Should I book a VIP lounge for you?

**Ivery Clark POV** 

A dull, throbbing pain settled in my skull as I forced my eyes open. 

The world felt too bright, the sheer weight of my body pressing into the mattress as if I had been drained of every ounce of strength. 

Alrigo went wild last night. And every pain reminded me that I had no control over my own body, no control over anything.

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes, slipping down my cheeks before I could stop them. But there was no one to see, no one to care. Not him. Not the monster who had trapped me in this never-ending hell.

Alrigo.

A ragged sob tore from my lips before I could swallow it down. My fingers clutched at the sheets, bunching the soft fabric in my fists. I hated him. God, I hated him so much I could barely breathe around it.

He had taken everything from me. My freedom, my choices, my dignity. He had twisted my life into something I could no longer recognize, something I couldn’t escape no matter how much I tried. And now… now he thought I had betrayed him.

A soft creak pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned my head just enough to see an old figure stepping into the room. Granny Lucille.

She was the only one who ever treated me like I was still human.

Her aged eyes softened as they met mine, filled with concern as she approached with a small tray in her hands. “Oh, child,” she whispered, setting it down on the nightstand. “You’re burning up.”

I said nothing. What was there to say? That I felt like I was dying? That I wished I was?

She sat down beside me, the bed dipping under her weight. A glass was pressed to my lips, the sharp scent of medicine swirling up.

“Drink this,” she coaxed gently.

I parted my lips, barely tasting the bitterness as the liquid slid down my throat. The medicine wouldn’t fix anything. It wouldn’t fix me.

Granny sighed, her warm hand brushing damp strands of hair away from my forehead. “You need to eat, dear.”

I turned my head away, refusing to look at the steaming bowl of porridge she uncovered. My stomach clenched at the mere thought of food. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want anything.

“I don’t want it,” I rasped, my voice hoarse from crying.

“Come on dear, don't be like this. You need to eat a little.” 

“No, I'm not in a mood, Granny Lucille. Please leave me alone.”

“You—”

The door slammed open.

The air in the room changed instantly, the warmth Granny brought disappearing like a candle snuffed out in a storm. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. The weight of his presence was suffocating, his power pressing against me even from across the room.

Alrigo Valerie King.

“Why aren’t you eating?” His voice was sharp, edged with something I didn’t have the strength to decipher.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I refused to answer. I refused to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him.

I heard Granny Lucille walking out after greeting Alrigo. He took slow, measured steps closer, his presence an unbearable heat against my feverish skin. 

I kept my eyes closed, trying to pretend he wasn’t there, trying to pretend I wasn’t trapped in this nightmare with him.

His voice dipped lower, laced with mockery. “Not in a mood? Maybe you’re just waiting for something better. Should I book the VIP lounge for you instead?”

My entire body tensed. My breath caught in my throat, my fever-drenched skin suddenly colder than ice.

Slowly, painfully, I turned my head toward him, my fevered body protesting the movement. I should have kept my eyes closed. I should have ignored him. 

Because the moment our gazes met, I saw it—the dark glint in his eyes, the satisfaction in seeing me like this.

“Hmm?” He tilted his head, his gaze boring into me. “Tell me, Ivery. You have no appetite because you miss him? Maybe I should send you back to Elias’s lounge, don't you think?” 

I clenched my fists under the blanket. “Stop…” My voice was barely a whisper, hoarse and weak, but it was all I could manage.

“Stop?” He let out a soft, mocking laugh. “But I’m just trying to help. If you don’t want to eat here, I can arrange something more fitting for you. A luxurious setting with luxurious men. Isn’t that what you like?”

“I hate you,” I whispered, the words more for myself than for him. “How dare you accuse me when you were the one who brought me to that situation in the first place!” I shouted, my voice shaking but growing louder with every word. 

Alrigo paused, his expression flickering for the briefest moment. “So now it’s my fault?”

“Yes!” I cried out, “You were the one who sent me to the bar! I didn’t ask for any of this! I hate working there—I don’t want to be there!....I hate it. I hate that bar, and I hate everything about being there.” I cried out, my chest heaving with loud sobs.

“Why are you hurting me so much?..Can’t you see?” I took a shuddering breath, my throat raw. “Can’t you see how much I hate it there? It’s because of you that I endured that hell. You.”

You dragged me into that nightmare. You put me there. I didn’t want to be there. I don’t want to be there.” My voice rose with every word, every bit of agony pouring out of me like venom.

A pin-drop silence fell between us.

The weight of his stare pressed down on me, suffocating, unreadable, as if he was absorbing every shattered piece of my words.

“Then don’t go,” Alrigo’s response was immediate, the quiet authority in his tone sending my heart into a frenzied race.

I blinked up at him, stunned. “What?”

“You heard me,” he said firmly, his gaze locking mine. “From tomorrow, you don’t go there anymore. I don’t want you there. You’re not stepping foot in that place again.”

My heart skipped a beat and his declaration left me reeling. Did I mishear..? He's letting me quit? 

I stared at him, my fevered mind unable to process what I’d just heard. 

My body was heavy, my skin burning, my mind scrambled to process his words, but when I finally spoke, my voice was unsteady. “Then how… how will I pay my debt to you? How will I earn money?”

A slow, wolfish smirk spread across his lips, but the glint in his eyes was anything but amused. 

“There are other ways, Ivery…,” he murmured, his voice smooth yet utterly dangerous.

I stiffened under his piercing gaze. “What… other ways?”