Handcuffs And Kisses (Series #1)

Chapter 6

Lilian Carson POV

I couldn’t breathe. The moment my father left, the walls of this place started closing in. 

The expensive sheets tangled around my legs felt like restraints. The locked door, the quiet hallways, the large windows, it was a prison dressed in wealth, wrapped in silk and gold. 

And Alexander Agnor was its warden. 

My fingers curled into fists. No. I wouldn’t let him control me. 

I needed to get out. 

I forced myself to move, my head still throbbing from last night’s alcohol, my body sluggish, but my mind sharp. I had to be smart. No panicking. No stupid, desperate attempts. 

I swung my legs off the bed, the cold floor biting against my bare feet. My stomach twisted violently as the reality slammed into me.

I was here.

Sold.

By my own father.

My heart clenched, a sharp ache spreading through my ribs.

I had held onto some ridiculous hope that maybe, just maybe, my father would change his mind. That this was some cruel, temporary punishment, and he’d come storming in, saying it had all been a mistake.

But he never would.

Because he didn’t want me anymore.

I swallowed, the bitter truth sinking in.

Dad didn’t just leave me behind.

He erased me.

My gaze flicked toward the massive wardrobe across the room, its sleek doors slightly ajar. I had ignored it before, too consumed with getting out.

But now, I saw it.

I stood, legs unsteady, and walked toward it with slow, hesitant steps.

I yanked the doors open.

My stomach plummeted.

Everything was here.

My clothes. My dresses. My hoodies. The jacket my mother had bought me when I was thirteen, the one I thought I’d lost.

My makeup. My books.

Even the stupid stuffed bear I had since childhood, tucked neatly into the top shelf like it belonged here.

I reached out with trembling fingers, my breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps. No. No, this isn’t real.

I pulled out a drawer and saw my journals. The ones I had hidden in my old room, now sitting in a pristine, polished oak drawer. Here.

He had moved everything.

He had taken every last piece of my life and stuffed it into this mansion like I had never existed anywhere else.

Tears blurred my vision.

He wanted me gone so badly that he had made sure I had no reason to return. No home to go back to.

I had nothing.

A sharp, broken sob tore from my throat.

I backed away from the wardrobe like it had burned me, my entire body trembling.

This wasn’t just a marriage deal. This was exile.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, forcing the sobs back.

I would not break here.

I would not let Alexander or my father win.

I spun, my pulse pounding, and focused on the next step.