Bound to the man who owns me

Chapter Three: The Room

The door closed behind Elias with a quiet, final click.

He stood there for a long moment, staring at the dark wood as if it might open again if he waited long enough. It didn’t.

The room was large. Too large. A bedroom that looked more like a hotel suite than a place meant to be lived in. A king-sized bed sat in the centre, sheets smooth and untouched. Soft lighting glowed from the walls, warm but impersonal.

Nothing here belonged to him.

Elias’s chest tightened. He crossed the room slowly, fingers brushing the edge of the bed, half-expecting someone to stop him. No one did. The silence pressed in, thick and watchful.

He sat down, then lay back fully clothed, staring at the ceiling.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

But the cuffs were still there, cold against his wrists.

A soft knock came at the door.

Elias jolted upright. “Y—yes?”

The door opened just enough for a woman to step inside. She avoided his eyes as she placed a folded set of clothes on the chair near the bed.

“Change into those,” she said quietly. “Someone will come for you later.”

“For what?” Elias asked.

She hesitated. Just for a second. “To be… checked.”

His stomach dropped.

Before he could ask anything else, she was gone, the door closing behind her.

Elias stared at the clothes. They were expensive—soft fabric, simple lines, nothing flashy. They looked like something someone had chosen carefully.

For him.

His hands shook as he changed, every movement feeling wrong, like he was stepping further into something he couldn’t undo. When he was done, he sat on the edge of the bed again, arms wrapped around himself.

Minutes passed. Or hours. Time blurred.

Then the door opened without knocking.

He didn’t have to look to know who it was.

“You’re awake,” the man said.

Elias stood instinctively, heart pounding. “You said I wouldn’t be touched.”

“I said you wouldn’t be harmed.”

The man stepped inside and closed the door behind him, slow and deliberate. The space seemed to shrink with his presence. He studied Elias with quiet intensity, eyes tracing the lines of his body in the borrowed clothes.

“They fit,” he said.

Elias lifted his chin. “That wasn’t an accident.”

“No,” the man agreed.

He stopped a few feet away. Not close enough to touch. Close enough to be felt.

“You should understand something,” he continued calmly. “Everything here exists to keep you safe. As long as you follow the rules.”

“And if I don’t?” Elias asked.

A pause.

“Then we renegotiate.”

The man reached into his pocket and removed a small key.

Elias’s breath caught as he realised what it was for.

The man looked at him steadily. “Come here.”

Elias didn’t move.

The silence stretched. Heavy. Expectant.

Finally, Elias took one step forward.

The man’s gaze darkened, just slightly.

“Good,” he murmured. “You learn quickly.”

He lifted the key.