The silence of the Watson mansion should have been my warning.
I had walked through those halls for months, draped in silks and guarded by the second richest man on the planet. To the world, I was Jasper Jean Mariano—the girl who won the heart of the cold, lethal Keifer. But to myself, I was just Jay. And today, Jay wanted a moment of normal life.
Just a quick trip," I had whispered to the empty foyer. I didn't tell Keifer. I didn't tell Keigan or Keiran, who were likely in the gym or the study. I wanted to breathe air that didn't smell like Keifer's expensive cologne and old money.
I was wrong. In our world, "normal" is a death sentence.
The Awakening
My consciousness returned in agonizing slow-motion. My head throbbed, arhythmic pounding that synced with the low, heavy hum of jet engines. The air was pressurized, smelling of ozone and expensive leather.
I opened my eyes, and for a moment, the world was a blur of cream and gold. Then, the nightmare solidified.
"Finally," a voice silkier than the sheets in my own bedroom murmured. "I wasbeginning to think the sedative was too strong. I'd hate to have you sleep through our first flight together."
I bolted upright, but a sharp spike of vertigo sent me reeling back into the plush leather seat. I wasn't in London. I wasn't at the supermart. I was in a private cabin, thousands of feet above the clouds.
Sitting across from me, legs crossed with an effortless, predatory grace, was Yuri Hanamitchi.
In the dim cabin lights, his hair was a violent, unnatural red—the color of a warning sign. He held a crystal glass of amber liquid, the ice clinking softly against the glass. The sound made my skin crawl.
"Yuri," I rasped, my throat feeling like it was lined with glass. "What have you done?"
"I've done what Keifer was too cowardly to do," Yuri said, leaning forward. The light caught the sharp angles of his face. As the heir to the Hanamitchi empire—the 5th richest man in the world—he carried a different kind of darkness than my husband. Keifer was a storm; Yuri was a poison. "I've taken what I wanted without asking for permission."
The Possession
I looked down at my wrists. There were no shackles, but the psychological weight of being in his sky-palace was heavier than iron.
"Keifer will tear the world apart to find me," I said, my voice gaining strength. I thought of the Section E boys. I thought of Erdix and Rory—their fingers are probably burning through firewalls as we speak. I thought of my brother Aries, my "Horoscope," and the fury that would be written in his stars when he found out I was gone.
"Keifer is a businessman," Yuri sneered, reaching out. I tried to pull away, but he was fast. His fingers caught my chin, forcing me to look at him. His touch was cold. "He calculates loss. By the time he calculates your value, you'll be in Tokyo. You'll be behind my gates. My staff will dress you. My chefs will feed you. You will be a Hanamitchi in every way that matters."
"I am a Watson," I hissed, glaring at him through the tears of frustration welling in my eyes. "And my family... Angelo, Lia... they won't just sue you, Yuri. They will erase you."
Yuri's thumb brushed over my bottom lip, a gesture so intimate and unwanted that it made my stomach flip. "Let them try. I've spent my life being fifth, Jay. Fifth richest, fifth most powerful. But with you? I'll have the one thing Keifer prizes above his billions. I'd trade every yen in my bank account just to watch the look on his face when he realizes I touched what was his."
The Dark Horizon
I turned my head away, staring out the small oval window. Below us, the sun was beginning to bleed over the horizon, casting a deep, bruised purple across the clouds. We were heading East. Far from the safety of the London mansion. Far from the protective shadow of the Watson brothers.
I felt a cold shiver. I knew Keifer. He was the son of Kizer Watson—a man they called a monster. Keifer tried to hide that monster from me, wrapping it in tailored suits and diamond jewelry. But now, Yuri hadn't just kidnapped a wife; he had stolen the only thing keeping that monster sane.
"You think you're taking me to Japan to be your property," I whispered, looking back at the red-haired devil across from me.
Yuri smirked. "I know I am."
"No," I said, a dark smile of my own touching my lips despite my fear. "You're just giving Keifer a reason to show the world why he's the second richest man. You aren't taking me to your home, Yuri. You're turning Japan into your graveyard."
Yuri's smirk wavered for a fraction of a second, a flicker of doubt in those dark eyes. But then he laughed, a loud, manic sound that echoed in the pressurized cabin.
"Then let's see who dies first, Jasper. Because I'm not letting you go until there's nothing left of the Watsons but ash."
The wheels of the private jet hit the tarmac with a violent jar, signaling the end of my life as a Watson. Outside the window, the neon lights of Tokyo blurred into streaks of cold electric blue and blood-red.
I tried to stand as the cabin door hissed open, my legs shaking from the fading sedative, but I wasn't fast enough.
"I told you, Jasper," Yuri hissed, his voice no longer smooth. It was jagged, filled with a manic energy. "The time for talking is over."Before I could breathe, I felt a sharp, blinding pain at the back of my head. His fist coiled into my hair, his fingers tangling in the strands with a brutal grip. I let out a choked scream as he yanked my head back, forcing me to look up at the dark Japanese sky.
"Walk," he growled.
The Descent
He didn't lead me down the stairs; he dragged me. Every step down the air-stair felt like my scalp was being torn away. My heels skidded on the metal, and Istumbled, but Yuri didn't slow down. To the guards standing on the tarmac, I wasn't a human being—I was a suitcase. A prize.
We were thrown into a waiting limousine, the partition up, the silence inside even more terrifying than his shouts. Yuri stared at me the whole way to the Hanamitchi estate, his eyes scanning my face as if he were looking for a crack in my soul.
When the car stopped, I saw it: the Hanamitchi Mansion. It was a fortress of black stone and traditional eaves, hidden behind massive iron gates. It felt like a tomb.Welcome home, my property," Yuri whispered.
The Breaking Point
The moment we crossed the threshold, the dragging began again. He hauled me through the long, polished hallways. I caught glimpses of my reflection in the floor—I looked broken, my hair a mess, my eyes wide with a terror I couldn't hide anymore.
He threw open a heavy oak door and flung me inside. I landed hard on the cold floorthe friction burning my skin.
This wasn't a bedroom. It was a cell disguised as a parlor. No windows. Only one door.
"You think Keifer is coming for you?" Yuri laughed, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He reached for a thin, leather crop resting on a side table. "By the time he finds this place, you won't even remember his name. You'll be too busy screaming mine."
The first strike didn't hit my skin—it hit the floor right next to my ear, the crack of it echoing like a gunshot. I flinched,curling into a ball.
"Please, Yuri... stop," I sobbed, my voice breaking.
"Pain is a wonderful teacher, Jay," he said, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly calm level. He knelt beside me, his hand moving from my hair to grip my throat—not enough to choke me, but enough to remind me he held my life in his palm. "It clears the mind of all those pesky memories of the Watsons. By tomorrow, you'll be begging me for a kind word. By next week, you'll be kissing my hand.".
The Spark in the Dark
curled my fingers into a fist, digging my nails into my palms until I felt a different kind of pain—a sharp, grounding sting.
I am a Watson, I whispered into the silence. I am the wife of the second richest man in the world. I am the sister of the fourth. I am the queen of Section E.
Yuri Hanamitchi thought he could break me with darkness and a locked door. But he forgot one thing: I had spent my life surrounded by monsters. And the one waiting for him back in London?
He was going to make Yuri wish he hadnever been born.