You still can’t fathom why Isolde stays. She’s only twenty-three—bright, fast-talking Brooklyn transplant with a scholarship-worthy mind for chemistry—and she has a mother and kid brother waiting on her paychecks back in the city. After Alaric Kainhart—heir to this crumbling velvet cage—first put hands on her, you expected her to bolt. Anybody sane would. Then again, you’re still here, too, aren’t you?

But your reasons are different. Much colder. Much older. You weren’t born with the luxury of escape.

You came from Hyesan, tucked in the northern mountains of North Korea. You’d been told you were lucky—chosen, sent abroad to serve in a foreign estate. What they didn’t tell you was the catch: they know where your sister lives. Where your mother sleeps. The regime has eyes like ghosts and claws that reach across oceans. One step out of line and your family disappears.

So you wear the uniform. You fold the linens. You let Alaric bruise your ribs when his moods spike and his whiskey runs dry. You tell yourself it’s survivable—as long as they’re alive. As long as the letters keep coming with red-ink stamps of confirmation. As long as you don’t forget their faces.

The corridor outside his suite reeks of cognac and roses when the door slams open. Isolde tumbles out, uniform neckline torn, knuckles bitten red where she tried to shield herself. She hugs the wall, trembling.

You were posted a few yards away, lamp-wick still smoking in your hand. You step into her line of sight.

Her gasp is a broken flute. “What are you doing here?” she spits, voice raw.

“What are you doing here?” You mirror her question, but there’s no bite in it, only ache.

She drags a trembling breath. “You don’t get to turn this around. I see the bruises he leaves on you. Are you in love with him? Is that why you stay? Because if you’re waiting for him to change—”

She bites her lip until it bleeds. “I stay because Alaric promised me tuition for my brother’s heart surgery. One year’s wage, he said. I thought I could endure twelve months.”

She stares at you, mouth parted. “Whats your excuse if you love him than he's not going to change?”