5:30 PM
Blink. Blink.
Lilian’s eyes fluttered open, her mind groggy, trying to piece together reality from the fragments of a nightmare. Was it all a dream?
She let out a shaky laugh, almost hysterical. “Haha… haha…” The sound didn’t make sense even to her. A nightmare of Bella k********g her, forcing her into surrogacy—it was absurd. Yet, deep down, a tiny, insistent voice whispered that she needed to investigate Bella’s frequent account withdrawals.
She reached up to scratch an itch, only to freeze. Her hands… they wouldn’t move. Panic prickled through her veins.
No… no… no…
Her mind screamed in terror as the truth sank in. This wasn’t a dream. The nightmare was real.
She wasn’t on a bed anymore. Her body was strapped into a chair—head included. The cold metal restraints bit into
