Content Warning: This chapter contains scenes of attempted sexual assault, emotional distress, and trauma recovery.
Feeling Adam's hand groping her left breast, Ava instinctively slapped his hands off and stumbled to her feet, desperate to run. But the dizziness from whatever was added to her drink hit her like a wave, knocking her balance out from under her. Her legs gave out, and she fell back onto the couch with a painful thud.
Before she could recover, Adam grabbed her roughly and forced his lips onto hers. He shoved his tongue past her lips, vile and suffocating. One of his hands groped her other breast, squeezing painfully, while the other pinned her down by the shoulder.
Ava felt herself gag as her stomach twisted in revulsion. Her head was banging and her vision blurred. She tried to push him off, her hands fumbling weakly against his chest but her body was sluggish and her strength was draining away fast.
Somewhere in the haze, she thought of her phone, if she could just reach it but her limbs wouldn't cooperate.
~~~~
Meanwhile, back at the Blackwood estate, Damien came back early from his trip. He stepped through the grand entrance. The butler greeted him, quickly helping to take off his coat and then his suitcase.
Damien stopped walking as his eyes swept across the hallway. " Where is Ava?" He asked as he shrugged off the cold from outside.
"She left about an hour ago, sir," the butler replied. "From her attire, it appeared she went out dancing."
Damien's face remained unreadable. He nodded, murmuring a faint, "Thank you."
Without another word, he ascended the staircase, walked into the estate's private bar and plucked a bottle from the shelf. He poured himself a drink, swirling the amber liquid in the glass before carrying it into his study.
Taking a seat behind the heavy oak desk, he raised the glass to his lips but paused, his eyes moving toward the clock on the wall. It was almost 11 PM.
He set the glass down, untouched and leaned back in the chair, his eyes closing briefly.
~~~~
Back at the club, Ava was losing the battle to stay conscious. Her head throbbed and her heart hammered in her ears. She felt Adam's hands tearing at her again.
A whimper escaped her lips as she tried to shove him away. It was a pathetic and weak movement. Her bag, where was her bag? She spotted it beside her on the couch and lunged for it.
Adam cursed and tried to rip it from her grasp. He succeeded after a violent tug. He hurled it across the room, the loud thud of it hitting the floor making her flinch.
Grabbing her by the chin, Adam sneered down at her. His breath was rancid. "Behave," he growled, "and I might even be gentle."
A sick, twisted smile curled his lips as he stood up, his hands fumbling with his belt. He seemed to be enjoying every bit of the whole ordeal. Ava's fingers, trembled but driven by pure survival instinct, clutched something inside her jacket pocket. The pepper spray she had snagged before he tossed her bag.
As Adam dropped his pants, exposing himself with no shame, Ava's pulse exploded into a frantic rhythm.
The moment he came at her again, she yanked the pepper spray up and sprayed it directly into his eyes.
A savage scream ripped from his throat. He staggered backward, clawing at his face and cursing violently.
Ava didn't wait. She shoved herself off the couch, forcing her shaky legs to move. She snatched her handbag from the floor and bolted toward the door, her breath coming in shallow and panicked gasps.
Bursting out of the clubroom, she fumbled in her bag for her phone. Her hands shook violently as she pulled it out. The screen was cracked from the earlier toss, spiderweb like fractures across the display screen but it still lit up. Dozens of missed calls and frantic messages from Lila flooded the screen.
With trembling fingers, Ava called her back.
When Lila answered, Ava's voice cracked and broke as she gasped out where she was.
Lila didn't waste a second. She found Ava minutes later, charging into the hallway with terror and rage blazing on her face. Without a word, she wrapped her jacket around Ava's trembling shoulders and led her out of the club into the night.
The car ride was suffocatingly silent at first as Lila drove. Ava sat curled into herself, staring out the window with vacant and glassy eyes.
Finally, Lila couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I'm so sorry," she choked out. "God, Ava, I should've noticed that you were missing sooner! I shouldn't have let you out of my sight, I'm so sorry. I…"
"It's not your fault," Ava said flatly. Her voice sounded empty and brittle.
She made Lila promise not to tell anyone, not Damien, not the agency, no one.
Lila protested, almost in tears herself, begging her to reconsider telling the agency if she wasn't comfortable telling Damien.
But Ava shook her head. No one could know.
She remembers the man his laugh, his touch. Either way, she feels violated, dirty, and furious at him, at herself for letting her guard down
~~~~
When they pulled up to the Blackwood estate, Lila squeezed her hand before they slipped out of the car. Lila went her way while Ava walked towards the entrance.
The grand entrance loomed before her. Each step up the stairs felt heavier than the last.
She stepped inside quietly, hoping to make it upstairs unseen.
As she made her way to the stairs leading to her room, she froze when she saw him.
Damien was standing in front of the fireplace in the living room, the glass in his hand half-full. The firelight cast shadows over his sharp, unreadable face as he stared at the fire like it was something interesting.
He turned at the sound of her footsteps, his gaze settling on her.
"You're back," she said, hating how her voice quaked.
He nodded, his eyes lingering on her. "Seems like you had a lot of fun."
Ava forced a small smile, her lips trembling slightly. "Yeah. I had fun," she lied.
Damien watched her for a long moment. His eyes, dark and deep, seemed to search her face for something. Then he gave a slight nod and turned away, disappearing into the hallway without another word.
Ava climbed the stairs, locked her bedroom door behind her, and collapsed onto the floor.
The dam inside her broke.
She sobbed, the first real, gut-wrenching cry she's had in a long time. Broken sobs racked her whole body. Tears poured down her face as she curled into a ball, clutching her own arms tightly. She felt trapped in her own skin, unsafe even in her own mind.
No matter how hard she scrubbed her skin in the shower later, she still felt filthy.
She promised herself through gritted teeth, through searing pain, that it would never happen again. That no man will ever make her feel powerless again. She would never be that helpless again.
And yet, even as the night stretched endlessly on, she told no one else.
Not even Damien.