Chapter 61 Midnight Confession
Briar's POV
The authentication error blinked at me for the third time, my fingerprint failing to convince the lock I lived here. I tried my backup code, punching in numbers with growing frustration, but the screen flashed red again: AUTHENTICATION ERROR.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered, pressing my forehead against the cool metal door. My entire body ached from the long day, and now I couldn't even get into my home.
I pulled out my phone and called Leah, but it went straight to voicemail. Of course it did. I opened the locksmith service app and placed an order, watching the estimated wait time appear: forty-five minutes.
I slid down to sit on the hallway floor, my back against the wall, and closed my eyes. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, harsh and unforgiving. I'd never felt more trapped than I did right now, stuck in this narrow corridor with nowhere to go and no one to call.
A sound drifted up from below, faint but unmistakable. Crying. I pushed myself up and moved to the window at the end of the hallway, leaning out slightly to look down at the building's shared terrace. A figure in white sat curled up on one of the long benches, shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
That was Chloe, crying alone in the middle of the night while clutching a teddy bear.
I dug through my bag until I found the roll of mint lozenges I kept for long meetings. Without really thinking it through, I leaned out the window and dropped one toward the terrace below, watching it bounce once on the stone before rolling to a stop near Chloe's feet.
"Finish crying first," I called down softly. "Then use that. Your throat will feel better."
Chloe's head snapped up, her tear-streaked face tilting back to find me in the window. For a moment she just stared, her expression cycling through shock and embarrassment before landing on pure fury. She shot to her feet, one arm extending to point an accusing finger up at me.
"This is your fault!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "All of this is because of you!"
I didn't move, didn't respond, just held her gaze and waited.
The sound of the stairwell door slamming open made me turn. Chloe appeared at the top of the stairs moments later, her white silk robe billowing behind her as she stormed toward me. Her hand came up fast, aiming for my face, but I'd spent enough time around Julian to recognize the windup of a slap. I shifted my weight and caught her wrist mid-swing, my fingers closing around the delicate bones with just enough pressure to stop the motion.
"You can't hit me," I said quietly. "And even if you could, it wouldn't make you feel better."
The fight went out of her all at once, her body sagging forward as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. I guided her down to sit on the windowsill beside me, still holding her wrist loosely in case she decided to try again. She didn't. Instead she just sat there crying, her free hand pressed against her mouth to muffle the sounds.
Eventually she pulled her wrist free and wiped at her face with the sleeve of her robe, smearing mascara across her cheekbone.
"Do you see him every month?" The question came out harsh and accusing. "Do you have dinner with Julian every month?"
"Every half month," I said, because there was no point in lying. "Twice a month, actually."
Her breath hitched. "You know he's engaged to me. You know we're supposed to get married. So why do you keep seeing him?"
The words hung between us, heavy with assumptions I couldn't let stand. She had no idea what those dinners really were, no concept of the contract that bound me to Julian or the violence that came with breaking its terms.
Before I could figure out how to explain, my phone buzzed with an incoming call. The locksmith's number flashed on the screen. I answered it quickly, but the man on the other end just apologized and said he'd had a family emergency and couldn't make it tonight. The call ended before I could even respond.
Chloe stood up, brushing off her robe with sharp movements. "Well, that's enough humiliation for one night," she said, her voice brittle. "Getting caught crying by my rival is bad enough without dragging it out."
She turned toward the elevator, her bare feet silent on the hallway carpet. The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime. Chloe stepped inside, then paused, one hand holding the door. She didn't turn around, just stared straight ahead at the elevator's mirrored back wall.
"You can't get into your apartment?"
I hesitated. "The lock system malfunctioned."
"Do you want to come to mine?" The words came out flat, almost aggressive. "I mean, it's not like I care. I'm just asking."
Every instinct told me this was a terrible idea, but the alternative was sleeping in this hallway, and something about the way Chloe had asked made me think maybe she needed this as much as I did.
"Sleeping next to you feels safer," I said quietly, the truth slipping out before I could stop it.
Chloe's reflection in the mirror showed a flicker of surprise before her expression hardened again. She stepped back, making room, and I walked into the elevator beside her.
Her apartment was exactly what I would have expected: all soft pinks and creamy whites, like stepping into a strawberry mousse cake. But it was the living room that caught my attention. Scattered across the coffee table were sheets of product packaging designs, the kind of professional work you'd see on high-end cosmetics. A digital drawing tablet sat propped against a stack of reference books. The designs themselves were stunning, all flowing lines and bold color choices that somehow managed to be both elegant and eye-catching.
"I didn't know you did design work," I said, genuinely impressed.
Chloe shrugged, not quite meeting my eyes. "It's just a hobby." She moved past me into the kitchen. "Even stray cats and dogs get shelter when they show up at my door. Consider yourself lucky."
I followed her into the living room, my gaze catching on something else. An entire wall of shelves held what had to be hundreds of collectible figures, all from the same game: Eclipse of War. Limited edition characters, some still in their original packaging, others displayed on custom stands with LED lighting.
"You play Eclipse of War?" I asked, surprise evident in my voice.
"Is that so shocking?" Chloe's tone was defensive, but I caught a hint of pride underneath. "I was ranked in the top hundred players last season."
The image I'd had of Chloe was cracking apart. She wasn't just some delicate flower being pushed into an arranged marriage.
"Come on," Chloe said, heading toward the terrace doors. "I need some air."
I found her back on the same bench where I'd first seen her crying, the stuffed bear clutched in her arms again. She didn't look at me when I sat down beside her, just stared out at the skyline.
"Those dinners aren't dates," I said, deciding that the truth was the only thing that might get through to her. "They're part of a contract. My father gambled away everything he had and put up my freedom as collateral. Julian owns my debt, and the contract requires me to have dinner with him twice a month. If I refuse, he can call in the full amount immediately."
Chloe's head turned slowly toward me, disbelief written across her features. "That's insane. That can't be legal."
"Legal or not, it's binding." I pulled up my sleeve, exposing the fading bruises that still marked my forearm in ugly shades of purple and yellow. Julian's fingers had left perfect impressions, five distinct marks where he'd grabbed me hard enough to leave me gasping. Then I tugged at my collar, revealing the edge of a bite mark on my shoulder, the kind that had taken weeks to heal and would probably leave a permanent scar.
"This is what happens when I try to fight back," I said, keeping my voice level despite the way my hands wanted to shake. "Last time at the medical center, when you saw me there? He'd dislocated my shoulder. That wasn't a lie."
Chloe's face had gone pale, her fingers tightening around the bear until her knuckles showed white. "Julian did that to you?"
"Every time I step out of line." I let my sleeve fall back down, covering the evidence. "So you need to ask yourself something, Chloe. Is this really the man you want to spend the rest of your life with? Because this is who he is when no one's watching."