Chapter 2

Adelia POV:

The city lights blurred through the taxi window as I directed the driver to our apartment. I was cold, inside and out. The rain started, a steady drumming against the glass, mirroring the dull ache in my head. Each drop felt like a tiny hammer blow against my skull. I didn't care. I just wanted to be home, if that place could still be called home.

Griffith wasn't there. The apartment was dark, silent, and empty. A hollow space that echoed the hollowness in my chest. I wandered through the rooms, the place that had once been our sanctuary now felt like a gilded cage. The emotional and physical trauma of the night finally caught up to me. My body thrummed with fever, a raging fire beneath my skin. I collapsed onto the cold kitchen floor, the world spinning into hazy darkness.

Dreams came, fragmented and cruel. I was ten years old again, lost and alone in the foster system. Then Griffith appeared, a beacon of light. He was young, his eyes full of promise. "I'll never leave you, Adelia," he whispered, holding my hand tightly. "We'll build our own family. A home where you'll always be safe." His words, once a comfort, now felt like venom. The dream shifted. I was on the pedestal again, naked, exposed, and he was laughing, his arm around Beryl. The memory of his betrayal was a physical weight, pressing down on my chest, stealing my breath.

I woke up with a gasp, drenched in sweat, my throat raw. The fever still burned, but the memories of his promise, juxtaposed with the brutal reality, were far more painful. The room was still empty. He hadn't come home. Not that I expected him to.

The doorbell rang, a jarring sound in the quiet apartment. My stomach clenched. Who could it be? I dragged myself to the door, my legs wobbling. Through the peephole, I saw her. Beryl. Dressed in a vibrant red coat, a wide, predatory smile on her face. My blood ran cold.

I didn't open the door. But she let herself in, a key presumably given to her by Griffith. Her eyes scanned the apartment, a look of proprietorial satisfaction on her face. "Hello, darling," she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I hope you don't mind. Griffith gave me a key. Said I might need it to fetch some... inspiration."

She walked past me, as if I were invisible, and headed straight for the living room. She pulled out her phone, tapping at the screen. "Oh, and speaking of inspiration," she said, turning the screen towards me.

It was my naked body. My moment of ultimate humiliation. Publicized. On social media.

A choked cry escaped my lips. My stomach churned. The shame from the gallery rushed back, a sickening wave. How could he? How could they?

Beryl giggled, a malicious sound. "Quite the stir you caused, my dear. 'Postpartum Reality' is trending. And you, Adelia, are the unwilling muse. Griffith is so proud."

I felt a surge of pure, unadulterated rage. My hands trembled, my vision blurring. "He... he let you do this?" My voice was raw, unfamiliar.

"Oh, much more than that," Beryl said, her smile widening. She scrolled through her phone again. "He provided the source material."

She held up the phone. Intimate photos. Photos of me, in our bedroom, in private moments. The ones I thought were just for Griffith. The ones I thought were safe with him. My breath caught in my throat. This was a new low. A fresh wound. He had exposed my most vulnerable self to the world.

"No!" I screamed, lunging for the phone. "Give me that!"

Beryl, surprisingly agile, sidestepped me. She stumbled, a theatrical fall, dropping the phone to the floor. At that exact moment, the front door swung open. Griffith stood there, his face a mask of concern. He rushed to Beryl's side, helping her up.

"Beryl, my love! Are you alright?" he asked, his voice laced with tenderness. Then he turned to me, his eyes blazing with fury. "Adelia! What have you done?!"

"What have I done?" My voice cracked. "What about what you've done? These photos, Griffith! How could you?!"

He glanced at the phone lying on the floor, then back at me. His expression hardened. "It's art, Adelia. High art. You wouldn't understand. And Beryl was just showing me how much traction it's getting. You attacked her."

My stomach clenched again. "Art?" I spat the word out like poison. "You gave her my private photos? To humiliate me? To expose me to the entire internet?"

"Don't be so dramatic," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's all part of the performance. A little publicity never hurt anyone."

My hand flew up, fueled by a searing, blinding anger. The slap echoed through the silent apartment. His head snapped to the side, a red mark blooming on his cheek.

"How dare you?!" I shrieked, the tears finally coming, hot and furious. "You are a monster, Griffith Wyatt! A despicable, heartless monster! You don't deserve her art! You don't deserve anything!"

His eyes, once full of a love I now knew was fake, turned cold. Deadly cold. He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my flesh. "You dare insult Beryl?" he snarled. "You dare lay a hand on me?"

He pushed me, hard. I stumbled backward, hitting the wall. Pain shot through my back. Before I could recover, he grabbed my arm again, dragging me towards a small, dark closet in the hallway. My childhood trauma, my fear of enclosed spaces, flashed through my mind. No. Not there. Anywhere but there.

"Griffith, no! Please! Not the closet! You know I can't... I can't breathe in there!" My voice was a desperate plea.

He ignored me, his face devoid of emotion. "You need to learn some respect, Adelia. This will teach you to control your 'low-class' outbursts." He shoved me inside, the darkness engulfing me instantly.

The door slammed shut, plunging me into absolute blackness. The air grew thick, suffocating. Panic seized me. My heart hammered against my ribs, a trapped bird desperate to escape. I clawed at the door, screaming, begging. "Griffith! Please! Let me out! I can't breathe! I'm scared!"

No response. Only the echoing silence of my own terror. I banged my fists against the wooden door until my knuckles bled. The darkness pressed in, a physical weight. My childhood fear, long dormant, roared to life. I was ten again, trapped, alone. Griffith. He knew. He knew about my claustrophobia. He was doing this on purpose. The man who promised to keep me safe was now my tormentor.

A hazy image flickered in my mind. Young Griffith, holding my hand, calming my childish fears. "I'll always be here, Adelia. I'll never let anything hurt you." The memory twisted into a cruel mockery.

Just before consciousness slipped away, a wave of nausea hit me. Then, nothing.

I woke up to the smell of antiseptic. A hospital. My head throbbed. Griffith stood by my bed, his face pale. But his eyes weren't on me. They were on Beryl, who was sitting gracefully in a chair by the window.

"Are you alright, Beryl?" he asked, his voice soft.

Beryl smiled weakly. "Just a little shaken, darling. Her hysteria was quite... intense."

He finally looked at me, his eyes devoid of warmth. "Adelia, you really need to control yourself. Attacking Beryl like that? What were you thinking?"

"Attacking her?" I whispered, my throat dry. "She displayed my naked photos. You locked me in that closet."

He scoffed. "You were being irrational. And the photos are art. Get over it."

I looked at him, truly looked at him. The man I had loved was gone. Replaced by this cruel stranger. A profound calm settled over me. My love for him, once a roaring fire, was now a cold, dead ash. I would never love him again.

He pulled out his phone, his face lighting up. "Good news, though! Beryl's 'Postpartum Reality' has been a massive success. The gallery is extending the exhibit. And look at this." He showed me the screen. My naked body, on a giant billboard. Public. Forever.

I closed my eyes. I couldn't bear to look. I turned my head away, refusing to acknowledge him, refusing to acknowledge the shame he had inflicted.

"Adelia, look at me!" he demanded.

I kept my eyes closed. He let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Be stubborn. But don't think this changes anything." He stormed out, presumably to Beryl.

I opened my eyes, tears silently tracing paths down my temples. I was alone. Utterly, completely alone.

My body was weak, but my resolve was firm. I needed to get out. My feet hit the cold hospital floor. I needed to go somewhere I felt safe. Somewhere I had once called home. The orphanage. They would understand. They would help me.

The old wooden doors of the orphanage stood before me, familiar and comforting. I remembered running through these halls, finding solace in the kind arms of Mrs. Albright, the director. She was like a mother to me. I knocked, my heart filled with a fragile hope.

Mrs. Albright opened the door, her smile warm until her eyes met mine. Her smile faltered. Then, her gaze dropped to my stomach, then back up to my face. Her eyes hardened. "Adelia Figueroa," she said, her voice stern. "I can't believe it's you. I've seen the news."

"Mrs. Albright, I can explain," I pleaded, my voice cracking. "It wasn't what it seemed. I was-"

She cut me off, her face a mask of disappointment. "Explain? There's nothing to explain. Your lewd images are plastered all over the internet. You've brought shame upon yourself, and shame upon this institution. Our donors are appalled. How could you, Adelia? After all we taught you about dignity and self-respect."

"But I didn't-"

"No," she said, her voice cold. "I can't have someone like you contaminating the children here. You're a disgrace. An embarrassment." She slammed the door shut in my face.

My "home." My last refuge. Gone. Just like Griffith's love. Just like my dignity. It was all gone. And it was all because of him. The man who promised me a family had stripped me of everything, even the memory of a home. My heart hardened further. There was nothing left to lose.