Chapter 2 - Shadows of the Past
Elena pulled her arm back, her teeth digging into her lower lip as cold sweat dripped down her neck. The library was suffocatingly quiet.
"Please, Mr. Valenti... don’t ask," Elena sobbed quietly, looking down at the carpet in utter shame and fear. "They said they'd come back if I ever said a word to anyone."
Adrian did not release her wrist. Instead, his thumb gently traced the border of the violent discoloration on her skin. His mind raced back through the past three years. Elena was not just a maid in his household; she had been brought to his mansion by his late father as a protected ward. After her family’s small business was destroyed by syndicate extortion, Adrian had given her a safe haven, allowing her to work quietly in his residence away from the city's brutal underground war.
For three years, she had been invisible, silent, and fiercely loyal. She never asked for money, never complained, and worked diligently to maintain the library. But over the last two weeks, rival syndicates had been creeping closer to the Valenti territory, testing Adrian’s borders and trying to find a weak point in his fortress.
Adrian stared intently at the fingerprint marks. The size and pressure applied to her small frame showed calculation, cruelty, and deliberate torture.
"Where were you when this happened, Elena?" Adrian asked softly, his voice dropping into a deadly whisper. "Tell me where they caught you."
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"Near the eastern docks..." Elena choked out, her voice trembling. "I went to collect my mother's old chest from storage... I thought the area was safe."
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