Chapter 139: Sleep Well

She hadn't realized when he had entered the room while she was crying in her prayer. She

was so engrossed that she didn't notice. Not even when he sat on a chair behind her. She

had fallen asleep, her head resting against the prayer mat.

She looked so pure. So exotic. So beautiful.

Like an enchantress.

Moonlight fell directly on her face.

Or perhaps it wasn't the moonlight—it was something else illuminating her face so much

that he felt compelled to touch her, to stroke her cheeks.

He got up, moved toward her, squatted down, and kept his eyes solely on her face. His

fingers moved and grazed against her cheek.

Something was still baffling him.

A question kept raising itself in his mind, continuously, and he was trying to push it back.

Despite undergoing weeks and months of brain conditioning, she still had that little spirit

left in her that made her resist signing the contract.

A "no" to him was still a consideration in her mind.

The "no" that he so desperately wanted to eradicate.

The remnants of her defiance still stood there. Proudly.

Or maybe this was her.

The real her.

That she genuinely didn’t like other men approaching her...

Then why didn't she deny Hannan?

She did push him away.

In the first place, she let him get close to her.

Maybe it was always Hannan trying to exploit her?

Or maybe she was as openly involved with him as he was with her.

Maybe not...

She was wearinghisring but still dared to outrun him.

Maybe she never wanted that.

A list of assumptions ran through his mind. And again, he felt baffled with himself.

Was that a soft spot in him for her?

A part of him was still not considering her entirely guilty. A part of him was still trying to

defend her.

This had never been the case before. In her case, he had directly announced the verdict, not

listening to her pleas, her begging, or anything. Back then, there had been no soft corner

within him. Only plain loathing and disgust for her.

Then why was it surfacing now for the woman lying in front of him?

Just why...

Slipping his hands gently beneath her neck and knees, he pulled her up and carried her

bridal style to the bed before cocooning her in the comforter. Her wet locks peeked out from

under her scarf.

He felt emotions stirring within him as his gaze lingered on her sleeping form.

He liked his inhumane and cold self more. When he cared less about anything but his

obsession. As he let the coldness take over his eyes again. The grey hue darkened as his

expression hardened.

He bent down to place a kiss on her forehead before caressing it with his thumb. "Sleep well,

little lady."

He had been far from her for a long time. And now, he couldn’t contain his desire to touch

her, to exploit her sexually for his pleasure. Now was the right time to truly claim her in all

senses.

When she considered herself nothing but his possession.

I found darkness consuming me. As far as I could see, all I saw was darkness. Pitch black. To

the point where you could feel you were standing in the middle of infinite nothingness.

I propelled my feet forward to find a way to escape the darkness around me. I felt

someone's eyes boring into my back, but I kept moving forward. All I wanted was to escape

those eyes somehow. To run away as far as I could.

My mind was entirely focused on running. I kept moving. And moving. But my ears didn’t

miss the sound of the jingling of metal. I cared less. The only thing that mattered was

escaping this pitch darkness. I knew if I didn’t leave this place soon, I would become part of

it. Scaring. Haunting.

I didn’t want to belong to the dark side. I had to find the light. To be seen by the light. To be

protected by it. To have hope. I was breathless, running as fast as I could. But suddenly, my

movements ceased. I tried taking a step, but I couldn’t. I tried again, and I heard a distinct

jingling sound of metal that I had been ignoring.

I tried to step forward again, but this time I felt the metal chain coiling around my ankle. My

breath hitched. Then I felt both my feet bound by a metal chain. And so was my neck.

I knew I had very little time. I had to run away from this darkness and find the light.

Suddenly, hope entered my heart as I noticed light around me. It was as if someone had lit a

candle nearby. I looked around to find the source.

And I saw the light coming from where I had started running. I slowly walked back to that

place. The light became more prominent. I thought I was approaching it. Freedom. My heart

beat faster, like the wings of a bird.

A smile touched my lips. I got closer and closer.

But what I saw next made the ground slip beneath my feet.

He sat there, like a king, holding a candle in his hand. And not just that—the source of the

chains that bound me was in his hand. He tugged the chain, making me kneel.

I looked up to see his grey metallic shards.

"I am your only hope, Sheharzaad," I heard him whisper as the darkness consumed me.

She woke up with a start. Breathless. Her throat dry like the Sahara Desert. Her chest

heaved up and down in a rhythm. She could feel goosebumps on her skin. The dream felt

surreal. Yet real at the same time. Her heart was drumming loudly in her ears.

She quickly grabbed the glass of water placed beside her and chugged it down in one go. All

the while thinking about the horrors of the dream.

Was he her hope?