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The guards greeted me with a slight bow of their heads. The maids scurried away from my path, their heads bowed too. None of them met my eyes. The estate was silent and dark, the same cold feeling it always had.
My feet continued to move toward one direction. It had been a week since my conversation with Valerie. Since she cried for her.
Valerie had told me a little story, her reality before I stumbled into her life and brought chaos with me. Except her life had already been dark and chaotic.
In her story, there was a girl. A friend. A sister—she said. Not by blood. No, they were bound together through this goddamn life. They became each other’s savior.
But Valerie’s story changed everything I used to believe in.
So I had to know for myself. I came here to seek the truth.
I had to know if Valerie’s friend, Irina, was the same as the one I met before.
The same woman I used, just like Valentin had. Used and discarded.
It had been eating me all week, my stomach churning just at the thought.
To me, she had just been someone to sink my dick in. A faceless woman for my pleasure. A whore—because that was what I thought. But little did I fucking know.
I stalked the length of the halls, looking for Irina. Room by room, I entered and then left when I didn’t see her. My fingers clenched my hair in frustration when I couldn’t find her.
Finally, one room was left, the last one at the end of the corridor. The one that was always closed. I never thought much of it—I simply didn’t care, but now…
Walking closer, I stood outside, waiting. I didn’t know what I was waiting for. Maybe I was scared of the truth. Maybe I was scared of facing her reality.
My hands were cold and shaking when I opened the door. Once inside, I found the room dark and cold. The scent of despair and death hung in the air. Fuck.
I walked further inside. There were no windows. Just four walls—a cage for someone. The room just had the bare necessities. Only a queen-size bed in the middle. An old wooden table and a chair by the furthest wall.
I touched the wall closest to the door, looking for a light switch. My gaze followed the darkness, looking—desperately searching. Finally, my eyes found who I was looking for.
I couldn’t see her, the darkness hiding her in the shadows, but she was there.
My fingers found the light switch, and I turned it on. I had to blink several times, trying to get accustomed to the sudden light, and when I finally could see—my stomach rolled and my heart squeezed at the sight in front of me.
Irina was on her knees beside the bed, almost plastered against the wall with her head bowed. Even with the lights on, she kept kneeling, her eyes cast downward.
She looked frozen, too still—almost like a statue. A doll sitting there, waiting to be played with by her master.
My eyes quickly traveled the length of her naked body, my gaze staying longer on the chains around her neck and then down to her wrists and ankles. The heavy metal chain was attached to the bed post. She couldn’t go far from that position.
“Irina.” A whisper in the cold room.
She didn’t move, but I knew she heard me. I could see it in the way her shoulders tightened. Irina kept her head bowed, her knees still folded under her body, her thighs just slightly spread apart.
A slave bound by her owner’s words.
She would not move or speak without Valentin’s permission.
It felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped over my head, waking me up from the little fantasy I had been living in. How could I have been so goddamn blind?
Moving forward, I took the blanket off the bed and draped it on her shoulders. I squatted down, facing her. She still kept her head bowed, refusing to look at me.
“Look at me, Irina.”
I saw her fists clenching on her thighs, her nails biting harshly in her flesh. “I am not going to hurt you. Please, look at me.” My words came out choked, sounding harsh against the silence of the room, echoing through the cold walls.
She stayed completely still and her eyes were closed, her heart, mind, and body wanting different things. Her mind was trained to follow Valentin’s demands. Her body was controlled by his words. Yet her heart still hoped for something else.
Months ago, I saw another side of Irina. The one who knew what she wanted and she used her words to get it. And now…I was seeing this side. The side that Valentin had wrapped tightly around his fists.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Fuck, I didn’t know. If only I knew…” I left my words hanging only because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have words of assurance to give her. “I will make him pay, Irina. I’ll fix this.”
