The heavy door slammed shut behind her with a chilling finality.
Clang.
Followed by the soft mechanical whir of ten hidden locks engaging.
Amelia spun around, eyes wide, breath catching in her throat.
"You locked me in?" she snapped, voice brittle with disbelief.
The man leaned lazily against the velvet chaise lounge—shirt half-unbuttoned, collarbone peeking from the shadows, eyes glinting like a predator after a long chase.
"Correction," he murmured, sipping dark wine from a crystal glass, "I locked the world out."
Her fingers trembled as she gripped the cold metal doorknob.She yanked.Once.Twice.It didn't budge.Her breath came in shallow bursts, chest heaving.She turned slowly, eyes narrowing.
Panic pulsed under her skin like wildfire.She hated confinement.Hated being caged—especially by him.And yet…A part of her… a dark, hidden part she never dared examine—felt safety in this madness.Like her heartbeat had finally found something it could sync with.Even if it was a bomb.
His voice slithered across the room like smoke, curling around her ankles, climbing up her spine, dragging goosebumps in its wake.He didn't walk toward her—he prowled.Like a flame stalking dry wood.Ready to burn her alive.
"Why are you doing this?" she breathed.
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he leaned in—close enough that she could smell the sandalwood on his skin.
"Because you forget too easily… and I remember too much."
She stiffened."What do you mean?"
He tilted his head, gaze dark with something unspoken.
"You once promised to stay. You broke it. Now I'm making sure you can't leave."
Amelia's knees nearly buckled.
A flicker.
A flash.
A memory she didn't remember having—
Bare feet on cold marble.
A silver ring.
A whispered "Forever."
"You're insane," she choked, voice hoarse.
He smiled.A smile so soft, it hurt more than a slap.
"Then why are you blushing?"