Chapter 1

Allie Mclean secretly booked a sensory-friendly movie screening for her autistic brother, Devon, a rare act of defiance against her controlling fiancé, Griffin Ryan.

Griffin, a powerful real estate heir, found out and retaliated by remotely torturing Devon with strobe lights and discordant screeches, forcing Allie to watch her brother' s terror.

He held her captive, making her witness Devon' s agony, all because his new obsession, an intern named Kassie, claimed Allie had given her a "funny look."

The cruelty escalated, always tied to Kassie' s whims. If Kassie complained, Devon suffered. When Kassie feigned a car accident, Griffin forced Allie, who was anemic, to donate blood for Kassie, only to have it discarded.

Allie' s world shattered. She realized Griffin saw Devon as a weapon and her as a disposable possession.

The final blow came when Griffin, at Kassie' s false accusation, brutally killed Allie' s beloved horse, Starlight, right in front of her. This monstrous act ignited a cold, clear rage within Allie, pushing her to her breaking point. She knew she had to escape, not just for herself, but for Devon.

Chapter 1

Allie Mclean secretly booked the appointment. It was for a sensory-friendly movie screening, a rare event designed for kids like her brother, Devon. She used a prepaid card and a throwaway email, covering her tracks with the precision of a spy. It was a small act of defiance, a tiny bubble of normalcy she tried to create for him.

Griffin Ryan found out anyway. He always found out.

He stood in the doorway of his penthouse living room, a silhouette against the glittering New York skyline. The smile on his face was wrong. It didn' t reach his eyes.

"Planning an outing, sweetheart?" he asked.

The monitor on the wall showed Devon' s room. Her brother, seventeen but with the mind of a young child, was rocking back and forth on his bed, humming softly as he lined up his colorful blocks. He was calm. He was safe. For now.

Griffin walked to the control panel mounted on the wall. It was a custom system he' d had installed, one that could manipulate every aspect of Devon' s environment.

"You know the rules, Allie," Griffin said, his voice dangerously soft. "You want to do something with him, you ask me first."

He flicked a switch.

On the screen, Devon' s room exploded with chaos. Strobe lights flashed erratically, and a high-pitched, discordant screech filled the air. Devon flinched, his hands flying to his ears. He let out a wail of pure terror, his body curling into a tight ball on the bed.

"Stop it!" Allie cried, lunging for the panel.

Griffin caught her wrist, his grip like steel. "Not yet. He needs to learn. And so do you."

He held her in place, forcing her to watch. Devon' s cries tore through the speakers, a sound that ripped Allie' s heart to pieces. She could feel his terror, his confusion, his pain. He was trapped in a sensory hell, and the man she once thought she loved was the devil pulling the levers.

"Please, Griffin, he didn' t do anything wrong," she begged, tears streaming down her face. "It was me. Punish me."

"Oh, I am," Griffin said, his gaze fixed on the screen. He seemed to enjoy the scene. "This hurts you far more than anything I could do to your body, doesn' t it?"

He was right. Her own pain was a distant echo compared to this. Devon was her world.

"Why are you doing this?" she sobbed, her voice breaking.

Griffin' s thumb stroked the remote control for the system. One more press and the volume would increase, the lights would flash faster. "I saw Kassie crying today."

Allie' s blood ran cold. Kassie Rodgers. The ambitious, doe-eyed intern who had become Griffin' s new obsession.

"What does that have to do with Devon?"

"She said you looked at her funny in the hallway. Made her feel unwelcome," Griffin said, his tone casual, as if discussing the weather. "It upset her. And when Kassie is upset, I get upset. And when I' m upset..." He gestured to the screen, where Devon was now thrashing, his small whimpers of pain barely audible over the noise. "He pays the price."

The world tilted. A look. He was torturing her autistic brother because of a look Kassie claimed she gave her.

Her body went limp, the fight draining out of her. She slid to the floor, her gaze locked on the monitor. Tears blurred her vision. "He' s all I have, Griffin."

"I know," Griffin said, crouching down in front of her. He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb, a gesture that was once tender and now felt like a violation. "That' s what makes him such a perfect weapon."

He smiled that same wrong smile again. "Now, do you still want to take him to the movies without my permission?"

She shook her head, a choked sob escaping her lips.

"Good girl."

He stood up and turned off the system. Silence fell, broken only by the sound of Devon' s ragged, frightened breaths from the speaker. Griffin looked down at her, his expression unreadable.

"You should have remembered your place, Allie," he said. "You' re here because I allow it. Don' t ever forget that again."

He walked away, leaving her crumpled on the cold marble floor, the image of her terrified brother burned into her mind.

It hadn' t always been like this.

Allie Mclean was a nobody from Queens. A psychology student at Hunter College, working two jobs to make rent on the tiny apartment she shared with Devon after their parents died in a car crash two years ago. She was fierce and determined, driven by a love for her brother that was the sun in her universe. He was her reason for everything.

Griffin Ryan was the heir to the Ryan real estate empire. His name was on half the buildings in Manhattan. He was a prince of the city, powerful, charismatic, and used to getting everything he wanted.

They met by chance at a charity gala she was waitressing at. He' d spilled champagne on her cheap uniform, and instead of being annoyed, she' d just handed him a napkin and said, "Don' t worry, it' s a rental."

He was intrigued. He' d never met a woman who wasn' t trying to impress him.

His pursuit was the stuff of legends. He sent a thousand white roses to her cramped apartment, a gesture so grand it blocked the hallway. He had "Allie Mclean, will you go out with me?" written in the sky over Central Park. It was a city-wide spectacle.

Allie was terrified. She tried to run. She knew she didn' t belong in his world of private jets and endless wealth. This was a game to him, a rich boy' s fleeting fancy.

But he was persistent. He showed up at her second job, a dingy diner, and just sat in a booth for hours, drinking coffee and watching her work. He didn' t push. He just waited. One night, he found her huddled in the alley, crying from exhaustion. He took off his thousand-dollar coat and wrapped it around her, then drove her home in his sleek black car without saying a word.

That was the moment her defenses started to crumble.

He was good to Devon. He hired the best therapists, found the best schools. He bought her a horse, a beautiful mare she named Starlight, fulfilling a childhood dream she' d long since buried. He whispered in her ear that he' d take care of her, that she' d never have to worry again.

And she believed him. Standing in the graveyard on the anniversary of her parents' death, with Griffin' s arm wrapped around her, she told their headstones she' d finally found someone. Someone who would love her and protect her and Devon.

She thought she had found a fairytale.

Then came Kassie Rodgers. She was a new assistant at his company, all wide eyes and feigned innocence. And Griffin, a man who feasted on novelty, was instantly smitten.