MELISA

Seven months.

I've waited for him.

Day after day.

Night after night.

They laugh. They touch. They jeer. They break pieces of me every time they walk through that door.

His men - vile, soulless monsters - treated me like nothing. A thing. A prize. A broken doll they could play with.

They starved me. They mocked my screams. They made me relive the hell I thought I had escaped years ago. The memories of the past clawed their way back into my soul - those nights, the ones I buried deep, the ones that nearly ended me.

I remember the pain. The shame. The cold numbness. And now... it happened again. I cried until there were no more tears. I begged the sky for mercy. For death. For Sebastian. Every second felt like a lifetime.

My body felt like it wasn't mine anymore. My soul... slipping away. But deep inside, a faint flicker remained. A whisper. His name.

Sebastian.

If I could still breathe, it was only because I believed - no, knew - he would come.

I had to believe it. Because if I lost that... I'd lose everything. I knew Sebastian would save me. I held onto that belief like oxygen - because without him, I was suffocating. But the man in front of me - the walking nightmare in a white suit - kept pacing the room like a predator. He looked serious, sharp, and terrifyingly calm. His black hair was slicked back, and his brown eyes met mine with that same damn smirk he always wore like armor.

"Well," he said with a twisted grin, "Sebastian Vale really does have good taste, huh?"

I rolled my eyes and snapped, "Fuck you."

He lunged forward and gripped my face, forcing me to look at him. The space between us disappeared, and I felt his breath as if he intended to kiss me.

I tried to move away, but his grip tightened. My cheeks burned under the pressure.

"Look at me, little princess," he hissed. "Your Sebastian Vale will never save you." He laughed like a man who thought he'd already won.

"He will save me," I shot back, rage bubbling in my chest. "And when he does, he'll slit your throat and you'll die screaming." That earned me a brutal slap across the face. I stumbled but didn't fall.

Instead, I stared at him with eyes that burned like fire.

I will kill you myself, you piece of shit.

If only I had the chance. Then he started talking again - this time, his words sliced deeper than any slap.

"You're still hoping he's coming?" he said. "Look at him, Melisa. Right now, he's at some bar, drinking, kissing other girls, having the time of his life - while you're here, rotting in this place." My heart twisted - but I refused to believe him.

"No? no. You're lying. I trust Sebastian. Over you." He chuckled, walking toward me again. His eyes gleamed like he enjoyed this - like he fed on it.

"Melisa, Melisa, Melisa," he purred mockingly. "You know why that bastard handles you so well?

Even with that short temper of his? Because he's hiding something." He paused. His next words landed like a punch to the gut.

"He killed your grandmother." I froze. My mind went blank. No. No, that can't be true. He loved me. He was with me at her funeral. He made love to me in front of her grave, said it was a sign of respect - of devotion.

"He? wouldn't," I whispered, more to myself than to him. "He couldn't."

"You don't believe me?" he said, and pulled out a recorder.

Then he pressed play.

"I just hate that old woman roaming around with Melisa? her grandmother? I want you to check on her inside, just to make sure she's still alive."

And then it cut off. Silence. Cold. Crushing. Silence. My lips trembled. My chest tightened. Was that? his voice? Sebastian Vale. The man I loved. The man I trusted with my entire soul. "You know why he killed my brother so easily?" the bastard continued. "Even though he knew he was my brother? Because your precious Sebastian didn't want his secrets spilling out. He didn't want you to know the truth. That he's just like me." I shook my head violently, tears spilling down my cheeks. "No," I choked. "No. No, no, no?" But doubt had already crept in - and it was clawing at my heart like a demon. "You're lying!"

I screamed, my voice cracking under the weight of disbelief. "Sebastian would never - never - do that!" But my words fell flat. They didn't feel like armor anymore - they felt like paper shields trying to stop bullets.

"He wouldn't..." I repeated, softer this time. I was sobbing now, my throat tightening, lungs refusing to breathe. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. He stepped closer.

I tried to back away, but I was chained - physically and mentally. "Your Sebastian," he sneered, "was never really yours."

I shook my head, my vision blurred by tears. Is it the truth? No... It can't be.

"One more thing," he continued, twisting the knife, "his family and yours - connected. Your parents were well-respected, admired even, despite being middle class. But Sebastian's father?

A powerful man. Influential. Dangerous. And full of jealousy. Your parents shine too brightly. So he snuffed them out." My chest tightened as if the air around me was poisoned.

They killed my parents?

The Vale family?

"And yes," he went on, cold and cruel, "Sebastian knew. His butler, Andrew - he knew everything. That's why Sebastian hates them all. That's why he burned them alive. That's why he ended up in the asylum. Not because he was insane - but because he was born from it."

I fell to the floor. My legs gave out. The tears came harder. My heart? Shattered. My soul? Ripped from the seams.

I believed in him. I believed I could love him into something good. But now? I didn't know who I loved anymore. A savior? Or the monster who wore his face? "I can help you, Melisa," he whispered, crouching down beside me, his voice like poison in my ear.

"I have something you'd like... if you want revenge - for your grandmother. For your parents. For every lie." I blinked awake, disoriented. The ceiling above me... the sheets? Familiar. Safe.

But my heart wasn't. It raced in panic. My head pounded like someone had drilled through my memories.

Then I saw him.

Sebastian.

He moved toward me slowly, cautious - his expression a mix of worry and confusion. His eyes, those same brown eyes I used to find comfort in, were now shadows I didn't know how to read.

"Melisa?" he breathed, reaching out gently.

I flinched, stepping back. My body didn't trust him - my heart wanted to, but my head was spinning with everything I heard. The psycho who kidnapped me... he's gone. Probably dead. Good. He deserved worse. But his words? His lies? Or truths? They lingered. Sebastian took a step forward again, this time slower, as if not to scare me.

"Do you want something to eat, little bunny?" His voice softened with concern. Little bunny. He always called me that. And it still made my heart twist. I stared at him through blurry, tear-stained eyes. And then? he pulled me into his arms.

Tight. Warm. Just like before. I let him. I hugged him back. But the anger - the rage - still clawed inside me. Was he holding me out of love ?or guilt?.

He takes care of me, and until I regained my strength, I didn't tell anyone about what that psycho said to me. I decided that I had to make plans. I wanted to know the truth.

He started kissing my neck and shoulders. My eyes were empty and emotionless. I tried to step back and push him away, but I couldn't hold it anymore.

"Tell me the truth, or you will never see me again, Sebastian." His eyes were full of confusion, and he had no idea. Oh, yeah? He has no idea! No idea that he killed my grandmother and that his family killed my parents!

"What did you do to my grandmother, Sebastian? What about my parents? Your parents killed my family! And you killed my grandmother!" He tried to touch me, but I kept pushing him away.

"Listen to me - " I didn't want to hear any of his words, his lies - not anymore. I was tired of being used. I was tired of being treated like a prize. I was tired of this. Enough! Enough! Enough!

My lungs gasped for air as my heart struggled to handle the fact that he killed my whole family. He couldn't speak, and I couldn't hear him. I was already consumed with anger and hatred.

"Don't talk to me, Sebastian. Leave me alone, just leave?" Before I could continue, he grabbed my neck and kissed me roughly.

"Do you think I could forgive you? Forgive you for killing my whole family? With a kiss? Stop!" He didn't speak. I wanted his words, I wanted him to explain, but he couldn't, because it was the truth.

"I hate you, I hate you, Sebastian!" I pushed him and tried my best to escape.

"Melisa, please, baby, look at me, give me time to explain." I slapped him, but in return, he just picked me up and threw me on the bed. He started ripping off my clothes and used them to tie my arms to the bedposts.

"Sebastian, no, please! No!" He began to assault me, trying to force himself inside me without hesitation. The pain was unbearable as he showed no care for my feelings. He didn't care. I screamed in pain and hatred. I hated him. I hated him.

But why, Sebastian Vale? Why did you betray me? Why did you lie to me?

With every inch of his body inside me, I moaned in a mix of pain and the twisted pleasure he forced upon me. I felt him release inside me, and he had no intention of stopping. I gasped for air, and just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, Andrew threw something massive at Sebastian, causing him to stumble and lose consciousness.

Andrew helped me escape, but he was caught. Sebastian punched him multiple times, and I ran for my life. I had to hide. Where could I go?

Then, I saw the police and people outside. Thank God they were there.

"You will regret this Sebastian Vale." I looked at him as he got cuffed. From afar, he didn't see me. I cried in pain, my body growing weak, yet I felt more anger than love. I didn't know what to do. I saw Andrew hurt, too, in the ambulance. The policemen asked me what happened. Getting ready for some information, how am I gonna start with it, from the moment I was raped, my parents died, my grandma, kidnapped, being fool of a psycho?

"I wish I died," I whispered, as my tears fell down.