Chapter 2: Drugged
1343 Words
☆☆Yelena☆☆
Three weeks later, I moved through the Randov mansion like a ghost in borrowed skin.
Everyone saw gentle, docile Yelena, the people-pleasing daughter who flinched at raised voices and apologized for things that weren’t her fault.
They didn’t see me.
They didn’t see the way I mapped out the house without trying. The cameras. The guards. The blind spots. The routines.
The exits. They had no idea what I was planning to do.
‘My father’ was hosting a party tonight.
“My dear, you’re slouching again.” I stopped mid-step as my “mother” stood at the foot of the staircase, her eyes sweeping over me with thinly veiled disgust.
“Stand properly. You’ll embarrass us tonight.”
I straightened slowly, just enough to satisfy her.
“Yes, Mother.”
She turned away, already losing interest.
Across the room, Natalie who I learnt that she was my half sister leaned against the doorway, watching me. Her lips curved into a mocking smile.
I held her gaze for a second too long.
She looked away first, clearly feeling uncomfortable, not noticing as I left the house.
They thought I was still that broken girl.
the first hing I need to do is get out of my engagement.
Lucien Hale wasn’t a partner. He was a liability. Another leash the Randovs could tighten whenever they wanted.
And unlike them, he isn’t very good at hiding his secrets.
He had a weakness, and all it took was for me to spy into his office CCTV to get exactly what I needed.
The restaurant was as fancy as I expected, I scanned the perimeter before I even reached the table.
He looked exactly like the picture I saw in Yelena’s room, arrogant and visibly irritated.
But then my eyes snagged on a man standing just off to the side, near the pillar behind Lucien’s chair.
He was dressed like a secretary but he stood too still.
Our eyes met for a fraction of a second.
He didn’t look away.
He looked directly at me like I was a competition.
Interesting.
So my fiancé brought him.
I walked toward the table slowly, unbothered.
His gaze snapped to me the moment I got close.
He looked at me sharply, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
“You’re late,” he said flatly.
I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down, completely unfazed.
“I know,” I said, smiling.
“I assume there’s a reason you asked to see me,” he said.
“Oh, I do,” I said calmly. “I have a question for you.”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“What is it?” he said, sounding annoyed.
Probably expecting me to kiss his ass like before.
Too bad.
“Does your family know about your… preference?”
I didn’t look at him.
I looked at his secretary.
Just for a second, his expression changed.
“What?”
Not him.
His secretary.
Yeah… not very good at hiding it.
I leaned back slightly, crossing one leg over the other like I hadn’t just dropped a bomb.
“I mean,” I continued, “when I decided to dig into your life, I expected something normal.”
My fingers tapped lazily on the table.
“Illegal money. Maybe anger issues. You look like you’d hit someone over something small.”
His expression didn’t change.
“But,” I added, “I didn’t expect to find my fiancé kissing his secretary.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” he asked calmly.
But I wasn’t looking at him anymore.
I was watching the secretary.
And he was failing at hiding his reaction.
Badly.
I opened my purse slowly, deliberately, and placed a photo on the table.
I didn’t push it toward him.
I didn’t need to.
He looked at it anyway.
And for the first time, something shifted in his expression.
“I have no interest in which side you swing,” I said lightly.
Honestly, I don’t.
This wasn’t about that.
“At first, I considered showing my father.”
I paused, pretending to think.
“But knowing him, he’d still go along with the alliance.”
Because power mattered more than pride, and he is extremely greedy.
I tilted my head slightly.
“But then I found out something more interesting.”
His eyes flicked up to mine.
“Your father,” I continued softly, “isn’t he quite the charmer?”
I paused.
“Very religious too.”
The fear that flashed across his eyes...
There it is.
I leaned forward slightly.
“Wouldn’t he love to know his only heir is gay?”
“I mean,” I added with a small chuckle, “just imagining what he’d do is almost entertaining.”
I leaned back again, completely relaxed.
“I’d try to get a trophy wife too, if I were you.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then, “Locke,” he said calmly, adjusting his posture, “excuse us.”
Ah.
So that’s his name.
Locke hesitated, like he wanted to stay.
But in the end, he nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him.
The moment it clicked shut, Lucien’s attitude changed completely.
“What do you want?”
Straight to business.
I smiled.
“Look at you,” I said softly. “All business.”
His gaze hardened. “Trust me, this isn’t pleasure. What do you want?”
“I want this engagement to be over.”
He blinked once.
Then again.
“You blackmail me just to call it off?”
“Yes,” I said simply.
“You will end this engagement,” I continued, my voice calm “Quietly. No drama. No damage to my name.”
“And if I don’t?”
I held his gaze.
“You are welcome to say no,” I said softly.
I watched the calculation settle in.
He looked away first.
“Fine,” he said.
That was quick.
Expected.
“Oh,” I added lightly.
He already looked irritated.
“What now?”
“Nothing.”
By the time I returned to the mansion, the preparations for the party had intensified.
Natalie found me in the hallway, her smile too sweet to be real.
“You’re back,” she said lightly. “Try not to disappear during the party. People might think something’s wrong with you.”
I smiled back. “Wouldn’t want that.”
Her gaze lingered on me a second too long.
“Go and get dressed quickly. I’ll wait for you here.”
That’s suspicious.
Why is she being unnecessarily nice to me?
I ignored her and headed upstairs to change.
By the time I was ready, the party had already begun, and guests were arriving.
As a waiter walked past me, I grabbed a glass of vodka from his tray.
I can’t survive this night sober.
I downed it in one gulp only stopping when I noticed faint white particles at the bottom of the glass.
It was too late I already swallowed the drink.
Whatever it was, it was already in my system.
I looked up.
Natalie was staring at me. Clearly waiting
I glanced at the glass. Then back at her.
She smiled at me, then she waved.
The effect hit almost immediately.
Heat spread through my veins, sharp and unnatural.
My pulse quickened. My breathing followed.
Something wasn’t right.
My skin felt too sensitive, every movement suddenly noticeable. My thoughts began to blur at the edges, it was getting harder to control my thoughts.
This isn’t poison.
It’s an aphrodisiac.
My grip tightened around the glass as my vision blurred slightly, my body reacting in ways I did not permit.
I scanned the room.
No one was paying attention.
Everyone was wrapped up in their own conversations, their own illusions.
I set the glass down carefully.
I couldn’t stay here.
Not like this.
I turned and walked away before anyone could stop me.
Before anyone could see.
Before I lost control.
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