Chains of Desire

The folder clicked shut, the echo louder than I expected in the cold room. Outside, the world carried on, unaware of the darkness I’d just swallowed whole.

I sank back in the chair, heart pounding. The Black Lotus wasn’t just a name — it was a living nightmare, and I was trapped inside its web.

Ranvijay’s empire thrived on fear, silence, and control. I had learned its rules today, but could I follow them? Could I survive the cold, ruthless game I was now part of?

A thousand questions burned in my mind, but no answers came.

Tomorrow, they said, the real lessons begin.

I didn’t know how long I’d been sitting alone in that cold room. The file still sat in front of me, sealed shut now — like the truth inside it had burned itself into my skin.

My eyes stung, but I didn’t cry. I wouldn’t. Not here.

Then I heard it — the soft, deliberate click of the door.

He stepped inside like he owned the air.

Ranvijay.

Still in black, his shirt rolled at the sleeves, his presence somehow louder than any words. I felt it before he even looked at me.

He didn’t say anything at first. Just stood there, watching me, like he could read every thought I hadn’t spoken aloud.

“You read it all?” he finally asked, his voice low and quiet — dangerous in its calm.

I nodded.

“And?”

I could’ve said a hundred things. That I was horrified. That his empire was monstrous. That I finally understood why people feared his name like a curse.

But I just said, “I didn’t stop reading.”

His jaw twitched — the smallest flicker of something. Approval? Amusement? I couldn’t tell.

He walked closer, slow, like a predator used to prey that never runs. “Good.”

He didn’t offer comfort. He didn’t ask how I felt.

He just held out his hand.

I hesitated… then placed mine in his.

His grip was firm — not cruel, but not gentle either. Like everything about him, it said: you’re not free.

We walked out of the room in silence, through the narrow halls of the compound that now felt less like a place and more like a cage. I felt the eyes of his men on us. I felt the weight of everything I now knew about him pressing against my spine.

He led me back through the inner gate, past the cameras, past the guards with unreadable faces.

And then we were alone in the house again.

Inside, nothing had changed. The lights were soft. The floors gleamed. The illusion of peace was intact.

But I had changed.

As I crossed the threshold, I knew — today I had stepped into the mouth of the monster.

And now, I was sleeping beside it.

I didn’t sleep. Not really.

The bed was too soft, the silence too loud, and my mind — it wouldn’t let me forget what I’d read. What I’d agreed to, even if I hadn’t said it aloud.

By morning, I wasn’t rested. I was ready — or at least, I told myself I was.

When the door opened, I expected Ranvijay.