🌔 Chapter Four: “Silk Walls, Barbed Rules
2023 Words
The first thing Selene noticed was how quiet the room was.
There was no clock ticking. No street sounds. No birds. Nothing.
Just her heartbeat and the soft humming from the ceiling light above her.
She was wrapped in sheets that smelled like fabric softener and foreign skin. The mattress beneath her was soft—too soft, like it had never been slept in before. Everything in the room was spotless and cold.
No windows.
Just pale walls, a black velvet chair in the corner, and a single table with an untouched glass of water on it.
Selene sat up slowly.
Her thighs ached. Her skin felt hot. Her lips were still sore from the way he had kissed her the night before.
Her stomach growled softly, but then the wave of nausea came again. It started low and rose up quick. She held her breath, waited for it to pass, then slid out of bed and tiptoed toward the small bathroom near the corner.
She ran the faucet, bent over the sink, and spit into it.
She didn’t throw up—but it was close.
She wiped her mouth and stared into the mirror.
She looked tired.
Worn down.
Like someone who hadn’t slept right in weeks. Even though the bed had been the softest she’d ever touched, she’d barely rested.
Too many thoughts.
Too many memories.
Too many secrets curled up inside her.
And now, something growing inside her.
She pressed her hand lightly to her belly.
Still flat.
Still silent.
Still hidden.
A knock came at the door.
Selene jumped.
Then a woman’s voice—soft and unfamiliar. “Breakfast, miss.”
She opened the door to find a tray of food on the floor. Eggs, toast, berries, a smoothie. The woman was already walking away, silent as a shadow.
Selene stared at the tray. Her stomach rolled.
She carried it to the table, sat down, and picked up the smoothie. It smelled too sweet. She drank a sip to pretend. Her throat tightened.
She waited a few minutes, then poured the rest down the bathroom sink.
She flushed twice.
When she came back out, her phone buzzed.
It was a message from Richard.
> “Wear the green dress. Dinner at 7. Don’t make me come find you.”
That was it.
No hello. No good morning.
Just a command.
Selene didn’t answer. She didn’t want to. But when the time came, she wore the dress anyway.
—
The dress was silk. Green like moss. It hugged her hips and dipped low over her chest. There was a slit up one side, high enough to feel dangerous.
She didn’t remember putting it in her bag.
Maybe it hadn’t been.
Maybe someone else had put it there.
Downstairs, Richard was already at the table. He wore a gray shirt, dark pants, and that same lazy, cold look on his face. His sleeves were rolled up. His fingers wrapped around a glass of wine.
He didn’t stand when she entered.
He didn’t greet her.
He just looked her up and down once and said, “You finally listened.”
She sat at the far end of the table.
A waiter she didn’t know poured her wine. Selene didn’t touch it.
Richard watched her like she was part of the decor.
He talked—about Crescent City, about his clubs, about the way the mafia used to run the docks. She nodded when she had to. Smiled once, when he said something half-funny. But she didn’t laugh. Not really.
And when dinner ended, she stood up before he could.
“I’ll go back to my room.”
But Richard didn’t let her leave.
His hand caught her wrist as she turned away. It wasn’t tight. But it was enough.
“You don’t have to pretend,” he said, voice low.
“Pretend what?”
“That you don’t want to be wanted.”
Selene didn’t answer.
He let go of her wrist and stepped back.
“I’ll come to you later,” he said simply.
Then walked past her like she didn’t matter.
Selene stood in the dining room alone.
---
She waited for him in bed that night.
She didn’t know why. Maybe because it was easier to surrender than to fight. Maybe because part of her was too tired to care. Maybe because the only thing more frightening than being touched... was being thrown out again.
So she waited.
And when the door opened, she didn’t flinch.
Richard walked in with no words. No rush.
He unbuttoned his shirt slowly. Sat at the edge of the bed. Then looked at her in the dim light and said, “Take that off.”
She slipped off the robe and let it fall to the floor.
He traced her collarbone with his eyes, then leaned in, breathing her in like he wanted to memorize her.
He pushed her back gently. Let his hands move over her hips, her waist, her thighs.
He didn’t ask if she was on anything.
He didn’t reach for a condom. As usual.
He didn’t even pause.
He just spread her legs and moved into her like he’d done it a thousand times—with no hesitation, no care for protection, and no concern about what might come after.
Selene clenched her teeth. Held still.
She didn’t fight.
She didn’t cry.
She just let it happen.
His lips were on her neck. His breath hot against her ear. His hands tight on her waist.
“You feel like fire,” he whispered into her skin. “Like you were made to be used.”
She closed her eyes and stayed silent.
When he finished, he rolled off and walked to the bathroom without a word.
Selene lay there, unmoving.
She reached down, touched herself.
Felt his warmth still inside her.
No barrier.
No protection.
No going back.
She curled onto her side and whispered into the pillow, “I won’t break.”
But she didn’t sound so sure.
---
The room smelled like s*x and silence.
Selene hadn’t moved.
She lay still, staring at the ceiling while Richard showered. The sound of the water running didn’t soothe her. It made everything louder inside her head. Her pulse. Her thoughts. The nausea curling low in her belly.
Her legs were sticky. Her skin still burned where he had grabbed her too hard. She didn’t wipe herself clean. She just lay there and stared at the shadow of the chandelier on the ceiling.
When Richard finally came out of the bathroom, he didn’t look at her.
He pulled on his pants, picked up his watch, and left the room without saying a word.
The door clicked shut.
And then there was nothing.
Just Selene and the ache.
---
The next morning, she woke up before sunrise.
Her body felt heavy. She moved slowly, went to the bathroom, washed between her legs until the water ran clear. Then she wrapped herself in a towel and stared at herself in the mirror.
The mark Kael left on her neck was still there.
Faded, but still visible.
She touched it with one finger and whispered, “Why didn’t you just love me?”
But no voice answered.
Not from within. Not from above.
Just silence.
Her phone buzzed.
She ran to it fast—too fast. Her heart jumped when she saw the name.
Maya.
She picked up immediately. “Hello?”
“Oh my God, you answered.” Maya’s voice was soft, warm, shaky. “Are you okay?”
Selene sat down on the edge of the bed, wrapped tighter in the towel. Her eyes stung.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m safe,” she whispered. “I swear.”
Maya’s voice cracked. “Where are you? I’ve been going crazy. You didn’t answer anything for two days—”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Selene.”
“It’s not safe.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Then, very softly, Maya asked, “Are you with someone?”
Selene didn’t answer.
“You’re with a man, aren’t you?”
Her throat tightened. “Maya, I—”
“Do you even know him?”
Selene didn’t know how to answer that. Not truthfully.
“I’m fine,” she said again.
Another pause.
“Are you… sleeping with him?”
Selene’s heart froze.
She said nothing.
Maya sighed. “Look, if he’s helping you—fine. I won’t judge. But promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“That if something feels wrong, you’ll leave.”
Selene shut her eyes.
“I promise,” she whispered.
But even as she said it, she knew it was a lie.
Because she had nowhere to go.
---
Before she could hang up, the door creaked open.
Selene turned quickly, still holding the phone to her ear.
Richard stepped inside.
His eyes locked on hers.
“What are you doing?” he asked, voice quiet, dangerous.
Selene jumped to her feet. “It’s just Maya. She was worried—”
He walked forward slowly and held out his hand.
Selene hesitated.
“Give me the phone.”
“She didn’t say anything—”
“Selene,” he said her name for the first time that day. And it sounded like a threat.
She handed him the phone.
He didn’t even look at the screen. He just tapped it once, then dropped it into the glass of water on her bedside table.
The water fizzed. The phone sank.
Selene gasped. “Why did you do that?!”
“She doesn’t need to know where you are.”
“You can’t just take my phone!”
Richard stepped closer.
“I gave you a bed. Food. Safety. I didn’t ask for anything. But I won’t be lied to.”
“I wasn’t lying—”
“You were planning to run.”
“No, I wasn’t!”
He studied her face.
“You breathe differently when you lie,” he said softly.
Then he reached out and touched her cheek. Not gently.
Her breath hitched.
Richard leaned down, close enough to kiss her—but he didn’t.
He just whispered, “Try not to lie again. I hate cleaning up after liars.”
Then he turned and walked out.
Selene stood frozen, soaked phone still bubbling in the glass, the towel slipping off one shoulder.
She couldn’t breathe.
Her heart thudded in her chest like it was trying to run.
—
That afternoon, a new phone appeared on her nightstand.
It was white. Brand new. No passcode.
Just one number saved.
Richard.
No apps. No camera. No browser.
Just a way for him to reach her.
Selene stared at it for hours.
She didn’t touch it.
She didn’t leave the room.
She just sat on the bed, the silence pressing in like heavy snow.
And for the first time since she ran from Duskvale, she understood something very clearly.
She wasn’t free.
She wasn’t safe.
She wasn’t even a person anymore.
She was just something pretty to look at. Something soft to touch. Something Richard had decided to keep.
Not love.
Not cherish.
Just keep.
---
That night, she woke from a restless dream.
The room was dark.
But she wasn’t alone.
Richard was sitting in the chair across from the bed.
Watching her.
She sat up slowly, her skin crawling. “What are you doing?”
“I wanted to see how you sleep.”
“Why?”
His voice was calm. Too calm.
“You breathe differently when you lie,” he said again.
Selene stared at him, afraid to move.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Do it again… and I’ll take more than your phone.”
She didn’t speak.
He stood, walked to the door, and looked over his shoulder.
“Get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be long.”
Then he was gone.
And Selene sat there in the dark, hands shaking over her stomach—where the secret still lived.
Where his future mistake was already growing.
- Writer
