CHAPTER 9
967 Words
Juliana.
A week had passed.
Seven days of waking up in the same luxurious prison, walking the same endless hallways, eating breakfast under Alexander’s watchful gaze.
Seven days of trying to push him, test the boundaries, only to find that they barely existed.
I was restless. Frustrated.
Bored.
The kind of boredom that wasn’t just about having nothing to do, but about having nowhere to go. About knowing that, no matter what, my life was no longer my own.
My phone had been taken away so I couldn’t even make calls to Jamie who is the only person that would truly be worried about.
He has been my friend since the first week at JOLADS.
I know my colleagues don’t really give a f**k about the abrupt resignation letter I submitted via email because we weren’t close at all and all I ever discussed at work was work.
I had never had any friend growing up and when I and Jamie became friends it was because he was always getting on my nerves and I realized that we have the same taste both in eating habits and taste of men.
I told myself it was because I hated being trapped.
That it had nothing to do with the man who kept me here.
Nothing to do with the way his eyes lingered on me when he thought I wasn’t looking or the way his voice curled around my name like it belonged to him.
I was lying to myself.
And I hated that even more.
By the seventh day, I was done.
If Alexander thought I was just going to sit here, waiting for him to decide my fate, he was dead wrong.
I stormed through the halls, not bothering to keep my footsteps quiet. I knew exactly where I was going.
His office.
I pushed the door open without knocking, my heartbeat steady, my pulse loud in my ears.
He was sitting behind his massive desk, fingers tapping against the polished wood, his eyes skimming over documents.
He didn’t immediately look up, but I knew the moment he registered my presence, his tapping stopped, his posture shifted just slightly.
“You’re interrupting” he said smoothly.
“You’re ignoring me” I countered.
“You just got here”
A flicker of amusement passed over his face before he leaned back in his chair, finally meeting my gaze.
He didn’t look tired, even though I was sure he never really slept. He always looked controlled, as if nothing could ever shake him.
I hated that about him because I was the pure opposite.
“What do you want, Juliana?”
I crossed my arms. “To leave”
His lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smirk. “Try again”
I clenched my jaw. “Fine. Then take me somewhere. Anywhere”
His brow arched slightly, as if I had just entertained him. “You expect me to take you on a field trip?”
“Yes” I shot back, frustrated. “I’m going insane in here”
He studied me for a moment, his eyes dragging over my face, my posture, the way my arms were folded too tightly.
Then, to my shock, he nodded.
“Fine”
I blinked. “Wait, what? Just like that” now that is hella suspicious.
He stood, calmly closing the folder in front of him. “You heard me”
I had expected a fight. Resistance. Not… agreement.
I should have been relieved.
Instead, I felt like I had just stepped into something dangerous.
………………………………………………………………………………….
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
Maybe it was because I knew I’d finally be leaving this house, even if just for a little while.
Maybe it was something else, the way Alexander had agreed so easily, like he already knew how this would end.
I rolled onto my side, staring at the shadows cast across the ceiling.
Then, without warning, memories pulled me under.
……………………………………………………………………………………
I was fourteen again.
The air was thick with humidity, the smell of cigarettes and cheap perfume clogging my lungs.
I came home from school expecting everything to be the same, expecting my mother to be passed out on the couch, or halfway through a bottle, or trying too late to make dinner.
Instead, I walked into the apartment to suitcases lined against the wall.
My mother’s back was to me, her movements frantic as she shoved clothes into a bag.
A sharp twist of fear shot through me.
“What are you doing?” My voice was small.
She didn’t answer.
I took a step closer. “Mom?”
She kept packing.
I felt my heartbeat in my throat, too thick, too fast. “Where are we going?”
No answer.
My hands curled into fists. “Mom, please…”
She finally turned.
Her expression wasn’t angry. It wasn’t sad, either. It was just blank, like she had already left, even though she was still standing there.
And then, just like that, she was gone.
I had run to my stepfather’s office, my fists pounding against the door, my screams raw as I begged him to do something.
To bring her back.
He had listened.
And then he had done nothing.
………………………………………………………………………………………
I woke up with a start, my chest tight, my throat dry.
For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, my breath uneven.
It had been years, but the past never really left.
It just waited for the right moment to remind me that I had never truly escaped it.
I rolled onto my side, pressing my forehead against the pillow.
And now, I was trapped in another man’s world, caught in another kind of cage.
The difference was, this time…
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave.
- Writer
