Chapter 69

Chapter 69
Nothing felt more embarrassing than that moment—lying curled up on my bed with Elsa pressed against me, her warmth a fragile comfort I clung to. Whenever we cuddled like this, it was like the world outside couldn't touch me. For once, I allowed myself to breathe, to feel a trace of happiness in the storm that had become my life.

Then came the knock.

It was soft at first, almost hesitant, and I barely thought twice about it. Probably Grandma, or maybe Eli checking if I was asleep. Without lifting my head, I mumbled, "Come in."

The door creaked open.

But silence followed. No cheerful hum from Grandma, no teasing voice from Eli. Just the groan of the hinges dying down into the room's heavy air. I didn't move. My mind was tired and drifting, and yet, something made my skin prickle.

That scent.

It slithered in before I even saw him—sharp, intoxicating, all too familiar. A scent my body knew better than I wanted it to. My breath caught, but I told myself I was imagining things. A phantom born from exhaustion. A cruel trick of memory. I tried to ignore it, tried to sink deeper into the safety of Elsa's presence.

But Elsa stirred.

Her head snapped up before mine did. She shifted away from me, climbing off the bed in that cautious, restless way animals had when danger lingered unseen. My heart stuttered.

I turned.

And there he was.

Adrik.

Leaning against the doorframe as if he owned the air itself, his tall figure cutting a shadow into the dim light. My lips parted, but no words came. For a heartbeat, I truly believed I was hallucinating again—my own cursed mind conjuring him out of nothing, just like it had done in nightmares that left me breathless and trembling.

Then he spoke.

"Моя любовь."

My love. His voice, deep and smooth, wrapped the Russian words in something dark, something that scraped against the inside of my chest. It was too real to be a dream. Too heavy.

The room seemed to shrink, the walls bending inward as his presence filled every inch of space. My pulse hammered in my throat, loud enough I was sure he could hear it. Elsa let out a low growl from the corner, but her sound was nothing compared to the silence that followed his words.

He didn't move, not yet. He just stood there, watching me with eyes that burned like they had carved their place in me long ago. My mouth tasted like iron. I wanted to scream, to run, to call for Grandma—but I couldn't. The weight of him froze me in place.

Adrik was here.

"I've missed you, love," he said, his mouth curling into a smile that wasn't human, not really. It was the kind of smile that belonged to predators when they finally corner their prey—too wide, too sure, too cruel.

The sound of his voice was a blade against my skin. My breath hitched, shallow and frantic, and my chest felt too tight to draw in air. Every instinct in me screamed to move, to run, to scream for Grandma, for Eli—anyone—but my body wouldn't listen. It was as if his words had rooted me into the bed, binding me tighter than chains ever could.

Elsa barked, sharp and furious, but even she stepped back as he closed the door behind him with a slow, deliberate push. The latch clicked into place. That small sound echoed in my skull like a death sentence.

"No," I whispered, the word trembling out of me before I even realized I had spoken. My throat burned, tears prickling at my eyes. My hands shook as I gripped the sheets, clutching them as if they could shield me.

Adrik took a step forward. Then another. His boots pressed against the floor like thunder, steady, unstoppable. Each movement stripped away what little strength I had left.

"Why..." My voice cracked, pitiful and weak. "Why are you here?"

His smile widened, and the shadows in the room seemed to stretch toward him. "Because you're mine. And nothing—not your grandmother, not that pathetic boy, not even you—can change that."

Terror stabbed into me. The memory of the mansion, of the suffocating halls and locked doors, crashed back with brutal force. My chest heaved. I shook my head violently, tears spilling now, desperate to wake myself from this nightmare.

"You're not real," I muttered, repeating it like a prayer, my body rocking slightly as if motion alone could banish him. "You're not real—you're not—"

But then his hand reached out, brushing the edge of the bed. My sheets dipped beneath his weight.

And that was when I knew.

He was real.

The scent of him was everywhere now, flooding me, choking me. His eyes burned into mine, pinning me in place like a butterfly under glass. Elsa barked again, louder this time, but Adrik didn't even look at her. He only looked at me, as if nothing else in the world existed.

"Joy," he whispered, the sound twisting my name into something unholy. "You can't run from me. You never could."

My entire body shook. My nails dug into the sheets until they cut my palms, but I couldn't feel the pain. All I felt was him. His presence, his claim, his promise that this wasn't the end—it was only the beginning.

Adrik's smile thinned, no longer a curve of lips but a blade of control. He tilted his head as if studying me, his eyes glinting like shards of black ice.

"You've been busy, haven't you?" His voice dropped to a low, dangerous murmur. "Letting another man touch what's mine."

I shook my head violently, my voice breaking. "No, no, it's not like that—"

But his expression didn't change. If anything, the smile grew colder.

"You'll be punished for that," he whispered, each word sliding through the air like a knife. "Seriously punished."

Before I could move, before I could even gasp, his hand shot forward. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me up from the bed. Pain burned across my scalp; my knees buckled. I cried out, clutching at his wrist, but his grip only tightened, dragging me to my feet as if I weighed nothing.

Elsa darted forward, barking furiously, teeth bared. She lunged at his legs, snapping at his trousers in frantic, protective fury.

Adrik looked down at her — not startled, not even annoyed — just amused. With his free hand, he snatched her from the floor by the scruff with terrifying ease. Elsa writhed, whimpering, but he held her suspended in the air like a broken toy.

"Well, well..." he murmured, eyes sliding from the trembling dog to me. "This little bunny led me straight to you. Who knew it would be of importance?" His tone was almost playful, but it made my stomach twist.

"No—please!" I begged, my voice raw, reaching out for Elsa even as Adrik's grip on my hair dragged me forward. Tears blurred my vision.

He tightened his hold, jerking my head back so hard I gasped, the pain shooting down my spine. Then he started pulling me toward the door, Elsa still dangling in his other hand.

"Stop fighting," he said flatly, his voice losing all warmth. "You'll only make it worse."

My bare feet scraped against the floor, struggling to find purchase as he hauled me out of the room. My hands clawed at his wrist, at his sleeve, anything to loosen his grip, but it was like trying to tear steel apart.

Down the hall he dragged me, the familiar walls of Grandma's house blurring past, every step echoing louder than the last. Elsa whined in his grasp, a helpless sound that broke my heart.

I was suddenly thrown to the floor, my body hitting the hard tiles with a sickening thud. Pain shot up my knees and palms where I caught myself, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

My husband.

No.

I'd rather die than call him that. The word was poison on my tongue, a brand I refused to wear even in my own head. He wasn't my husband. He was my captor. My nightmare.

I scrambled backward on all fours, my hair falling into my face, my breath coming in shallow, panicked gasps. My hands were shaking so violently I couldn't get enough traction to push myself up. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to run, but the room was a cage, and he was the lock.

Adrik stood over me, Elsa still dangling from his other hand like a prize. The low light from the living room lamps carved his face into something monstrous — shadows in his eyes, that terrible smile still curling his lips.

"You think you can run from me," he said softly, almost to himself. "You think you can hide. But you always crawl back, one way or another."

He dropped Elsa onto the couch with a careless flick.

I pressed my back against the base of the couch, my chest heaving, tears streaming down my face. "Let me go," I whispered, my voice hoarse, broken. "Please... please just let me go."

Adrik crouched down in front of me, slow, deliberate, his knees bending until his face was level with mine. He reached out, a strand of my hair caught between his fingers, and dragged it over my cheek like a caress.

"Do you know what I see when I look at you?" he murmured, his voice low, dangerous. "I see something that belongs to me. And I'm going to remind you exactly what that means."

My stomach turned, bile rising in my throat. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to move, to strike, to do something. But his presence was suffocating, his nearness a weight pressing the breath from my lungs.