Chapter One #2
It was amazing how many times guards, household staff, and even Chen himself left money out in the open. At first, she thought it was a trick. But as time went on, she realized that it wasn’t.
It wasn’t much, but over time, it had quietly added up. It still wasn’t nearly enough to start over, not even close, but it was enough to run. All Willow needed was an opportunity.
The men stopped outside the massive double doors leading into Chen’s office, and Willow’s stomach tightened.
One of them knocked.
“Enter,” the deep, accented voice said.
The guard opened the door and gave Willow a brief, silent gesture to go ahead. She hesitated only for a fraction of a second before stepping into the room, the weight of the moment pressing against her chest, while the two men who had escorted her remained behind and did not follow her in.
The door closed behind her with a soft click that sounded unnaturally loud in the quiet room.
Chen sat behind his desk.
Willow immediately lowered her gaze. Her hands had started trembling, so she clasped them loosely in front of herself, hoping he wouldn’t notice.
After three years, she knew exactly what Chen was capable of. She had been whatever he wanted her to be on any given day, and when his temper turned ugly, she had learned she could become his punching bag just as easily as his companion.
“Come here,” he ordered.
Willow moved forward until she stood several feet from the desk, being sure to stay quiet.
The silence dragged on until it became almost unbearable, pressing in on Willow from every side, until at last she heard the faint scrape of Chen’s chair against the floor. Her heart immediately picked up its pace, beating faster in her chest as dread settled deeper into her stomach.
She watched his expensive shoes appear in her lowered field of vision as he slowly walked around the desk and stopped directly in front of her.
“Look at me.”
The command surprised her, and Willow’s head lifted before she could stop herself.
Tonight he wanted her to look, and Willow wished more than anything that he didn’t.
His expression was almost calm, but there was something cold and vicious beneath it, something that made every survival instinct Willow possessed scream at her to run.
Chen reached out. She forced herself not to flinch as the tip of his finger touched the hollow at the base of her throat. Slowly, he dragged it downward along the center of her chest.
“For three years, I have kept you here with me. I could have sold you that first week for a considerable amount of money, but I chose not to.” His finger stopped, and his gaze remained locked on hers. “Do you know why?”
Willow swallowed. “No.”
“Because you were different. You learned quickly. You understood loyalty. You understood your place.” His mouth curved into a smile that held no warmth. “I rewarded that loyalty by allowing you privileges very few women in my world receive.”
He used that word, allowed, as if he hadn’t stolen every single choice she’d ever had. Willow forced the thought down, keeping it carefully hidden from her face.
“I have protected you,” he continued quietly. “I’ve kept you alive. I’ve given you a beautiful home, and expensive clothes. I even allowed you to keep that child. But there is one thing I cannot tolerate.”
Willow saw his expression change a fraction of a second before his hand moved. The slap sent her head whipping to the side, a sharp burst of pain exploding across her cheek as she staggered backward, barely managing to stay on her feet.
“Betrayal!” he shouted.
Willow’s heart seemed to stop in her chest as the words sank in, and after a moment of stunned stillness, she slowly turned her head back to look at him.
“I don't know what you’re talking about.”
His hand struck her again, and the force of the blow sent her crashing to the floor.
Willow caught herself with one hand, her palm scraping against the polished surface while a metallic taste filled her mouth.
“Lying to me now only makes your betrayal worse.”
Fear surged through her, but she forced herself to look confused.
“I swear, Chen, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chen crouched in front of her. “Riley. The FBI bitch who escaped from me three months ago.” His voice remained frighteningly calm. “Did you truly believe I would never discover who helped her?”
Willow stared at him, her mind racing through every mistake she might have made, every person who might have seen something, every tiny detail she could have overlooked. But in the end, none of it mattered. He knew.
Whether someone had talked or Chen had finally pieced it together, it didn’t really matter anymore. Either way, the outcome was the same, and Willow knew it deep in her bones. She was screwed.
Riley’s escape hadn’t simply embarrassed him. The information she had gotten out with had apparently damaged portions of Chen’s operation, costing him money, contacts, and routes he had spent years building.
He would never forgive Willow for that, and there was no doubt in her mind that he wasn’t going to let her live.
A strange, unsettling calm settled over her as the realization sank in.
Not because she wasn’t afraid, because she was terrified.
But because, suddenly, there was no longer any reason to keep playing the obedient woman.
Not anymore. There was only one thing that still anchored her, one reason left that mattered above everything else. That was Lily.
Willow’s gaze snapped toward the door.
“My daughter.”
Chen stood. “What about her?”
Willow pushed herself onto her knees. “Whatever you’re going to do to me, Lily has nothing to do with it.”
Chen gave a dismissive sigh. “The brat will be taken care of.”
Every drop of blood in Willow’s body turned to ice as the meaning of his words sank in.
She didn’t need him to explain further. She already knew exactly what he meant.
She had heard it before, seen it happen before.
In Chen’s world, people who became inconvenient were “taken care of,” and that was just a polite way of saying they disappeared without a trace.
“No.”
Chen’s eyebrows lifted.
It was probably the first time in three years she had openly told him no.
Willow pushed herself up slowly, unsteady as she rose to her feet.
Her cheek burned and throbbed where he had struck her, and she could taste blood at the corner of her mouth, but even as fear churned violently in her stomach, something deeper began to surface beneath it.
Something stubborn. Something Chen had never been able to strip away fully, no matter how long he had kept her here.
A quiet, unbroken part of her that captivity hadn’t managed to destroy.
Willow had spent three years doing whatever she had to do to survive, swallowing her anger and hiding her hatred because she had believed patience would eventually give her the chance she needed.
That chance had just run out, and Willow felt it settle over her like a final, crushing weight. Chen could hurt her. He could even kill her if he wanted to. But she refused to let him cross one line. No matter what happened to her, he was not touching Lily.
“No,” Willow repeated, steadier this time. “You don’t get to touch my daughter.”
Chen’s expression darkened as he took a step toward her.
Willow knew with absolute certainty that if she wanted Lily to live, she was going to have to get them both out of this house tonight.
Before she could register what was happening, Chen grabbed her hair and dragged her into the bedroom he had attached to his office.
“Please. Don’t do this,” she pleaded, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“You should’ve thought about that before you decided to be an enemy,” he said as he threw her towards the bed.
“I’m sorry,” she screamed.
“Apologies are for mistakes, Willow. What you did was a choice, and now I’m going to remind you what happens to those who choose to betray me.” He yanked the belt from the waist of his pants and ran it over his palm. He swung the belt and struck her over her shoulder.
“Stop!”
He struck her again and again as he told her she was nothing but a warm pussy for him to stick his dick in. He degraded her in every way possible.
Willow cried out and begged him to stop. She had fallen to the floor and was covered in welts.
“Please, Chen. I swear I’ll never betray you again,” she told him as she continued to cry.
He fell to his knees and pulled her up by her cheeks. His dark, almost black eyes bore into hers. “Look what you made me do. Willow, you were special to me. So very special. But like I told you when you first came to live with me. This is your life now, and I will say when it’s over.”
Her lips were quivering. She was petrified. She had Lily to think about. She couldn’t let her precious little girl be left in Chen’s hands.
“Please, Chen. I’ll do anything,” she said, the tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Then you need to show me how truly sorry you are. Get undressed, and get on the bed. Convince me to spare your life.”
Her eyes widened. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to have her.
She obviously didn’t move quickly enough as he pulled her up by her top, ripping the material and lifting her to her tiptoes.
His face was against hers, his spittle hitting her cheeks and eyes.
She could smell the alcohol on his breath.
She scrunched her eyes together and tried not to breathe his scent in. The thought of how he was going to degrade her in such a way caused turmoil and disgust to swirl in her empty belly. She half wondered if it would be better if he just killed her.
No! Be strong for Lily!
“Do you want your punishment to be worse?” Chen asked, his voice so eerily calm that it sent another wave of fear crawling over Willow’s skin. “Would you rather I have the men take you downstairs to the dungeon?”
Willow’s stomach lurched. Oh, Jesus. No.