Chapter 115
Chapter 115
VENUS
55%
65 vouchers
The silence had grown thick. Not just with boredom or fear, but with something colder, meaner. The kind of silence that didn’t just exist….it waited. It loomed like a shadow just out of reach. It carried weight like a loaded gun, full of intent, full of
consequence.
Time passed.
Or maybe it didn’t.
Time had long ago stopped meaning anything in this place. The walls didn’t shift with the sun. The light didn’t change. There were no clocks, no schedules. Only hunger pangs and Gerald’s unpredictable footsteps to break the monotony. I’d drift in and out of sleep, startled awake by my own heartbeat, always hearing echoes of words he’d said.
The city. He said the city.
That one word still rang like a distant bell in the fog. “City.” He hadn’t said in the city. He’d said he’d have to go to the city. That meant we weren’t there. That meant isolation. It meant distance. It meant no one could hear me scream.
I’d held onto that word like a talisman, a shard of truth in a room built on lies. It didn’t make me safe, but it made me aware.
When he finally returned, I felt it before I saw it. The air shifted the way it always did before a storm. His footsteps were slower this time, too controlled. Like a man trying to mimic calm but barely keeping something monstrous beneath the surface.
The door clicked open.
He stepped in, and my stomach turned.
He held a small plastic bag. Feminine hygiene products. Painkillers. A chocolate bar. Lavender-wrapped pads, the ones I used to buy for myself. It was such a strange, almost tender detail, one that made my skin crawl. But his face betrayed something else. His eyes were flint, sharp and searching, burning holes in me.
He didn’t speak immediately. Just stared. It wasn’t just observation. It was dissection.
Then he said it.
“I saw Aaron today p>
My breath caught. My spine went stiff like a jolt of electricity hall shot through me.
He saw it.
He always saw.
He smiled. Not kindly. Not even cruelly. Something worse……something smug. The kind of smile a man wears when he knows he’s just cracked open your deepest secret.
“Ran into him at the store,” Gerald continued. “Literally. I dropped the bag and he helped me pick it.
His tone was light, almost amused, but there was an edge to it- jagged piece hiding in the honey.
93
“I made small talk. Asked about his life. Played the grieving acquaintance card.” He tilted his head. “I think he recognized something. Not much. Just… something p>
He placed the bag on the table slowly, like it was an offering. Or warning.
1/4
15:02 Thu, Jan 8 GDG.
Chapter 115
“So now,” he said, voice flattening, “I have to go quiet. No more errands. No more trips. No more city p>
He took a step forward. “All because of him p>
༥ ཏྲཱ, 55%
55 vouchers
My fingers twitched, curled into my palm. I tried to stay still. Keep my expression unreadable. But it didn’t matter. I’d already flinched. The name Aaron had already branded my face.
Gerald saw.
And he snapped.
“Don’t look like that,” he spat. “Don’t look like you miss him p>
“I don’t,” I lied, voice too soft, too quick.
Another step closer.
“You think he’s better than me?” His voice dropped, low and venomous. “You think he deserves you p>
“No,” I said again. “I p>
The slap came like a thunderclap. Sudden. Blinding.
My head whipped to the side, and for a second all I could hear was a ringing in my ears. Heat flared across my cheek, a burst of fire under the skin.
Before I could recover, he was on me. Hand gripping my jaw, squeezing until my teeth ached.
“I’m the one who’s here,” he hissed. “I’m the one who feeds you. Dresses you. Loves you. Aaron? Aaron left. He didn’t find you. I did p>
His face was inches from mine now. His breath hot and sour with fury. My eyes locked on his, unblinking.
“You’re mine,” he said. “Not his. Never his p>
And just like that, the anger evaporated.
His grip loosened. His shoulders sagged.
He stumbled backward like a man struck by lightning. His face changed. Softened. Or maybe just cracked.
“I’m sorry,” he said, horrified. “Venus-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—I just-I love you p>
He was shaking now, hands trembling like he couldn’t control them.
“You make me feel everything,” he murmured. “You make me real p>
He picked up the bag with shaking fingers.
“I brought you these,” he added quickly. “The good kind. I even remembered the lavender. You always liked lavender p>
I didn’t ask how he knew.
He knelt. Not close enough to touch. Just close enough to try and seem vulnerable.
Then, carefully, he unlocked the cuffs.
First one. Then the other.
2/4
15:02 Thu, Jan 8 G D G
Chapter 115
55%
55 vouchers
The weight falling from my wrists made me sway. I didn’t say a word. My arms throbbed from being restrained so long, and the skin where the cuffs had bitten was red, angry, raw.
“Go clean up,” he said softly. “Bathroom’s open. I’ll wait here p>
I moved slowly. Every step deliberate. I didn’t trust my knees.
I didn’t look at him.
Didn’t speak.
Once inside the bathroom, I closed the door and locked it. It was the only door in this house I could lock, and it felt absurd. A single bolt between me and madness.
I stood at the sink, staring into the mirror. But not at my face. Not at my reflection. Just the bruise already blooming on my cheek like a dark flower. Ugly and unignorable.
I didn’t cry right away.
When the tears came,
I couldn’t stop them.
And now I understood.
He was unraveling.
And I was the thread.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, he was sitting in the corner chair, hands laced, elbows on knees. He looked up as I re- entered the room, like a dog waiting for forgiveness.
“I locked the door again,” he said quietly. “Just for safety. I-I have to be careful now p>
I nodded. Just once. Enough to appease him. Enough to let him believe whatever he needed to believe.
I sat down on the bed. The sheets had been changed. It fresh, clean and tucked with awkward care.
I lay back without a word, staring at the ceiling.
He stood in the doorway for a moment longer. Watching me.
Like he wanted to say something else.
Then he left.
The door locked behind him with a final, metallic click.
But I didn’t flinch.
Not this time.
Because now I knew something I hadn’t before.
He was slipping. Crumbling. Every outburst, every apology-it was the rhythm of a man trying to hold sand in his fists
Deep down, even he could feel it.
He was losing his grip.
3/4
15:02 Thu, Jan 8 GDG.
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.