Chapter 3
My stomach dropped, and dread washed over me.
The Maybach passed through several security checkpoints and pulled up to a glass villa perched on the hillside.
I had only seen this villa in business magazines before. It was supposedly worth nine figures and belonged to some mysterious billionaire.
I realized the mysterious billionaire was probably him.
My entire understanding of reality was being shattered.
The car stopped, and the driver opened Julian's door.
He got out and walked around to my side, then opened my door himself and gestured for me to exit.
His movements were elegant but carried an undeniable air of authority.
I climbed out slowly and felt like a lamb being led to slaughter.
Julian stood beside me and said flatly, "Welcome home."
I stumbled and nearly fell.
I thought bitterly that this wasn't my home. This was my luxury tomb.
He steadied me and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me inside with him.
My whole body went stiff, and I wanted to struggle, but he held me firmly against him.
His palm burned through the thin fabric of my clothes.
The villa's interior was minimalist with black, white, and gray tones. It felt vast and cold, like some massive museum filled with beautiful specimens.
The only splash of color came from the living room wall, where photos of me covered every inch.
Photos of me smiling, crying, angry, spacing out.
Every version of me from the day we met had been carefully framed, like precious pieces of art.
My scalp prickled.
I didn't even know when he'd taken these photos.
How long had this man been watching me without my knowledge?
I finally couldn't hold back. "You're a freak!" My voice shook.
Julian laughed softly. "A freak?" The vibration from his chest traveled through my back.
"I just want to see more of you."
He guided me toward the photo wall and pointed at one where I wore a white dress and had fallen asleep in the library sunlight.
"Look at this one," he said. "You look like a kitten when you sleep."
He pointed to another one where I was glaring at my textbook, frustrated because I couldn't solve a math problem.
"And this one," he continued. "You're adorable when you're angry too."
His tone dripped with tenderness, but I only felt a chill run down my spine.
He was insane, completely and utterly insane.
I thought desperately about calling for the system to do something, to shock him instead of me for once, but nothing happened.
The system had gone completely silent, probably just as stunned by this mess as I was.
Julian watched my face turn pale. "You don't like these?" he asked, his tone understanding.
Then he snapped his fingers.
The photo wall split down the middle and slid apart.
Behind it stood a laboratory.
Strange equipment I couldn't begin to understand glowed with an eerie blue light. Beyond the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights sparkled in the distance.
In the center of the lab sat what looked like a hospital bed, except it was surrounded by countless data cables and monitoring devices.
Julian took my hand and led me toward the bed. "Let me show you something else," he said.
His voice took on a fevered edge as he gestured at the equipment. "This is my latest project. The Dream Navigation System. It can capture, analyze, and even construct human dreams."
My feet froze to the floor. I couldn't move another inch.
"What are you planning to do?" I asked.
Julian turned back to me and smiled, and it was almost innocent. "You keep having nightmares, don't you?" he said softly. "I want to go inside and see for myself. I want to find out who's been hurting my darling."