Chapter 5 Chapter 5

~ Elena's POV

I screamed my lungs out, my voice raw, my hands covering my mouth, and my body shaking violently. My ears were ringing from the sound, my heart pounding as if it would explode. Tears stung my eyes. Damian calmly holstered his gun back, before glancing at me with a cool and steady gaze.

"Eat, Elena," he said flatly, as if nothing had happened at all. I sat back down to eat, but I felt like puking. I sprang back up from my chair and ran to our room, locking it from inside. I pressed my back against it like it could protect me from the monster living under the same roof.

My hands trembled uncontrollably, and my chest rose and fell, my breath short and hollow. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the memory away. But the servant dropping on the floor with a hole in his head and Damian's cold eyes with the silence that followed after the shot: it was all haunting me.

I crawled to the bed and rested my back against it, pressing my palms against my ears, desperate not to hear the gunshot repeating in my head.

Then... the lock twisted and the door smoothly opened without struggle. Of course, he had the key. Damian stepped in like a king.

"This is the world you live in now, Elena." His voice was soft and deliberate. "Get used to it."

I froze in my stance. My stomach dropped. He had said it. He said Elena. Not Isabella. Not a slip of the tongue, and not an accident.

My name. Elena.

"You..." my voice trembled, shaky. "You knew?"

His lips slightly curled up into a faint smile. "Of course, I knew. From the start."

The ground shook underneath me. "So, all of this..." I whispered, staring at him, heart thundering. "Calling me Isabella, and everything else. Why?"

His gaze was sharp as he placed his hands in the pockets of his pants. "You were the one I chose from the very beginning." My throat closed, words refusing to leave my mouth. I could only stare at him, wide-eyed, while my heart tried to claw its way out of my chest.

~ A Few Days Later

Days had passed with me obsessing over the servant and the truth about Damian and Isabella. Everything refused to leave me while I kept myself locked in the room, refusing to step out.

Finally, I gave up and walked out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen, desperately looking for answers.

Two of the staff were whispering when they were working. When they noticed me, they stiffened. I forced my voice to be steady. "What... what did he do? The servant. Why did he kill him?"

They exchanged a nervous look before speaking. "He was conspiring with the rivals, ma'am."

My chest tightened at her response. "Conspiring?"

"He betrayed the Don," the other whispered. "He sold information. He would've gotten many of us killed by Sir's father, Vito Moretti."

I blinked, my pulse slowing down, not from peace but from a strange and twisted relief. I shouldn't have been relieved, but something in me told me that he deserved it.

~ The Next Day

I couldn't take it anymore. I have been trapped in this mansion like a prisoner, and I wanted to go out. Damian was nowhere to be found. So, I didn't tell anyone and left.

By the time I reached my parents’ house, my mask broke. The moment I saw my mother's worried eyes and my father's cautious expression, everything I had bottled up spilled out.

"Mom... Dad..." My voice shook as tears blurred my vision. "I can't—I can't do this anymore. He's insane. Damian—he killed someone. He—he knew my name the entire time, Mom. He's been playing with me."

My mother gasped softly, pulling me into her arms. My father stepped closer, his jaw tightening. "Elena," he murmured, his tone low. "Calm down. You're safe here."

"No, I'm not," I cried out, clutching my mother's clothes. "I'm not safe anywhere." They both were terrified, and even though they were trying to comfort me, I could feel their fear.

And then...

The front door burst open, and I shot up, finding a really angry Damian bursting inside the house. He stepped in front of us, his eyes burning with rage. The room was silent for a second before he continued. "Elena," his voice was a low growl. "You went against my rules."

My parents stiffened, and my mother clutched me tighter. Damian's eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward, his entire frame radiating rage.

"You're mine," he declared, his voice cutting through the air. "You cannot leave me---unless I put you into the ground myself."

"Damian—" my father started, but Damian's glare silenced him immediately.

"Be grateful, I didn't kill you for switching the brides."

He grabbed my wrist and yanked me from my mother's comfort. "Stop!" I cried, struggling against his hold. "Let me go!" But his grip was iron. He dragged me out of the Russo house without looking back, ignoring my mother's cries.

~ Back At The Mansion

He shoved me into our room, his voice low and dangerous. "Never again." His eyes glared into mine as he stepped closer. "Do you understand me, Elena? Never again. You don't step outside without my permission. You don't breathe without my say. The rules exist for a reason. Break them again, and you won't like what happens next."

I stood frozen, my chest heaving and my wrist throbbing where he had held me.

I wanted to speak, but no words came out. He gave me one last glance and stormed out of the room, leaving me trembling. I collapsed onto the bed, burying my face into the sheets.

Tears were burning my eyes, but I couldn't cry anymore. I was empty. The silence of the room was suffocating me.

My phone buzzed, and when I picked it up from the nightstand, I saw a message from my parents.

My world trembled when I read the message, not believing what I was reading.

~ Elena, we really hope you're alright, darling. We wanted to discuss something with you, but it's best we do it here. We don't know how to say this, but we think, maybe, Isabella ran away with Luca.