Chapter 53
Evelyn
The night is dark and full of terrors. I wandered toward my office again, needing distraction, needing anything. Halfway inside, I froze. The locked door—the one he never let me near—was open. Just slightly.
As if someone had forgotten. As if something inside wanted out.
My heartbeat stumbled. My feet moved before I told them to.
I pushed the door open. And stepped into a different world.
Dark screens glowed with feeds—hallways, elevators, stairwells.
The nursery. My bedroom. The nanny on the couch.
Every inch of the penthouse is monitored. Then… other feeds.
Rooms I didn’t recognize. Concrete walls. Chains. People. Grace. Broken. Bruised. Curled on a cot. Before I could process it, another camera shifted.
A man in a chair. Bleeding. Swollen. Unrecognizable— yet eerily familiar. Then the angle was adjusted. And Alexander stepped into view. Cold. Controlled. Predatorial. He spoke. The man flinched. And then Alexander punched him. Once. Twice. Relentless.
My vision tunneled. My knees weakened. My lungs refused to work. I knew that face. I knew that jaw. I knew that nightmare. Before the pain could fully bloom—A hand touched my shoulder.
I screamed. Whipped around. Alexander stood there. Breathless. Eyes blown wide with panic. “Evelyn…” His voice cracked. “I didn’t mean for you to see that.”
I stumbled back. Away from him. Away from the screens. Away from the man I thought I loved. “What the fuck is this?” My voice shook, but it was louder than either of us expected.
He looked at the feed behind me. His expression collapsed. “Evelyn—”
“Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t you dare say it was for me.”
“I am the same man—”
“No,” I whispered. “You’re not. You’re someone else. Someone I don’t know.” Fear thrummed in my bones. Not because he touched me. But because he loved me. Because a man who loved like this was unstoppable.
He reached for me. I backed away. Then—I ran. Out of that room. Out of the office that wasn’t mine anymore. Out of the penthouse that suddenly felt built from lies. He called my name. I didn’t stop. The elevator doors closed between us.
My hands shook so violently that I could barely dial. “Sammy?” I choked out.
She answered instantly, voice sharp and soft all at once. “Come. I’ve got you.”
The taxi felt like moving underwater. My heart hammered, my babies fluttered anxiously beneath my ribs, and I tasted metal every time I swallowed.
By the time she opened the door, I collapsed into her arms. No explanations.
No questions. Just her holding me together while I tried not to fall apart.
And as I finally let the tears crash free, I knew one thing:
I wasn’t ready to face him. Not until I knew who he really was and who I would have to become to survive loving him.