Chained by Betrayal: Trapped in Forbidden Embrace

Chapter One Ellie’s POV Beating against my ribs, my heart thundered wildly as I tore down the path to our townhouse. The clack of my heels rang off the concrete. With each step, the thudding of my heart echoed. I was scarcely able to believe how stupid I’d been. I’d inadvertently forgotten to bring the files my boss, Oliver, required for the afternoon meeting back with me. I’d lingered past closing to get them done, my mind reeling from the fight with Sebastian, and still I’d inexplicably left the files at home. Oliver’s fury was already bearing down on me. He was sure to be furious. I could have called for a cab. Yet Sebastian and I had already tightened our wedding budget and were already gearing up to purchase a house. Nudging our finances perilously close to the cliff’s edge, I had no choice but to run. I told myself I could have the job done long before the deadline—hand over the files, grab a quick bite, and still be back at my desk. No problem. Yet each step carried my thoughts inexorably toward Sebastian. We had to set a wedding date. With every exchange that passed, the strength of his demand only grew stronger. Even so, for me? The thought unnerved me. I carried a vast fragment of my own past that I’d never let him see. He could not fathom why I continued to keep my family at an arm’s length. My father—he maintained that a woman’s place was in the home, subject to a man’s authority and free to be slept with by whomever he chose. Still, his outdated convictions comprised only one part of the reason I kept him at bay. It amounted to everything they had done to me. I had, firsthand, witnessed the ruin their money could unleash. I vowed they would never be able to visit that upon me. Sebastian knew nothing of the real story behind my family. I’d never let him probe those shadowed truths. I scarcely believed I ever would. I eased the door to our townhouse open a crack and glided inside without making a sound. The house breathed not a breath; an unease washed over me. A tremor ran through me. I set my bag beside the door and stood stock-still, straining to hear the low murmur that filtered down from above—a sound that stunned me in place. Was Sebastian home early? Typically, he never departed the office before dusk, and so his presence took me by surprise. Only a few words into my call did a softer, nearly imperceptible groan float down from above. Anxiety twisted my stomach into a tight knot. Was Sebastian wounded? I lunged up the staircase, my limbs propelling me as swiftly as they could, dread gathering with every step toward the source of the sound. And then I heard it—an unmistakable cry. The keening cry of a woman. “No,” I whispered, and my stomach twisted itself into a hardened knot. He couldn’t be doing this to me. I dropped my eyes. Sitting lonely on the floor beside the bedroom door lay a hot-pink stiletto. Time froze. Everything around me stretched onward into sluggish slow motion. Laying across it—Sebastian’s tie, the very one he’d worn this morning. Not even for a breath, I pressed on toward the door, my breath lodged in a tight lump in my throat. Each stride stretched into an endlessly prolonged eternity. My legs trembled. Even so, I pressed onward, taking care not to place my weight too heavily. I had no clue what lay beyond, yet I could not turn back. I had to know. I leaned my head close to the door, pressing my ear to the wood, and cracked it open the tiniest slit. The sight before me struck me as though from a solid blow. Next to me on the bed reclined another woman—my fiancé, Sebastian. The two of them lay naked. Blonde and slender, her breasts full, her limbs spread across his. Flat on his back, he gripped her hips as she rocked upon him. His head was lifted back, every last bit of focus locked on the instant. The room dissolved into a fog before my eyes. Suddenly, I realized I could not take a single breath. I reached out with my quivering hand to the doorframe and held fast to it for support. I simply could not accept that this was happening. After all that we had so carefully constructed together. Before I could rein in my urge, I reached for my phone. Though my fingers trembled, I nevertheless managed to unlock the phone. I snapped a picture. I had to have proof. If I did confront him, he would have nothing to deny this. I slid the phone into my back pocket, even as my pulse kept racing. For a few heart-stopping breaths, I stood rooted to the spot, as though the ground beneath my feet had vanished. Now what was I supposed to do? An incandescent blaze blazed inside me, yet an even more devastating grief ate away at my heart. I had loved him, and trusted him. I’d seen this before. My father. I had caught sight of him with his secretary one time when I was still a child. That betrayal’s wound had never truly healed, yet this? That was incomparably worse. And that was Sebastian. The man I was supposed to marry. I had handed my future over to him. I had convinced myself that he loved me and me alone. Now every doubt I had buried resurfaced. I ached to scream. To hurl whatever came to hand. Still, I forcefully held every word down. Stepping inside, I fought to curb my voice. The only words that slipped out were,Well, that’s certainly a surprise. His eyes sprang open the moment he caught sight of me, his color draining away. He pulled the blankets over his chin, guilt-tinged cheeks quivering, hands quivering along with them. The woman sprang to her feet, snatched her clothes, and bolted for the door. “Ellie,” he called, yet I just talked over what he was saying. “No,” I murmured, the word encasing itself in frost. I think I’ve witnessed more than enough. The room choked me. I clamped my hand on the door handle, planted both feet, and steeled myself to hurl it open. Sebastian’s ragged whisper hissed in my ear. “Ellie, please—” I kept moving forwards. I pressed my fists against my hips, the hooked nails of my fingers raking deep furrows into my palms. I refused to look back toward him. I couldn’t. I hurled the door closed with a bone-shattering crash, the reverberation coursing through the house’s hush. I drew in choppy breaths, my head swirling into a ferocious vortex. I had never felt so thoroughly alone in my life. The torment was unbearable, still I refused to let a single tear fall. Not yet. I had to go, I had to leave him. From everything. How did I lose my sight so completely? I had no clue where I was going; still, I cared not. I had to get out.