Bought by the underworld CEO

Chapter 13 ( No escape)

_But then what Zoya saw turned her blood cold._

The amusement park

was empty.

Silent.

Ares had booked the whole park for today.

He leaned down, his lips brushing her ear. His voice was soft. Amused. Cruel.

“What? Your plan didn’t work.”

His breath hit her ear. Soft. Amused. Cruel.

Zoya went rigid.

She spun to face him.

The amusement park was empty.

No children screaming on roller coasters. No couples sharing popcorn. No balloon sellers. No laughter.

Just dozens of men in black suits. Stationed by every ride, every exit, every shadow. Hands clasped in front of them. Earpieces. Silent. Watching.

The Ferris wheel was lit up. Spinning slowly. For no one.

For them.

Zoya’s blood turned to ice, then to lead.

“You’re insane,” she said. The word came out empty. Hollow. Hope had a sound when it died. It sounded like this.

Ares smiled. Not his cruel smirk. His real one. The one he gave when he won. It was rarer. Scarier.

“Insane? I’m thorough.” He stepped closer, and the guards shifted, forming a loose circle twenty feet out. Close enough to catch her. Far enough to give him privacy. “You mentioned this place to the gardener. Said you dreamed of it as a kid. So I bought it.”

He snapped his fingers. A guard walked forward and held out two tickets. Paper. Old-fashioned. _Admit One._

“Two. For us.” Ares took them. “Romantic, isn’t it?”

Zoya backed up until her spine hit the metal gate. “I’m not going on rides with you.”

Ares tilted his head. He studied her like she was a stock he was about to short. “You are. Because if you run, my men catch you. If you scream, no one hears. If you fight me... You think you can beat them?” he said, pointing at the surrounding guards.

Zoya couldn’t breathe. “You...”

Ares didn’t say anything. He just held out his hand. Not to grab her. To lead her. Like this was a date.

She didn’t take it. She walked past him, chin up, into the dead park. Her legs were shaking.

---

The first stall was cotton candy. Pink. Huge. Spun into a cloud bigger than her head. A little girl’s dream.

The vendor was an old man. He saw Ares and went white. “M-Mr. Blackwood. On the house. Of course. Anything.”

Ares took the stick. He held it out to Zoya. The sugar glistened in the morning sun. “Open.”

Zoya looked at it. Then at him. Then she slapped it away.

It fell. Hit the pavement and stuck there, collecting dirt. A pink stain on the concrete.

“I’d rather starve,” she said.

Silence.

The guards didn’t move. The vendor looked like he wanted to disappear.

Ares stared at the ruined candy. Then at her. His expression didn’t change. He didn’t get angry.

He crouched down.

He picked up the dirty cotton candy with his bare hand. Stood. Took a bite. Chewed slowly. Held her gaze the whole time.

“Wasteful,” he said.

He dropped the rest. It landed beside the first stain.

“You think defiance is cute, Zoya. It’s not. It’s expensive. For other people.”

He nodded once. Two guards went inside the stall and grabbed the man. A third guard rolled his sleeve to punch him. Zoya stopped him and looked at Ares, who was staring at her.

Ares said, “Don’t look at me. You are the one responsible for his condition.”

Zoya’s knees almost gave out.

Ares was already holding out a new stick of cotton candy. Clean. Perfect. Pink.

“Cause and effect,” he said quietly. “Try again. Open up.”

Zoya looked at the scared old man. Then at the cotton candy.

She opened her mouth.

The sugar touched her tongue. It tasted like ash. Like jail cells. Like defeat.

“Good girl Zoya . Now you know what is best for you. ,” Ares said.

---

He didn’t make her go on the roller coaster. He made her play games with him . Ares made her spend the whole day with him.

He took her to the Ferris wheel.

The cart was white. Enclosed. Private. The door slid shut behind them and locked with a soft _click_. Automatic.

It started rising.

The city got small. The park got smaller. The guards became black dots.

Zoya sat on one side. Ares sat opposite. He didn’t touch her. He just watched her.

“Scared of heights?” he asked after a full minute.

“No,” Zoya said.

More silence. Only the creak of metal. The wind.

Ares looked out at the city. His city. “ This park was built in 1998. It was the first thing I ever owned outright.”

Zoya stared at him. “Why are you telling me this?”

“So you understand.” He turned back to her. His eyes were black in the morning light. “I don’t lose things. I don’t share. And I don’t let go. Ever.”

The cart jerked. Stopped.

They were at the top.

Suspended. Two hundred feet in the air. Alone in the sky. The world spread out below them, indifferent.

Ares called someone and the call cut. After a minute, fireworks happened.

Zoya liked them and smiled a little.

After a while, the Ferris wheel came down. They walked out and stayed there till dusk. As they were about to leave, a guard said, “These are all the tickets for going through all those rides.”

Then Ares took her to the ticket stall and asked Zoya what she’d like to exchange it with. Zoya didn't reply but kept staring at a big teddy bear of brown colour which was about Zoya's height.

Ares bought it. And gave it to Zoya. She didn't want to but took it as she didn't want this shopkeeper to have the same situation as the cotton candy stall person had.

They had dinner at a restaurant and Ares ordered all English dishes but Zoya ate it anyway.

After that, they reached the penthouse. Zoya took the teddy bear, which she named Brown Sugar, to her room. Its door was fixed.

She put Brown Sugar on the bed and took a shower. She was wearing a pink kurti and white shalwar.

Zoya talked to herself. The whole day got wasted and she couldn't escape either. Zoya was exhausted by everything that happened today. Zoya fell asleep.

In Ares’s room, he came out of the shower only in a towel and drying his hair. His phone rang. He smiled and picked it up.

The other person said, “Master, we have taken the gardener from his house and left a letter from him that he is going to live with his friends for a couple of days.

No one was at home so it was easier.”

Ares smiled and said, “Tie him up at the place I told you and don't worry. You guys will get your share,” and cut the call.

Ares poured himself some whisky and sat down on a chair across the window, watching outside at the buildings and lights.

He swirled the glass of whisky in his hand and said to himself that some people are not to be messed with.

_End of Chapter 13_