chapter5(continuation)
1438 Words
( please read the 4th part and then continue with it)
And then—he was gone.
With her phone.
With her peace.
And with a promise that would ruin everything.
Raichal stormed into the living room, her face pale, breath caught somewhere between rage and confusion.
“You… want me to what?” she snapped, eyes burning holes into her father’s calm expression.
“Raichal,” her mother said gently, as if she were breaking news of someone’s death. “Just listen to us.”
“To what? That a complete stranger walked into our house, flashed some money and suddenly I’m a damn gift to be wrapped up and handed over?” Her voice cracked. “I’m not for sale.”
Her father sighed, guilt buried under exhaustion. “You don’t understand. The debts are climbing. I’ve gone to every bank—”
“So sell the house, move, do anything but this!” she shouted.
“We are doing this for you!” her mother snapped now, the tension finally breaking. “So you don’t have to live in fear of collectors! So your brother can finish school. So we don’t starve!”
“And I’m supposed to throw away my life for that?” she said, voice barely above a whisper.
Then came the softest voice in the room.
Alexander.
He stood in the corner, leaning against the wall like he owned it, arms folded, watching her like a lion watching a bird trapped in its own cage.
“You’re not being thrown away,” he said, his voice low, dangerous, too calm. “You’re being chosen.”
She turned to him like she wanted to slap him.
“I didn’t choose you.”
“But I did.”
“You were always mine,” he said, voice smooth but cold.
Her eyes snapped to his. “I’m not yours. I’ll never be.”
That one sentence, filled with venom-laced certainty, silenced the room.
“I’m in love with someone else,” she said coldly. “You will never have what you want.”
The words left her lips like thunder, tearing through the polished silence of the living room.
“I love Johnathan. My classmate. We’ve been together for two years. And I will not marry anyone else.”
The reaction was instant.
Her mother’s gasp sliced the air, hands flying to her mouth in horror.
Her father’s jaw tightened, fists clenching. “What did you just say?”
Raichal’s chin lifted. Her voice wavered, but her spine didn’t. “I’ve loved him since college. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d never let me choose. But I won’t let you sell me to a man like— him.”
Her father’s eyes burned. “You’ve been hiding this from us? While we suffered, begged, borrowed—?”
She stepped back slightly, heart hammering. “Because I knew you’d never understand.”
Then her mother’s voice cracked like dry leaves.
“You’ve been… sleeping with him?”
Raichal’s eyes widened. “No! Of course not! But I love him.”
And then—
CRACK.
Her father’s hand exploded across her cheek. A sound so loud it echoed through the walls and into her bones.
Her head whipped to the side, lips parted in a shocked gasp. Her hand flew to her burning cheek, but the sting wasn’t just skin-deep—it was the kind that ruptured years of trust in a single second.
Her legs buckled beneath her.
“I’m your daughter,” she whispered, tears welling in her lashes.
“You’re a disgrace,” he spat. “A shameless girl. Do you think love will pay our debts? Will it feed us? Will it save your brother’s future? Your education?”
She shook her head, body trembling. “You can’t trade me like property—”
“You are property,” he snarled. “You were raised to obey. To repay.”
Alexander still hadn’t moved.
He stood perfectly still in the corner—watching.
Like a god surveying the ruins he had predicted.
Like a hunter waiting for the prey to stop struggling.
Alexander stepped closer—just one step—and it was enough to make the room feel smaller.Then he spoke.
“I don’t care if you love him. Love fades. Love bends. But this?” He placed a hand on his chest. “This fire in me? It doesn’t go out.”
Softly. Deadly.
“You think he can protect you?”
Raichal froze. His voice cut through her like a silk knife.
Alexander took one step forward, the room shrinking with every inch he closed.
“That boy you love—what’s he going to give you? Warm words and cheap kisses? You’ll be lucky if he can keep the lights on. I could put the world at your feet.”
She raised her voice, raw with rage. “I’d rather run away barefoot and sleep under the stars with him than live in your mansion like a caged bird.”
He paused.
Then he smiled—that smile.
Slow. Sinful. Inevitable.
“You won’t run, Raichal.”
“You’re insane.”
“No.” He tilted his head, letting his gaze drop again, lingering too long at the curve of her waist beneath the soft kurti. “I’m obsessed. Every time you breathe, I hear it. Every inch of your body screams mine, and when you walked into that room in those tight little shorts—” he exhaled, slow and hungry “—I wanted to sink my teeth into your thighs and mark you.”
Her father shifted awkwardly. “Mr. Alexander—please—”
“No,” Alexander growled, not even looking at him. “She needs to understand what’s happening.”
Raichal stepped back, shaking. “You can’t just walk into someone’s life and own them.”
“You’ll see,” he said, tone now chillingly calm. “Once the dress is on, once the ring is in place, once you say yes—”
“I’ll never say yes.”
“You will.” He leaned forward, voice a whisper that made her stomach twist. “Because by the time I’m done… you won’t remember what life was like before me.”
She turned to her parents, desperation flooding her chest. “Please—can’t you see? He’s not normal. He’s obsessed. He’s not love—he’s control!”
Her father glanced at Alexander… then at the bank documents spread on the table.
“He’s our only hope.”
And her mother?
She looked away.
As if turning her face could hide the betrayal dripping from her silence.
Raichal staggered backward. The walls pressed in. The whole house—the place where she’d once laughed, played, dreamed—was now a cage, and he had the key.
Alexander stepped closer.
Closer.
Until he was in front of her. Breathing the same air. Claiming it.
His eyes raked over her—the silk kurti that clung to her waist, the way the neckline fell without a dupatta, the bare curve of her shoulder.
“You walked in here like a vision,” he murmured. “No scarf. Skin glowing. That silk hugging you like it had been poured on.”
Raichal’s fists clenched. “Don’t you dare—”
“And I dared to want you,” he cut in, voice like warm velvet over steel. “You think men can look at you and not feel fire under their skin?”
Her breath hitched. Her face burned with shame.
“You’re disgusting.”
He didn’t flinch.
Instead, he leaned in. Just enough. Close enough that she felt his breath on her cheek.
“I’m your future.”
“No,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he breathed, his mouth brushing her ear. “Next Monday. Wedding hall. white gown. Your lips chanting my name in pleasure in my bed .”
She choked on a sob, tears falling hot and fast.
“And if I don’t?”
He stepped back just a little. Smiling now.
Slow. Serpentine.
“Then I’ll remind your family how fragile survival really is. The bank notices. The college fees. The hospital bills. The house.”
She crumpled to the floor, unable to speak.
He looked down at her, calm as a king. “This isn’t about love, Raichal. Love is a fairy tale.”
He reached down, took her hand gently—too gently.
“This is about power. And you… were born to be mine.”
- Writer
