Chapter 3 The Boss

[Lilia]

The ride was quiet. Valentin kept his eyes fixed on the road, his hands steady on the wheel. Outside, the night swallowed everything beyond the headlights. I couldn’t see where we were going. The blasting cold air from the car’s vents prickled my skin, yet sweat pooled at the base of my neck.

Good thing Valentin had given me his coat; without it, I would have been shivering. It was my first time inside a car like this, luxurious, smooth, silent. I had imagined sitting in one as a child, daydreaming. But not like this. Not as cargo. Fear drowned out any sense of wonder.

My clammy palms clutched the seatbelt, knuckles white. My eyes stayed on the dark ribbon of road ahead. Beyond the windows, tall walls loomed, featureless in the dark. When the car turned, a massive black gate rose at the end of the curve, so high I couldn’t see the top.

There were no guards. No one moved to open it. Valentin reached into his pocket, pulled out a metal card, and rolled the window down. He tapped the card against a blinking red sensor embedded in the wall. The gate groaned, sliding aside to let us pass.

Inside, the road stretched on. Another ten minutes ticked by on the dashboard clock. No matter how far we drove, I still couldn’t see the mansion. My fingers dug into the coat as if clinging to it would keep me from unraveling.

A flash of light in the distance caught my breath. My eyes widened.

He’d said “mansion,” but this wasn’t a mansion. It was a palace.

“Welcome to your possible new home,” Valentin said at last, his voice low, unreadable.

Possible. The word lodged in my chest. He wasn’t sure if I would live or die once his boss saw my injury. He’d even warned me in the car: if the boss didn’t accept me, I might never leave here alive.

Valentin got out first, circling the car to open my door. He held my waist as I stepped down, careful not to let me put weight on my knee.

The sight in front of me stunned me momentarily. The mansion rose like something out of a book, framed by towering oak trees whose roots broke the earth in thick veins. Strip lights curled around their trunks, casting an otherworldly glow over the flowers at their bases. A fountain danced at the center of the courtyard, an angel perched at its heart, wings stretching skyward as water cascaded down.

It would have been beautiful if not for what waited inside. No prince, no knight, no rescue. Only the man who had bought me.

A shiver ran down my spine.

“Come, let’s get you inside. Your hands are cold as death,” Valentin said, guiding me toward the massive double doors. He pressed a small button hidden beside the pillar.

My heart raced. My palms slicked with sweat. The wound in my knee began to throb more fiercely. My earlier fascination with the place evaporated into pure dread.

Oh God. Please. I don’t want to die.

The door banged from the inside, making me leap back, my soul nearly ripping from my body.

“Easy,” Valentin murmured. “They’re just opening it.”

The door swung inward, revealing a man in a black suit, semi-bald, with a thin mustache. He wore white gloves over thick wrists and gleaming black shoes.

“Good evening, Mr. Morozov. Boss is waiting for you in his study.”

I felt his eyes sweep over me like a ledger entry, then he turned without another word.

My feet felt like lead. Each step was a battle. The marble floor gleamed under the chandeliers, but every instinct told me to run.

Valentin nudged me gently forward. “I know how you feel, sweet cake. But there’s no escaping this.”

I forced myself to move. The cold marble stung my bare feet, a gasp tearing from my throat. The interior was as extravagant as I feared—teardrop crystals glittering from the chandeliers, grand windowsills stretching two stories high. We ascended a wide spiral staircase, its polished wooden railings gleaming under the soft lights.

My knees trembled halfway up. The wound throbbed, but Valentin held me steady, not letting me fall.

“As much as I’d like to carry you, I can’t,” he muttered near my ear. “Not here, where the boss’s eyes are on us. He may be my friend, but you’re his property now. Touching you where he doesn’t want me to is putting my head on a spike.”

The words made my stomach twist. I glared at him weakly, but kept climbing until we reached the second floor.

He led me through a maze of corridors before stopping at a white door. He knocked three times.

“Kael, we’re here,” he called.

My heart rammed against my ribs. The door opened.

A man stood there. Not uglier than Valentin—far from it. But his presence hit harder. It was in the way he stood, the weight of his silence, the mossy green of his eyes that pinned me in place.

I swallowed, pressing closer to Valentin.

The man’s brows furrowed. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

“Come in,” he said.

That voice nearly sent me to the floor.

Valentin gently pushed me forward. My legs refused to move. My mouth was dry as sand.

“Come on, sweet cake,” he whispered.

The study was enormous—bigger than the apartment my father and I had lived in—but it felt like a cage. Polished wooden floors reflected the low chandelier’s glow. The man walked to his desk, leaning against it, arms crossed, his gaze slicing into me like a blade.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

Valentin sighed, stepped inside, and caught my wrists. He pulled me forward. Pain tore through my knee as my left foot tripped over my right. I almost hit the floor before he yanked me upright again.

The blood from my wound splashed onto the polished wood. My tears blurred everything.

“I never use the good, but it’s damaged already,” the man said, his voice low and dangerous. “Would you like to explain why, Valentin?”

My stomach iced over. This was it. If he rejected me now, I wouldn’t leave this room alive.

Valentin lowered his head. “During the showcase, they concealed the wound. I didn’t notice until we were on the way here.”

Even someone as large as Valentin bowed to this man. It was like watching a lion lower itself before a greater predator.

The man inhaled sharply, his temper coiled tight. “Call the auctioneer.”

Valentin obeyed instantly, taking out his phone and stepping out of the room.

Silence pressed down like a physical weight. I kept my head low, chin to chest. My heart beat so loudly it echoed in my ears. I felt the man’s stare burning into me, but I didn’t dare move.

Valentin came back in moments later. His voice was flat. “They said you can kill her and get a refund if you’re not satisfied with the purchase.”

My eyes flew wide. Tears spilled unchecked as I stared at him. He wasn’t looking at me, only at the man in front of me.

Footsteps approached. Large, deliberate. A hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back so hard my neck screamed. My eyes met the mossy green of his.

A gun appeared from nowhere, cold metal pressing against my temple.

“Please…” I whispered, closing my eyes.

My heart raced so hard it felt like it would crack my ribs. My breath came shallow and broken. I thought of my mother. I prayed I would see her again.

The silence stretched. Then the gun clicked.

“Lock her up in the guest room,” the man said.