''BLUE VELVET,RED CONCRETE''
TIK.
The sound makes me jump.
A pebble hits the glass again ,soft and sharp.
I drop the book which I was reading on the coffee table,I walk to the window and peek outside.
Blondie, standing by the fence.
My heart lurches.
"What are you doing here?" I whisper-yell through the glass.
He just grins and gestures for me to come out.
"I can't," I mouth.
He tilts his head, giving me that please look — the one that always gets me.
I slip my shoes on and quietly open my door. The hallway is dim, golden from the wall lamps. Aunt Serena's door is slightly ajar.
Please be busy, please be busy.
I peer inside. She's wrapped in her beige bathrobe, carrying her skincare creams and a towel toward the bathroom.
Perfect.
The second I hear the bathroom door click shut, I sprint downstairs. My pulse thrums in my ears.
Why is he here?
I push open the front door and step into the cool night air. Cade is waiting just outside the fence.
"Hi," I whisper, breathless as I approach him.
"Hi…" He steps inside.
He's hiding something behind his back. When I narrow my eyes, he smiles, kind of nervous.
"What's that?"
He brings it forward — a small blue velvet box.
"Cade…?"
"Open it."
I lift the lid.
Inside, under the faint moonlight, lies the most beautiful necklace I've ever seen. Silver filigree curls and vines frame a deep sapphire-blue stone, its center shimmering like the midnight sky. A teardrop gem hangs below, catching the light like water.
"Oh my God," I breathe. "Thank you… Cade, it's perfect. How did you even get this?"
I look up at him.
He looks relieved, then laughs softly.
I hug him, and he leans in. His lips brush mine, gentle at first. His hand slides around my waist. The surroundings disappear for a heartbeat—
Then I hear the crunch of tires on gravel.
My heart stops.
Ethan's car.
I pull back. Cade does too. The headlights wash over us — then the door slams.
Ethan storms toward us, fury in his eyes.
"What. Are. You. Doing?"
"Ethan, I—"
"I SAID WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"
Before I can speak, he grabs Cade by the collar and yanks him forward so hard the fabric tightens against his throat.
Then his fist flies.
It lands with a thick, meaty crack.
Not a movie punch.
Not clean.
A horrible, real sound — bone meeting bone.
Cade's head snaps sideways. For half a second he just blinks, stunned.
Ethan hits him again.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Each blow louder than the last. Duller. Wetter.
Like something breaking that shouldn't break.
My stomach twists.
The air leaves my lungs.
I knew this would happen one day.
"Stop! Please!" I scream. The air from my lungs squeezed out and I am pleading.
But Ethan doesn't even look at me.
Cade stumbles backward, shoes scraping helplessly against the gravel. Ethan follows, relentless, driving his fist into his face over and over like he's trying to erase it.
A crack.
A grunt.
Another sickening thud.
Cade's lip splits open. Blood spills instantly, dark and thick, running down his chin and dripping onto the concrete.
Dot. Dot. Dot.
He coughs, choking on it.
Ethan shoves him hard.
Cade hits the ground with a brutal smack, the back of his head bouncing off the pavement.
The sound makes my heart lurch.
"You think you can come near her?" Ethan snarls, voice shaking, almost feral. "You bastard!"
He grabs Cade by the front of his shirt and slams him back down again like he weighs nothing.
Dust kicks up.
Cade groans, dazed.
Blood smears across the concrete when he tries to push himself up.
He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, comes away red, and lets out this broken, breathless laugh — half pain, half disbelief.
"Me?" he wheezes, spitting blood onto the ground between them. "You're the maniac."
He coughs again, voice raw.
"She's not your property, you psycho. You've locked her up like—"
"SHUT UP!" Ethan's voice turns animal. "You don't tell me what to do in my own house. listen to me you piece of shit. Stay the fuck away from her."
His voice shakes with anger. It reminds me of the dream… or whatever that was.
He turns to me, eyes blazing. "You knew the rules, Odessa. And you still did this? Are you sane?"
My voice trembles. "I—I just wanted—"
He lets go of Cade, his head hitting the concrete. His beautiful features are already bruised and bloodied.
Ethan grips my arm so tight it burns and drags me inside.
I catch one last glimpse of Cade , blood on his face — then the door slams between us.
Hell, again.
Inside, Ethan's chest rises and falls heavily. He's shaking with rage.
"Serena! Serena!"
She rushes down the stairs, her bathrobe clutched around her. "What happened?"
Ethan gestures toward me like I'm at a crime scene. "Turns out your dear niece was out there making out with some boy — right in front of me!"
Aunt Serena gasps, hand to her chest. "Odessa… is this true?"
I can't even see her eyes. "Yes," I whisper. "And it's not a fucking crime."
Ethan straightens, incredulous. "What did you just say?"
I look up, anger spilling through the fear. "I said it's not a crime. I'm not your prisoner. I like him a lot. You're the psycho here."
He starts to move toward me, but Aunt Serena steps between us, her tone calm.
"Enough, Ethan. Please."
Then she takes my hand, her grip deceptively gentle. "Come with me."
She leads me upstairs. The air is heavy with silence. As we pass the hallway, her paintings feel like they're laughing at me, like they've already won.
When we reach my room, she closes the door and turns to me, arms crossed.
"Listen to me, Odessa," she says quietly. "What you did was so wrong. You live in a home that gives you everything. Ethan took you in, cared for you, and this is how you repay him? By breaking the rules?"
My throat tightens. "This isn't care, Serena. It's control. I can't live like—"
"Enough!" Her voice slices through mine. "And don't ever be disrespectful to your uncle again."
"Oh my God, this is crazy. Have you seen Cade's face? That was inhuman."
For a moment, the mask slips — something sharp flickers in her eyes.
Then she softens, steps forward, and pulls me into a hug.
I stand frozen in her arms. Her hand strokes my hair, like she's calming me down… or maybe calming herself.
After a few minutes, she speaks.
"From now on," she whispers against my hair, "you will not defy us again. You will forget about Cade. Forever."
She pulls back, smiling sweetly — too sweetly. "Alright?"
I shake my head in disbelief.
"You'll only make your life harder. Your call."
I can't let more chains bind me.
So I nod like a good kid ,exactly what they want.
"Good girl," she says softly, brushing a hand through my hair. "Tomorrow, we'll apologize to Uncle Ethan together."
She leaves.
The door clicks shut.
And I'm left standing there, shaking — feeling the walls closing in again.