Chapter 3: “The Rules Are Painful”
📍 [Location: East Wing Corridor | Late Night]
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
(to herself):
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
This place feels… wrong.
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
Why is this wing sealed off?
[She opens a locked drawer and finds a torn photograph. A woman. Burnt on one side.]
📍 [Suddenly — footsteps. Loud. Angry.]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
(voice echoing):
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
What the hell do you think you’re doing?
📍 [He slams the door shut, trapping her inside]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You broke rule four.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
No one enters this wing
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
Then maybe you shouldn’t leave clues lying around.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
(laughing coldly):
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You're brave now.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
Let’s see how long that lasts.
📍 [He grabs her wrist hard, yanks her toward a dark room]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
(voice dark):
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You wanted to know who I really am?
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You’re about to find out.
📍 [He throws her against a chair, cuffs her wrists behind it. Not tight enough to injure, but enough to scare.]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
Lesson one:
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
When you disobey me, you pay.
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
Is this how you punish all the women in your life?
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You’re the first I can’t stop thinking about.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
And that makes me hate you even more.
📍 [He circles her slowly like a predator]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
I could destroy you, Alina.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
Right now.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
But I won’t
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
Because pain... pain is more powerful when it lingers.
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
Just know I’ll never beg.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You really don’t know what fear is, do you?
📍 [He suddenly grabs a glass and smashes it against the wall, inches from her head]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
(breathing hard):
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You drive me insane
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
Because you can't control me.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
(voice low, dangerous):
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
Because I want to.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
And I don’t understand why.
📍 [Silence. His hand brushes her face — gentle for just a second. Then he pulls away fast, as if burned.]
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
You’ll stay locked in this room tonight.
𝚉𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍
Maybe it’ll teach you not to test me again.
📍 [He slams the door shut. Alina is left trembling. Not from fear. From something else.]
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
(to herself):
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
He’s not just cruel.
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
And the scariest part is
𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛
Some part of me wants to fix him.
Want to continue with Chapter 4, where Zayne starts showing confusing affection — soft one moment, vicious the next — and Alina starts questioning herself more than ever?
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