I was exhausted, my whole body pulsing with tiredness as I woke up in Thorn’s bedroom.

There was sunlight pouring through the window, illuminating the all-white bed in beautiful, sparkling colors. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, moaning when I felt the hurt from the previous night. I knew already I was alone. My body always responded when Thorn was in the room, and that morning, I felt his absence in my gut.

Somehow, I understood why he’d chosen not to stay by my side when I woke up. After the previous night, it would be hard for him to face me. I’d made him let go… I’d made him hurt me more than I ever thought he could, and now it felt like we were truly attached to one another, invisible strings connecting my heart to his, as if I was some kind of marionette that could only dance when he made me.

I had breakfast by myself and took a shower after, admiring freshly blooming bruises Thorn had put all over my body. He’d said he didn’t want to hurt me, but his actions proved otherwise. However, I’d taken it all, showing him that I was tougher than I looked, and I could handle whatever he gave me.

I didn’t know what kind of plans he had for me that day, but I was ready by the time the maid took my empty breakfast tray away. I’d chosen to wear a simple pink dress that tied into a halterneck behind my back and flattered my body, tight at the top and flaring out on the bottom. I paired it with simple cream ballet flats with a small bow at the toes accented with a pretty, sparkly bracelet. While I struggled to put it on, I found myself wondering whether the diamonds were real.

“They’re real,” a voice interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to find Pia standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face. “I know a girl like you isn’t used to luxury like this, but they are real. Too good for you, of course. Not that I had a say.”

“At least you’re aware of your own unimportance,” I replied in a sweet voice while Pia stepped closer to me, reaching for the bracelet with cool fingers and snapping it in place on my wrist.

“Looks beautiful on you,” she replied in her icy voice, and we exchanged false smiles. “So, what is Thorn’s little captive going to do today?”

“I hardly see how that’s any of your business,” I told her coolly. “I’m planning to see whether I can go outside, though.”

“Outside?” she stepped closer, looking at me closely with the light pouring through the window. “What is there outside that you want to see?”

I wondered whether I should tell her, but knew full well she had less than pleasant ways of finding out if I refused her.

“I want to go to the garden,” I admitted. “The rose garden.”

“Ah, yes.” Her eyes sparkled with darkness and mischief. “Well, I’m sure you’d be allowed to go.”

I was about to move out of her way, but her hand stopped me dead in my tracks, her claw-like nails going to my cheek and gently stroking the skin.

“Silly girl,” she said softly. “Obviously I meant in my company. You’ll never be permitted to go by yourself. You do know that, right?”

I seethed quietly, choosing not to give her an answer, but then my anger got the best of me as I muttered, “Why not? It’s been so long. I wouldn’t do anything stupid.”

“No?” she mocked me. “Oh, poor little Harlow…”

She was the only one in the house who occasionally still called me by my real name, and we both knew it wasn’t because she cared about me so deeply. Instead, it was because she was convinced I was not a permanent fixture in Thorn’s life, and I’d go back to my real name once he got sick of me. I clenched my jaw at the thought.

“You don’t think you’d be tempted?” she asked softly. “So many others have been…”

“To run?” I asked, thinking of the possibilities.

“No, silly girl,” she laughed in my face, coming closer once again and showcasing her incomparable beauty. “Tempted to jump… to hurt yourself, tumble down those cliffs, throw yourself over the edge. You don’t think you would?”

“Of course not,” I replied primly, feeling anger surging through my body in waves. “What the hell? I would never hurt myself.”

“That’s what you say now,” Pia went on sweetly. “But many girls have claimed the same and weren’t true to their word. So you can see why we’d be hesitant to let you out there by yourself.”

She reached for my arm, and when I tried to snatch it away, she dug her claws deeper into my skin, making me cry out. I watched in shock as she snapped a small chain to an O-ring in my bracelet, creating a short leash from my bracelet in seconds. She tugged me closer, and I stumbled towards her helplessly, unable to stop.

“There we go,” she said pleasantly. “Now we’re really together so I can take care of you. Now, rose garden, I think you said?”

I looked at her with every ounce of contempt in my body, hoping my eyes conveyed how much I hated her damn guts. Then I nodded, and she returned a saccharine smile.

We made our way through the house and down the same path Thorn had led me on when he first took me to the rose garden. I followed Pia obediently, but not meekly, hoping my expression spoke for itself and made it clear enough how much I despised her.

Once again, I found myself scared and overwhelmed as we made our way outside. It was cooler than it had been and windy as hell. The breeze whipped my hair over my face, and I quickly came to regret my choice of going outside as Pia led me to the garden like a lapdog on a leash.

“Nice weather today,” she said with a big smile, and I glared at her.

“Don’t even try to small talk me,” I managed to get out, feeling braver now that we were away from the house and from the cameras. “I’m not in the mood for it.”

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged, probably mentally adding the word “bitch.”

Not that I gave a shit. Our opinions of one another weren’t much different.

“What would you rather talk about?” she yawned as we reached the garden.

It was as beautiful as I remembered it, the addictive scent of roses even heavier in the air than it had been when I visited the place with Thorn. Right away I thought I could use Pia to my advantage. Thorn hadn’t been forthcoming with information at all, but if I could convince Pia I was jealous, maybe she’d reveal more than he had.

“The garden,” I said. “He told me this is how he makes his money.”

She side-eyed me, and I sighed, going on to say, “Stop being so doubtful about everything. I’m in a relationship with him, you know.”

“Yeah,” she laughed out loud. “That’s what you think, silly girl.”

I stopped in my tracks and crossed my arms in front of my body, yanking her closer with the chain she still had in her hands attached to my wrist. She gave me an annoyed glare.

“What do you mean?” I asked defensively. “Of course there’s a relationship there.”

Had she never seen us together? Was she so delusional she’d deny the attraction I felt was so strong that sparks flew between us?

“Maybe,” she said dismissively. “Maybe there’s something. But why on Earth do you think it will last?”

“I…” I started but found myself lost for words. Instead, I glared at her when she gave me a triumphant look. “You don’t understand anything.”

“Oh, but I do,” she said icily. “I’ve seen girls like you come and go for too long to be under any illusion about the man you call ‘Master’ so freely.”

She made me feel weird about my feelings for Thorn, like there was something wrong with me submitting to him, with letting him have what he wanted from me. She made me feel… ashamed.

“How many girls?” I asked, because I couldn’t help myself. I hated my own mouth the second it blurted out the question, but here was my chance to find out the truth. The more painful it was the more eager Pia would be to relay it and hurt me, but maybe she’d deny it all together… try to lie her way out of things like she usually did. Maybe that would finally convince me Thorn was serious about me. Maybe even shared some of the feelings I felt deep down in my soul where my doubtful thoughts had no entry.

“How many?” she laughed as if the question were a joke. “Take a look around you, silly girl. How many roses do you see?”

I glanced around us. The sky was heavy with rain-filled clouds, the waves below crashing against the beach loudly. There were endless flowers there, probably dozens of rose bushes.

“Too many to count,” I admitted, and she gave me a triumphant smile.

“Exactly,” she said. “And you know Thorn a little by now, don’t you, Harlow? You know he likes mementos.”

I cocked my head to the side, waiting for her to go on while my heart pounded painfully in my chest. She seemed to notice and drew out the moment until I was in physical pain from the torture.

“Let’s just say,” Pia went on in her too-sweet voice. “Every rose bush here signifies a woman in Thorn’s life. Do you want to take another look around, sweetheart? Do you need a reminder how many there were?”

I didn’t.

I looked at my feet, my arms falling down by my sides defeatedly as Pia came closer, cruelly tugging on the leash on my wrist to make me stumble forward.

“Yes,” she said. “Too many to count, indeed. But there’s another thing…”

I looked up at her, gearing up for another secret that would feel like the ground had been pulled up from under me, but what she gave me instead felt so heartbreaking it couldn’t compare to the previous statement from her lips.

“Where do you think the little roses go once he’s done with them?” she taunted me.

“I… I don’t know,” I whispered. “He sends them back home?”

In truth, I had never imagined Thorn letting me go. I knew that while he was breathing, he’d want me by his side. But what if the unthinkable happened? What if he grew tired of me and escape wasn’t an option anymore? What if he sent me away willingly?

I knew my heart would be broken beyond repair, and I hated myself for it.

Pia stepped closer, viciously whispering in my ear. “They don’t go back, Harlow,” she said. “They stay right here, on the property. And they turn into roses. All the ones around you. Do you smell them in the air, Harlow? I could fucking swear I still sense the scent of the last one…”

I cried out, tearing myself away from her, but she tugged on the leash harder, making me look at her with my eyes brimming with tears.

“You don’t believe me?” she asked sweetly. “Poor stupid little girl. I have nothing to win by lying to you.”

“You-you’re saying…” I whispered, my words trailing off into nothing.

“Go on,” she smiled brightly. “Say it out loud. Maybe it will make it less painful.”

“You’re saying he gets rid of them,” I whispered, the words sinking in and doing the exact opposite of what she’d suggested.

“Indeed,” she said. “Permanently.”

She stomped her foot onto the ground, her high heel digging into the soil, a branch cracking under the shoe as she grinned at me.

“Rose garden, burial ground, whatever you want to call it,” she shrugged. “One day you’ll end up here just like the rest of them.”

I sobbed out loud then, suddenly wishing I were strong enough to push Pia over the abyss, that I could watch her worthless, evil and beautiful body fall down and smash onto the rocks below.

Instead, I mustered all my strength to yank my wrist from her. The chain dropped from her fingers, and she watched in shock as I picked it up. I turned around and walked back towards the Mansion, not caring whether she followed or not. I still knew where my place was.

Unfortunately, now I also knew where I would end up.