He Caged Me, Just to Guard His Lover

Chapter 9

Leaving the sanatorium, I collided with Julian and Winnie—who should've been at their wedding shoot. A knot of dread twisted in my gut as I demanded, "What are you doing here?"

Winnie jabbed a finger toward Chase inside, her smirk dripping with malice. "Mia, don't act like you don't know. We're here to take that man away!"

My heart slammed against my ribs. I lunged, fists tangled in her collar. "What are you talking about?"

Julian hurled me backward, shielding Winnie like a human barricade. "He's a match for Winnie's mom. We're taking him for the donation."

I blocked their path, voice raw with horror. "You're insane! Chase's mentally ill—legally incompetent! He can't consent!"

"Not your call."

Julian wrenched my arm, crushing me against his chest as his bodyguards stormed the building. Winnie added with a sickening sweetness, "Relax, Mia. It's just stem cells. He'll live."

"Think of it as his chance to do some good."

Black-suited guards dragged out Chase, his wrists bound. The violence triggered his trauma—he thrashed, screaming through sobs. "Sister! Save me! Don't hit! Chase promises to be good..."

I fought like a rabid animal, joints screaming. Julian finally released me, barking orders to shove Chase into a car. A wall of muscle blocked me, leaving me helpless as Chase convulsed, foam flecking his lips.

My heart shattered like glass. I whirled and dropped to my knees, forehead slamming concrete. Blood streaked my face, mingling with tears. "Please, Julian. He's just a patient!"

Something flickered in his eyes. "This trash means that much to you?"

I scrabbled at the ground like a beggar. "Take me instead. I'll die—just let him go!"

Kuro was gone. Without Chase, I'd be hollow.

Julian yanked me up, his breath hot against my ear. "You sold me out for nothing. Now you'd die for a retard? Pathetic."

"Over my dead body."

A needle jabbed my neck. Darkness swallowed me.

"Sleep, Mia..."

In the nightmare, Chase's cries echoed through a suffocating blackness. I clawed at shadows until gentle fingers brushed my cheeks. "Shh. Brother's here."

I woke gasping—to Julian looming over me. He offered the words like a loaded gun. "Say yes, and we're square."

My voice was empty, eerily calm. "Julian, you've tortured me for seven years. Now even Kuro is dead. We're square now. No debts left between us." "If you hurt Chase," I hissed, "I'll haunt you from the grave." He froze, panic flashing in his eyes before he forced a steady tone. "Be good," he coaxed, stroking my hair. "After Winnie and I marry, I'll get you another pup just like him. We'll raise it together." When I didn't respond, his fingers slid under my shirt, tracing the tattoo on my stomach—Mia gehört immer zu Julian.Mia will always be Julian's. I'd gotten it at eighteen, a birthday gift for him. Back then, I'd endured the needle's sting, my heart still clinging to foolish love. He pressed his cheek against the ink, murmuring the words like a mantra. "Mia will always be Julian's." The moment shattered when his phone buzzed—Winnie calling him away. Reluctantly, he kissed my knuckles. "Wait for me," he whispered. I wouldn't wait again. That night, I splashed gasoline across the villa. The lighter clicked in my hand. Boom.