The Return of the Fallen Luna: Rise of the Heiress-Chapter 25 Being Imprisoned

One of the warriors reached out and yanked down the angel figurine.

A dull click followed.

The wall behind the table shifted, sliding open along with it, revealing a narrow, dark room...

Without a hint of restraint, the warriors shoved Ashley inside. The force of it sent her stumbling hard, her body slamming into the wall, her head hit with a dull impact that made her vision burst into sparks.

Fortunately, padding around the wall softened the blow, but not enough to spare her from the sharp wave of dizziness that followed. By the time she tried to steady herself, the entrance had already been sealed shut, and the darkness closed in around her, swallowing everything whole.

Only the faint light from the one-way mirror remained, casting a cold, distant light from the outside, giving her the chance to see what was happening outside like a spectator.

It took her a moment to gather herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head as the buzzing in her ears slowly faded. When she finally looked around, only then did she have a good look at the space, which was nothing more than a cage.

It was cramped, suffocating, with barely enough room to move. Above her was a small vent, but it was useless, because it was far too narrow for even her head to fit in. And aside from that... there was nothing. No bed, no sink, or anything else. Just darkness pressing in from every side.

Anyone with claustrophobia would have panicked in that suffocating space. Ashley didn’t, at least not yet, but after everything that had happened in a single day, her mind was fraying, and the fear of tight, lightless spaces might affect her in the future.

Slowly, she pushed herself up, a hand going to her head. Her fingers brushed against a swelling on her forehead, sharp pain splitting through her skull and making her wince. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Unsteady, she staggered toward what she thought was the exit. There was only a doorknob, nothing more, but when she tried to turn it, it wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard she pulled, it stayed firm. That was when it sank in; she was truly locked inside.

Her gaze shifted to the one-way mirror. From what she had seen earlier, it had to be the decorative half-body mirror from the bedroom. But that didn’t make sense. She had overseen the villa’s design herself, checked every corner during construction, and never once had there been a hidden room connected to the marital bedroom.

Then, a cold realization settled in her chest. This wasn’t just hidden; it was deliberately constructed during the month she was busily bending backwards to accommodate the Yorks and Maddison for a slight warmth from them.

Only someone deeply sick in the head would create something like this in a place meant for a married couple.

’Oh... right. I’m not actually getting married...’ Ashley thought wryly, the realization cutting deeper than she expected.

She clenched her fists and slammed them against the glass.

Thud.

Thud!

No matter how hard she pounded on the glass, it didn’t budge. It felt like the same reinforced material used in police interrogation rooms, only here, it was disguised as a decorative mirror. The surface didn’t even ripple under her blows. Even if someone stood on the other side, they wouldn’t see a thing.

Her strength meant nothing against it, especially since she couldn’t even shift into a wolf. Without leverage, without tools, her fists were useless, and there wasn’t a single piece of furniture she could use to break it. This made her heart turn colder than ice as she knew that this might be Maddison’s game, or maybe even Nathan was in on this, and they had planned this long ago.

To trap her here.

Forcing herself to stop, Ashley let her hands fall. There was no point in hurting herself or wasting what little strength she had left. After scanning the cramped room one last time, she stepped back until her spine met the wall, then slowly slid down to the floor.

The moment she stilled, the pain came rushing in.

It spread through her body all at once, as if her mind had finally caught up and stopped holding it back. Her knee throbbed the worst, reminding her of how hard they had forced her down earlier.

She knew sinking into it wouldn’t help, but she couldn’t stop the grief. She had lost her mother, the only blood relative she had left. They didn’t have the time to get to know each other, yet the emptiness hit all the same. Now she has no one.

The thought hollowed her out, dragging her into a spiral of sorrow, fear, and self-blame. In her mind, her mother’s death was her fault. She had been blind, too stubbornly hopeful, clinging to the belief that if she worked hard enough, things would return to what they once were, that she could earn her place again.

Instead, she had been played... and she hadn’t seen it coming until it was far too late.

She knew there was no such thing as "if" in the world. What was done was done. All she could do now was accept it and figure out how to get out.

Her fingers tightened around the pendant, clutching it as if that small, fragile thing could steady her, could give her enough strength to keep going.

At some point, exhaustion took her. Curled into herself in the dark, still holding the pendant, Ashley drifted into sleep without realizing it.

When she came to, faint sounds stirred on the other side of the mirror, followed by footsteps. Then the door of the bedroom opened.

"Baby, what’s wrong?" Maddison’s voice came soft and coaxing from the other side.

Ashley pushed herself up unsteadily and moved toward the one-way mirror. Through it, she watched Nathan step inside, his expression dark, brows drawn tight. Maddison followed close behind, then caught his arm, stopping his pacing.

"Talk to me, please," she murmured.

Ashley stared at her, struggling to reconcile this version of Maddison with the one from earlier, the woman who had killed her mother without a flicker of hesitation, her face twisted with fury. Now she looked gentle, almost fragile.

The contrast made something in Ashley’s chest twist.

’So this was who Maddison really was, someone who could wear different faces so easily.’ And somehow, that made everything feel even more bitter, more painfully ironic.

Still, the sight of Nathan standing with Maddison in what was supposed to be her marital bedroom drove a sharp, merciless pain through Ashley’s chest. She knew this was part of Maddison’s design.

As mental torment always cut deeper than anything physical, and Ashley wasn’t strong enough to pretend it didn’t.

"Stop thinking about Ashley," Maddison said lightly. "Didn’t you say you’d send her off to marry the Monster Duke? You’ve been trying so hard to cozy up to him for the pack’s sake."

As she spoke, Maddison cast a subtle, knowing glance at the mirror, like she was fully aware Ashley was watching.

"Right..." Nathan trailed off, his voice distant, as if caught in his own thoughts.

Before he could continue, Maddison slipped her arms around his waist. Her hand slid lower, fingers brushing the buckle of his belt with slow, deliberate intent.