جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Rain poured heavily across the city, turning the streets into rivers of dirty water and flashing neon reflections.Denise Wells pulled her thin jacket tighter around herself as she stood outside Velvet Crown nightclub, shivering from the cold. Her sneakers were soaked already, and her stomach twisted painfully from hunger she had ignored all day.Tonight was supposed to help.Instead, it became another humiliation.“You really thought you could work here looking like that?”The woman at the club entrance laughed loudly, her sharp eyes dragging over Denise’s cheap jeans and wet hair.Behind her, two girls wearing glittering dresses smirked openly.Denise swallowed the embarrassment burning her throat.“I only came for the waitress interview.”“And I’m telling you we already hired someone prettier.”The girls burst into laughter.Denise clenched her fists.She needed this job.Her landlord had threatened to throw her out by morning if she didn’t pay part of the rent. Her younger brother

The blonde woman was still pressed against Liam’s side, smiling like she belonged there.Denise shouldn’t have cared.That was what she told herself.She didn’t know this man. She didn’t owe him anything. She was only here because she needed money.But her chest still felt tight.Uncomfortable.Hot in a way she didn’t understand.Liam’s arm stayed around the blonde woman’s waist, firm and familiar, yet his eyes never left Denise.That detail made everything worse.The blonde traced a finger along Liam’s chest. “You didn’t tell me you had guests.”Denise stood quickly.“I’m done here,” she said, her voice sharper than she intended.Liam’s gaze flicked down to her instantly.Something changed in his expression.Not concern.Not softness.Possession.“Sit down,” he said calmly.Denise paused at the door.“I said I’m leaving.”The blonde woman chuckled lightly. “Oh wow. She’s spirited.”Liam didn’t react to her words.Only to Denise.His voice lowered slightly. “You haven’t accepted the o

Denise hesitated for only a second before she followed him.That second mattered.Because the moment she moved, she realized something unsettling—Liam didn’t walk like a man expecting to be obeyed.He walked like a man who already knew he would be.The street behind them felt quieter as they moved. Even the injured man on the ground didn’t make a sound anymore, just watched them with fear as Liam passed.Denise kept a few steps behind.Not because she was afraid of him.At least… that’s what she told herself.But because being too close to him made it hard to think.“Why are you here?” she asked finally.Liam didn’t slow down. “You were being followed.”“I can handle myself.”A pause.Then, calmly:“No, you can’t.”Denise frowned at his back. “You don’t even know me.”“I know enough.”“That’s not—”Liam stopped walking suddenly.Denise nearly bumped into him.He turned slightly, just enough for his profile to catch the streetlight.His eyes were darker now than they had been earlier.

Denise locked the door. Twice. Then checked it again. Still, it didn’t help the feeling that the mansion wasn’t something she was living inside— but something that was living around her. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the folded paper Liam had left behind. Names. Dates. Places she had walked, worked, stopped for food. Too precise to be coincidence. Her fingers tightened slightly. “Watching me…” she whispered again. A soft sound came from the hallway. Footsteps. Denise stood instantly. Slow. Controlled. Listening. The steps passed her door… then stopped. Silence. She didn’t move. Another second passed. Then the footsteps continued again, fading away down the corridor. Denise exhaled shakily. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered to herself. But her voice didn’t sound convinced. — Downstairs, Liam stood alone in the dim light of the grand hall. He wasn’t supposed to be there. At least, not like this. The mansion staf

Denise didn’t move for a long moment. The monitors behind Liam kept shifting—silent hallways, empty staircases, guards pacing slowly through the mansion like ghosts trained to look alive. But her attention wasn’t on them anymore. It was on him. “You keep saying things like that,” she said quietly. “Like I’m supposed to understand them.” Liam didn’t answer immediately. His eyes stayed on her face. Focused. Measuring. Then he turned slightly and walked toward one of the screens. “You want truth,” he said. “I’ll give you a piece of it.” Denise followed him with cautious steps. “A piece?” Liam tapped a control panel. One of the screens shifted. Not to another hallway. But to something outside the estate. The surrounding forest. Dark. Dense. Still. Then the image zoomed slightly— and Denise saw movement. Something fast. Too fast to be human. She leaned in without thinking. “What is that?” Liam didn’t respond. The figure moved again acro