chapter two
991 Words
The mansion swallowed Lana whole.
Her shoes tapped lightly against the polished marble floor as the men led her deeper inside. Her eyes darted everywhere at once, wide with disbelief.
If she had been awestruck by the outside, the inside left her breathless.
Golden chandeliers hung from towering ceilings. Paintings she couldn’t name but knew were worth millions lined the walls. The air smelled faintly of polished wood and something floral, something expensive.
Her lips parted. She had never imagined stepping foot in a place like this, not in this lifetime or the next.
A voice cut sharply through her thoughts.
“Mr. Carson is waiting for you.”
Lana’s head turned. An older man stood nearby, dressed in a neat black uniform. His silver hair was slicked back, his face hard and unreadable. He looked like the kind of butler she’d only seen in movies.
He didn’t look at her twice. Didn’t care that her wrists were bound. Didn’t care about the fear in her eyes. He spoke, then turned away, as though she were just another item delivered to the house.
Her throat tightened.
Mr. Carson? Who… who is that?
Before she could ask, the guards tugged her again.
The walk felt endless. Every step deeper into the house felt like sinking further into a trap. She tried one more time, her voice trembling.
“Why are you doing this? I didn’t do anything wrong. Please, you’ve made a mistake...”
Her words hit a wall of silence. The men ignored her, their faces stone.
Finally, they stopped. A heavy wooden door loomed in front of her.
One of the men unlocked it and shoved her forward.
The door slammed. The lock clicked.
And she was alone.
Lana blinked rapidly. Darkness smothered her. She held her hands out but saw nothing, not even the outline of her fingers.
Her breath quickened.
“No… no, this isn’t right!”
She stumbled to the door, pounding her fists against it until her hands stung.
“You can’t keep me locked up in here!”
Her voice echoed off the walls, but there was no answer. She twisted the knob furiously. Nothing.
Her desperation cracked into a scream. She banged again and again, until her arms ached, until her voice turned raw. But the door remained shut.
Finally, her strength gave out. Her knees buckled, and she sank to the floor.
Hot tears blurred her vision. Her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed.
No one is coming. No one will even notice I’m gone.
Her phone was still in her room. Her belongings, too. Her neighbours barely knew her. She was just another worker on the line, one easily replaced at work.
If she disappeared forever, the world would keep moving.
The only people who might care… were her father’s debtors.
The bitter thought twisted her lips into a half-scoff, half-sob. She pressed her palm over her face, the sting of reality cutting deeper than the ropes around her wrists.
Her tears slowed. Not because she felt calm, but because she knew she couldn’t waste her strength. If she was going to survive this, she needed it.
Lana forced her back against the door and drew in shaky breaths. Her eyes squinted into the dark, straining. Slowly, faint shapes began to take form.
Then she froze.
Someone was there.
A figure stood in the shadows, tall and still.
Her chest tightened as hope surged violently through her. The door creaked, and she realised it was the same man who had brought her here.
“Are… are you letting me out?” Her voice cracked. She pushed herself to her feet, her eyes wide with desperate hope.
The man didn’t answer. His face remained stone.
“Come with me,” he said flatly.
Lana hesitated, her body trembling. But what choice did she have? She nodded quickly, stumbling after him when he turned.
Her mind scrambled for a plan, for anything that might save her. She could beg, plead, people always pitied her when they saw how helpless she was. Surely even this man might.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
He didn’t reply.
The silence suffocated her.
They walked through another long hallway, its floor echoing their steps. The walls seemed to close in, the house stretching into a labyrinth. Finally, the guard stopped in front of a door.
He gripped her arm tightly, making her yelp. He knocked, then turned to her with a cold look.
“He’s waiting in there.”
Her stomach dropped.
“He? Who...”
Before she could finish, the man shoved her forward and opened the door.
She stumbled inside. The door slammed shut behind her.
Locked. Again.
Panic surged back in full force. She grabbed the knob, twisted it hard, and pulled until her wrists burned.
“What are you doing? Let me out!”
“There’s no use.”
The words slid into the room, low and cold.
Lana froze.
That voice wasn’t the man's.
Her breath hitched, and slowly, she turned. Her heart was thumping faster than ever in her chest.
Her eyes locked onto a man standing across the room from her and her heart stopped.
He was unlike anyone she had ever seen. His shirt was half unbuttoned, his sleeves rolled up, exposing forearms dusted with veins. His dark hair was tousled, like he’d been running his hands through it in frustration.
But it was his eyes that were what trapped her.
His eyes were Ocean blue. It was stunning, piercing and cold. Really cold.
They pinned her in place, sharp as ice, stripping her bare without mercy.
Her lips slowly parted, her voice breaking as she spoke.
“You… who are you?”
He didn’t move. He didn’t blink.
But deep down, Lana already knew.
This man, this dangerous, impossible ma, was the reason she had been brought here.
This was Mr. Carson.
- Writer
