Chapter 70

Chapter 70
My eyes darted wildly around the room, and in a sudden, desperate burst I screamed, "Where is Grandma?!" My voice cracked, raw with terror, the words tearing out of me like claws.

The response came faster than I could brace for—his hand, sharp and merciless, striking across my face.

The sound of the slap echoed through the living room, ringing in my ears like a gunshot. My head snapped to the side, a sting spreading across my cheek until it burned. Tears blurred my vision as I clutched my face, sobs choking out of me.

"You do not speak to me that way," Adrik growled, his voice no longer soft but deep and venomous. His breath was warm, almost hot, against my ear as he leaned closer. "I am not your friend. I am not anyone's friend. I am your husband—your master—and you will remember that."

I gagged on the word. Husband. It twisted inside me like a knife, tearing at every piece of me that still dared to hope I was free.

Then, as though the slap wasn't enough to silence me, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife. The blade gleamed cold in the dim light, catching on every trembling breath I took. My heart lurched violently in my chest.

"No..." I whispered, shaking my head. "Please, Adrik—don't—"

He ignored me. With chilling precision, he reached for Elsa. She whimpered, her small body trembling as his hand clamped around her. He lifted her easily, her legs kicking helplessly in the air.

In his other hand, he pulled out his phone. He tapped something, and then—blue light flickered faintly under Elsa's right hind leg. My breath caught.

It wasn't just a scar. It wasn't just a limp.

It was a device.

"I was counting on you running away with your little bunny," he said, his lips curling into that same predator's smile. "And you didn't disappoint me. You led me right to where you'd be."

Horror clawed through my chest, ripping me apart from the inside. My throat tightened, tears spilling freely down my face. "No... no, please, not her—"

But he didn't stop. With a practiced steadiness, he slid the blade against her leg. Elsa yelped, a high-pitched, heart-wrenching sound that shattered something inside me. I thrashed forward, crawling on my knees to reach for her, but his glare froze me in place.

"Stay back," he warned, the steel of his voice as sharp as the knife in his hand.

And then, with a skill so calculated it terrified me, he made a small incision. My body lurched as if it was my flesh being cut. I watched in sick disbelief as he carefully split open the tiny patch of skin. Elsa writhed, her cries muffled in his grasp, until something small and metallic glinted beneath his blade.

The tracking device.

He plucked it out, holding it up between two fingers like a trophy. "See? Clever, isn't it?" His tone was mockery and pride woven into one. He tossed the bloody device onto the table, where it landed with a dull, wet sound.

My vision swam. The room tilted. My stomach knotted so tight I thought I would vomit.

Because in that moment, all the pieces fit together.

Back in the mansion, I had noticed Elsa limping, moving strangely—so strangely that I'd stopped once or twice to stroke her paw, asking what was wrong. But I brushed it off. I told myself it was nothing. Just the floor. Just her getting old. Just... me overthinking.

And now, staring at the bloody little piece of machinery that had betrayed me, regret consumed me whole.

I should have known. I should have checked.

This was my fault.

Adrik held Elsa against his chest, her small body trembling, and then looked back at me with eyes that froze the very air.

Adrik tilted his head slightly, the knife still glinting in his hand, the rabbit trembling against his chest. His eyes locked on mine, unblinking, like a predator savoring the moment before it strikes.

Then, in a low, almost intimate growl, he spoke in Russian.

"Я так скучал по тебе, моя любовь."

I have really missed you, my love.

The words sent a shudder down my spine, colder than the blade in his hand. They didn't sound like affection. They sounded like a threat dressed in velvet.

He stepped closer, each movement slow, deliberate. The air around him felt heavier, darker.

The words settled over me like chains, suffocating, impossible to escape. My chest rose and fell too quickly, air scraping in and out as though I were drowning.

Then he straightened, his shadow stretching across me, and his tone sharpened, a command cutting through the silence.

"Take off your clothes."

I froze. My blood turned to ice, my fingers digging into the floor until my nails bent painfully. My ears rang, my mind screaming, No, no, no.

"I... I won't," I whispered, but the sound was too fragile, too weak.

His smile didn't falter. Instead, he tilted Elsa higher in his hand, the knife hovering dangerously close to her trembling side. Her tiny squeak cut straight through me, twisting the knife deeper into my soul than he ever could into flesh.

"Do it at your own free will," he said, his voice low, deliberate. "Or I'll help you do it at mine."

The room spun. My ears rang. The words landed like shackles, tightening around my throat, my chest, my arms, until I could barely breathe. Elsa let out a tiny squeak, the sound thin and broken, and my heart lurched violently.

Adrik crouched lower, bringing his face inches from mine, his eyes locking onto me like a hunter with no need to chase anymore. "Choose, Joy," he murmured. "Because I'm done asking."

My voice cracked as I cried out again, "Where's Grandma? Where is she?!"

Adrik tilted his head, his eyes glinting like shards of ice. For a moment, he said nothing, just let the question hang in the air while his thumb stroked the trembling rabbit in his grasp. Then his lips curved into a faint, cold smile.

"Unconscious," he said flatly. "On a plane... already on her way to Russia."

The room tilted around me. My knees buckled under me, my palms pressing against the cold floor to steady myself. "No..." I whispered, my breath shuddering. "You're lying..."

Adrik crouched lower until his face was level with mine, his expression unreadable, the knife still gleaming faintly in his other hand. "I don't lie," he said simply.

Those three words struck harder than his slap had. My stomach twisted violently, nausea rising in my throat as tears blurred my vision. Images of Grandma flashed through my mind — slumped over, helpless, already stolen away across the sky.

My chest tightened, my breaths short and jagged. He wasn't bluffing. He wasn't trying to scare me. He had really done it.

I shook my head violently, clawing at my hair, the sound of my own sobs echoing off the walls. "No... no..."

Then, still crouched, he repeated himself.

"Take off your clothes."

The words hung in the air like smoke, thicker, heavier than before. He didn't shout. He didn't have to. This time, the command wasn't just a threat — it was a promise.

I trembled, my nails digging into the floor, my breaths coming out as broken sobs. My heart was hammering so hard it felt like my ribs would shatter.

He straightened slowly, towering over me. His knife gleamed faintly as he shifted it in his hand, and with his other arm, he adjusted his grip on Elsa.

And then, with a care that chilled me even more than violence would have, he gently set her down on the couch. The tiny rabbit trembled there, frozen, as if she too knew something had changed in the air.

That was when I knew he was serious.

The moment his hand left Elsa, I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. The knife was still in his hand. His eyes were still locked on me. But his posture had shifted.

He wasn't bluffing anymore.

He had cleared his hands.

"Do it," Adrik said softly, each word like a hammer. "Or I will."

My fingers shook violently where they clutched at my shirt. My mind screamed at me to move, to fight, to run, but my body was frozen — trapped between the weight of his command and the knowledge that he would make good on it if I didn't.

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so sorry I couldn't update on this platform, I had issues accessing my account but I'm so glad that it's back guys 😁 so enjoy