Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Astrid’s POV
The cold bit deep, even huddled in the corner of this cage. Three days since Clara’s venomous words, three days of silence from the sister I no longer recognized. Three days of Leon’s suffocating presence. Three days since I last spoke with Sheena, my wolf.
He was a constant torment. He’d parade in, bearing gifts like some twisted Santa Claus. Clothes. Always clothes. Dresses made of silk and lace, jewelry that glittered like captured starlight. Things I never wanted, things that felt like chains disguised as finery.
"You never had things like this, Astrid," he’d say, his voice a sickly-sweet purr. "That’s why you were going to leave with him, wasn’t it? Because you thought he could offer you more. But I can do the same. I have more than he has too."
I’d just laugh. A harsh, hollow sound that echoed in the gilded prison. It was the only weapon I had left.
He hated the laughter. It was a crack in his carefully constructed reality, a reminder that he couldn’t break me completely. He’d storm out, his face contorted with rage, muttering about how one day I’d appreciate everything he was doing for me. That Kaeleen could never provide the life he could.
"Keep telling yourself that, Leon," I’d whisper to the empty room, the sarcasm a bitter taste on my tongue.
Yesterday, he hit me. A sharp, stinging blow across the face. "You’ll see," he’d snarled, his eyes burning with a possessive fire. "You’ll see I’m the only one who can truly love you."