A crash cut him off.
In the corner, a bound figure slammed into a stack of metal drums.
I turned—Sasha.
Covered in blood, left leg twisted at a sickening angle, but his eyes still blazed with fight.
"Shit." Derek frowned. "Didn't I say to get rid of him?"
"Boss, this guy's too tough, our guys couldn't finish him—"
"Then I'll do it."
Derek took a metal pipe from his man, strode toward Sasha.
"No!" I struggled, shouting. "Derek, you're insane! He's got nothing to do with this—"
"But he's Nikolai's dog." Derek's voice went cold. "And I need you to understand what happens when you defy me."
He raised the pipe.
The pipe slammed into Sasha's shin. Bone snapped audibly.
But Sasha didn't make a sound. Just clenched his jaw, veins bulging on his forehead.
Second blow.
Third.
Blood poured down Sasha's pant leg, pooling on the floor in a vivid red stain.
I closed my eyes. Tears ran down my face.
"Stop... please..." My voice broke. "I'll cooperate. I'll do anything. Just stop..."
Derek finally stopped, dropped the pipe, and walked back to me.
"That's better." He grabbed my chin and forced my head up. "Remember this lesson, Vivienne. Here, I'm in charge."
I stared at him, eyes full of hate.
Only now did I truly grasp the brutal reality—the world Nikolai lived in was a dark, twistedmeat grinder.
This wasn't some crisis I could write away with romantic dialogue. This was real violence, lives worth nothing, an actual hell.
I finally understood why Nikolai controlled me the way he did—suffocating, airtight. He wasn't imprisoning me. He was doing everything he could to keep me out of this man-eating world.
Guilt, love, and bone-deep regret crashed over me like a flood.
But my brain was also racing.
Nikolai would come.
He'd walk straight into this slaughterhouse built just for him.
I bit my lip hard, forcing myself to calm down. I scanned the dim room frantically, searching for even the smallest chance.
I wouldn't let him die for me at the hands of these bastards.
