NovelEnglishBut now, lit by the moon and backlit by the ocean mist, his expression twisted into something grotesque. His
eyes glimmered, his face split into a grin that made my stomach curl.
“Well, well,” Jimson said, slowly stepping closer. “You're prettier up close.”
| froze as he crouched beside me, lifting a hand to stroke my
cheek. His fingers were cold and greasy. | turned my head away, gagging under the tape. He laughed and sniffed
the tips of his
fingers, like a man savoring a meal.
“I don’t think you are hoping that someone’s gonna save you,
are you?” he whispered. “Nobody knows where you are.“”
| could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. Yve stirred inside
me, frantic. | told her silently-break the chair, do something,
anything.
But she was weak. My body was already aching from being
bound for hours, maybe more. | didn’t know how long I'd been
here.
Then the chair creaked under me. | shifted just enough to make
one leg wobble. Jimson turned his back briefly, laughing at his
own joke. | leaned my weight hard against the weak leg.
Chapter 30
Crack.
The old wooden leg snapped, and | fell hard onto the ground,
coughing from the dust that rose around me. My arm burned
from the angle, but I didn’t care.
Jimson turned, excited. He dropped to his knees besideand
grabbed my ankle. “Trying to run? No, no, sweet girl, he said,
voice low and shaking. “You're not going anywhere. You're
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mine now. I'll keep you right here, nice and quiet. My timepass.”
He reached down and stroked my thigh with a slow, disgusting
pass of his hand. My skin crawled. | tried to move, but the rope
around my ankles held firm.
My mind screamed. But my face stayed blank. If | screamed,
he’d enjoy it. If | struggled, he'd tighten the ropes.
So | did something else. | nodded. Slowly. Willingly.
His eyes lit up. “Oh? You want to behave now?”
| nodded again, pretending to be afraid—no, pretending to give
in. | gestured toward the stairs behind him, then looked down at
the dusty floor and made a face like | was disgusted. He looked
down too.
“You don’t want it here?” he said, mocking. “Too dirty for you?”
| forced another nod.
Chapter 40
His face twisted into something almost pleased. “Fine. Upstairs,
then. But don’t try anything funny”
He loosened the ropes around my wrists and ankles but kept the long end wrapped around my neck like a leash.
“One wrong move,” he warned, “and I'll throw you into the sea. Nobody will
ever find you.”
But | wasn’t thinking about the ocean. | was thinking about the phone in his back pocket. It had rung twice now-
short buzzes. | recognized the distinct hum of Gai’s encryption ringtone.
They were calling him. Not because he was my captor. But maybe because they'd figured it out.They must have
checked the factory records. They must have realized who hadn't been
accounted for during my disappearance.
Upstairs, the air felt heavier, the walls narrower. Jimson’s phone kept buzzing in his back pocket. He cursed
under his
breath and fumbled with it, using the dim glow of his screen to
look for a light switch on the wall.
That's when | saw it.
A broken window. Its jagged edge gaped open just ahead,
framed by the dusty hallway. Beyond it-nothing but the ocean,
black and endless.
My pulse surged. That was it. My only chance.
0
| whispered to Yve in my head, checking in.
“Are you with me?”
Yve’'s answer was sharp.“Better to fight than let scum like him
win.”
| nodded to myself, swallowed my fear, and let my knees go
slack. | staggered forward slightly, pretending | could barely
stand, like the struggle downstairs had drained every ounce of
strength from me.
Jimson, buying the act, grunted and
turned his back to Opethé The
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bedroom door. “Move faster,” hen
muttered. ‘0 [11 Foé orient is on
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That's all he got out.
| ripped the rope from around my
neck, the burn on TR forgotten.
My legalpunché | ward with
everything | had left. The content is
on novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
His head turned-just in tto seethrow myself toward
the shattered glass.
“Olivia!”
But | was already gone.
The wind roared in my ears as | crashed through the broken
window. My skin stung as glass sliced my arms and shoulder.
Then gravity took over.
Chapter ap
| shut my eyes. The salty air was gone-replaced by the cold,
violent embrace of the sea.
Alexander's POV
The moment | stepped into the factory’s main conference room,
the chaos simmered down like oil hitting cold steel. Dozens of
voices fell silent. All eyes turned to me-srelieved, some
terrified.
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