Then there was the girl who got captured at the auction.
Terrified and defiant and so determined not to be owned.
Fighting every moment even when fighting was futile.
That girl died during the hunt.
When Vaughn found me in that cabin and dragged me back and showed me that escape was impossible.
The girl who went through training—who learned to kneel and beg and submit—she died too.
Died the moment I realized I wasn't just performing.
Wasn't just complying to survive.
Was actually wanting it. Actually craving his approval. Actually falling for my captor.
And the woman I am now?
She's someone new entirely.
Someone who knows her own desires without shame.
Someone who can kneel without feeling weak.
Someone who chose captivity over freedom because captivity with Vaughn feels more free than freedom without him ever did.
Someone who survived the Sanctuary's programming and Vaughn's training and came out the other side knowing exactly who she is and what she wants.
I want him. All of him.
Not as owner or captor or trainer.
As a partner. As an equal. As the man I love.
It should horrify me.
Stockholm syndrome, they'd call it.
Trauma bonding.
A captive falling for her captor because her brain is trying to make sense of an impossible situation.
Maybe that's part of it.
Maybe I'll never know if this love is real or just psychology playing tricks.
But it feels real.
Feels like the most real thing I've ever experienced.
And maybe that's enough.
Maybe choosing to believe in it, choosing to fight for it, choosing him—maybe that makes it real regardless of how it started.
I'm sitting in the library thinking about all of this when Vaughn finds me.
"I have something for you," he says.
