SINNERS' SANCTUARY

Welcome to My World

New York City

By late afternoon the next day, we were finally here: New York. I had dreamed about this place for years but never made it because of my parents. And now, because of Kyle, I was standing on the dock staring at the massive Statue of Liberty.

“Wow… Kyle, look at that! Oh my God–”

I couldn’t stop pointing things out like a kid on a sugar high. Kyle just laughed, watching me like I was the best thing he had ever seen. I didn’t even care about the people staring at us from the bus stop.

“Don’t worry, baby,” he said with that slow grin. “You’re gonna see more than this.”

That’s when a sleek, luxury gray car pulled up. Two guys in jeans and white T-shirts stepped out. One handed Kyle a fancy coffee mug. The other opened the door for him like he was royalty.

“Welcome back, Mr. Gates,” one said.

I froze. Mr. Gates?

"What's... What's going on?"

Kyle smirked at me. “We’ll talk later, baby. Get in.”

I hesitated but slid into the plush leather seat anyway, feeling like I’d just been kidnapped in style.

We drove past neighborhoods so clean and expensive, I thought we had wandered into a movie. When we finally stopped, my jaw dropped.

“This is my place,” Kyle said casually, stepping out.

The “place” was a massive condo in New Jersey with a private entrance and a doorman who nodded at Kyle like he was some billionaire.

Inside the penthouse, there were floor-to-ceiling windows, leather furniture, and a city view that stole my breath.

“You’re rich?” I blurted.

“Family money,” he said, tossing his keys on the counter. “I don’t flaunt it back home. Keeps things real.”

I stood there in my thrift-store clothes, feeling like I didn’t belong. But then Kyle pulled me in, kissed me so hard I forgot why I felt small.

That night, he fu¢ked... and I mean, he really fu¢ked me senseless in his massive bed until I couldn’t think about anything but him: his hands, his voice, his body inside me. He whispered that I was his forever, and I believed him.

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A Few Days Later

New York was nothing like the life I’d left behind: loud, chaotic, and alive. Kyle let me rest for a few days, but tonight he dragged me out to a beach party.

Music blasted, waves crashed, and people danced half-naked under the moonlight. Kyle wanted me in a bikini too, but I couldn’t. Jeans and a T-shirt felt safer.

I could feel the stares, like I didn’t fit in here.

Kyle kept his arm around me while he laughed with some guys. I tried to relax, but then my phone buzzed:

"If you don’t come for your ordination tonight, you’re dead to us. Don’t ever come back, Mirabel. We don’t have a slut for a daughter."

My stomach dropped. Tonight was supposed to be my final vow ceremony. The night my whole life had been leading to.

I blinked back tears. My chest burned.

Kyle leaned in, said something that made me force a smile. His hand slid up my thigh under the table, it was steady and warm, claiming me without words.

And despite the ache in my heart, I knew I would still choose him.

But then–

“Hey, asshole. Thought you weren’t gonna show.”

A dripping blonde in a bikini appeared. Her hair was clinging to her chest. She looked Kyle up and down like she wanted to fu¢k him right there.

I froze.

She bit her lip shamelessly. The way she stood so close to him… like she had done it before.

Jealousy slammed into me. My hand tightened around his.

He told me I was his. That he loved me. But staring at her, I couldn’t shake the fear that maybe I wasn’t enough for a man like Kyle.

And deep down, I wasn’t sure if love alone would be enough to survive what was coming.

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