Chapter 4 - The First Rule Broken.
606 Words
Rule 1: You will not leave this penthouse without me.
I broke it in less than 12 hours.
The penthouse was silent at 3 AM. Zayn hadn’t come back to the bedroom. I heard the door to his office close hours ago. The guards outside didn’t move. The city was still awake 20 floors below.
And I was done being a prisoner.
The cuffs were gone. He’d removed them before leaving me alone. Stupid man. Did he think that meant I trusted him?
I found the emergency exit in the kitchen. A small door behind the pantry. It led to the service elevator. No cameras. No guards. At least that’s what the building map I saw on his desk said.
My heart was pounding so loud I was sure someone would hear it. I wore the black dress he’d left on the chair. Rule 6. You will wear what I choose. I hated that I looked good in it.
The elevator dinged on the ground floor. The lobby was empty. Marble floors, gold chandeliers, and one night guard scrolling on his phone.
I walked out like I belonged there. Head high. Like Zayn Malik’s wife, not his captive.
The cold air hit me outside. Rawalpindi at night. Free.
I made it three blocks before a black SUV pulled up beside me.
The window rolled down.
Zayn.
He wasn’t angry. He looked... tired. His tie was loose. There was blood on his knuckles.
“Get in.”
“No.”
“Aisha.” My name on his tongue sounded like a warning. “Get. In.”
I turned to run.
Two men were already behind me. Zayn’s men.
He sighed from the car. “You just had to test me, didn’t you?”
They brought me back to the car. He didn’t touch me. Didn’t yell. He just stared out the window the whole ride up.
Back in the penthouse, he finally spoke.
“You broke Rule 1.”
“I know.”
“Do you know what happens when you break a rule?”
I lifted my chin. “Punishment.”
He walked to me. Slow. “No. Consequences.”
He took my hand. His thumb brushed over my wrist where the cuffs had been.
“You could’ve been taken. Sold again. Killed. Do you understand that?”
For the first time, I heard fear in his voice. Not for himself. For me.
“I just wanted to breathe,” I whispered. “Without asking permission.”
Zayn closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were dark again.
“Fine. You want to breathe? Then we do this my way.”
He pulled me to the window. The whole city below us.
“From now on, you don’t leave without me. But I will take you out. Everywhere. So you don’t feel like a prisoner.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No. It’s better. Because when you’re with me, no one touches you.”
He let go of my hand. Walked to his desk and pulled out the black card again. He crossed out Rule 1 with a gold pen. Wrote underneath: *Exception: Only with Zayn.*
“See? I can be reasonable.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to thank him. I did neither.
“Go to bed, Aisha.”
I didn’t move. “Where will you sleep?”
He paused at the office door. “Where I always do. Alone.”
The door closed.
I looked at the card in my hand. Rule 1, modified.
He changed a rule for me.
That was more dangerous than any punishment.
To be continued...
- Writer
