Elena had been pacing her apartment for over an hour, the city's night pressing hard against the windows. Every sound made her flinch, every shadow stretched too long. She hadn't seen Adrian since their heated exchange, but his words still clung to her skin like fire.
I don't know how to love you gently.
She hadn't expected the knock on her door to make her heart stop. When she opened it, Daniel stood there, pale, breathless, his jaw tight. He didn't wait for an invitation; he pushed past her, gripping the file against his chest like it might vanish if he let go.
"Elena, you need to see this," he said, his voice hoarse.
Her brow furrowed. "Daniel, what—?"
He set the file on her table, flipping it open with trembling fingers. Her name stared up at her in bold, black ink, tied to words she didn't understand, clauses that made her stomach turn.
"What is this?" she whispered, her fingers brushing the page as though it might burn her.
Daniel swallowed hard. "It's a contract. A disguised one. Adrian didn't just stumble into your life, Elena. He planned it. He's been tying you to him for years. You didn't fall into his world—he built it around you."
Her blood ran cold. Her chest tightened until she thought she might faint. "That's… that's not possible."
"Elena," Daniel said softly, his eyes glistening, "I don't think you realize who you're dealing with. Adrian Blake doesn't love the way we do. To him, love isn't vulnerability. It's possession."
She staggered back, shaking her head. "No… Adrian isn't—he wouldn't—"
But even as she said it, fragments of memory flashed before her eyes. The way Adrian had known too much about her favorite café the night they met. How he'd secured her struggling gallery with a deal she hadn't fully understood. His obsessive protectiveness, his refusal to let her walk away.
Pieces of a puzzle she hadn't realized existed.
Her knees buckled, and Daniel caught her before she hit the floor. She buried her face in his chest, sobbing into the shirt that smelled faintly of antiseptic and memory.
"I'm not saying this to hurt you," Daniel whispered, stroking her hair. "I'm saying it because I love you. Because I can't stand by while you're trapped in something that isn't real."
But then another voice, low and edged with steel, filled the room.
"You don't get to decide what's real for her, Doctor."
Elena froze. Her heart lurched as she turned, her breath catching in her throat. Adrian stood in the doorway, his gaze locked on Daniel's arms wrapped around her. His presence filled the room like a storm cloud, lethal and inescapable.
He stepped forward slowly, his eyes never leaving Daniel's. "Put her down. Now."
Daniel tightened his hold protectively. "She deserves the truth, Adrian. Not your manipulation. Not your chains."
For the briefest second, something raw flickered in Adrian's eyes. But then it was gone, replaced by an expression carved from fury and ice.
"Elena," Adrian said, his voice low, almost trembling, "come here."
Her lips parted, her body torn between the arms of the man who had once been her safe haven and the gaze of the man who now held her heart captive.
Both of them were fighting for her. Both of them were breaking her.
And for the first time, Elena realized she couldn't run from this choice much longer.