yet, the night had only just begun.

Because outside that suffocating room, a secret waited at the edge of the mansion’s walls—something, or someone, who could turn her twisted fate upside down.

The night isn’t over. What lies outside could destroy everything—or finally give her the weapon she needs to fight back.