Chapter 71

Anna’s POV

Everything was blurry at first, like my eyes were open but my head hadn’t caught up yet. I kept blinking, trying to steady my breath because something felt wrong, as if my whole body was made of pain, aches, tightness, pressure, and then I felt something digging into my wrists and ankles. That was when it hit me. I wasn’t just sitting. I was tied to a chair. A cold, heavy iron chair that didn’t even move while I jerked. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. The ropes were so tight my fingers felt numb.

I wanted to scream, but I bit it back. Screaming would be useless if no one could hear me, and I wasn’t about to give whoever did this the joy of watching me panic.

“What’s going on?” I whispered, my voice trembling. I tested the ropes again, slower this time, and the metal scraped my skin. The last thing I remembered was walking into that beautiful house, with the tall white pillars, the clean smell, the shining glass, and then everyt