Chapter 95. Every Fucking Night

Chapter 95: Chapter 95. Every Fucking Night

Chapter 95. Every Fucking Night

She made her way up the stairs, stepped into her room, and gently shut the door behind her. As her eyes darted left and right, taking in the space, she realized everything was exactly as she had left it when she ran away last night. The broken vase that had fallen from the reading table still lay shattered in pieces across the floor.

Seems like he just neglected it, she thought.

She dragged her luggage over to the corner of the room, leaving it by the wall, then took off her backpack and tossed it onto the bed. "I’m just going to have to clean this up," she murmured to herself.

She stepped back out into the hallway just as Don was walking past her door. He paused when he saw her, a slight smile touching his lips. "Good, I can see you are getting settled in," he said.

Rosa looked at him, folding her arms behind her back. Don gave a small nod with a smile and continued walking across the corridor. Her eyes traced his back as he walked farther down the hall.

When he came within a few meters of that specific door—the dark, rotten, unkempt one that had nearly driven her out of her mind last night—he stopped. Instead of entering, he turned toward the opposite side of the hall and stepped into a room with a broad, glistening mahogany door embedded with intricate golden designs.

She blinked, standing frozen for a few moments as her eyes remained fixed on that dark, rough door and whatever horror it concealed.

His pets, she thought, tilting her head slightly with a faint frown as she tried to imagine what kind of creatures they could possibly be. Their roars had been so loud, so raw—and she distinctly recalled hearing those exact same roars once before from Mia’s apartment.

Are they lions? Wolves? Jaguars? Bears? she wondered. Who on earth keeps wild pets like that inside a house? And why did he step into that door last night? What was his purpose?

She had checked on him the next morning, and there hadn’t been a single scratch or injury mark on him. He had been completely fine, entirely unscathed. She scoffed softly under her breath.

What the hell is going on here?

Crossing her arms tightly, her eyes narrowed. There is so much about this man that I really don’t know, and yet he keeps doing everything he can to hide it from me. She pressed her lips together and shook her head slowly. I am so not going to allow him this time. I’ll find out what you’re hiding, Don.

Turning around, she headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab a broom and dustpan. Returning upstairs, she carefully swept up the sharp porcelain fragments of the broken vase, carrying them over to the waste bin at the far end of the corridor. She exhaled a heavy breath, stepped back inside her room, and shut the door behind her.

Folding her arms, she looked around, her eyes taking in the spacious, luxurious room once again.

Staying here wouldn’t actually be so bad, she thought, if only my nights won’t be so terrible and terrifying.

Then memory of the music room flashed through her mind, and a bright smile spread across her face. Without even bothering to change out of her clothes, she rushed out of her room and hurried down the hallway, doing her best to ignore that gloomy dark door at the end of the corridor.

She stepped into the music room and paused, taking a deep breath of the rich, sweet scent of the instruments. I am definitely going to be using a lot of you during my stay here, she thought happily.

Just as she was about to walk over to the piano, her phone vibrated in her denim pocket. She reached in, pulled it out, and frowned at the screen. It was a notification from the school forum—a message from Joanfen, the class prefect for her Music Technology and Production course.

Her eyes widened. "Oh my God, my assignment for today!"

She quickly tapped open the chat.

Hello Rosa, Joanfen’s message read. I came to school to collect the assignments only to discover that you were not available today to submit yours. The lecturer is demanding I submit everything as soon as possible. As you know, I can’t submit the batch when someone hasn’t turned theirs in, because once I’ve submitted it, there is no going back. You can’t submit it again. I want to inquire when you would want to submit. Yes, and you have to take action now because he’s losing patience, and I cannot stall anymore.

Rosa chuckled nervously to herself and quickly began typing a reply. Yes, please do not be annoyed. I got occupied with stuff. I have done mine. Can I send you the file?

She pressed send, her leg tapping impatiently against the floor as she bit her bottom lip, waiting for a response.

Yes, of course, Joanfen’s message came quickly. Send it as soon as possible so I can convert it and attach it to a compact disc together with the rest. I think that should be easy to do.

Rosa smiled in relief. Thank you so much, she typed back. She quickly navigated through her files, played a brief snippet to make sure it was the exact music track she had prepared and recorded, and then forwarded the link.

As soon as the file sent, Joanfen sent her a heart emoji. Rosa smiled, let out a long breath, and shoved her phone back into her pocket. Folding her arms behind her, she swayed her body from side to side in excitement as her eyes scanned the studio around her.

"We are so going to be best friends," she whispered to the room, smiling.

"I can see you’re most excited about this room."

That deep, familiar voice flooded the space from behind her. Rosa flinched and spun around.

Don was leaning casually against the edge of the doorframe, watching her with a raised eyebrow. In his hand, he held a small, strange object—it looked like a metallic button or a threaded bolt containing something inside. He tapped it rhythmically against his other palm as he scrutinized her deeply, that unreadable expression still embedded on his face.

She swallowed hard.

Don chuckled softly. "Get used to it," he murmured. "I can assure you, it’s going to be a very, very lively, practical experience."

She caught the dry sarcasm in his voice and gritted her teeth. Why the hell is he being like this? Why the hell does he keep trying to scare me?

A faint smirk twitched on Don’s lips. He chuckled, pushed off the doorframe, and walked casually back down the corridor.

Rosa stared after him, raising her right hand in a fist as if she wanted to punch the back of his head. She scoffed.

God, I so hate him right now.

Rushing toward the doorway, she peeked out, catching a glimpse of his back as he strode down the corridor and vanished down the stairs. She spun back around and looked into the room. I’m going to need assurances, she thought. I can’t keep living in fear like this.

She rushed out of the music room as quickly as she could, determined to catch up with him. Don was already strolling toward the kitchen by the time she reached the bottom step.

"Mr. Don!" she called out loudly.

He froze with his hand against the doorknob, then slowly turned around to look at her, a crease forming between his brows. "What did I tell you about calling me that?"

Rosa took an instinctive step back, swallowing nervously. "Don," she said softly.

"Good. What do you want?"

"Look, you are supposed to be my guardian here," she said, squaring her shoulders. "Don’t you think it’s actively wrong to be threatening the person you are guiding with harmful beasts or animals lurking in your apartment?"

Don frowned.

I think this is where I have the upper hand, Rosa thought to herself, raising an eyebrow as confidence flickered inside her. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

She folded her arms.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.

Rosa chuckled. "Are you trying to play dumb now? You are keeping harmful, dangerous beasts in your apartment. I honestly do think this is a breach in the contract of being my guardian. You’re supposed to watch over me and care for me, not keep things that are actually threatening my existence or my entire life!"

Don scoffed and shook his head, tilting it to the side. "So what? Just because I’m your guardian doesn’t mean you cannot handle yourself. You are clearly an adult. Are you a kid?"

She looked at him with wide eyes. "That doesn’t mean my life shouldn’t be cared for! Don’t you think I could use this against you?"

Don raised both of his eyebrows. He turned around fully and folded his arms across his chest. "So what? Is that a threat?" he asked, his eyelids sharpening into cold slits.

Rosa blinked. She looked off to the side, her confidence wavering, and cleared her throat. "No, I didn’t mean it that way."

He smirked. "Then what do you mean it as?"

"I’m just saying, wild animals are not meant to be kept in apartments," she said. "They are unsafe, generally for human life. I even genuinely think it’s not safe for you. I’m just trying to be cautious here."

Don smiled. "Okay, well, if that’s what you’re worried about, then I can assure you, you should forget about it and stop worrying about something as irrelevant as that."

She frowned. "Irrelevant? What’s relevant about that?"

He chuckled. "My beasts don’t go far out during the daytime. In the daytime, they are respectful, obedient, quiet, and calm. But at night... they are monstrous, untamed, and uncontrollable."

Rosa trembled. Don caught the slight movement instantly, his smile sharpening.

"Which is where I step in," he continued, his tone calm yet eerie. "That is why, every night at 12 am, I have to rush inside that room, lock the door, wrap them up in chains, and ensure they are calm till the daytime—so they don’t probably go farther and break the walls and escape or something."

Rosa’s lips shook. "Has... has that happened before?"

He chuckled, his smile growing wide and wicked. "Yeah, I guess once or twice I had to do some serious renovations to this building."

Rosa’s footsteps faltered as she took cautious steps backward. Don tilted his head to the side, clearly amused by her reaction.

"Mr. Don, you are frightening me."

His eyelids sharpened when she said the title again.

She cleared her throat quickly. "I’m sorry... Don."

"Good," he murmured.

She squared her shoulders, trying to hold her ground. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I’m sure," he said. "But don’t worry, I’ve learned a very good method of calming them, which is why I have to stay in that room throughout the entire night until the next morning, when they are finally calm. Just relax. Nothing to worry about—except, of course, for the endless roars you are going to hear throughout the night."

Rosa flinched, horror dawning on her face. "So you mean the roars I heard last night are going to continue every night?" she asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.

He smiled. "Yeah." He turned around and grabbed the kitchen knob once more.

Rosa stared at him in a daze, her eyelids fluttering, her lips shaking. But as he turned the handle, she spoke up again, stopping him. Don froze, slowly tilting his head to look at her over his shoulder.

"How am I supposed to deal with that?" she asked in a broken voice.

He smirked. "You have headphones," he said simply. "Use them."

Then he stepped into the kitchen and shut the door firmly behind him.

Rosa stared at the closed door in a daze, her head tilted to the side, eyes wide. She scoffed softly, raking her fingers through her hair.

No way, she thought, shaking her head in utter disbelief. No fucking way. This is so not my life right now... Do I really have to deal with that every fucking night?