THE DON'S CAPTIVE MISTRESS

Who You Are

HAZEL

I was frozen for a moment, staring at him… nervous, afraid, cold.

Before I could even gather myself, he broke eye contact and said, “Great, you’re here.”

His voice was cold. There was no sympathy in it, no remorse. He didn’t feel bad for whatever happened. And it was as he walked toward a chair in the centre of the room that I realised there was someone else in the room. Not just someone else....someone tied to a chair in the middle of it.

My eyes drifted toward the person in the chair, and I realised it was Nico.

My gaze snapped back toward the door where Remo was now standing, and the door closed behind him. And there was Axel, walking toward Nico. He stood behind him, calm and composed, while Nico sat tied to the chair, his posture rigid, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

And yes—I was scared. I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea what this was. But what I was sure of was that this was not going to be pleasant. There was no good reason why I would be here.....Of course, there wasn’t.

Nico was in the chair, tied down, and his eyes were laser-focused on the wall in front of him. Not at me, not at Luca, not at Remo. Just forward, so focused I could feel his fear from where I stood.

I hugged myself even tighter, not knowing what to look at, not knowing what to say or what to do.

Axel was the one who killed the silence in the room.

“Nico. You realise what you did wrong?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Nico answered. “I was given a task and I failed.”

My mind swirled.

Was this about what happened?

Was this about me running?

Was this about the forest?

Or was it about something else?

Were they going to punish Nico?

Nico didn’t do anything wrong, Luca should be the one down here.

But I couldn’t find the chance to say anything. I just stood there and stared, frozen, helpless.

Then Axel’s eyes went toward me.

My heart beat faster, because now I had his attention, fully.

“Just know that whatever happens here is your fault,” Axel said to me.

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t keep this in anymore. It felt like this was my time to be punished now, like the moment had finally come crashing down on me.

So I spoke.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said. “The only thing....."

“You ran away,” Axel answered for me, his voice slicing through mine. “You knew the rules and you broke them.”

He stepped closer, not to me, but toward Nico, and his tone dropped lower, colder.

“Maybe you’re new here, as Remo was so quick to remind me. So maybe you’ll take this as a lesson. A lesson for both of you. Because he should have been your shadow, your ghost, following you everywhere you went. And he failed to do his job. That’s why you ran away.”

My mouth opened, "I didn't run away, I wasn't......" But Axel didn't let me finish.

“You didn’t run away from me,” Axel continued. “You ran away from Nico. So which is it? Were the two of you working together?"

"No—of course not.” I quickly snapped.

His head tilted slightly. “Or did he fail to do his job?”

“Look,” I said, my voice trembling. “I am sorry..... I was scared. I’m not going to let whatever you want to do to Nico happen. Okay? I wasn’t running. I was angry, I was mad, and I just… I went out because I wanted to walk around and clear my head. But then I got lost and I didn’t know how to come back. And then that lunatic appeared out of nowhere....he started shooting—and then he… he hit me, he...”

Axel cut me off.

“Thank you for that little story. The only thing Luca did was stop you from leaving. Stop you from breaking the rules. And I hope you learned your lesson.”

“Wait,” I said, desperate. “Please....you have to believe me. I wasn’t running away.”

Axel cut me off without raising his voice, without even really moving.

“That’s exactly what you did.”

He didn’t look angry. That would’ve almost been easier. Anger is human. This… this was something else. His face was carved in stone, his eyes fixed on me like he was assessing a problem on paper. Something to be solved. Something that didn’t require compassion.

My lips trembled and I closed them fast. Remo didn’t move behind me; he was a silent wall blocking the exit. AXEL stood off to the side, a shadow with no expression. Nico remained motionless in the chair, tied at the wrists, shoulders tight, back straight. Like he had forced his spine to become metal.

Axel walked around him slowly, not pacing, measuring. Every step echoed in the cold room.

“I didn’t run away from you,” I tried again, softer, my fingers digging into my arms. “I didn’t....”

“You ran,” Axel said. “You left the house. You left Nico. You left the guards. You left your protection. And you almost died, Hazel.”

His tone didn’t rise. He didn’t accuse. He stated facts. And somehow that was worse.

Nico flinched. Barely. You wouldn’t see it unless you were staring only at him. But I was.

Axel came to a stop behind Nico, one hand resting on the back of the chair. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t need to.

“This is about responsibilities,” Axel said. “Everyone has a job. Everything has consequences.”

My heart thudded painfully, speeding, squeezing.

“So if you’re going to defend yourself…” he finally looked at me, “do it properly.”

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

His calm was suffocating.

“I didn’t know,” I said, voice breaking. “I didn’t know.... I didn’t know. I just...I panicked. I didn’t think.”

“And that,” Axel said quietly, “is the problem.”

He stepped to the side, finally presenting Nico fully to me. Nico didn’t raise his head. Didn’t meet my eyes. He looked like a man preparing for whatever punishment he knew was coming.

My stomach dropped.

“You still don’t understand what it means to be here,” Axel went on. “Who you are here. Who they are to you?”