The Devil's obsession with the Heiress

Somewhere far away, in a dark, dingy corner of an unknown room, Aliana finally came back to her senses. The chaotic memories of everything that had occurred before she slipped out of consciousness in the bathroom of the Vanderbilt Estate came rushing back in a dizzying wave.

Only a single, trembling word escaped her lips into the cold, dark confines of the walls. "Gav."

Discovering herself trapped in this horrific state, her limbs bound tightly with heavy iron chains, a cold dread crawled up her spine. The terror was so overwhelming that she found herself utterly unable to control her breathing.

’Why? Just why am I here?’ Her frantic mind raced, panic rising fast and tightening like a physical vice around her heart.

’Diana... That woman, why would she do that to me?’ Aliana was entirely consumed by confusion over the woman’s sudden, vicious actions.

Nothing she could think of justified the way the woman had violently ambushed her in the bathroom like a rabid animal.

The only logical conclusion she could reach was that Diana’s dangerous, toxic obsession with Gavriel had driven her to this extreme madness.

But the more she forced her eyes to adjust to the shadows, the more a deeper question began to haunt her. ’Just where the hell am I?’

Her eyes roamed around the small space.

The air smelled damp and musty, and the room was completely barren except for a mattress on the floor and a single wooden chair sitting in the corner, making the entire setup look like a gruesome crime scene.

She swallowed hard at the sight of the mattress, her heart racing violently against her ribs. She didn’t even realize she was trembling as her mind struggled to fathom the nightmare she was currently trapped in.

"No! Don’t lose your cool now," she whispered aloud, her voice shaking through her harsh breathing.

She drew another deep breath, forcing her mind to focus. "Concentrate on getting out of here first."

She tried to talk herself through it because, honestly, if she didn’t, she knew she would be dealing with a full-blown panic attack, and that would not help her at all.

Taking a couple of deep breaths to steady her frayed nerves, she ignored the way her nose wrinkled at the foul, musty smell hanging heavily in the air.

Closing her eyes, she blocked out the sight of the barren room to concentrate fully on what her surroundings could tell her.

And as her nerves began to slow down, if only slightly, with the newly found changes her body had been going through, the first thing she picked up was the distinctive sound of waves hitting against the shore.

Her brows pulled together slightly at the sound as she whispered, "The sea... I’m close to the sea."

Focusing harder, she tried to pick up any other sounds around her. After a few moments, she caught the distant blare of a ship’s horn.

"Am I... close to a dock?"

As the wind picked up outside, the sharp smell of rust and fishy salt permeated the room. When she couldn’t hear anything more beyond what she had already picked up, she let out a sharp breath.

Fluttering her eyes open, she glared down at the heavy iron restraints binding her wrists and ankles, anchoring her firmly to the concrete wall where she sat on the floor.

Gritting her teeth, she violently yanked against the rusted metal. She knew she wasn’t a superhero capable of ripping iron links apart with her bare hands, but she refused to simply give up.

She couldn’t sit idly by, praying for someone to save her, nor could she resign herself to a grim, unknown fate.

As she relentlessly pulled against the restraints, the sound of iron clanking echoed through the empty room until something suddenly made her pause.

Her pulse spiked as through the rhythmic sound of the waves, she caught the unmistakable scuff of quiet footsteps coming closer and closer to where she was.

Her head snapped toward the only door in the room just as the footsteps came to a halt outside.

Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as panic slammed against her chest. Her body went rigid, frozen by the terror of the unknown waiting on the other side.

As the seconds dragged by, the door finally rattled from the outside, as though someone was removing several heavy chains securing it shut.

Then, the moment it finally creaked open, Aliana’s entire body stiffened.

Her fingers curled into tight fists as she instinctively prepared herself to attack anyone who dared to harm her.

Then, all at once, the door finally swung open.

The first thing her eyes landed on were crisp, polished black shoes stepping over the threshold, followed by a tall figure clad in an expensive, perfectly tailored black suit.

Her gaze slowly travelled upward until it finally settled on the man’s face, and shock immediately spread across her features.

Her lips parted in disbelief as she whispered, "J-Jacob?"

The man appeared as calm and composed as ever, while his dull yellow eyes immediately locked onto her wide grey ones.

For a moment, relief flooded Aliana’s eyes at the sight of the man her father trusted with one of the most powerful positions in the company. Someone she had known for the past five years. Someone she had worked closely with all this time.

He was here.

That meant others were here as well, right?

That meant she was saved... right?

Jacob gave her the same warm smile he always did as he took another step into the room.

And the very first question that slipped past her lips was, "Jacob! You’re here! Is Gav with you?"

Hope flickered brightly in her eyes as her gaze moved past him, searching behind him for even the slightest glimpse of her future husband.

Yet, the moment she uttered that name, she failed to notice how the warm smile plastered across Jacob’s face instantly cracked. Something vicious and dark flashed behind his dull eyes.

Without answering her, he calmly turned around and shut the door behind him.

Then he locked it. The sharp metallic click echoed through the room and Aliana’s heart skipped a beat.

Her eyes immediately snapped toward him, confusion beginning to creep across her face.

When Jacob turned back around, the warm smile had returned as though it had never left.

"Aliana..." he said softly. "Why are you asking about him when I’m here?"

The dreadful feeling that had briefly subsided at the sight of Jacob’s arrival came rushing back with full force at the simple act of him locking the door behind them.

Her face, which had been contorted with confusion until now, suddenly went completely still as a critical, missing detail finally pierced through her panic.

Diana.

The woman had introduced herself at the gala as Diaz, explicitly claiming to be Jacob’s close friend and his plus-one for the evening. Connecting that single detail felt like the air had been knocked from her lungs.