When pain is the prize, truth is the only escape.

——

The room was drenched in shadows, silence broken only by the faint sobbing of Tyler and the cold whistle of the night wind outside. The thick tension pressed down, every breath heavy and deliberate as the brothers exchanged uneasy glances. I leaned back in my chair, swirling the dark liquid in my glass, savoring the quiet before the storm.

“Where is Chase hiding?” I asked, pining them with my eyes.

The silence stretched, too long. Then my eyes landed on Tyler’s bleeding hand, trembling beneath the ropes, his blood seeped through the fingers tied to the chair. Without warning,...