"Please let me go. I promise I'll be safe-"

I barely finished my sentence before my father slammed his glass onto the table. The sharp sound echoed through the grand dining hall, making me flinch.

"Why don't you understand, Lilia? You are practically a child. You can't take care of yourself!"

"I can-"

"No, you can't!" His voice boomed, final and unyielding. "So shut up before I do something that will make you regret this conversation."

My throat closed up, humiliation crawling over my skin.

I was twenty. I wasn't a helpless kid. But to my father, I might as well still be five years old, clinging to his leg and asking him to buy me a new doll.

I clenched my fists, willing myself to hold my ground, but my chest tightened when I met his hard stare.

I hated this.

I hated being caged.

I had spent my entire life under the Velmoria name, paraded around as a model, controlled at every step. My father and mother dictated where I went, what I did, who I spoke to. I was always under watch, under protection, as if I was made of fragile glass.

They pampered me, yes I love it and I would literally cry if someone even spoke harshly to me. I had a life most people would envy. Luxuries, wealth, everything I could ever need-except freedom.

I was tired of being their porcelain doll.

"Dad, please-" I tried again.

"ENOUGH!"

His voice cracked through the air, and I swallowed hard, my vision blurring. My chin wobbled.

𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑐𝑟𝑦

Shit.

A thick, humiliating tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.

"Oh, here we go again," my father said, rubbing his temples. "Lilia, crying is not going to change my decision."

I bit my lip, forcing my chin up even as more tears threatened to fall.

"Dad, you need to stop treating her like she's incapable of making decisions," Adrian, my older brother, finally spoke up from his seat. His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it.

My father shot him a glare. "Don't start, Adrian."

"No, seriously, Dad. She's twenty, not twelve. You can't expect her to live like a child forever."

"She's naive. Reckless. She doesn't think before she acts. I am doing all this to protect her"

"And whose fault is that?" Adrian leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "You never even gave her a chance to experience the real world. She's spent her whole life locked in this house or at photoshoots. Maybe if you actually let her live a little, she wouldn't be so 'reckless' in your eyes."

I turned to Adrian, my heart swelling.

I wasn't used to people standing up for me.

My father, however, didn't look impressed.

"Adrian, don't act like she's some prisoner. She has everything-"

"Yeah? And what's the point of 'everything' if she can't even step outside without permission?"

"She has responsibilities. She is the face of Velmoria. She can't afford to make stupid mistakes, besides i do all this to protect her."

"Right, because making a single mistake would bring shame to the family name, huh?" Adrian scoffed.

I held my breath.

My father's jaw tightened, his nostrils flaring. No one talked back to him like that.

"You're crossing a line, Adrian."

"And you're suffocating her."

The room went silent.

My mother, who had been sitting quietly, finally sighed. "Lilia, if we let you go, what will you even do?"

I turned to her, wiping my eyes quickly.

"I just want to live on my own. I want to wake up without a schedule already planned for me. I want to go out without security following me everywhere. I want to make decisions for myself, even if they're bad ones."

"So you're saying you want to live recklessly?" my father deadpanned.

"No! I just..I want to be normal for once!"

"You are not normal, Lilia. You are a Whitmore."

I inhaled sharply.

That was always their excuse.

I was a Whitmore, therefore I had to act a certain way. I had to be perfect. I had to obey.

"Dad," Adrian said, his voice softer now. "Maybe we should at least consider it. She won't learn responsibility if we don't let her try. We can set rules. Conditions."

"She's too fragile."

"She's stronger than you think."

More silence.

Tension stretched between them, thick and suffocating.

Then, finally-

"Fine."

I blinked. What?

"Do whatever you want," my father muttered. "But Adrian, if she gets even a single scratch, you'll be the one responsible for it."

A breath of relief escaped me.

I won.

"I'll arrange a penthouse for you, Lilia," Adrian said, shooting me a small smile. "You can stay there as long as you want, but don't forget-your home is always here."

My throat tightened. I ran to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Thank you," I whispered.

His arms tightened around me. "Just don't get into too much trouble, okay?"

"No promises."

He chuckled.

My mother cleared her throat. "Lilia, don't forget about your career. You're still a model. The face of Velmoria. You have responsibilities."

I pulled away from Adrian and nodded. "Yes, Mom. I won't."

"And," Adrian added, "you'll have a bodyguard."

My smile dropped. "What? No."

"Yes."

"Adrian, I don't need-"

"You do."

"Dad, please tell him I don't need-"

"I actually agree with him," my father cut in.

I groaned. "You're both impossible."

"And you're naive."

We went back and forth, arguing for another ten minutes, until I finally convinced Adrian to let me have just one bodyguard.

I thought that was my victory.

I thought I was finally free.

But little did I know..

The man they assigned to me wouldn't just be my bodyguard.

He would become my obsession.

LATER THAT NIGHT

I stood in front of the mirror, heart racing.

"Let's go, Lilia. Pack your things. Live your life the way you want. No one will stop you now."

I whispered the words to myself, letting them settle in my bones.

I was finally free.

Or so I thought.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Little did Lilia know...

Would she really find freedom?

Or would she end up falling for the one thing she was trying to escape?

Would she fight her overprotective shadow?

Or would she tempt him into breaking his control?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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