Chapter 126 Awakening
Melissa’s POV
My head felt like it was filled with cotton. It felt like it was going to fall off my body. And like it was full of cotton wool.
I tried to open my eyes but my eyelids were too heavy. Everything was dark and spinning even though I wasn’t moving.
Where was I?
I forced my eyes open. I blinked against light that seemed too bright. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. It was really white and clean. It looked expensive but that wasn’t the point right now, the issue was this wasn’t by room, neither was it Gavin’s penthouse.
This wasn’t… anywhere I recognized.
I tried to sit up. My body protested. Everything felt sluggish.
Like I was underwater. Or drugged.
The thought cut through the fog.
Drugged. I’d been drugged.
“Sophia?” I groaned, my voice came out rough and cracked.
No response.
I managed to push myself up onto my elbows. The room tilted dangerously. I had to close my eyes and breathe through the nausea.
When I opened them again, I could see more of the space.
A bedroom. Large. Beautifully decorated with dark wood furniture and cream-colored linens. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed… trees? We were somewhere with lots of trees.
Not the city.
Where the hell was I?
I tried to swing my legs off the bed. My right hand screamed in protest.
I felt a very sharp burning pain.I looked down on my hand.
My palm had marks on it. Like someone had pressed something into my skin repeatedly. It was like pattern marks.
“What the hell?” I groaned, holding my hand up to examine it closer.
Four small puncture wounds arranged in a square pattern. The skin around them was slightly swollen.
Someone had injected me with something.Multiple times.
Panic started to cut through the drugged haze.
I stood up too quickly. The room spun violently. I grabbed the bedpost to steady myself.
Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.
Think, Melissa. Think.
What was the last thing I remembered?
The garage. Diana. Jason.
The truth about my father.
About Gavin.
I’d been crying. Driving. Hit someone…no, almost hit someone.
Sophia.Sophia had helped me into a car. Brought me somewhere safe.
She had given me water.And then… nothing.
Oh God.
Sophia.
Sophia had drugged me.
But why? She’d been so kind. So concerned.
Unless…
Unless she wasn’t who she said she was.
I looked around the room more carefully now. Searching for anything familiar. Any clue about where I was or why I was here.
The windows were large but I couldn’t see any buildings. Just trees. Lots of trees. And in the distance, what looked like a high stone wall.
I was in a compound. This was some kind of compound.
My breathing started coming faster. Panic clawing at my chest.
I needed to get out of here.
I stumbled toward the door. My legs felt like they weren’t quite attached properly. Each step took enormous concentration.
I reached for the door handle. But it was locked.Of course it was locked.
I tried again, pulling harder. Jiggling it. Nothing happened.
“Help!” I called out. My voice was still rough and weak. “Somebody help me!”
Silence.I pounded on the door with my good hand. “Let me out! Please!”
Nothing.
I pressed my ear against the wood. Listening. Thank fully I heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
Hope surged through me. Maybe it was Sophia. Maybe she could explain. Maybe this was all some terrible misunderstanding.
The lock clicked and the door swung open.A man stood in the doorway.
“Gavin?” The name fell from my lips.
But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t right, this man was too cold and calculating. His smile looked nothing like Gavin’s warm smile.
“No,” I whispered, taking a step back. “Stephan.”
His smile widened. “So you do remember me. Good. I was hoping our encounter at the gala left an impression.”
“What am I doing here?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady. “Where is my friend? What did you do to Sophia?”
Stephan laughed.
“Your friend?” He leaned against the doorframe, completely relaxed. “You mean Sophia? We’re mutual friends, don’t worry. She said I should take care of you well.”
Mutual friends.
The words didn’t make sense.
“Mutual how?” I asked.
“Sophia Valdez. My father’s favorite.” Stephan stepped into the room. I stepped back. “She’s been promised to Gavin since they were children. His future wife. Though my brother seems to have forgotten that particular arrangement.”
Valdez.The name clicked. One of the five richest families on earth.
“You’re lying,” I said.
“Am I?” He pulled out his phone. Scrolled through something. Then turned the screen toward me.
A photo.
Sophia…my Sophia, the kind woman with red hair…standing beside an elderly man I recognized from news reports.
Lord Zeus.
Her hand was on his arm. She was smiling. Beautiful and elegant in an expensive dress.
“No,” I whispered.
Sophia was part of the group that had been chasing Gavin. And worse she is supposed to be his wife.
Which meant she’d been lying from the start.Both times we’d met.
All of it had been orchestrated.
“Why?” The word came out broken. “Why would she…”
“Because Gavin is hers.” Stephan’s voice was matter-of-fact. “He was promised to her when they were children. A bond between families. But then he ran away. Built his little empire. Pretended he could escape his past.”
He took another step forward. I took another step back.
“And Sophia takes that personally. Very personally. She’s been planning this for years. Waiting for the perfect moment to bring him back.”
“She can’t just…people can’t be owned…”
“In our world they can.” Stephan’s eyes glittered. “In the Five Families, promises made in childhood are sacred. Gavin knew what he was running from. He just thought he could outrun it forever.”
I was backed up against the wall now. Nowhere left to go.
Stephan stopped a few feet away. Close enough to be threatening. Far enough that I couldn’t reach him.
“You’re wondering why you’re here,” he said.
I didn’t answer.
“You’re bait, Melissa. Beautiful, broken bait.” His eyes traveled down my body and back up in a way that made my skin crawl. “Gavin loves you. Which means he’ll do anything to get you back. Even come home. Even marry Sophia like he was supposed to.”
“He doesn’t love me,” I said. My voice shook. “He killed my father. Everything between us was a lie.”
Stephan tilted his head. “Is that what Diana told you?”
“It’s the truth.”
“Is it?” He smiled. “Or is it a version of the truth?”
“I don’t…I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re just a pawn, sweetheart. Diana used you. Sophia used you. Hell, even I’m using you.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
I flinched away from his touch.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Or what?” His hand caught my chin. Forced me to look at him. “You’ll hit me like you did at the gala? That was cute, by the way.”
“Where is she?” I asked.
“Sophia? She left this morning. Had to get back to the city before anyone noticed she was gone.” Stephan released my chin. “She sends her regards, though. Said you were very sweet.”
The way he said it made me feel sick.
“She also said to tell you she’s sorry.” His smile turned cruel. “For what’s going to happen next.”
“What’s going to happen next?”