after they met her

fiftyfour

i v a n a

Jaqueline stood in front of me, between the cells, her small frame barely illuminated by the dim light.

I blinked, trying to shake off the grogginess that clung to me from sleep.

My mind struggled to process her presence.

"I know you told me to wait till you figure out the whole plan," she sobbed, her voice breaking with fear, "but I don't want Daddy to hurt you anymore, Ivana."

I shushed her gently, still trying to wake up fully. My body ached, every bruise, every cut, screaming for attention, but my focus was on her.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Three in the morning."

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I started, pushing myself up a little, fighting against the soreness in my body. "Did anyone see you coming down here—?"

I froze mid-sentence, my breath catching in my throat as I saw Rick step out from the shadows. His presence was like a looming storm, silent but heavy, watching.

The way he always watched.

"Rick brought me," Jaqueline said, her eyes wide and innocent. "He promised not to tell Daddy."

I glanced at Glenn, whose face was a mix of shock and disbelief. He looked like he was about to scream. He couldn't believe it either. I shouldn't have trusted Jaqueline.

She was just a child, too young to understand the gravity of our situation, and Rick - he would absolutely tell Daniel.

This time, I knew for sure, Daniel would kill me.

"Don't worry," Rick said, his deep voice cutting through the tension. "I'll help. Boss shouldn't have started hurting girls—that's against our rules."

For a fleeting second, I almost felt relief, a flicker of hope as Rick acknowledged the madness.

Then my eyes landed on Glenn—on his bruised face, his hollow eyes, his fragile body that had been pushed far past its limits. All the rage I'd been swallowing surged up like bile. Broken. He was so broken.

Tortured. For so long.

How dare Rick act like he cared now?

Like his rules made any of this less monstrous?

I felt my pulse throb in my temples, a sickening heat crawling up my spine. Every bone in my body ached with fury. Glenn had been shattered in this hellhole, day after day, and now Rick wanted to act like some savior because I was a woman?

No.

The relief vanished, replaced by a fiery anger that burned hotter than any pain I'd felt. I could hardly see through the haze of it. Glenn had been reduced to nothing, a shadow of himself, and now Rick dared to talk about rules? About boundaries?

The hypocrisy was suffocating, and I couldn't keep it inside anymore.

"You're a hypocrite," I said suddenly, my voice sharp, the words spilling out before I could stop them.

Rick's eyebrows shot up, a look of surprise on his face. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," I spat, the anger rising inside me like a wave. I forced myself to stand, even though my legs were weak, tumbling slightly as I grabbed onto the bars of the cell for support.

Rick opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. His silence made my blood boil.

"You!" I hissed, the word echoing off the stone walls. "Why was it okay to beat him, to torture him, but not me? What kind of sick rules are you following?"