The moment we arrived at the mansion, Lucas wasted no time. His eyes, cold and sharp, narrowed on me. "How dare you disrespect me at the church?" he spat, and before I could even respond, his hand struck me across the face. Pain exploded, sharp and burning, and I stumbled backward, clutching my cheek. Blood welled in my mouth, hot and metallic, and tears blurred my vision.
"You are mine now," he continued, his voice low, cruel, and relentless. "And I will make sure you live every day in misery. You are my slave, Silver. Do you understand?"
I could barely nod, my throat tight, my body trembling with fear. My knees gave way, and I fell to the floor, the cold marble pressing against my skin. I wanted to disappear, to melt into the ground, but I couldn't.
Then, a presence entered sudden, graceful, and almost luminous. A woman stepped into the hall, her beauty striking and terrifying all at once. She moved toward Lucas, wrapping her arms around him effortlessly, and kissed him boldly, right in front of me. My vision blurred from shock, pain, and disbelief.
Seconds later, she pulled back and glanced at me, her gaze sharp and amused. "Is this the dirty girl you married?" she asked Lucas, her tone teasing yet cruel.
Lucas's lips twisted into a grin. "Yes," he said without hesitation.
The two of them laughed together, a sound that twisted in my chest, igniting a mixture of fear, anger, and helplessness. My world had shrunk to the cold marble beneath me, the sting on my face, and the sense that I had no control at all.
Lucas finally snapped his attention back to me. "Take her to the servants' room," he ordered, his voice commanding. "This is where she will sleep."
One of his men stepped forward, and I felt hands grip me roughly. I struggled, weak and trembling, but they lifted me up. My legs refused to hold me, my body still reeling from the blow. I couldn't stop thinking of the woman laughing and wrapped around Lucas, claiming a life that was supposed to be mine.
Been dragged out l saw Lucas lifting the woman in his arms and carrying her toward the stairs, she glanced at me one last time with a smirk that burned itself into my mind. I wanted to scream, to run, to fight but my body betrayed me. All I could do was follow, my heart pounding and my spirit shrinking under the weight of the life I had been forced into.
I sank to the cold marble floor, my cheek throbbing and blood warm on my lips. The laughter of Lucas and Vanessa echoed in my ears, twisting like knives inside me. My body trembled, and I could feel the weight of the mansion pressing down on me, suffocating me.
This is my life now, I thought, panic rising like a tide I couldn't hold back. This is what I've been sold into. There's no one to protect me. No one cares. I… I'm completely alone.
Every step they took, every whispered joke, every glance they shared, felt like a reminder of my helplessness. The servants' eyes glanced at me with a mix of curiosity and fear, but they did nothing. No one would intervene. No one would stop them.
My hands shook as I tried to gather myself, tried to stand, tried to fight the feeling of despair curling around my chest. How am I going to survive here? My mind raced with a thousand worst-case scenarios, each one more terrifying than the last. Lucas had made it clear I was his now, his property, his slave. And that woman… she would be watching, enjoying every moment of my misery.
Tears burned my eyes, but I forced myself to swallow them. I had to hold on to something even if it was just the tiniest spark of hope that I could endure this, that somehow, some way, I would survive.
I have to survive, I whispered to myself. I have to. Because if I break now… if I give in… I will disappear entirely.