Lexi’s phone lit up with an unknown number.
She answered.
“Why aren’t you on set?” Sebastian’s voice was cold and precise.
“Do you know the trouble you’re causing?”
Of course he knew everything.
“I have personal matters,” Lexi replied lightly.
“If there’s nothing urgent, I’ll hang up. Don’t want to waste your time.”
His tone darkened.
“You have thirty minutes. Be on set.”
“I’m not coming. Do whatever you want.”
She ended the call.
At this point, she had nothing left to lose.
She returned to the realtor, handed him a bottle of water, and urged him to find her a place fast.
Across the street, Sebastian watched from his car.
So she had found someone else to rely on already.
Fine.
Today, he would let her learn.
The realtor soon claimed he’d found an affordable apartment.
The commute was easy.
The unit was ready.
It seemed perfect.
As Lexi prepared to transfer the payment, the door slammed shut behind her.
Her heart dropped.
“You should show more gratitude,” the realtor said, stepping closer.
“One bottle of water isn’t enough.”
He kicked the bottle she’d bought him.
Water spread across the floor.
Lexi backed away, clutching her bag.
He lunged.
He was on her in seconds, grabbing at her clothes.
Fabric tore.
His eyes darkened.
Rage replaced fear.
Lexi drove her knee upward with all her strength.
He screamed, collapsing.
She scrambled up, ripped the door open, and ran.
Her shoes slipped off behind her, but she didn’t look back.
On the crowded street, barefoot and shaken, she finally stopped.
People stared.
She crouched, arms wrapped around herself, tears falling despite her effort to hold them back.
If she hadn’t fought—
She forced the thought away.
She bought a cheap shirt from a nearby shop and changed immediately.
She refused to stay silent.
Her landlord’s number was disconnected.
The realtor was temporary staff.
The police wouldn’t bother over something like this.
The city felt vast and indifferent.
She thought of the orphanage.
Of growing up alone.
Her legs trembled.
Darkness crept in.
She collapsed. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
When she woke, she was in a spacious, immaculate apartment.
An IV line ran from her hand.
Sebastian sat nearby, flipping through a magazine.
“Where am I?” she asked hoarsely.
“Your new home,” he replied calmly.
“You fainted on the street. I brought you here.”
He stood, stepping closer.
“You’re always in trouble,” he continued.
“Don’t mistake this for kindness. Nothing I give is free.”
He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“The man who tried to touch you is handled,” he added, voice deceptively mild.
Her chest tightened.
“You killed him?”
He didn’t answer directly.
“You don’t need to worry about him again.”
Silence stretched between them.
He tossed a contract onto the bed.
“Your conditions,” he said.
“As long as you breathe, you serve the Blackwood name. You leave only with my permission.”
Every clause bound her—to him, to his family, to control.
Lexi read it once.
Then signed.
Sebastian’s eyes flickered.
He had expected resistance.
Instead, she gave compliance.
It unsettled him more than defiance.
“If there’s nothing else,” he said quietly, “rest.”
He left.
Wrapped in the blanket, Lexi finally allowed exhaustion to claim her.
Fallen Empire, the Blackwoods’ major production, was moving overseas for the next shoot.
New York.
By the time Lexi reached the airport with the crew, she was the last one left to pass through security.