🍀 Alisa 🍀
I twirled around my new room with a grin stretching across my face.
No.
Not a room.
A palace.
A rainbow palace.
Everything glowed with beautiful colors that somehow fit me perfectly. It felt magical… warm… safe. Like someone had secretly reached into my brain and built my dream world.
Maybe Mr Gorgeous wasn't completely heartless after all.
"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Be there or starve."
Never mind.
The beast had spoken.
I rolled my eyes dramatically after he left and went to shower. By the time I stepped into the walk-in wardrobe, my jaw nearly detached from my face.
A WALK-IN WARDROBE.
I slowly walked inside, staring around in complete awe.
"Hellooooo?" I shouted.
My voice echoed back beautifully.
I squealed loudly.
The left wall was stacked with shoes from floor to ceiling. The front and right side held endless rows of clothes. Dresses. Jackets. Sweaters. Hats. Belts. Scarves.
So many scarves.
But none of them were mine.
My smile faded for a second before I shook it off quickly.
No sadness today.
I picked a huge green sweater and slipped it on. It barely covered my thighs but swallowed my hands completely.
Cute.
Maybe Mr Gorgeous would like it.
The moment I stepped outside my room, my smile vanished.
The stairs.
My mortal enemy.
Long. Spiral. Endless.
Who built this nonsense? A wizard?
I held the rail dramatically and began my painful descent. Halfway through, I already felt dizzy. By the time I reached the dining room, I was panting like I had just escaped death itself.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked coldly without looking up from his food.
"Stairs… long… dizzy… death…" I wheezed dramatically.
"You could've used the elev—" He stopped midway and waved me off dismissively. "Never mind."
I bent over, trying to breathe properly. When I looked up, I caught him staring at my legs.
OH.
MY.
GOD.
Crush likes them!
EEEEEEK!
I straightened instantly while he quickly looked away like he'd been caught committing a crime.
My stomach growled painfully.
I hadn't eaten since morning.
I moved toward the chair opposite him.
"Don't."
I blinked. "What?"
"Don't sit there," he growled darkly. "You'll ruin my furniture with your filthy body."
My smile disappeared instantly.
Lieutenant Levi's voice echoed inside my head.
Worthless.
Dirty.
Useless.
"If you want to eat," Damien continued cruelly, "sit on the kitchen floor. Or better yet, eat in your room. Just stay away from me."
We were literally miles apart already.
"Understood?!"
I nodded quickly.
"Good. Now get out."
The yell shattered something inside me.
I ran.
Straight back upstairs.
Curse those stairs.
By the time I reached my room, tears blurred my vision. I locked the door immediately before hiding under my blanket.
"He's not Lieutenant Levi," I whispered shakily to myself. "He didn't hurt me. He didn't burn my back. He's not him…"
But tears still slipped down my face anyway.
I wanted to go home.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🌤 Morning 🌤
BANG!
BANG!!
BANG!!!
I woke up screaming softly, my heart pounding violently.
The door.
The knocking.
Fear crawled into my chest instantly.
No.
He wasn't Levi.
I hurried to the door and opened it shakily.
Damien stood there looking irritated and unfairly handsome.
"What are you still doing in bed?" he snapped.
"…Sleeping?"
"WHY?!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"You're not here to sleep. Go clean the house."
I blinked slowly.
"But… you have servants."
"I fired them."
"What?!"
"My house. My money. My rules. Get to work."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"What kind of wickedness is this?!" I cried dramatically. "Cleaning is dangerous for my health! If I clean too much I'll become short and ugly!"
To my surprise…
He looked amused.
Actually amused.
Then the frown returned instantly.
"The contract says you'll do whatever pleases me." He folded his arms. "And right now, watching you suffer pleases me."
Monster.
"Go downstairs and clean."
"No."
I slammed the door in his face.
Silence.
Then furious banging exploded against the wood.
"You'll regret that!" he roared.
My heart nearly stopped.
No scarf.
No protection.
I unlocked the door quickly—
And immediately regretted it.
He grabbed my hair and dragged me outside roughly.
I screamed.
"Leave me alone!"
He slammed me against the wall hard enough to make me gasp.
His eyes were terrifying.
Red. Furious. Dangerous.
"No one," he growled darkly, "slams a door in my face."
His hand tightened around my throat.
"You had the audacity to talk back too?"
My breathing stopped.
Everything blurred.
Fear swallowed me whole.
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🌿 Damien 🌿
I barely slept.
Again.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her.
Her face.
Her tears.
The way she looked so small standing there in that oversized sweater.
I shouldn't have yelled at her last night.
I shouldn't have sent her away hungry.
And I definitely shouldn't care this much.
Since when did I care about people?
Since when did guilt bother me?
I turned violently in bed with a groan.
This girl was becoming a problem.
A dangerous one.
That stupid sweater didn't help either.
The image of her bare legs kept replaying in my head like torture.
I hated it.
I hated how beautiful she looked.
By morning, I found myself standing outside her room before realizing what I was doing.
Pathetic.
I tried opening the door.
Locked.
Why was she locking doors inside my house?
I knocked angrily until she finally opened it.
Her hair was messy. Tear stains marked her cheeks.
Guilt punched me straight in the chest again.
So naturally…
I became angrier.
"What are you still doing in bed?" I snapped.
Truthfully, I wasn't even paying attention to my own words.
I was too distracted by her lips.
The way they moved when she muttered under her breath.
Soft. Pink. Glossy.
Inviting.
My jaw tightened immediately.
"No."
SLAM!
The door shut in my face.
I blinked once.
She slammed the door?
On me?
Rage exploded instantly.
"You'll regret that!"
The door opened again and my body reacted before my brain could stop it.
I grabbed her hair and dragged her outside.
Her hair was annoyingly soft.
Everything about her annoyed me lately.
The softness of her skin.
The scent clinging to her body.
The way she looked at me without fear one second and trembled the next.
"No one slams doors in my face," I growled, tightening my grip.
Then suddenly—
Her face turned pale.
Her eyes rolled back slightly.
My heart stopped.
I was choking her.
Again.
I released her immediately like I'd been burned.
She collapsed against the wall coughing violently while I stared at my own hands in disgust.
Damn it.
I was losing control again.
"Clean the house before I return," I muttered coldly before walking away quickly.
Because staying there made me feel like a monster.
And maybe I already was one.
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🍀 Alisa 🍀
By noon, I had successfully "cleaned" the already spotless mansion.
Which mostly meant dancing lazily with a broom while pretending to dust expensive furniture.
I tried my best.
My stomach growled painfully again.
Still no food.
He told me not to touch anything.
So what exactly was I supposed to eat? Air?
The things I do for love.
Too exhausted to care anymore, I dragged myself back to my room and collapsed onto the bed.
Later that evening, I decided to explore outside.
The guards immediately blocked the door.
"You are not allowed to leave the mansion."
"I only want to see the garden."
"Orders are orders, ma'am."
Mad people.
I climbed out through the window instead.
The first garden I found was filled with flowers.
Beautiful flowers.
Different colors. Different scents.
I completely forgot why I came outside in the first place.
Then sunset reminded me.
Food.
I wandered deeper until I found a fruit garden.
YES!
Jackpot.
Then suddenly—
"Oh no…"
The window.
I forgot to close the window!
I sprinted back in panic, climbed inside, and searched the house nervously.
Everything seemed fine.
Until I saw it.
The black squirrel.
My eternal enemy.
"We meet again," I whispered dramatically.
I grabbed an iron rod nearby and charged like a warrior entering battle.
"Hold still so I can kill you!"
The squirrel screeched and darted away.
I chased it through the living room.
The kitchen.
Upstairs.
Then somehow into the wine cellar.
"You'll never catch me, witch!" the squirrel seemed to mock.
I gasped.
"A talking squirrel?!"
"You'll never steal Mr Gorgeous from me!"
I narrowed my eyes.
"Oh really?"
"Really!"
"THEN PREPARE TO DIE!"
I attacked again wildly, smashing obstacles in my path.
The squirrel leapt onto my head scratching violently before I finally caught it and slammed it against a pole triumphantly.
"Victory is mine!" I shouted proudly while dancing.
I threw the dead squirrel outside into the fire bin.
Then slowly turned around.
And froze.
The kitchen was destroyed.
The living room? Worse.
Broken vases.
Shattered glass.
Destroyed decorations.
My soul nearly left my body.
"I'm doomed…" I whispered weakly.
Then a loud honk echoed outside.
Oh no.
Mr Gorgeous was home.
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🌿 Damien 🌿
Patrick wouldn't stop talking.
Correction—
He wouldn't stop saying the word fucking.
"She fucking slapped me!" he shouted angrily in my car. "ME! Zane Carlson!"
I rubbed my temple painfully.
"I bought her flowers, Damien! FLOWERS!"
"Tragic."
"She called me useless!"
"Accurate."
He gasped in betrayal.
"I swear I'll make her regret rejecting me!"
I yawned. "Are you done?"
"No!"
He continued yelling all the way home.
By the time we reached the mansion, my patience had officially died.
"DON'T FUCKING IGNORE ME!" he shouted.
I snapped instantly.
"STOP SAYING FUCKING EVERY TWO SECONDS!" I roared. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE!"
Silence.
Patrick blinked slowly.
"…Why are you using the word so much now?"
I facepalmed tiredly.
Mentally unstable idiot.
I walked toward the house carrying bags of Chinese food and ice cream.
For her.
Not that I cared.
The moment the doors opened—
My soul left my body.
The living room looked like a war zone.
Broken glass everywhere.
Destroyed furniture.
Ruined decorations.
"What the hell?!"
Rage exploded instantly.
"MARIEL!" I roared.
"Alisa," Patrick corrected helpfully.
I stormed upstairs furiously and kicked her bedroom door open.
"ABIGAIL, COME OUT NOW!"
"Alisa," Patrick corrected again.
I flipped the bed violently.
And there she was.
Curled up beneath it like a terrified child.
The second she saw me, she ran straight behind Patrick and clung to him tightly.
Something dark twisted violently inside my chest.
At that moment, only one thing filled my mind.
Kill.