His darkness

Rain slams against my skin like tiny daggers, but I don't stop running. I can't.

The cold bites into my bones, my dress clinging to me like a second skin, heavy with mud and rain. My bare feet slap against the pavement, sharp rocks tearing into my soles. I barely feel it. Pain is nothing compared to what I just went through.

Their words still ring in my ears.

"You disgust me, Sera."

"You are no longer my daughter."

"How could you do this to us?"

Thunder cracks overhead, but it's nothing compared to the storm inside me. My lungs burn. My throat is raw from screaming, from begging them to believe me. But they never did. They never will.

I glance back. The mansion looms behind me-my home. Or at least, it was. Now, it's just a graveyard filled with people I thought loved me. My parents, my sister, my entire world-gone.

I choke back a sob and push forward. I have nowhere to go. No money. No plan. Just the burning need to escape. Because if I stay, they will destroy me.

A few hours ago, I was standing in the grand dining hall, the golden chandelier above me shimmering like a crown of fire. My mother and father sat at the head of the table, my perfect older sister, Evelyn, beside them. The golden child. The flawless one.

And then, in front of our entire family, she exposed me.

"She's been sneaking out at night," Evelyn announced, her voice smooth, dripping with fake concern. "Meeting someone in secret. Hiding things from us."

My stomach twisted. I turned to her, my hands shaking. "Eve... what are you doing?"

She didn't even look at me. "I'm doing what's best for our family."

Lies. She wanted to ruin me. And she succeeded.

My mother's face twisted in disgust. My father stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "Is this true?" His voice was cold. Hard.

I tried to explain. Tried to tell them the truth. But Evelyn had evidence-fake, twisted, perfectly crafted to make me look like a liar, a disgrace.

My father didn't even hesitate. His hand lashed out, striking me across the face. I hit the floor, gasping, the sharp sting spreading through my cheek.

And then he said the words that shattered me.

"Get out."

My body aches with every step. My bare feet are numb, my muscles scream for rest, but stopping isn't an option. If I stop, the pain will catch up. If I stop, the truth will sink in.

I reach an alleyway and press against the cold brick wall, my breath ragged. My dress-once an elegant satin gown-is now a shredded mess, soaked and clinging to my body.

I try to think. I need a plan. But there's nothing. I have nothing.

My dream of becoming a doctor? Gone.

The family name that once protected me? Worthless.

The home I grew up in? A prison I barely escaped.

A sob wracks through me, and I bite my lip to silence it. I can't afford to be weak. Not now.

Lightning flashes, illuminating the alley, and that's when I see him.

A figure stands at the mouth of the alley. Tall. Still. Watching.

My stomach drops.

He steps forward, slow and deliberate. The streetlights cast shadows over his face, but I already know who he is.

Killian Blackwood.

One of my family's enforcers.

I push off the wall, my body coiling like a trapped animal. "If my father sent you-"

"He didn't." His voice is low, controlled. Dangerous.

I swallow. My heart slams against my ribs. "Then why are you here?"