Chapter 54
A Happy Ending
I couldn’t do anything. My whole body tingled, and cold sweat streamed down my back.
The moment I realized I was trapped in an enclosed space, a suffocating hallucination seized me—
the walls seemed to be closing in from all directions.
Not again. Not this, not now.
What terrified me even more was the fact that I couldn’t hold myself together this time.
Back at the mansion, the situations had been far worse, and yet I’d managed to endure.
Even in crawl spaces under the floor or in the pitch-dark closets where I had to fold my body in half—
I had survived.
Compared to that, this elegant room with a bed and a bookshelf might as well have been the emperor’s chamber.
And yet, I shattered completely.
I couldn’t accept that I had become this weak.
I lay on the floor, curled up tight, my eyes screwed shut.
Only then could I breathe.
I tried to think of nothing at all—
not the fact that I was trapped, not the way every exit had been sealed.
Once I shut off all thought, the panic dulled enough to bear.
Someone will come for me.
They have to.
Clinging to that threadbare hope, I didn’t move for what felt like hours.
My body was numb with pain, as if crushed under a giant’s foot,
but I kept holding on.
I couldn’t die like this—not like this.
They’re coming.
They must be looking for me by now.
Then I heard it—
the clear click of a key turning in a lock.
Soaked in sweat, I bolted upright just as the door opened—
and a man stepped inside.
It was Giles.
He wasn’t in uniform this time, but I didn’t care.
Even through the dizziness, I felt a burst of relief.
“Giles!”
He closed the door behind him.
That didn’t matter either; he’d take me out of here.
I tried to run to him but staggered and fell.
He caught me just before I hit the ground.
“Anna, are you okay?”
He asked with concern, and for a moment I hesitated.
Was I supposed to say yes or no?
Of course I wasn’t okay—
but the fact that he’d come to rescue me made everything almost bearable.
“I knew you’d come.”
“How’s the pain?”
“What? I’m fine. Look, see? Perfectly fine.”
“I gave you a painkiller. Looks like it’s working.”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
But that didn’t matter. There was only one thing that did.
“Let’s get out of here.”
I grabbed his hand.
“Let’s get the hell out of this place. What time is it? I need to see the sky.”
“You can’t.”
“What?”
“I said you can’t.”
I stared at him, speechless.
Giles looked back at me with a firmness that told me he wasn’t going to budge.
Why was he looking at me like that? Maybe he didn’t understand what I meant.
“What are you talking about? I mean outside. Did you see what that lunatic did?
They nailed planks over the windows!”
“You have to stay here.”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes, Giles.”
“I’m sorry. But you can’t leave for now.”
“Stop joking!”
I screamed, but he didn’t even flinch.
It was as if he had expected this exact reaction.
Refusing to accept what I was hearing, I shoved past him and ran for the door.
But before I could reach the handle, he grabbed me.
“Let go!”
“Anna, calm down.”
“Let me go! You bastard—get your hands off me!”
I struggled, clawed, kicked—
but his strength was absolute.
He was a trained soldier; there was no escaping him.
And so, against my will, I had to believe the unthinkable.
It was Giles.
He was the one who had trapped me here.
He wanted me to stay in this awful room.
“…You did this? You kidnapped me?”
“It’s not kidnapping.”
“If this isn’t kidnapping, then what is? What about those nailed windows?
This place is sealed shut! Why the hell did you bring me here?”
“It was the only way to keep you safe.”
“How noble of you.”
I spat the words, wrenching myself free.
He still stood between me and the door.
Watching him there, something inside me caved in completely.
Was it always meant to end like this?
“Tell me the truth. Did they order you to execute me?
You should’ve just killed me then. Was I just your game this whole time?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“I trusted you, Giles. I trusted you.”
Tears streamed down my burning face—
not from sadness, but from rage.
It wasn’t just anyone—it was him.
How could he do this to me?
“You said you loved me. You said you didn’t want me to die.
I believed every word.
I didn’t care if you were a murderer—
I thought we were the only two who truly understood each other.
And look what you’ve done to me! Look at me!”
Giles said nothing.
Maybe he thought I wasn’t worth answering.
But I knew it then—the thread that had once tied us together had snapped.
“I was such an idiot to think something good could ever happen to me.
I should’ve known better.
I never should’ve trusted you.”
“You can hate me if you want. But listen to me.
You need to know what’s happening to you.”
“And what do you expect me to hear now?”
“Anna, please.”
I didn’t want to spend another second near him,
but in the end, I took one step back.
Maybe I was clinging to the faint hope that I was wrong—
that he hadn’t betrayed me.
Maybe I still couldn’t let him go.
“Fine. Go ahead. Say your rehearsed lines.
I’ll decide for myself whether I believe you.”
“There are people who want you dead.
I don’t know all the details yet, but you’re in danger, Anna.
Until I find out who they are, you need to stay here.
This is the only place where I can keep you safe.”
“What are you even talking about?”
“You almost died at the concert. Don’t you remember?”
I tried to recall, but the memory was blank.
I remembered walking onstage to perform—
and nothing after that.
“…Are you saying someone shot me?”
“The lighting rig collapsed. You were hit by debris.
You were bleeding so badly that if I hadn’t stopped it right away,
you would’ve died.”
I touched my stomach.
There were bandages wrapped tight around it.
So that’s what he’d meant about painkillers.
“Then where’s the doctor?”
“There isn’t one. I treated you myself.”
“You?”
“Soldiers are trained in field medicine.
We learn how to stitch wounds, stop bleeding—
because someday, on the battlefield, there might not be a medic around.”
I could almost hear his voice from before—
the one that had begged me not to die.
Now I understood why he’d said those things.
But that didn’t mean I could forgive him.
“The lighting rig fell, you said?”
“It happened right as you were about to play.”
“It could’ve just been an accident.”
“It wasn’t. Someone tampered with it, I’m sure.
They were targeting you, Anna.
The timing, the place—it’s too precise to be coincidence.”
“But you just said you don’t know anything for sure!”
“You were seconds away from dying!
No one just accidentally dies like that!
Not someone like you!
It wasn’t an accident, and you know it—you’ve always known how fragile your safety is!”
“So you locked me in here for my own good?”
He had turned this room into a prison,
using my safety as an excuse.
And he didn’t even realize this cursed room might kill me first.
“There was nowhere else?”
“This is the only place you’ll be safe.”
“Safe?”
Fury welled up again. I pointed at the heavy curtains.
“There aren’t even windows!”
“There was no other choice.”
“What, that’s supposed to protect me too?
Boarding up the windows? Locking the door from outside?
You know what I’m afraid of, and still you—”
No matter what reason he gave, I couldn’t understand him.
Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.
If he truly wanted to protect me, this wasn’t the way.
“I told you everything—about my past, about what I’ve been through.
You know all of it!
If you didn’t, maybe I could forgive you.
But you do, and you still did this.
You’re just like the rest of them, Giles.
You’re killing me too.”
He said nothing.
Maybe he was trying to block me out completely.
But I wanted him to feel guilt.
And I wanted him to let me out.
“Let me go. I won’t be trapped again.”
“I’ll come check on you every day.”
“What good will that do!?”
“Anna! Don’t you understand?
There are people outside who want to hurt you!
Wherever you go, they’ll find you.
They could kill you.
I just don’t want to lose you.
You told me you wanted to live!”
