Chapter 272: Please...
Troy hesitated. He looked nervous, but one glance at Riven’s face shut down any protest. "Alright. I’ll lead you down."
The stone steps to the dungeon were narrow and cold, damp with years of moisture and neglect. The deeper they went, the more the air turned musty, like the breath of something that had long stopped living.
Riven didn’t flinch. There was a certain joy he got to see that his father was kept in worse conditions on purpose. Ah, Ronan, such a good mate.
Those memories surged back to Riven’s mind.
"Please, father! I didn’t mean it! I won’t do it again!"
Seven-year-old Riven’s voice cracked as he scrambled backward, his small hands clawing at the smooth marble floor for something—anything—to hold on to. But there was no escape. A shadow loomed over him, tall, furious, and merciless.
He had only stepped outside for a few minutes. The world beyond the cold walls of the estate had seemed so warm, so bright. He saw his stepbrother playing freely in the courtyard, laughing in the sunlight. And for a moment, Riven had forgotten that he wasn’t allowed the same. That his place was inside. Alone. Unseen. Forgotten.
He just wanted to feel the sun.
But the second his father saw him, everything changed.
"You dare disobey me?" the man growled, seething with rage. "Filthy, ungrateful brat!"
"I just wanted to play...!" Riven cried, a tiny voice desperate and trembling.