Shadows of deceit

nued, his voice soft, dangerous. "I know about your meet

d out? Was he always this o

" I said, trying to maintain some s

ere you hoping to achieve, Hazel? Were you trying to make a deal wit

t of me had been drawn to Luca's promise of freedom, of power. It was tempting.

Hazel. You always have. And you always will. No matter where you go, no matter who you think you can trust, y

anic rising in my chest. Was it true? Had I already lost? W

ming. "You think you can escape? You think you can b

ontrol. But the truth was, I did not know anymore. With every w

he touch was cold, almost clinical. There was no affection in it,only control. It was a remind

azel," he said softly. "You j

he was right. I had made a choice,whether I wanted to adm

to make sense of what had just happened. Jack's words echoed in my head, looping endlessly, suffocating me: You

it was not until now that I truly understood the depths of his control. I was not just another wo

ights, I tried to breathe through the tightness in my chest. My body f

s so tempting that it almost felt like a dream. But the reality of leaving him, of choosing to walk

. Not without consequences. He had built this world around me, around his need for control. And that control was hi

ive in this cage, bound b

the first time since meeting Jack, I wondered if I could su

d uncertainty. Jack's presence lingered in every room, every c

calculating, always watching, ready to catch any sign of weakness, any slip-up on my p

bt. Jack's world was not just dangerous; it was suffocating. Every move I made felt like a step toward an irreversible choic

g in. My mind had been a battlefield all day, my thoughts alternating between Jack and Luca, between the li

hand in it, my phone buzz

inking. Meet me. We nee