Her Heart, His Deadly Secret

“The expensive leather of the car seat felt cold against my skin. My fiancé, Mark, was driving, his hand holding mine tightly, his warm smile promising safety. In the passenger seat, Chloe Davis beamed, "Almost there, Ava. You' re going to love the surprise." "Something even better," Mark said, squeezing my hand. "A final getaway before we' re officially Mr. and Mrs. Stevens. Just for us." But the car slowed, turning onto a gravel road. The city disappeared, replaced by dry fields and a high fence topped with barbed wire. A heavy iron gate blocked the road, guarded by two men with rifles. My smile faded. "Mark, where are we?" The car stopped. The engine cut out, and silence was sudden and heavy. Mark let go of my hand, his own sweating. He wouldn' t look at me. "I' m sorry, Ava." He finally turned, but the warmth was gone from his eyes. It was replaced by something cold. Chloe turned, her sweet smile twisted into a sneer. "He' s not sorry. Not really." A guard grabbed my arm, his grip like iron. "Mark, what is this? Help me!" I screamed, my eyes locked on his. He just looked away, his face pale. The gravel bit into my knees as I stumbled and fell. I looked up at the compound beyond the gate, the concrete buildings. A wave of ice washed over me. It wasn't just fear. It was recognition. A deep, soul-crushing recognition. I knew this place. I had spent two years trying to forget it, three years running from the man who built it. "No," I whispered, the sound catching in my throat. "No, no, not here." Chloe nudged my side with her expensive shoe. "Your inheritance was just sitting there, Ava. Mark and I need it. And you' re the key." "What are you talking about?" I choked out, my mind reeling. "They pay well here," Chloe said, casual. "Especially for someone like you. Unbroken. Pretty. They' ll get the money out of you. And what' s left of you will still fetch a good price." Betrayal was a cold, sharp thing. My fiancé and his lover, selling me back to the one place on earth I feared most. A hysterical laugh bubbled up. I looked past Chloe, past the guards, at the main building. The man I once loved. The man who had owned me, body and soul. The man I had betrayed to gain my freedom. "You idiots," I whispered, the words tasting of blood and dust. "You have no idea what you' ve done." Three years. I fought for three years to build a new life, to pretend I was normal. I got engaged to a kind man. I thought I had escaped. And now, the man I chose to escape to had just sold me right back to the devil I ran from. The cruel irony was suffocating. I was home. And I was going to make them pay.”