Chapter 4
942 Words
The moment the bedroom door clicked shut behind her, Lena stumbled backward, as if the very walls of the Thorn estate wanted to close in and consume her. The shadows stretched long and wide, dancing like ghosts across the floor, whispering secrets her heart wasn’t ready to hear.
She leaned against the cold door, heart racing like it was trying to break free from its cage. Her fingers trembled as they clutched the edge of the silk curtain. The room was too grand, too still, too his. She didn’t belong here, not in this twisted fairytale.
She peeled herself away from the door and slowly walked to the mirror by the dresser. Her reflection looked foreign: wide, frightened eyes, collarbone sharp with tension, and lips chewed raw from anxiety. A porcelain doll in a glass cage.
Her gaze dropped to the dress she wore thin, delicate, and absurdly expensive. It clung to her frame like a mark of ownership. She could still smell him Dominic. His expensive cologne, laced with danger and power. It clung to her skin like a brand.
Suddenly, the door to the walk-in closet creaked open behind her.
She spun around.
Nothing.
Her breath caught, but she forced herself to move forward, her bare feet silent on the marble floor. She reached for the closet handle and yanked it open. Darkness greeted her.
She was alone. Or so she told herself.
She shut it quickly, the weight of silence pressing against her ears.
She had to get out clear her head. She paced to the French doors leading to the balcony and stepped outside. The night air was sharp, chilling her bones and stealing her breath. From up here, the city lights shimmered like a thousand eyes watching, judging.
What had she gotten herself into?
What kind of man was Dominic Thorn?
A flicker of memory cut through her thoughts, his eyes stormy and cold, yet the way they lingered on her like they were searching for something real. Was there something broken behind that perfect billionaire mask?
Before she could drown in confusion, she heard voices.
Not from the hallway. No. From inside the room.
Her body froze.
She tiptoed back inside and paused by the bathroom door.
“…you think she’s ready?” a male voice whispered from behind it.
Dominic.
Lena pressed her back to the wall.
“She’s just a girl,” another voice replied, older, raspier.
“She’s not just a girl,” Dominic said, voice like thunder muffled by clouds. “She’s the key.”
Key?
Her heart sank. She had been right. She wasn’t here by accident. This wasn’t about some twisted favor or pity. She needed to be used.
“She’s fragile,” the older voice countered. “If you’re wrong, everything falls apart.”
“I’m not wrong,” Dominic said flatly. “She’s the one. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
Lena didn’t wait to hear more. She backed away slowly, her mind spinning.
The key?
To what?
She turned and collided into something hard and warm.
She screamed but a hand clamped over her mouth.
“Shhh,” a voice whispered.
Not Dominic’s.
Her eyes widened in panic as she stared up into a stranger’s face, olive skin, jet-black hair slicked back, and eyes that burned like wildfire. He looked nothing like the polished guards she’d seen around the mansion.
“Don’t scream, Lena,” he whispered, lowering his hand. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
She stumbled back. “Who are you?”
He hesitated. “I’m someone who knew your mother.”
Lena’s blood ran cold.
“My mother’s dead.”
“Yes,” he said gently. “But before she died… she gave you to him.”
Dominic?
“No,” Lena whispered, shaking her head. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.” He pulled something from his jacket, a chain with a worn pendant. “She gave this to me the night she disappeared.”
Lena’s breath hitched. The pendant was unmistakable. Her mother’s locket is the one she never took off.
She reached out, her fingers brushing it like it burned.
“I don’t understand…”
“There’s so much you don’t know,” he said. “But if you stay here, you’ll be part of something you can’t escape.”
“Then help me escape!” Lena pleaded.
He looked torn. “I can’t. Not yet. But I had to warn you.”
A noise from the hallway footsteps.
He shoved the locket into her palm. “Hide it. Don’t tell anyone you have it. Especially him.”
Then he slipped into the shadows just as the door opened and Dominic walked in.
Lena stood frozen, the locket hidden in her fist.
His eyes scanned the room like a predator. “Who were you talking to?”
“No one,” she lied quickly.
He stepped closer, gaze narrowing. “You're trembling.”
“I just… I’m tired.”
His expression softened for a split second. “Then rest. Tomorrow, everything changes.”
He turned to leave, but paused. “And Lena?”
She met his gaze.
“Don’t go snooping where you shouldn’t.”
The door shut behind him.
And Lena looked down at the locket in her hand… only to find it had opened.
Inside, a photograph.
A woman holding a baby with her mother.
But beside her…
Lena gasped.
Because standing next to them, arm around her mother's waist, was Dominic Thorn.
And he looked exactly the same.
Not a day older.
Not a wrinkle more.
Like time
had never touched him.
- Writer
