Ravenna Lane stared at the small, cracked mirror in her bathroom, her reflection smeared with dried tears and exhaustion. Her bottom lip trembled, but she didn't make a sound. Crying out loud felt like weakness—and Adrien didn't need more reason to see her as fragile.
Still, the ache in her chest tightened until she sank to the cold tiled floor, hugging her knees.
She had never felt so alone.
Her family had disowned her, discarded her like a shameful mistake. Adrien had ripped her out of her life like a page from a book and turned her into his ghostly maid-slave. Selene hated her. The housekeeper sneered at her.
And Adrien? Adrien watched her like she was both his prisoner and a puzzle he couldn't quite solve.
But tonight, something in her snapped.
She needed to leave.
Ravenna waited till the household was asleep
She crept to the kitchen past midnight, the grand halls silent. Her fingers brushed the handle of a paring knife. If she could just get to the service door—
But it was locked, deadbolted from the outside, with an alarm panel flashing red. She knew the alarm code had changed weeks ago—after the first time she tried. Marta must have told Adrien.
She put the knife back and walked away slowly.
'There should be other ways to get out of this place' she thought to herself
She had stared out her window for an hour, trying to calculate a drop. If she tied her bedsheets… climbed down to the second-floor balcony…
One mistake. One slip. She'd die.
Maybe that would be freedom too.
But no. That wasn't living. That was surrender.
She didn't want to die, at least not yet.
She went back to bed, she had to think hard and smart
Two weeks later, Adrien threw another party, a confidential one. She wandered past security, her heels too loud on the marble. She tried toslip into the valet garage, hotwire something—
But one of his men caught her before she even reached the courtyard.
He didn't speak. Just called Adrien.
Minutes later Adrien came and took her straight to his study. "You're eager to leave…arent you?"
With her head bowed she bit into her lower lip…how dhe hated hearing his voice. She said nothing
"Speak" Adrien hollered
"I hate this place" she whispered.
Adrien looked at her intensely and then replied "Everyone does" and with that, he walked away, back to his guests.
That night, she found her door locked from the outside.
Ravenna didn't give up
Shad studied his gestures. Adrien liked control, not affection. But what if she turned it on him—played soft, seductive, submissive… Just long enough to grab his keycard.
Adrien had just walked in from his outing, he looked indifferent as always. His aura cold and unapproachable. But Ravenna pretended not to notice. She had to try at least.
She walked up to him "Are you okay?" She asked feigning concern. But the moment she pressed her hand against his chest, he froze.
He looked down intimidatingly with a stare that could drill into her soul
"I don't need your fake sweetness, Ravenna," he growled, pushing her away gently—but firmly. "Don't insult me."
Her plan dissolved in silence. She was losing hope gradually. And then thought plopped in her mind.
It rained hard that night. Just like the night she was taken.
Everyone was already asleep.
This was her moment.
She slid through the side hallway, clutching Adrien's stolen keycard from earlier that day–she knew where he kept his coat and the moment he dropped it she picked it up, she felt fortunate–It opened the back terrace door. The cold wind kissed her skin. Freedom.
She stepped out into the garden, muddy and soaked. The gate was ahead.
She ran.
And then—
Click.
A gun cocked.
She turned.
Adrien stood under the rain, shirt soaked, his expression unreadable. No guards. No rage.
Just him.
"How many times are we going to do this, Ravenna?" His voice was dangerously calm.
She didn't answer.
He walked toward her, slow, deliberate.
"You want to run?" he asked, reaching her. "Then run. But you'll always come back broken."
Her chest heaved. "Why won't you just let me go?"
His jaw clenched. "Because I can't."
And with that, he grabbed her wrist—not violently, but possessively—and led her back inside.
No yelling. No punishment.
Only silence.
---
By morning, her things had been moved.
She blinked at the new room—rich ivory and warm walnut, books lining the walls, windows overlooking the fountain courtyard.
Confused, she spun toward the door.
Adrien stood there.
"This room is next to mine," he said flatly.
Her throat dried. "Why?"
"Because I'm done watching you try to disappear."
She stepped back. "You can't keep me caged forever."
He stepped in. "This isn't a cage anymore, Ravenna. It's a leash."
He closed the door softly behind him.