The Mirror's Lie

Tears of Frustration

The rest of the day passed with a suffocating slowness.

Lena stayed in her room most of the afternoon, pacing the width of the polished wooden floors, her mind running in frantic circles. The encounter at breakfast had rattled her more than she wanted to admit.

Zayn’s voice still echoed inside her head.

Careful, Miss Pearson.

As if she were a child playing with matches, completely oblivious to the fire she might start.

Only she wasn’t oblivious.

She felt the fire every single time he looked at her.

And that — THAT — was one of the reasons she needed to get off this island.

Fast.

She spent the next hour studying the villa layout from memory, trying to piece together any potential way out. The docks were guarded — not obviously, but she’d sensed it. The staff was too well-trained, too discreet. There was no using a phone, no hacking a landline, no slipping past security cameras.

But she had noticed something earlier that morning, during her walk along the villa’s terrace…

A narrow path that disappeared behind the palm grove, sloping down to the left.

She hadn’t explored it at the time — Zayn’s looming presence had cut that short — but she remembered the smell of salt stronger.

It must lead to another side of the island.

Maybe there was a smaller dock.

A maintenance boat. They had to bring supplies to the island with something.

Something she could use.

Her stomach twisted with anxiety, but she pushed it down. She had no other options.

So she waited.

Waited until the villa fell quiet, until the staff retreated to their quarters and the moon climbed high, flooding the property with a silver glow.

Only the cicadas and the distant ocean broke the silence.

Lena slipped out of her room barefoot this time — no heels clicking, no risk of tripping — and padded down the hallway, her heart pounding deep in her chest.

She reached the terrace doors and exhaled shakily when she realized they were unlocked.

Good.

One stroke of luck.

Outside, the night air wrapped around her, warm and humid, smelling of sea salt and blooming jasmine. She scanned the grounds. No guards in sight. No movement.

She darted across the terrace and into the shadows of the palm trees.

Her breath trembled.

Every rustle, every snap of a twig made her jump.

She kept seeing Zayn’s face in her mind — the cold fury in his eyes when he told her she wasn’t going anywhere. And the other thing beneath it… the flicker of something she didn’t want to name.

Focus.

Focus.

FOCUS.

After what felt like a full hour — though it was barely fifteen minutes — she found the path she remembered.

She followed it down, deeper into the vegetation.

Branches whipped at her arms, sand clung to her feet, but she didn’t stop.

The roar of the ocean grew louder.

Her pulse quickened.

Finally, the trees parted.

Lena stopped dead.

The moonlit beach stretched before her in a crescent of white sand and black water. Waves crashed tirelessly against a rocky formation at the far end — and behind that…

A small wooden dock.

Old. Simple.

Not like the luxurious main docking bay she’d seen earlier.

And tied to it —

Her breath hitched —

a tiny boat. A dinghy. Probably used for transport between the island and nearby reefs.

“Yes,” she whispered, adrenaline spiking.

“Yes, yes—”

She ran.

Her legs burned, but she pushed harder, stumbling across the sand until she reached the creaking wooden planks.

The boat was there.

Real.

Close enough to touch.

She fumbled with the rope, panic making her fingers clumsy.

Her heart was hammering against her ribs so hard she could barely hear the ocean anymore.

Just a few knots.

Just a pull.

Just one push and she would drift far enough to call for help—

“Going somewhere?”

The voice tore through the night like a blade.

Lena froze.

Slowly, dread flooding her limbs, she turned.

Zayn stood at the edge of the dock.

Barefoot.

Loose black pants hanging low on his hips.

No shirt.

Moonlight glinting off the droplets still clinging to his skin — he had been swimming again.

He looked like sin carved from shadow and light.

But his eyes…

His eyes were fire.

“Zayn—” she choked out. “I—I can explain—”

“You don’t have to.”

His feet moved soundlessly as he approached her, every step a controlled storm.

“I told you yesterday. You’re not going anywhere.”

Her throat closed. “You can’t keep me here.”

“I already am,” he said quietly.

Too quietly.

She backed away instinctively — until her lower back hit the side of the boat.

Zayn stopped right in front of her.

Close.

Too close.

Close enough for her to see the muscle ticking in his jaw.

Close enough to smell the salt on his skin.

Close enough for her knees to threaten to give way beneath her.

“Do you have any idea,” he murmured, “how dangerous this is? Sneaking out at night. Running toward the ocean like prey.”

“I’m not prey,” she whispered, voice trembling.

His eyes softened for a fraction of a second —

Then hardened into steel.

“Tell that to the sharks,” he said, stepping even closer.

The air crackled between them.

Lena swallowed, her breath shaking. “I just want to go home.”

“And I want you to stop lying.” He spoke.

“I’m not lying!” she screamed back.

He leaned in, caging her between his arms and the boat, his voice a low growl brushing against her ear.

His breath hit her skin and her entire body shivered.

Her mind screamed at her to push him away — to escape — but her muscles refused to obey.

She hated him for that.

She hated herself for that.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

The admission slipped out before she could stop it.

Zayn’s expression changed.

Not softened — no, not quite — but something inside him stilled. His fingers twitched as if fighting an instinct she couldn’t read.

He exhaled slowly.

“Lena,” he said in a voice so low it almost broke her. “You have no idea how much I’m trying to handle this… cleanly. But you refuse to meet me half way.”

Her lips parted. “Kidnapping me is your definition of clean?”

His jaw tightened. “Believe it or not, this is restraint.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

And then — for the first time — she saw it:

The conflict.

The torment.

The frustration.

And beneath all that…

The raw, undeniable desire.

Was she hallucinating?

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Zayn straightened, grabbing her wrist—not gently, but not painfully—and pulled her away from the boat.

“No more games,” he said.

“You’re coming back to the villa.”

She tugged, uselessly. “Let go of me.”

His grip only tightened.

His answer was quiet, final, and terrifyingly honest.

“I can’t.”

He pulled her along the moonlit sand, and Lena felt her heart sinking deeper with every step.

The boat grew smaller behind them.

Escape slipped through her fingers.

And yet—

God help her— she couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d looked at her.

The way his voice had cracked for a single second when she said she was scared.

Because for the first time since meeting him… she had the sinking feeling that she wasn’t the only one trapped.

--

Zayn didn’t let go of her wrist until they crossed the threshold of the villa.

The doors closed behind them with a heavy, echoing thud — a sound that made Lena’s chest tighten painfully.

The moment she felt his grip loosen, she ripped her hand away like his touch burned her.

And then everything inside her exploded.

“What is WRONG with you?” she burst out, her voice cracking with fury and fear. “You are absolutely—you’re irrational! Completely insane!”

Zayn didn’t flinch.

He just ran a hand through his wet hair, almost amused.

Amused.

A low, mirthless sound rumbled from his chest. “And you,” he replied calmly, “have no sense of self-preservation.”

Her mouth fell open. “Excuse me?!”

He took a step toward her, casually, like he was strolling — but Lena stumbled back as if he were a wave crashing toward her.

“I didn’t drag you from that dock to ruin your night, Lena. I dragged you because you were about to kill yourself in that floating piece of garbage.”

“What are you even—”

“The boat had a hole,” he said flatly.

All amusement vanished. He was pure steel now.

“It would have sunk in minutes. If I hadn’t followed you, you’d be—”

“Don’t,” she snapped, voice shaking. “Don’t pretend this was some act of heroism.”

His eyes narrowed.

“No!” she screamed. “I wouldn’t NEED saving if you hadn’t brought me here in the first place! You want to be the savior of a situation YOU CREATED?”

Her breath hitched. Pain slammed into her chest. Tears burned her eyes.

But she didn’t stop.

“You are saying you’re protecting me,” she cried, voice breaking, “but you’re the danger! You’re the one trapping me! You’re the one who—who took me away from everything!”

Her vision blurred. Hot tears spilled over.

Zayn’s jaw tightened. Just a flicker.

But it was there.

“Are you really planning on keeping me here?” she whispered, her voice small and raw. “Is that your plan, Zayn? Just… keep me on this island like some prisoner until I break?”

Her tears fell freely now, grief and fear twisting her features.

But Zayn’s expression hardened into something cold. Sharp.

Something she couldn’t read — or maybe didn’t want to.

“Your waterworks don’t affect me,” he said with a chill that cut straight into her bones. “So stop and keep the act for someone else who truly believes you.”

She stared at him.

It felt like a slap.

He continued, voice clipped, controlled.

“Sign the NDA. You know that’s the only thing I want. Sign it, and you’re free to go. Immediately.”

Lena swallowed a sob.

Her throat burned.

Her shaking fingers curled into fists.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to hit him.

She wanted to run until her legs gave out.

Instead, she turned away before he could see her completely fall apart — though she knew he already had.

She didn’t remember walking to her room.

Just the sound of her ragged breaths echoing in the hallway…

the weight of the door slamming behind her…

the shudder that overtook her as she slid down to the floor.

For the first time since arriving on the island, she broke.

Her shoulders shook violently as she buried her face in her hands.

The tears came in waves, drowning her panic, her anger, her fragile sliver of hope.

It hit her all at once —

the insanity of this situation,

the claustrophobic reality,

the impossible stakes.

She was trapped.

Trapped by a billionaire who could erase her existence with a single phone call.

Trapped between her own survival and her sister’s safety.

Trapped with no allies, no plan, no way out.

Her breath came out in a painful sob.

“How do I fix this…” she whispered to the empty room.

“How do I get out of this without… without revealing the truth?”

But the silence offered no answer.

Desperation curled around her like a fist, tightening with each passing second.

She had never felt so small. So powerless.

So utterly at someone else’s mercy.

And the worst part —

the part that made her stomach twist —

was the single gnawing truth she couldn’t shake:

Zayn wasn’t letting her go until he got what he wanted.

And she wasn’t sure for how long she could keep protecting her sister.