chapter 2: shattered Night
1284 Words
My head pounded as though someone had struck it with a hammer. I slowly opened my eyes, squinting against the pale morning light filtering through the heavy curtains. For a moment, I lay there in confusion, trying to understand where
I was.
This wasn’t my room.
The bed was far too large, the sheets too smooth against my skin, and the unfamiliar scent in the air made my stomach tighten. Expensive cologne lingered around me, mixed with something darker.Heat, memories I couldn’t grasp, and a sense of unease I couldn’t explain.”
I sat up slowly, my body protesting with every movement. Aches bloomed in places that made my stomach twist. My dress from last night lay crumpled on the floor, torn at the shoulder strap. Bruises marked my wrists and thighs,faint fingerprints,and love bites. Panic surged through me, sharp and cold.
What the hell happened?
Fragments hit me in flashes,strong hands gripping my waist,a deep voice murmuring against my neck, low and commanding, “You feel like you were made for this.” Heat and Intensity. A masked face hovering above mine, eyes dark with raw hunger that pulled me under even through the fog in my mind. His touch had been addictive, almost protective in its possessiveness, like he was claiming something he didn’t want to let go. I remembered gasping his name,no, I didn’t know his name. Just the overwhelming sense of being wanted, truly wanted, for the first time.
But none of it made sense. I had been at my engagement party. With Nikolai and with Liora.
I forced myself out of the bed, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to pull me back down. My phone sat on the nightstand, and I grabbed it with trembling fingers, only to find the screen completely black. Dead. Of course.
A quiet frustration burned through me as I spotted my clutch nearby. I slipped my shoes back on and adjusted what remained of my ruined dress, not caring how I looked anymore. I just needed to leave before anyone saw me, before I had to face questions I wasn't ready to answer.
The hallway outside the suite was silent, the kind of silence only luxury hotels seemed capable of creating. The polished floors reflected the soft lights overhead, and every corner felt unfamiliar. I kept my head lowered, avoiding the security cameras positioned along the walls, and chose the stairwell instead of the elevator.
My heart pounded with every step downward. Each movement sent a new wave of discomfort through me, cruel reminders of a night I couldn't fully remember but somehow couldn't escape. The missing pieces of my memory frightened me more than the ones I could recall.”
By the time I reached the Valenti Estate, the sun was higher, mocking me with its brightness. I snuck in through a side entrance, praying no one would notice. But the moment I stepped into the foyer, Liora was there, perched on the edge of a velvet chair like she’d been waiting.
“Lena!”
She hurried toward me, her face painted with worry so convincing that anyone else would have believed it. Her arms closed around me, warm and familiar, yet something about the way she held me felt calculated,as though she were measuring my reaction.
“Oh God, what happened?” she asked softly. “You vanished from the party. I was so worried.”
I pulled back, searching her eyes. “Liora, I... I woke up in a hotel. My dress…” My voice cracked. I wrapped my arms around myself, fighting the rising nausea. “Something’s wrong. The drink you gave me...”
She tilted her head, feigned sympathy cracking just a little. “The celebratory drink? It was just champagne, sister. Maybe the pressure of the night finally caught up with you. Let me help you clean up before Mother and Father see you like this.”
But I wasn’t buying it. My mind, even foggy, started piecing things together. The way she had pulled me aside so smoothly and the way her smile had lingered as the room spun, I needed to think clearly. I slipped away to my room, locking the door behind me, and grabbed the small journal I kept hidden in my nightstand drawer.
My hands shook as I wrote fragmented notes:
- Liora’s insistence on the private toast.
- Sweet taste with herbal after-note,unusual for champagne.
- Blackout too sudden, too complete.
- No memory of leaving the party.
- Waking with marks that suggest... consent? But no choice in the first place.
Every “coincidence” from the past few weeks suddenly felt deliberate. Liora’s increasing barbs about my “perfect life”,her lingering glances at Nikolai. The way she had pushed for this engagement party to be bigger than necessary. Hyper-vigilance kicked in hard,my secret training in reading people, in patterns, now turned against my own blood.
A soft knock sounded. I opened the door just enough to see Liora again, her expression shifting from concern to something colder as she stepped inside and closed the door.
“Tell me the truth,” I demanded, my voice low but steady. “What did you do?”
She sighed, crossing her arms. “You’re making this dramatic, Lena. I only wanted to help you see what you’ve been ignoring. Nikolai, the family expectations,they were never really yours. But fine. I slipped something in the drink. Just enough to loosen things up. You needed a wake-up call.”
My blood ran cold. “You drugged me? At my own engagement party?”
“It wasn’t supposed to go that far,” she said, but her eyes didn’t match the words. “I arranged for you to be seen with someone else. Ruined enough to make Nikolai reconsider. For the family. You’ve always had everything handed to you. It was my turn to take what I deserve.”
“The truth hit me with a force that stole the air from my lungs. Confusion tangled with betrayal, shattering the image of the sister I thought I knew. Every memory, every moment of trust, suddenly felt like a carefully constructed lie.
This wasn’t an accident.
It was planned.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed back to life on the bed. Nikolai’s name flashed on the screen. I answered, gripping it tight.
“Lena,” he said, his voice tight with disappointment. “I’ve heard rumors already. People saw you leave with some stranger. What were you thinking? This alliance... our engagement... it’s hanging by a thread now.”
“I didn’t…” I started, but the words stuck. He didn’t ask if I was okay but only about the optics. “Nikolai, something happened. I need you to listen.”
He exhaled sharply. “We’ll talk later. Just... stay out of sight until we figure out damage control.”
The call ended. I stared at the phone, The last pieces of my trust shattered, leaving behind a wound I didn’t know how to mend.My family,my fiancé,even the people I had sacrificed for.
Liora watched me, her feigned concern gone completely now. “It was necessary, Lena. For the family. You’ll thank me one day when you see what I’ve opened up for all of us.”
My vision blurred with angry tears as I sank onto the bed. But before I could fully process her words, my phone buzzed again. Notifications poured in,social media mentions, whispers in mafia circles already spreading. “Valenti daughter caught in scandal.” “Engagement in ruins.”
Rumors were exploding online, faster than I could stop them. And Liora stood there, smiling like she had won.
- Writer
