Chapter 409 – What Exactly are You Trying to Prove?
The word cracked like a whip. The man stepped back, swallowing hard.
And Ariel? She shrank again. Shrinking, shrinking, until her shoulders curled, until her eyes dropped to the polished marble floor that suddenly looked like the inside of her cage.
Her lungs burned. Her palms sweated. Her heartbeat was a war drum she couldn't control.
Mariell's heels clicked once more as she closed the space. "Tell me, Ariel. Did you cry for him too? Did you give him your little pathetic pearls? Or does he just like your body? Answer me."
Ariel couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Her lips parted. Nothing came.
Her vision blurred, shame boiling hot behind her eyes, rage buried under years of training that told her. "Don't talk back. Don't resist. It'll only make it worse."
And that's when the air shifted.
Slow. Heavy.
Like gravity remembered who owned the room.
The door to the lounge opened again—softly. Almost casually.
