Chapter 5 – When Protection Turns Into a Cage
1286 Words
“Wake up.”
Elara opened her eyes to darkness and the sound of rain pounding against the windows. For a moment, she did not know where she was. Then memory rushed back. The house. The messages. Adrian.
“What is it?” she asked, sitting up.
Adrian stood near the door, fully dressed, his expression hard. There was no trace of the man who had almost looked vulnerable the night before.
“We have a problem,” he said.
Her heart skipped. “What kind of problem?”
“The kind that requires you to stay exactly where I tell you.”
She swung her legs off the bed. “You are not answering my question.”
He crossed the room in three strides and stopped in front of her. “Someone breached the perimeter.”
Cold fear settled in her chest. “Someone is here?”
“Not inside,” he said. “Not yet.”
The word yet made her stomach twist.
“You need to trust me,” he continued. “Do not leave this room.”
“I am not hiding while you fight ghosts,” she said, standing her ground.
His jaw tightened. “This is not a debate.”
“Everything about this marriage has been a debate I never agreed to,” she snapped. “If someone is coming for you, I deserve to know who.”
“For me?” he repeated quietly. “No. They are coming for you.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
“Why?” she whispered.
“Because they think you are my weakness,” he said. “And they might be right.”
The hours that followed felt unreal.
Elara paced the room while Adrian coordinated security through his phone. Every voice on the line sounded tense. Urgent.
She tried not to imagine shadows in every corner.
Finally, she could take it no longer. She opened the door.
Adrian turned instantly. “I told you to stay inside.”
“I can’t breathe in there,” she replied. “I feel like I’m waiting to be hunted.”
“You are,” he said bluntly.
She froze. “You could have lied.”
“I do not lie when lives are at stake.”
She studied his face, searching for cracks. “How many people have died because of you?”
The question hung heavy.
“Enough,” he answered.
Her throat tightened. “And you still chose this life.”
“I did not choose it,” he said. “I inherited it.”
“That doesn’t make you innocent.”
“No,” he agreed. “It makes me responsible.”
By late afternoon, the rain had eased, but the tension remained thick.
Adrian led her to the living room. “You will sit here. Guards are stationed outside.”
She looked around. “You’ve turned this place into a fortress.”
“That is the point.”
She crossed her arms. “You promised protection, not imprisonment.”
He met her gaze. “Those lines blur in war.”
“I am not your soldier.”
“No,” he said softly. “You are the reason I am losing focus.”
The admission unsettled her.
Before she could respond, a loud bang echoed from outside.
Elara screamed.
Adrian moved instantly, placing himself between her and the sound.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
Footsteps thundered past the windows. Voices shouted. The crack of a gunshot shattered the quiet.
Elara’s heart raced as she clutched Adrian’s sleeve. “You said they weren’t inside.”
“They weren’t,” he replied. “Now they are testing the walls.”
Another shot rang out.
She pressed her face into his back, shaking. “This is insane.”
His hand covered hers, firm and grounding. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The certainty in his voice felt dangerous and comforting all at once.
Minutes passed before the noise faded.
One of the guards spoke through the comm system. “Threat neutralized. No breach.”
Adrian exhaled slowly.
Elara pulled away, her hands trembling. “Neutralized means what?”
“They ran,” he said.
“That’s not what neutralized means.”
He looked at her. “You don’t want the details.”
She swallowed hard. “I married a man who solves problems with violence.”
“You married a man who survives,” he replied.
That night, Elara sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her hands.
Adrian stood by the window, silent.
“You didn’t ask if I was hurt,” she said quietly.
He turned. “Are you?”
“No,” she admitted. “But I feel… changed.”
“That happens when fear becomes real.”
She laughed weakly. “You say that like it’s normal.”
“For me, it is.”
She looked up at him. “Do you feel anything when this happens?”
His gaze softened for a brief second. “I feel responsible.”
“That’s not an emotion.”
“It is the only one I allow.”
She stood and walked toward him. “You can’t keep locking me away.”
“I can,” he said. “And I will.”
“That will destroy us.”
“There is no us,” he replied sharply.
The lie was too quick.
“Then why does this matter so much?” she asked.
“Because if they hurt you,” he said slowly, “there will be nothing left of me that isn’t a weapon.”
The honesty in his voice chilled her.
Later, unable to sleep, Elara wandered into the hallway again.
She stopped at Adrian’s door.
This time, she knocked.
“Come in,” he said.
He sat at his desk, papers scattered, his composure frayed in a way she had never seen.
“I can’t do this,” she said.
He looked up. “Do what?”
“Live like a hostage in a war I don’t understand.”
He leaned back. “Then leave.”
The words stunned her.
“You would let me go?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “But you will not be safer.”
She shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
“I do,” he replied. “Because they will not stop.”
Her voice trembled. “Then tell me the truth.”
He hesitated.
Finally, he stood.
“There was a deal,” he said. “Years ago. A betrayal that cost lives.”
“And now?” she asked.
“And now they want everything I built,” he continued. “And they believe taking you will break me.”
Her chest tightened. “And will it?”
His silence was answer enough.
Her phone vibrated on the desk between them.
Unknown Number:
He is not protecting you. He is using you as bait.
Elara stared at the message, then at Adrian.
“Is that true?” she asked softly.
“No,” he said immediately.
“You didn’t answer fast enough,” she replied.
He stepped closer. “I would burn this world before letting them touch you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel safe,” she whispered. “It makes me feel owned.”
His expression faltered.
“I never wanted you to feel like this,” he said.
“But you did,” she replied. “And now I have to decide if staying with you will destroy me.”
Silence stretched between them.
“You have a choice,” he said quietly.
She nodded. “So do you.”
- Writer
