chapter 24
Jinman had left the gallery with a final, dismissive gesture toward the door, assuming his words had been enough to temporarily stun her obedience. Jian waited precisely ten seconds after the sound of his footsteps vanished before moving.
"I have to go now, her mind screamed. Before he locks the mansion down."
She sprinted from the gallery, ignoring the throbbing ache in her chest. She burst through an ornate dining hall, past a grand piano, and located the massive double front doors.
They were sealed heavy, intricately carved wood, reinforced with mechanisms she couldn't see. She slammed her shoulder into them, once, twice—useless.
She tried the windows. They were floor-to-ceiling panes of seamless glass, offering a stunning view of a manicured, endless landscape.Beautiful, but functionally impenetrable. Jian tried to find a latch, a seam, anything, but the glass was fixed, designed for aesthetics and maximum security.
Frustration morphed into cold fear as she realized the perfection of her prison.
She spun around, searching for a back entrance, a staff exit, anything less grand. She found a service hallway and bolted down it, finally hitting a solid, unremarkable metal door. Hope surged—a servant entrance!
She pulled the handle, finding it blessedly unlocked, and wrenched it open, stepping out into the cool evening air. She was in a courtyard, flanked by high stone walls. Freedom was so close she could taste the moist air.
Then she heard the soft, insistent clicks.
A series of gates, woven into the perimeter hedge and the high stone wall, were sliding silently shut, controlled remotely. In front of her, two large, impeccably groomed German Shepherds materialized from the shadows, their leashes held by a hulking man in a simple black suit—a guard who had been waiting patiently.
"Miss Jian," the guard said, his voice flat and professional. "Mr. Jinman asks that you return inside. The perimeter is active now."
Jian stood frozen, the dogs watching her with intelligent, lethal focus. She was trapped in the courtyard, her sprint ending in a silent, humiliating defeat. Jinman hadn't even needed to catch her himself. He had merely designed the mansion to catch her for him.
She slumped against the service door, defeated, and was escorted back inside toward her luxurious, inescapable room.