His Cruel Obsession, Her Agony

My younger brother, Ernesto, was strapped to a metal chair, convulsing, his face a ghastly blue. I was on my knees, begging Kalen Cooper, the man I once loved, to stop.

He looked down at me, his handsome face a mask of cold indifference, and offered a choice: a hundred lashes for me, or Ernesto takes my place.

He said Izabella, the woman who looked just like me and whom he was now obsessed with, needed to be appeased. He called her his "therapy," claiming my disobedience upset her. I reminded him Ernesto had cystic fibrosis, his body already so weak, but Kalen scoffed, saying his pain was far greater.

Ernesto, barely conscious, rasped, "Don't... don't do it for me." But I agreed to the whip, just for his medication. Kalen' s expression softened, pulling me into a cruel illusion of safety.

Then, his smile vanished. "You misunderstood," he whispered, his eyes glinting. "You don' t get to choose who takes the punishment. You only get to agree to it." He pointed at Ernesto. "He will take the lashes for you."

I screamed, fighting to shield my brother, but Kalen held me tight, forcing my face into his chest. I couldn't see, but I heard everything: the sharp crack of the whip, the sickening thud, Ernesto' s choked gasp. Over and over. The man I loved was a monster, finding pleasure in my pain.

Chapter 1

The air in the sterile white room was thick with the metallic scent of blood and disinfectant. Ernesto, Aileen' s younger brother, was strapped to a metal chair, his body convulsing. A thin tube ran from a machine into his arm, but instead of life-saving medicine, it was delivering excruciating pain. His face, already pale from his chronic illness, was now a ghastly shade of blue.

Aileen threw herself at Kalen Cooper' s feet, her hands clutching the fine fabric of his trousers. "Please, Kalen. Stop it. He can' t take any more."

Her voice was raw, torn apart by hours of screaming and begging.

Kalen looked down at her, his handsome face a mask of cold indifference. He adjusted his perfectly tailored suit jacket, not a single hair out of place.

"Stop it?" he asked, his voice calm. "I can. But you have to make a choice."

He gestured towards a small table. On it lay a long, thin leather whip. Next to it was a photograph of Izabella Booth, the woman who looked just like Aileen, the woman Kalen was now obsessed with.

"Izabella was unhappy today," Kalen said simply. "She felt you weren't showing enough remorse for your disobedience. She needs to be appeased."

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "So, you choose. Either you take a hundred lashes with that whip, right now. Or Ernesto takes your place."

A cold wave of dread washed over Aileen. She stared at him, unable to process the cruelty. This couldn't be the same man who once held her, who promised to protect her and her family forever.

"What are you saying?" she whispered, her body trembling.

Kalen sighed, a flicker of impatience in his dark eyes. He checked his expensive watch. "You know how this works, Aileen. Izabella is my therapy. Keeping her happy keeps me stable. You upset her, you get punished. It' s simple."

"Punished?" Aileen' s voice cracked. "You' ve locked me in the basement for days. You let her slap me until my face was unrecognizable. You' ve done enough! Ernesto... he has cystic fibrosis, Kalen! His body is already so weak."

Kalen scoffed, a humorless smile twisting his lips. "My pain is far greater than his, Aileen. The torment I feel when Izabella is displeased... you can' t imagine it. This is just a small price to pay for my peace of mind."

From the chair, Ernesto' s eyes fluttered open. He saw his sister on the floor, broken and desperate.

"Aileen..." he rasped, a weak, gurgling sound. "Don' t... don' t do it for me."

Tears streamed down Aileen' s face. She looked from her suffering brother to the cold, unfeeling man before her. She crawled closer to Kalen, pressing her forehead to his expensive leather shoes.

"Please, Kalen," she begged. "Direct it all at me. Whatever she wants, I' ll do it. Just let him go. Please."

Kalen reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head back. Her scalp screamed in protest, but she didn' t make a sound. His grip was like iron.

"You have sixty seconds to decide," he said, his voice low and menacing. "After that, the choice will be made for you."

The clock on the wall ticked, each second a hammer blow against Aileen' s sanity. She looked at Ernesto, whose breathing was becoming shallower, more erratic. She couldn' t let him die. She couldn' t.

"I... I agree," she choked out, the words tasting like ash in her mouth.

The sound was barely a whisper, a broken fragment of her voice.

"I agree to the whip," she repeated, a little louder, forcing the words past the lump of terror in her throat. "Just... just make sure Ernesto gets his real medication. Promise me."

Kalen' s expression softened instantly. The monster vanished, replaced by the loving man she once knew. He knelt, pulling her into his arms.

"Of course, my love," he murmured into her hair. "Everything will be alright. I just needed to know you still loved me enough to make the right choice."

He held her for a moment, his embrace warm and familiar, a cruel illusion of safety. It was a lie. She knew it was a lie.

He pulled back, his thumb gently wiping a tear from her cheek. Then his smile disappeared, replaced by a chillingly placid look.

"I' m glad you agreed," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It makes this so much easier."

He stood up, turning to the guards standing by the door.

"But you misunderstood," he continued, his eyes glinting with a terrible, dark light. "You don' t get to choose who takes the punishment. You only get to agree to it."

He pointed a finger at Ernesto. "He will take the lashes for you. It' s more fitting, don' t you think? You disobeyed, and your greatest weakness pays the price. That is the lesson."

A guard walked to the table and picked up the whip. The leather coil hissed as it unwound.

Aileen' s blood ran cold. "No!"

She scrambled to her feet, trying to run to her brother, to shield him with her own body.

But Kalen was faster. He caught her, his arms wrapping around her waist like steel bands, pinning her in place.

"Don' t," he whispered in her ear, his breath hot against her skin. "I don' t want you to see this. It would be too upsetting."

He turned her around, forcing her face into his chest, muffling her screams against his expensive shirt. He held her tight, a spectator forced to listen to the show he had orchestrated.

She couldn' t see, but she could hear everything.

The sharp crack of the whip slicing through the air.

The sickening thud of it landing on her brother' s fragile body.

A choked gasp of pain from Ernesto.

Crack. Thud. Gasp.

Over and over.

The sounds bored into her brain, each one a fresh wave of agony. She fought against Kalen' s hold, her nails digging into his back, but he was immovable.

Her body went limp, her strength draining away until she was nothing but a trembling, sobbing wreck in his arms. The man holding her, the man she had once loved more than life itself, was a stranger. A monster who found pleasure in her pain.