. Each sound rose and fell, like a haunting melody in the air, the weig

rom shattering. Her wrists, raw and bruised from her futile struggles, rested limply against the sc

train of hours spent in resistance. Her gaze, piercing and wild, locked

mbling yet sharp. "I hate you more th

erfected. "Good," I replied, leaning against the wall as though her words hadn't

e overcoming her slender body. "You're disgusting," she hiss

e corner of my mouth curl into a mocking grin. "Call me what you want," I said, my tone as casual as if we were discussing the weather.

as immediate. Her face twisted, her hatred almost tangible. "Don't you dare call m

within me, a part of me-a part I'd long since buried-recoiled. It was insignificant, a fleeting sensat

te me all you want, Elara," I said, my voice low and steady, each word calculated to wound.

s," she whispered, her voice trembling yet resolute. "You might think you've won, but yo

ealized existed. But I couldn't let her see that. Instead, I laughed-a sharp, humo

ed. I leaned down, close enough to feel her shallow breaths ag

ery bit of it Elara," I whispered, my voice sharp and deliber

ng darker. "I don't need your forgiveness. You'll learn to obey me, whether you like it or not. And tonight..." I let th

red. "You'll never have me," she said softly, her vo

to the spaces between us. They gnawed at me in a way I couldn't quite

straightening and stepping back from t

ation had been nothing more than a transaction. "Rest well," I said,

ntly into the pillow. Something about the sight-a quiet kind of surrender,

g heavier than it should. Her hatred follo

I leaned against the wall outside her room, running a hand through my hair. My fi

d her tears leave a mark

needed to understand her place, and I'd done what was nece

I'd lost something ins

allway, each step echoing like the beat of a war drum. Whate

ldn't

le, easier to handle than anything else. And as long

into my room, the sound of her sobs still echoing fai