Bound by lies Trapped by Desire novel Chapter 76

Elena’s POV:

28

He finally stepped back.

Out of shock, maybe. Or hurt. Or maybe just the force of the word I’d thrown at him, a word neither of us had ever used before. Not like that. Not in that

context.

I didn’t know.

I didn’t have the capacity to care.

My chest ached–tight and tremoring beneath the silk of my dress–and my legs moved before I could process the pain, breaking into a sprint, heels clicking against marble like a staccato warning bell. My breath rushed out in sharp bursts. My vision blurred. One hand clutching my clutch bag to my ribs, the other pressed over my heart like it could stop the ache pulsing through it.

I bolted.

Out of the grand hall. Out of the hollow hush that had fallen over the room after that final word. Out into the echoing lobby where press and guests murmured behind camera flashes and silk gowns swished past like waves.

The crowd outside was a wall of noise and chaos. Reporters surged forward the second they saw me.

“Elena! Is it true you’re Sergei Morozov’s illegitimate daughter?”

“Are you planning a statement? Were you forced to marry Nikolai Vetrov?”

“Is it all a lie?”

“Is this the next Vetrov scandal-”

The lights. The noise. The relentless hands and bodies pressing in. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs clenched tight, the world spun too fast, too hot, and my skin went clammy under the pressure of heat and fear.

How the fuck these people knew about all this when I myself had only just learned I was beyond me.

A hand grabbed me then.

Strong. Familiar.

But not Nikolai. Not comforting.

Before I could scream or protest, I was shoved–gently but firmly–into the backseat of a sleek black car. The door slammed shut. It had started raining! realized as rain slapped against the windows. My heart thudded in panic.

Only when the other door opened and he slipped in beside me did I realize–

“What the hell, Dmitri?!”

He didn’t respond at first. His face was expressionless in the dim interior light, mouth taut, eyes colder than I remembered. Then, without a word, he started the engine. The car peeled away from the chaos, tires hissing over wet asphalt.

I was too stunned to move. My chest was still right. Every breath felt like a shard of glass scraping through my ribcage. I pressed my palm flat against it.

God, I needed to calm down. I needed to breathe.

Ten.

1/3

Chapter 76

Nine.

Eight.

Breathe, Elena. Just breathe.

Dmitri finally glanced at me. His brows were furrowed, the usual cocky edge in his face replaced by something else. Something grim. Concern.

“You… want me to take you to the hospital?” he asked, his voice lower than usual, as he pulled into a taxi zone and parked.

I managed a small shake of my head. “No. I’m alright.”

Even i didn’t believe it.

But I couldn’t deal with this now. Not with a hospital, not with my mother finding out about it. Especially not with Dmitri of all people.

reached for the door handle and stepped out.

Cold droplets.

They hit me the second I left the car, soaking my skin in seconds. But I didn’t care. I welcomed it. At least it wasn’t screaming at me or lying to me or breaking my heart in slow motion.

Dmitri was already out too, calling after me. “Elena! Get back in the car. You’ll get sick!”

I turned on him with a scoff, stepping under the awning of the bus stop, arms crossed. “No thanks. I’ve had enough of Vetrovs to last me a lifetime.”

He looked stung, the corners of his mouth twitching. “I wasn’t the one who-”

“No, I cut in, voice sharp. “But you still cheated on me. So maybe you don’t get to play the knight in shining armor right now.”

Dmitri clenched his fists. “I’m sorry. Elena, it was my fault. What I did… I know it was wrong. I know it hurt you-”

I laughed, bitter and raw. “Good that you know. But I don’t forgive you. And I never will.”

I turned to hail a cab, but he stepped in front of me.

“Elena, please. Don’t do this. We were together for four years!”

I stopped. I looked at him. At the pleading in his eyes. It made me feel… nothing.

“Exactly,” I said coldly. “Four years. And you still didn’t care enough to stay faithful. That tells me everything I need to know about you.”

His face changed then. The regret twisted into something else–anger. Not hot and wild, but cold and dark.

“At least I didn’t trade you off like property to your gangster of a father.”

Ifroze. “What?”

Dmitri stepped closer, his voice lowering. “You think Sergei’s going to stop now that he knows who you are? He’ll do to you what he did to your mother.”

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