Chapter 104
Chapter 104
VENUS
I didn’t sleep.
Couldn’t.
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Every time I closed my eyes, the darkness didn’t bring rest. It brought memory. The sting of Billy’s hand across my face. The taste of blood. The echo of my own heartbeat thrashing in my chest. And beneath it all, the overwhelming silence that crawled into your head and made a home.
The concrete floor scraped my back with every movement, biting through the thin cotton of my shirt like sandpaper on skin. The ropes around my wrists and ankles burned with every twitch, every breath. My shoulders screamed. My throat was so dry, it felt like I’d swallowed fire and it had stayed there, smoldering.
But none of that mattered. Not really. Not compared to the storm churning behind my ribcage. The questions. The betrayal. The creeping horror that this wasn’t a warning, or a threat.
This was a disappearing act. One that might never end.
I hadn’t had food or water since I woke up in this cement coffin. My mouth was parched. My lips cracked. My body ached. But it was the flickering bulb above me that kept me tethered. That swaying, flickering, weak little light that buzzed like it was dying but refused to go out. It blinked, paused, blinked again.
I’d counted 4,123 flickers when I heard it.
A knock.
Soft.
Nervous.
Almost polite.
Then the scrape of a key turning in the lock.
I froze.
Muscles tensed. Spine straightened. The sting of anticipation more potent than pain. The door creaked open on rusted hinges.
And my breath hitched like a bullet in the throat.
“Mom p>
She stepped into the room like she didn’t belong in it. Her posture stiff. Her face pale and tight. Eyes darting around the space like she was stepping into a crime scene. They were red-rimmed and glassy, but I wasn’t sure if it was guilt or tears. She looked older.
Smaller.
Guilt ages people.
“Jesus, baby…” she whispered, bringing a trembling hand to her mouth. Her voice cracked under the weight of something I wasn’t ready to forgive.
But before she could move closer, a shadow barreled in behinder.
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Dain.
His presence filled the room like smoke. Heavy. Polluting
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“You crazy, stupid woman,” he snapped. “I told you not to come here unless it was clean. Did anyone follow you p>
She flinched under his voice. “No. I parked five blocks away. Came through the service path. Nobody saw me p>
“That doesn’t mean shit.” His voice dropped, but the venom stayed. “You better pray nobody tailed you. One mistake, and we’re all buried p>
“No one tracked me,” she said again, sharper this time. She sounded tired. Broken. Like someone who’d lost the ability argue but still had a few scraps of dignity left.
He stared her down, then finally turned to me.
His eyes bored into mine. Flat. Dead. “You so much as scream,” he said, “I’ll let Billy finish what he started p>
Then he left.
The door clicked shut, and it was just me and her.
My mother.
She moved forward, slow and hesitant, her shoes clicking softly against the cement. Every step sounded like guilt. She was wringing her hands in front of her like she could twist the shame out of her bones.
I wanted to hate her.
Needed to.
But some deep, fractured part of me still wanted her to kneel, to untie me, to say this was all some sick misunderstanding. That she made a mistake and it could still be undone.
Instead, she knelt beside me and pulled a bottle of water from her coat.
She pressed it gently to my lips. I eyed it suspiciously. Water was the last thing I drank before I woke up here.
But I took it anyway.
Even if it was drugged, I didn’t care.
I was so damn thirsty.
She watched me drink, her face crumbling like she couldn’t stand to see me like this.
“I never wanted this,” she whispered.
My voice came out cracked and brittle. “Then why did you let it happen p>
Her breath hitched. She looked away.
“I thought…” she started, but didn’t finish.
“You thought what p>
“I thought it would be clean,” she said. “Just the contract. Just a way to help Dain p>
My throat burned with more than thirst.
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“You took it. I said. “The contract. The one you guilted me integhing, and you handed it over?
She winced.
“I never guilted you Venus…Dorian came to me a month ago,” admitted. “He said your marriage to Aaron was fake. Ife said he needed proof p>
“And you gave it to him. Just like that p>
Her voice dropped to almost nothing. “He offered me five milli
I stared at her like I didn’t recognize her anymore.
“Enough to clear Dain’s debts. He was in deep, Venus. With men who collect more than money. They collect lives do something p>
“So you sold your daughter p>
The silence between us was louder than any scream.
She looked like she wanted to argue, to explain, but no words came.
“You knew I wouldn’t give him a cent,” I said, my voice turning old. “So you found someone else who would p>
Her face crumpled.
“I was trying to protect what little family we had left p>
I let out a bitter laugh. “What family? Dain was never my family
“Don’t say that,” she whispered. “He loves you in his own way p>
“Yeah,” I said. “And this is one of his love languages p>
“Venus p>
“Don’t. Don’t you dare Venus me. You drugged me. You let hime me to a chair. Aaron warned me about you. And I didn’t listen p>
She wiped at her eyes. “I didn’t have a choice p>
“Bullshit. The only reason I agreed to marry Aaron-to sign that contract in the first place-was for you. You needed chemo. Dain took all the money. And even after all that, you still stuck your neck out for him p>
Tears slipped down my cheeks, hot and angry,
“You ruined the only good thing I ever had. Aaron hates me now Because of you. What kind of mother does that to her daughter? Are you even my real mother p>
She looked like I’d slapped her.
“Venus p>
I leaned forward, as far as the ropes would allow.
“Did Dorian plan this? Did he plan for me to disappear p>
Her lips parted. A flicker of something in her eyes.
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“Tell me. Did he p>
She hesitated.
And then-
The door slammed open.
Billy.
Smirking like the world owed him something, and he was finally cashing in.
“Visiting hours are over, Mother of the Year,” he said.
She stood slowly, her eyes never leaving mine.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she whispered.
Billy shoved her toward the door.
But before she stepped out, she turned back. Just for a second.
“Aaron came looking for you. Yesterday. He was furious. And scared. He hasn’t stopped p>
And then she was gone.
The door slammed.
And I was alone again.
But something had shifted.
The cold in my bones thawed.
Because those words?
Aaron came looking.
He knew I was missing.
And he was coming.
God, I hoped he was coming.
But hope without action is just waiting.
And I was done waiting.
The bulb flickered again.
Once.
Twice.
I started counting again.
But this time, I wasn’t counting seconds.
I was counting moves.
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Because the game had started.
And I was done playing victim.
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Ruby Walker
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby’s writing style is bold and irresistible—perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.