Bought By The Billionaire Don

nly sound breaking the stillness. The air was stale, like it had been waiting for her to return. She slipped her shoes

the usual response - a grunt from the k

g. No greeting. No s

opped her keys into the bowl on the small table by the hallway. Her father was alwa

lled again, lo

d velvet couch that had been passed down from her grandmother, the old record player that always made the air feel cozy,

ing wa

om was too qu

e'd left. The small coffee table was askew, and papers were scattered across the floor. Some were torn, other

t began

from a store she didn't recognize. Her father's wallet was next to it, wide open, its contents s

had always been meticulous. His w

thing he never left the apartment without. A sinking feeling settled in her stomac

d, with the faint scent of whatever her father had cooked for lunch still lingering in the air. But it didn't feel

ticed something on the floor, just beside the old w

The locket was small and simple, a keepsake from her mother that had always hung from her neck. It had been year

he leave t

e one thing that didn't belong here, the one thing that shouldn't have been

ch intensified, a creeping dread th

ld somehow explain everything. Her mind spun with questions, but none of th

ay, a soft thud followed by

tst

roat, and instinctively, her body tensed. She was

a

ng like lead. The air seemed to grow heavier around her, th

d again, her voice b

th

d on rare occasions. Alina's heartbeat quickened, her fingers curling around the locket in her hand. She wasn't sure why, b

lit only by the soft glow of the desk lamp. The desk, her father's prized possession, sat untouched in th

ave been. The drawer was emptied, and nothing seemed to make sense.

appene

her with a jolt, making her jump. She spun

. Closer

er. Someone she hadn't heard come in. Her breath came in sharp gasps, her han

efore she could reach the front door, she heard it again

door to her father's office was already in her line of sight, h

e door behin

li

clamped over her mouth, the sharp smell of antiseptic filling her

something cold and hard

kne