Chapter <b>248 </b>


    OLIVIA


    I woke up to a freezing chill creeping through my body, my back pressed against something cold, almost like I was lying in a freezer. My eyes fluttered open, but the dim light around me made it hard to make out anything clearly. As my senses returned, I realized something else, the absence of Xander. Where was he? Where was I?


    The room was small, barely furnished, with no windows. My mind raced, trying to piece together the situation. Was this the hotel basement? Did the hotel even have a basement? My head was spinning, and confusion clouded my thoughts. I had no answers, just questions that only deepened my sense of panic.


    I scanned the room, trying to orient myself. The cold stone beneath me seemed to stretch out in all directions, giving the ce an eerie, oppressive atmosphere. There was nothing of note except for a cross that hung on the wall, an unsettling reminder of the twisted ce I found myself in. It was the only thing that felt familiar, yet out of ce in this strange, sterile environment.


    I tried to move, but a sharp panic surged through me as I realized I couldn’t. I thought at first I might be tied up, but as I flexed my hands, I saw they were free. My fingers moved, the sensation returning to them, but I couldn’t feel my feet. Desperately, I tried to move my legs, but they wouldn’t budge. The panic in me grew stronger, my heart pounding in my chest. It dawned on me then: he hadn’t tied me up. He didn’t need to. He had known I wouldn’t be able to escape, that my body would be paralyzed, trapped in this hellhole,pletely at his mercy.


    I yelled out, desperate for help, but my voice echoed weakly in the confined space. It was futile, just an empty sound swallowed by the cold stone. I pushed against the surface beneath me, attempting to sit up and escape, but that’s when I realized what I had been lying on. It wasn’t just a cold b. My breath caught in my throat as I saw the grim truth. I was lying on top of a grave, a cold, unforgiving b of stone. I was in a catb.


    The realization sent a tremor through my entire body. Fear wrapped around me like a vice, tightening with each passing second. This was a ce for the dead. Why had Xander brought me here? What was his n?


    I regretted my impulsiveness in that moment. I had acted without thinking, rushed into a situation I wasn’t prepared for, and now I was paying the price. I hadn’t considered the consequences of my actions, the danger thaty in waiting. How was anyone ever going to find me in a ce like this? Who would think to look for me here, among the forgotten and the buried?


    A wave of self–loathing crashed over me. I had promised my husband I wouldn’t take any risks, and now here I was, stuck in this nightmarish situation. It served me right didn’t it? I had been too forward, too reckless. Why had I ever thought that I was somehow special, that Xander wouldn’t do anything to him. I had underestimated the depth of his cruelty.


    <b>e </b>I had underestimated


    The sound of footsteps interrupted my spiralling thoughts, and I froze, heart hammering in my chest. I couldn’t see where the noise wasing from, but it was too close. started scanning the room in a panic, my mind racing to find anything, anything, I could use to defend myself. But the room was barren, the cold stone walls offering nofort, no weapon to help me.


    Then the door creaked open, and Xander stepped inside, a snug grin spreading across his face as he carried a bag. His eyes glinted with a mixture of amusement and malice. You are awake. Good,” he said, his voice dripping with dark satisfaction. “Now it’s time for us to y.”


    hapter 249