when love holds you hostage

Annabelle's pov

Mornings have never felt like the start of a new day—

just the continuation of a story I can’t escape.

I stand in front of the mirror, staring at my bruised face.

Sometimes I can’t even find the girl I used to be… before I married a man who finds joy in my pain.

I lift the makeup brush and begin my routine—

covering what no one should see.

Layer after layer, until the bruises slowly began to fade beneath powder.

soon it was gone. Hidden.

Like they never existed.

I smooth down my sleeves, tug my skirt lower, making sure nothing shows.

At the hospital I am just a nurse who works hiding the scars from her broken marriage.

—

The hallway is busy when I step out with patients and doctors roaming around the

place.

Voices and footsteps being carried by

the cool breeze of the afternoon.

Then—

I walk into him.

The impact is sudden, enough to make me stumble, but a pair of strong hands grip my waist, steadying me before I fall.

I look up—

—and forget everything.

He’s… striking.

Sharp hazel eyes. Dark hair, neatly slicked back. A presence that feels too strong, too controlled. Like he sees more than he should.

Too close.

Too intense as if searching for your darkest desires.

Something about him makes me pause.

Not safe.

Not dangerous.

Just… unsettling.

A slow grin spreads across his lips.

“See something you like?” he says.

My heart pounds against my chest.

I don’t answer.

I don’t wait.

I don’t look back as I scurried away leaving the scene.

But I feel it—

That feeling.

Like I’ve been noticed.

which I dread the most.

—

The conference room is loud

too loud.

voices could be heard all over the place.

Something is wrong

I stand quietly trying to focus—trying not to think about him.

Then the words landed like a ticking bomb.

The hospital has been sold.

For a second, everything feels unreal.

Sold just like that?

Then I see him again at the back of the room.

Watching.

Of course.

He doesn’t look surprised.

If anything… he looks like he’s been waiting.

“This is your new owner.”

The words echo.

And suddenly, everything about him makes sense.

The confidence.

The stillness.

The way he looked at me.

I should look away.

But I don’t have my eyes roam all over his body more like I am trying to create a mental map.

When he called out to me making me bite my lips in an awkward manner.

As I turned quickly backing him.

Annabelle.”

My name.

I turned quickly, a colleague nudging me.

“He’s calling you.”

Of course he is.

I look at him.

He lifts two fingers slightly.

As a naughty thought ran through my head of how his fingers would feel between my thighs as he slowly make circles around my throbbing clits.

I don’t like the way my body reacts or the aching need that builds up in my core

The way I move anyway… like I don’t have a choice.

I walk toward him, each step heavier than the last.

When I stop in front of him, I feel it clearly—

that gaze.

“What’s your name?” he asks.

I almost laughed.

“You already know it, it's right here on my name tag.”

“I want to hear it.”

There it is again.

That tone.

Quiet… but impossible to ignore.

“…Annabelle.” I responded

He repeats it slowly shortening it.

“Anna.”

The way he says it sends something uneasy through me.

Like he’s marking his territory.

Before I can process it, he turns to the room.

“She’ll be working with me in my office from hence forth.”

My breath catches.

“Excuse me—”

I turn to him, but he’s already leaning closer.

Too close.

His breath brushes against my neck reeking of mint and something sweet.

As he whispered " I want to see how amusing you can be he smiled revealing a set of neatly arranged white teeth".

My chest tightens.

I don’t understand what he means.

But I know one thing—

it doesn’t feel right.

He pulls away like nothing happened.

Walks off.

Leaves me there—

with questions I can’t answer…

and a feeling I can’t shake.

For the first time in a long time—

I feel like I’ve stepped into something worse than what I left at home.