Chapter 4 A COLD BED

The door to Elara's room didn't just close; it sealed. The heavy, pressurized hiss of the electronic lock was a sound she was beginning to loathe. It was the sound of her autonomy being stripped away, one click at a time.

Inside the suite Julian had designated as her "cage," the luxury was suffocating. The sheets were silk, the carpet was plush enough to swallow her ankles, and the air was scented with expensive jasmine. But it was a prison nonetheless.

Elara stood by the window, watching the moonlight dance on the restless waves of the Atlantic. Her neck itched. The silver collar was a constant, cold weight. Every time she swallowed, she felt the bite of the metal against her skin. Property of J.B. The words burned in her mind even if she couldn't see them.

I have to get out, she thought, her heart racing. If I don't find a way out tonight, I'll become exactly what he wants-a broken thing.

She began to pace the room, searching for a weakness. The windows were reinforced, likely bulletproof glass. The door was solid oak with a steel core. She turned her attention to the walk-in closet. It was a cavernous space filled with designer clothes Julian had bought for her-each piece more revealing and scandalous than the last.

She pushed past the racks of silk and lace, reaching the back wall. She tapped on the wood, listening for a hollow sound. On the third panel, she heard it. A gap.

With trembling fingers, she searched for a release. She found a small, recessed lever hidden behind a row of fur coats. She pulled it.

A section of the back wall swung inward, revealing a narrow, unlit passage.

The air that wafted out was stale and smelled of old paper. Elara grabbed a small decorative candle from the vanity, lit it, and stepped into the dark. Her heart was a drum in her ears, each beat a warning.

The passage was tight, the stone walls cold to the touch. She walked for what felt like miles, though it couldn't have been more than fifty feet. The path ended at another small door. She pushed it open and stepped into a room that froze the blood in her veins.

It wasn't a bedroom. It was an archive.

The walls were covered in photographs. Thousands of them. They weren't of the estate or the Blackwood family. They were all of her.

Elara moved closer, the candlelight flickering. There were photos of her at her high school graduation. Photos of her sitting in a park three years ago. Photos of her sleeping on a train. Some were taken from a distance, through telephoto lenses; others were so close she could see the individual lashes on her eyes.

This wasn't just a recent purchase. This was an obsession that spanned years.

"Oh, god," she whispered, her hand flying to the collar at her throat. Julian hadn't just bought her at an auction to settle a debt. He had been waiting for the debt to happen. He had been lurking in the shadows of her life, a silent predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

In the center of the room was a desk. On it sat a leather-bound file with her name on it: VANCE, ELARA - SUBJECT 01.

She opened it. Inside were medical records, school transcripts, and a detailed log of her daily routine from the last five years. But it was the final page that made her breath hitch. It was a contract, dated three years ago-long before her father's gambling debts had peaked. It was a deal between Julian Blackwood and a private investigator to "ensure the financial ruin of Arthur Vance."

Julian hadn't just bought her. He had engineered her downfall. He had destroyed her father to make her a commodity he could own.

The rage that surged through her was unlike anything she had ever felt. It was a cold, shimmering fire. She reached for the file, intending to take it, when she heard the sound of voices coming from the other side of the wall.

She pressed her ear to the wood.

"Julian, don't be absurd," a woman's voice drawled. It was sophisticated, sharp, and dripping with entitlement. "The board expects an announcement. Our families have been aligned for decades. You can't let a... 'pet' stand in the way of a merger."

"The board expects what I tell them to expect, Lydia," Julian's voice replied, his tone like a glacier.

"You're being sentimental, darling," the woman, Lydia, countered. Elara heard the unmistakable clink of a glass. "You've had your fun. You bought the girl. You branded her. Now, put her in the servant's quarters where she belongs and let's discuss our wedding date."

Elara's blood ran cold. Fiancée. She scrambled back toward the passage, her mind reeling. She had to get back to her room before she was discovered. She shut the secret door and raced through the dark, her lungs burning. She slipped through the closet, closed the panel, and threw herself onto the bed just as the main bedroom door buzzed.

It swung open.

Julian stood there, but he wasn't alone. Beside him was a woman who looked like she had stepped off the cover of a high-fashion magazine. She had sleek blonde hair, eyes like emeralds, and a smile that didn't reach them. She looked at Elara on the bed-disheveled, breathing hard, and still wearing the silver collar-and laughed.

"So this is her?" Lydia said, walking into the room as if she owned the air Elara breathed. She stopped at the foot of the bed and leaned over, squinting at the silver collar. "It's a bit gaudy, Julian. But I suppose it suits a creature of her... background."

Julian remained by the door, his expression unreadable. "Lydia, I believe I told you to wait in the drawing room."

"I grew bored," Lydia said, her eyes locked on Elara. She reached out a gloved hand and flicked the silver collar. "Tell me, little bird. Does it hurt when he pulls the chain?"

Elara sat up, her eyes flashing with the fire of the secrets she had just discovered. She didn't look at Lydia. She looked straight at Julian.

"He doesn't need a chain," Elara said, her voice steady and lethal. "He's already taken everything else. Haven't you, Young Master?"

Julian's eyes narrowed, a flicker of suspicion crossing his face. He looked from Elara to the closet, then back again.

Lydia turned to Julian, her smile fading. "She has a tongue. We'll have to fix that. After all, a pet should be seen and not heard, especially at our engagement gala next week."

Lydia stepped closer to Elara, leaning down until they were nose to nose. "Enjoy your time in the master's bed, Elara. But remember-I'm the one who will be wearing the Blackwood diamonds. You're just the one wearing the leash."

Lydia turned on her heel and strutted out of the room.

Julian didn't follow her immediately. He stepped further into the room, the door closing automatically behind him. He walked to the edge of the bed and looked down at Elara. The silence between them was a physical weight.

"You were out of bed," he said. It wasn't a question.

"The room is small," Elara replied, her heart hammering. "I was exploring."

Julian reached out, his hand grasping her chin, forcing her to look up at him. His touch was electric, a terrifying mix of the man who had stalked her and the man who now owned her.

"Don't explore too far, Elara," he whispered, his thumb brushing over her lower lip. "You might find things you aren't ready to understand."

"I understand enough," she hissed.

Julian leaned down, his lips ghosting over hers, a touch so light it was an agony. "We'll see. Tomorrow, you meet the staff. And Elara?"

"What?"

"If I ever find you in the archives again, the collar won't be the only thing keeping you in this room."

He let go and walked out, the lock clicking into place with a finality that felt like a death sentence.

Elara sat in the dark, the silver collar feeling heavier than ever. He knew. He knew she had found the room. And yet, he had let her stay.

She looked at the closet. She didn't just have to escape the estate anymore. She had to survive a fiancée who wanted her gone and a Master who had been planning her capture for years.