ChapterFive
1195 Words
ELARA'S POV
I locked my bedroom door, pressing my forehead against the cool painted wood.
My lungs burned as I forced myself to take deep breaths. The hallway encounter played on a continuous loop in my mind.
Rowan manipulated the situation perfectly, using my fear of losing Sienna to force my silence. I hated him, but the lingering pressure of his hands on my waist made my heart race uncontrollably.
I walked over to the bare mattress and sat down, staring at the blank wall opposite my bed.
Sienna knocked on my door an hour later, asking if I wanted to order food. I claimed I had a migraine, staying completely isolated in my room until the house fell quiet.
At two in the morning, my throat felt like sandpaper.
I needed water.
I pushed myself off the mattress, opening my bedroom door slowly to avoid waking Sienna. The hallway was completely dark. I walked barefoot toward the kitchen, relying on the faint orange glow of the streetlamp filtering through the living room window to guide my steps.
I stepped onto the cold kitchen tile, reaching for the cabinet handle to grab a glass.
"You took a long time to come out," a deep voice stated from the shadows.
I flinched, as my hand dropped from the cabinet instantly. Rowan sat on the barstool at the edge of the kitchen island, perfectly camouflaged by the darkness.
He wore the same clothes from earlier, his posture was entirely relaxed as he rested his forearms on the granite counter.
"You wait in the dark to ambush people now?" I asked, keeping my voice down.
"I wait for what I want," Rowan corrected, standing up and walking around the counter. "And I wanted to finish our conversation."
"We have absolutely nothing to discuss," I told him, taking a step backward. "You blackmailed me in front of your sister. You used my friendship with her as a weapon to keep me quiet."
"I kept you out of a highly awkward situation," Rowan countered, stepping into my personal space. "If I told her we were kissing in the hallway, she would throw you out of this house before morning. She is fiercely protective of me, Elara. You would lose your only safe place."
"You created the situation," I shot back at him. "You cornered me, provoked me, and then used the fallout to your advantage."
Rowan did not argue. He looked down at my fists and the room was silent between us. He took another step forward, forcing me to lean my hips back against the lower cabinets.
The physical proximity was suffocating.
"Declan is going to ruin you," Rowan said, his tone dropping the arrogant edge entirely. "He told his entire fraternity about the agreement. If you ignore him, he will escalate. He will humiliate you in your classes, harass you at your job, and make your life on this campus a complete nightmare."
"I can handle Declan," I stated flatly.
"You do not understand how these people work," Rowan replied. "They have money, influence, and endless free time. They destroy people for entertainment."
"And you are exactly like them," I pointed out, staring directly into his eyes. "You took his money."
Rowan looked away for a second, his shoulders dropped slightly. He placed both hands on the edge of the counter beside my hips, caging me in the exact same way he did on the patio, but his energy felt entirely different.
The aggression was gone this time and replaced by exhaustion.
"I took his money because my father cut off my bank accounts," Rowan admitted, keeping his voice painfully quiet. "My parents use wealth to control every single decision I make. I failed one class, so my father pulled my housing, my tuition, and my future inheritance. I needed the cash, Elara."
My heart skipped a beat, a cold wave of recognition washed over my skin.
I knew that exact situation.
I lived it for twenty-one years. My parents used their financial leverage to dictate my friends, my major, and my entire identity. The sheer desperation of being trapped by your own family was a highly specific trauma.
I looked at his face, searching for the manipulation, but his eyes were completely hollow. He was telling the truth.
"That does not give you the right to use me as a pawn," I whispered, my anger faltering.
"I know," Rowan agreed, leaning his head down until his forehead rested lightly against mine. "But we can use the situation against him. We can play his game and win."
I held my breath for a moment as the contact sending an electric shock directly through my nervous system. "What are you talking about?"
"Date me in secret," Rowan proposed. “Let Declan think his money bought my compliance. I will control the narrative, keep him away from you, and protect your reputation on campus. When the semester ends, we expose his extortion and ruin him."
I analyzed the offer, my mind racing through the variables. It gave me a shield against Declan's harassment. It also gave me a reason to stay in this house without looking over my shoulder every five minutes.
"A fake relationship," I clarified, ignoring the heavy pounding in my chest. "Just to survive the semester."
"It's strictly business," Rowan confirmed, pulling his head back to look at me. "Do we have a deal?"
I looked at his extended hand, weighing the intense risk against the immediate safety. I reached out and placed my hand in his, sealing the agreement.
"Deal," I agreed.
Before Rowan could let go of my hand, bright headlights shone across the kitchen walls. And a vehicle pulled into the gravel driveway directly outside the front window.
"Sienna," I whispered in panic.
"She wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow morning," Rowan said as his grip on my hand became tighter.
Two car doors slammed shut outside and a loud, deep male laugh echoed through the thin walls of the house.
It was not just Sienna.
Rowan grabbed my waist, pulling me away from the counter and dragging me into the narrow laundry closet just off the kitchen.
He pulled the wooden door shut behind us, plunging us into complete darkness right as the front door lock clicked open.
We stood pressed against each other in the pitch-black closet. There was no room to move and Rowan's chest rose and fell heavily against mine.
"Just put the bags on the counter, Declan," Sienna's voice could be heard clearly in the kitchen.
My blood ran completely cold. Declan Vance was inside our house!
Rowan's body went entirely rigid against me.
He shifted his body, sliding one hand around my lower back and pressing his other hand firmly over my mouth to ensure I did not make a sound. His thumb dug possessively into my chin.
Footsteps walked across the kitchen tile, stopping just inches away from the thin closet door.
"So, where does the new roommate sleep, Sienna?" Declan asked in a malice infested tone. "I brought a welcome gift for her."
And then the brass doorknob of the laundry closet began to turn.
- Writer
