Chapter 276: Right choice

I stared blankly at the cracked gray wall supporting my back, unable to focus on anything. My fingers dug into the delicate skin of my knees, my short nails pressing hard enough to leave angry red marks.

And then the final memory came rushing back.

They had taken me away from that yacht.

My adoptive parents had simply handed me over, separating me from Damian without a second thought. It didn’t matter how desperately we had fought against the strangers’ rough hands as they dragged us in opposite directions.

We hadn’t stood a chance against the adults.

My so-called parents had handed me over to a couple named Craig and his partner. Craig was their biological son...

After that, there was nothing but agony, the searing pain in my throat, and the icy depths of black water into which I’d been thrown like a piece of unwanted garbage.

My parents had known everything.

They’d known about Damian from the very beginning. They’d spent all those years raising me, apparently out of some twisted sense of guilt over the fact that their son had made me powerless and nearly killed me.

He had extracted the precious fluid from my glands, stripping me of the very hormone that made me an Alpha Breeder. Without it, I was worth less to them than a moldy piece of bread nobody wanted at their table.

A painful lump formed in my throat, and hot tears burned behind my eyes.

That unbearable emptiness I’d carried inside me for as long as I could remember... it had all come down to one simple thing.

Him.

I’d forgotten Damian, but my broken soul hadn’t. Even without the memories, the longing had continued to consume me from within.

I hadn’t been a late-blooming breeder. There was nothing wrong with me. I wasn’t incapable of loving someone, too.

There had simply never been room in my heart for anyone else. Every broken piece of it already belonged to him.

And now, I wanted him so desperately it hurt.

I wanted to run to him, to tear down the metal door with my bare hands and find my way back into his arms. I didn’t care how far apart we were or what stood between us. I was certain I’d find him, wherever he was.

All I needed was to get out.

My thoughts raced, frantically connecting one detail to another. I barely noticed the passage of time or the throbbing pain in my body. There was only one thing occupying my mind.

I couldn’t stay here. I had to escape.

But my body was in no condition to cooperate. To put it mildly, I was barely functioning. Those bastards had given me exactly one week before they planned to sell me. That meant I had to get out long before then. Ideally, right now.

But how?

How was I supposed to escape when I could barely stand, let alone run? Every movement sent another wave of dizziness through my head.

And yet, despite everything, the need to find him was stronger than my fear.

I wanted to breathe in his familiar scent again. To feel his arms around me. Just once.

Forcing my heavy eyelids open, I struggled to swing my legs over the edge of the bed. I’d spent far too long lying motionless in that miserable place. My muscles felt stiff and brittle, as though they’d forgotten how to move.

I barely managed to straighten my legs with my one free hand when the door suddenly swung open with a deafening creak.

And there he was again. The same unpleasant man, this time carrying a tray.

"Well, look who’s up. Getting comfortable, are we?"

He approached with a drunken chuckle and dropped the tray onto the floor beside the foot of my bed.

The disgusting bastard. He knew perfectly well that, no matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn’t reach him with the short chain attaching my handcuffs to the radiator.

"I can’t reach it," I muttered, my gaze fixed on the gray, unappetizing mush on the man’s plate.

"Then you should’ve asked nicely. I’d have been happy to feed you."

His lips stretched into a lecherous grin as he lowered himself onto the edge of my bed, rubbing his hands together. He even patted his knees.

"Come on, sit down. I’ll feed you myself."

I could barely suppress the nausea rising in my throat at the mere thought of what he was suggesting. I shook my head vehemently, pressing my shoulders against the cold wall.

"Go to hell," I hissed through clenched teeth.

"So, I take it you’re not hungry?"

With an indifferent shrug, the man got to his feet and abruptly kicked the tray away.

It crashed against the concrete wall, sending the plate and cup flying. The disgusting contents spilled across the floor, splattering in every direction.

"Think it over and let me know. And one more thing..." He pulled his mobile phone from his pocket. "I might be able to help you make the right decision."

He scrolled through something on the screen for a moment before abruptly turning it toward me.

The instant I saw the photograph, my entire body went rigid. I knew that face. I knew the man in that picture all too well.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked quietly, a sickening knot forming in my stomach.

"He’s your future owner. He’s the one who specifically requested you. So think carefully, sweetheart. Do you want to save yourself for him, or would you prefer someone a little more... appealing?"

Something inside me died.

The disgust was so overwhelming that I nearly gagged. Was I really supposed to believe that, after everything I’d endured, this was what awaited me?

Had this sick bastard been tormenting me all these years, too? Had he been the one behind the experiments, the pain, and the systematic destruction of my life?

Just the thought of him touching me again made my stomach turn.

I couldn’t even bring myself to imagine it.