LORETTA

“Inform me if anything goes wrong” I instructed Abel's personal nurse just the driver arrived

Father gave me a small, tight smile. “Remember, you must act fast and find out his plans. That way you can be free from this marriage”

I nodded, then cast one long, lingering glance at the home I've lived in for twenty-three years of my life. The white walls, our little garden, the window I always looked out each morning

My heart bled to leave

“Time to go,” the driver said politely, throwing the last of my bag in the car trunk. My exhaled was short

My feet felt strangely heavy when I stepped toward the car, he pulled out of the driveway, and in a few minutes, the distance ate away my home, leaving only a memory of it behind

~

The drive to Elion's apartment was too quick. With every mile covered, reality dawned on me with frightening clarity.

I had signed a marriage contract with Elion Fitzpatrick, the same man I stood in court and lied against to save my father after he had angered Elion

I was stepping into my own personal nightmare, paying for sins I was forced to commit

My hands wrapped around my body, trying to provide me some warmth but all I felt was chilling cold.

When the driver pulled into an estate, I could tell which was Elion's house from three blocks away. It was a huge building of dark glass that reflected Seattle's gray sky. No warmth, just sharpness, cold luxury

Like him

The driver came to a stop at the entrance and killed the engine, I looked up at the magnificent penthouse through the window, the house seemed to stare back at me.

A cold weight settled in the pit of my stomach.

Find his secret. Nine months. Be free.

I could either use this fake marriage as an opportunity to know his grand plans and be free of him, or I could spend the rest of my life with a man who despises me and wants to see me suffer

I made my choice

“Do you have the access code?” I asked the driver when I reached the front double doors

He set my bag down by my side and looked at me in surprise. “No I don't. Mr. Fitzpatrick didn't provide one miss”

My fingers trembled against my thigh. “How then am I supposed to get inside?’

The driver had no answer for that. He gave me a small, apologetic nod, got back in the car, and drove away.

I stood on the pavement in front of Elion's building with four suitcases, a burner phone in one, and no access code to his house,

Thunder struck in the sky

“Just when I thought the day couldn't get any worse” I murmured

Luckily, there was a small waiting area at the side of the entrance, a fine bench, and a low table. I pulled my bags there and sat down, then I tried calling Elion

His cell number was provided in the contract. I called, once, twice, thrice....five times but he didn't pick up.

The headache blooming behind my eyes turned into a full-blown migraine. Since he wasn't picking up calls, I decided to text him

‘It's Loretta. I'm at your house but I don't have the access code’

No response.

I was tempted to order an Uber to take me home, but I know if I do so, I'll never have the courage to come back here

So I had only one option – wait for Elion to return from work

≈

His Porsche pulled into the driveway at ten forty-seven pm. It's been hours since I was waiting outside in the cold

The building security guard had checked on me thrice, he too had tried reaching his Boss but to no avail.

When Elion stepped out from his car, clad in all black, I felt my breath hitch, not necessarily because of the cold.

He moved with a lethal grace anyone his size should not possess, his footsteps on the floor were silent and his face... that face of his was as blank as a slate

His coal-black eyes found mine, they were too dark, too void, I couldn't look for long.

I thought he would approach me in the waiting area, instead, he moved towards the front double doors and keyed in a code

The first wave of anger since...since ever hit me like a mallet. Elion had left me waiting for almost ten hours in this rainy weather and didn't have the courtesy to even acknowledge my presence

From the corner of my eye, I saw the security guard take some of my bags. “Miss” he called gently, drawing my attention away from the open doors to him. “We should go in now” he urged

I was tempted to ask if his Boss was this way to everyone– unwelcoming and ice cold, but I held my tongue

The guard led us through the foyer and towards the elevator. The penthouse was beautiful. While the outside was made of dark glass that made it ominous, the inside was...warmer. Enormous, immaculate. Wood, steel, floor to ceiling windows that made Seattle look like a watercolor painting.

Elion materialized by my side, making my heart skip a beat. He ignored me and gave some instructions to the guard who rolled by bags down a hallway

“Your room is that way” He gestured to where the guard was going, eyes glued to his phone as his fingers flew over the keypad

The wave of anger rose in my blood again. I stared at him, my nose flaring “You could have given me the access code yesterday” I began, stepping closer to him “But you didn't, you wanted me to wait”

His fingers paused, and he slid his phone into his pocket.

When his head swiveled my way, I had to take a step back, to protect myself from the intensity of his stare

It was Elion who stalked towards me now, like an apex predator prowling towards its prey. His eyes weren't helping at all, they were too black, a reflection of his heart that it felt as if I were drowning in an abyss

My heart beat accelerated, my skin prickled with awareness.

Elion paused, the side of his lips tilting into a wicked smirk “And here I thought you didn't have a mind of your own”

I didn't like that statement, I also didn't like the way my body reacted to the dark timber of his voice, the way it settled deep in some unexplored part of my stomach

“Breaking you will be more fun to watch this way” he added, and the smirk disappeared, replaced by something cruel, something hot enough to burn me to cinders if I continued standing here

I crinkled my nose at him and walked away, willing myself not to run even when I felt the heat of his stare on my back.

He can try to break me, but he won't succeed

Because you can't break something that's already shattered