Chapter 257: Disobedient

Staring at the locked door, I cast a furtive glance around, listening intently to the dead silence of the apartment before hesitantly taking hold of the handle. The door refused to budge.

Crouching down to take a closer look, I realized it was fitted with the exact same simple latch mechanism as every other door in the apartment.

I recalled a scene from a movie where someone bypassed a door like this using a standard plastic card. Whether that trick would actually work in reality was something I had no way of knowing, but it was certainly worth a try. After all, my parents were worth taking even the most insane risk.

Besides, I had no idea what Damian might do next. Given how dangerously unpredictable and lethal that wolf was, any chance of gaining leverage against him was priceless.

If I could at least get my parents to safety, that alone would be a huge victory. I could face whatever debt or sentence I owed with total composure, knowing I no longer had to tremble in fear for their lives and well-being.

Straightening up with sudden resolve, I hurried back to my room, snatched my phone along with a plastic card from my wallet, and returned to the door.

I spent several frustrating moments just trying to slide the card into the narrow gap, pushing down to trip the spring latch.

With every passing second, my heart hammered faster, fueled by the terror of getting caught by Damian.

Panicking, I kept glancing at the time on my phone screen while frantically working at the damn lock, but the card kept catching and getting jammed in the frame.

Checking the time once more, I bit my lip until it bled out of sheer, stinging frustration. Damian’s university lectures would be wrapping up soon, and he would be heading straight home! Who knew when such a perfect opportunity would ever present itself again? This might be my only tiny window.

Wiping cold sweat from my forehead, I decided to try a different approach. Wedging the card deeper, I pressed directly against the bolt mechanism and slammed down hard on the door handle. The world around me seemed to freeze as a distinct, metallic click shattered the oppressive silence of the apartment and broke my mounting dread.

My heart thrummed deafeningly against my ribs with terrifying force, and a sudden surge of adrenaline sent a violent tremor through my body. Letting out a low moan of pure relief, I collapsed backward from my crouch onto the floor.

I had unlocked it. I actually did it.

Closing my eyes for a single second to catch my breath, I scrambled to my feet, threw the door wide open, and stepped inside.

Shivering from the icy blast of air pouring out of the room, I looked around. The air conditioner, built directly into the ceiling, was massive and so powerful that the heavy curtains on the windows were visibly swaying.

There was practically nothing else in the room. Glancing around and locking eyes on a solitary wardrobe in the far corner, I walked over to it with sudden resolve, gripped the handles, and yanked the doors open.

For a second, everything went black from shock. The air caught in my lungs as a heavy lump.

My photographs. Dozens of them. Pasted onto the inside of the wardrobe doors were pictures of me—old snapshots that were stored away in albums back at my house. How on earth did they get here? How could he have possibly taken them?

With immense effort, I tore my shocked, terror-filled gaze away from the photos, scanned the neat folders on the shelves labeled with years written in black marker, and suddenly spotted a small white metal box. It seemed to beckon me like a magnet, calling out to my soul.

Completely unaware of what I was doing, I picked it up, marveling at how ice-cold the metal felt. Yet try as I might, I couldn’t open it. No matter how desperately I tried to pry the lid off with trembling fingers, it wouldn’t budge.

"What a disobedient little bird you are. Do you know what happens to breeders who break the rules?"

That low, vibrating voice struck me like the crack of a whip. A wave of primal fear paralyzed me instantly, freezing the breath in my chest.

Moving as if in slow motion, fighting against the wild, stubborn resistance of my own petrified body, I forced my head to turn toward Damian, who stood blocking the threshold.

He looked terrifyingly relaxed. Leaning his shoulder casually against the doorframe, he crossed his arms over a chest tightly encased in a dark t-shirt, outlining the coiled, dense power of his muscular frame.

"Little–little bird, my disobedient little breeder..." Tipping his head slightly to the side, he flashed a devilish, predatory grin, never breaking his dark, piercing gaze from my shaking hands as they clutched the small box. "You were given a strict order never to set foot in this room. But the moment I left you alone, you just had to poke your curious little nose right in here."

Swallowing the thick, metallic taste of fear, I stumbled a step backward toward the window as he smoothly uncoiled from the doorframe, straightened to his full, imposing height, and took a slow, deliberate, predatory step toward me.

"Don’t you dare come any closer!" I rasped, casting a desperate glance toward the window. "Or I’ll destroy this!"

"And how exactly do you plan to do that, Hart?" he asked with an icy, mocking taunt, stepping closer to close the distance between us. "It’s locked tight, and there is no way you’re getting to what’s inside."

"Is this thing really that important to you?" I asked, pressing my lower back against the windowsill as I realized I had nowhere left to retreat. "Fine, then I’ll give it back—but I have one condition."

"Oh, you’re trying to bargain with me?" A dark, amused glint flashed in his eyes.