His rose

Run, Rose, Run

Chapter 6

Rose Adams’ POV

Freedom was only a hallway away.

I could see it.

Not clearly. Not fully. But in my mind, it was there — beyond the kitchen, beyond the service corridor, beyond the back door where caterers carried trays and staff moved too quickly to notice one girl slipping into the dark.

My fingers tightened around the edge of my torn bandage.

Tonight.

I had to run tonight.

I took one careful step toward the back hallway.

Then another.

The music from the ballroom floated behind me, soft and elegant, covering the sound of my breathing. Laughter rose and fell like waves. No one was looking at me. No one ever looked at me unless they wanted to hurt me.

For once, being invisible might save me.

A waiter rushed past with an empty tray, nearly bumping into my shoulder.

“Move,” he muttered.

I stepped back quickly. “Sorry.”

He didn’t even look at me.

Good.

I slipped farther down the hallway, staying close to the wall. The service door stood at the end, opening and closing as staff carried boxes outside. Each time it opened, cool night air swept in.

It smelled like rain.

Like freedom.

My heart beat so loudly I was sure someone would hear it.

Just a few more steps.

“Rose.”

I froze.

Not Brittany.

Not Aunt Christina.

Uncle James.

His voice came from the room to my left — his private study.

The door was not fully closed.

Light spilled through the gap.

I pressed myself against the wall, unable to move. For one terrifying second, I thought he had seen me.

Then another voice answered.

“She’s in the kitchen. Mother sent her there.”

Rony.

My stomach twisted.

“She better stay there,” Uncle James said coldly. “Tonight is important.”

I should have walked away.

I should have run while the door was still there, while the hallway was still empty, while my chance still existed.

But my feet would not move.

Important.

That word held me in place.

Inside the study, glass clinked.

Uncle James spoke again, lower this time. “Alexander Knight is here. Do not do anything stupid.”

Rony laughed softly. “Why would I?”

“Because you are careless.”

“I’m not careless with things I want.”

My blood went cold.

Aunt Christina’s voice cut in, sharp and irritated. “Enough. This is not the time for your disgusting obsession.”

My hand flew to my mouth.

Obsession.

The word crawled under my skin.

Rony said nothing for a moment.

Then, “She’s not going anywhere.”

Uncle James’ voice hardened. “No, she is not. But we need to handle this properly. In ten months, she turns twenty-one. Once that happens, the lawyers will begin asking questions.”

“She doesn’t even know how to talk to people,” Christina said. “She’s useless.”

“Useless girls still sign documents,” Uncle James replied. “And if someone starts looking into Edward’s will, everything becomes complicated.”

Edward.

My father.

My chest tightened painfully.

“What if she refuses?” Rony asked.

“She won’t.”

“And if she does?”

Silence.

Then Uncle James said, “Then we make sure she has no choice.”

My knees weakened.

No choice.

Those words were my life in this house.

Christina sighed. “There are easier ways. Marriage would solve most of this. A husband can control her shares until things are transferred.”

I stopped breathing.

Marriage?

Rony’s voice came, low and amused. “I can marry her.”

My stomach rolled.

“No,” Christina snapped. “Don’t be disgusting.”

Rony laughed. “You act like anyone else would want her.”

I gripped the wall so hard my nails hurt.

Uncle James did not laugh.

“That is not the plan,” he said. “There are men who will do anything for money. Men who don’t ask questions. Once Rose is married to the right person, we can force the transfer and send her away.”

Send her away.

The hallway blurred.

I had imagined many terrible things.

Being locked in the storeroom again.

Being beaten.

Being forced to serve them forever.

But marriage?

To a stranger chosen by them?

To someone who would own me the way they did?

No.

No, no, no.

Rony spoke again, his voice darker now. “And until then?”

“She stays watched,” Uncle James said. “No more wandering. No more mistakes. After tonight, she doesn’t leave her room without permission.”

My heartbeat slammed against my ribs.

After tonight.

After tonight, there would be no chance.

The service door opened again at the end of the hallway.

Cold air brushed my face.

Run.

Every part of me screamed it.

Run now.

But before I could move, Rony said, “I’ll check on her.”

Footsteps approached the study door.

Panic exploded through me.

I turned and hurried down the hallway, trying not to run, trying not to make noise.

The service door was still open.

A caterer stepped in carrying a crate.

I slipped behind him.

The night air hit me like a blessing.

For one second, I was outside.

Actually outside.

The back courtyard was dimly lit, filled with catering vans, staff cars, stacked boxes, and men smoking near the far wall. The main party glittered beyond the tall windows, golden and loud.

I stood in the shadow beside the door, shaking.

I had done it.

I was outside.

But outside was not freedom yet.

I needed to leave the property.

I needed to get beyond the gates.

I needed—

“Hey.”

A man’s voice.

I jumped.

One of the kitchen staff looked at me, frowning. “You’re not supposed to be standing here.”

“I… I was sent to get more napkins,” I said quickly.

“Napkins are inside.”

“Oh.” My throat dried. “I’m sorry.”

He rolled his eyes and turned away.

I used that moment.

I moved.

Fast.

Past the vans. Past the stacked crates. Past two men laughing near the side wall. My shoes slipped slightly on the damp stone, but I kept going.

The driveway was ahead.

Cars lined both sides — black, silver, white, every one expensive enough to feed me for years. Valets moved near the front entrance, but the side driveway was darker, quieter.

If I could reach the trees beyond the gate, maybe I could hide.

Maybe I could walk until morning.

Maybe I could find someone kind.

Maybe.

“Rose!”

Rony’s voice sliced through the night.

My blood turned to ice.

I looked back.

He stood near the service door, his face no longer amused.

He had seen me.

For one second, neither of us moved.

Then he smiled.

Not wide.

Not loud.

Just enough to make terror slam into my chest.

“Where are you going, little Rose?”

I ran.

I didn’t think.

I didn’t breathe.

I just ran.

The driveway blurred beneath my feet. My injured hand throbbed. My lungs burned. Behind me, Rony cursed.

“Stop her!”

Someone shouted.

A guard near the catering vans turned.

I darted between two parked cars.

My shoulder hit a side mirror, pain flashing down my arm, but I kept moving. Music still poured from the mansion, bright and careless. No one inside knew. No one inside cared.

“Rose!” Rony shouted again, closer now. “You stupid girl, stop!”

No.

Never again.

I ran past a black SUV and ducked behind a row of cars near the far side of the driveway. My breath came in sharp, broken gasps. My legs trembled so badly I almost fell.

The gate was too far.

The guards were moving now.

I could hear footsteps.

Voices.

“She went this way!”

My eyes searched wildly.

Cars.

Shadows.

Open space.

Nowhere.

Then I saw it.

A black luxury car parked slightly away from the others, near a line of tall hedges. Sleek. Dark. Tinted windows. The back door was not fully closed, maybe left open by a driver who had stepped away.

I did not stop to think.

I rushed toward it, pulled the door open wider, and slipped inside.

The interior smelled like leather, smoke, and something darkly expensive.

I dropped to the floor behind the front seat and pulled the door closed as quietly as I could.

Darkness wrapped around me.

My hand pressed against my mouth to hold back my breathing.

Outside, footsteps passed.

“Check there,” someone hissed.

A light swept briefly over the windows, but the tint hid me.

I curled smaller, my knees pressed to my chest.

Please.

Please don’t find me.

My body shook so hard I feared the car itself would move.

Rony’s voice came from somewhere outside.

“She can’t have gone far.”

Another man answered, “Maybe she went toward the gate.”

“Find her,” Rony snapped. “Dad will lose his mind if she disappears tonight.”

Footsteps moved away.

I did not breathe until the voices faded.

My eyes burned.

My chest hurt.

I wanted to cry, but I could not make a sound.

Not yet.

Not until I was far away.

Not until I was safe.

Safe.

I almost laughed.

I didn’t even know what that word meant anymore.

Minutes passed.

Or seconds.

I could not tell.

The car remained silent around me.

Then a door opened.

Not mine.

The front passenger door.

I stopped breathing.

A man sat inside. Another door opened, then closed. The driver’s side.

Two men.

I pressed myself tighter against the floor, hidden in the darkness behind the seat.

“Where to, sir?” a voice asked.

A pause.

Then another voice answered.

Deep.

Cold.

Controlled.

“Home.”

My heart stopped.

I knew that voice.

Alexander Knight.

The engine started.

The car began to move.

And I, Rose Adams, the girl who had spent ten years trapped in her own home, was being carried away in the car of the most dangerous man at the party.