The Last Question: Did You Love Me?
1k Views · Ongoing · Joy Brown
Eight years in that basement, and I can still smell the mold. Eight years of chains, beatings, and guards who treated me like an animal. The only kindness came from Damian—slipping me bread crusts and whispering, "Hang in there, Grace. I've got you."
I shot him when I escaped. Left him bleeding on that concrete floor without a backward glance. I had to. I was finally free, finally Grace again instead of just another lab rat. I had my Harvard acceptance letter and a future that was mine.
Except it wasn't. My stepsister somehow got hold of my test scores, my achievements, my entire identity. Suddenly, she was the genius heading to Harvard while my parents beamed with pride. "We're so proud of you, sweetheart."
And standing right beside her? Damian. Clean-cut now, designer clothes, playing the perfect "Yale golden boy." But those eyes—I'd know them anywhere. They weren't the dull gray of our captivity anymore. They were sharp, calculating, and fixed right on me.
He'd found me. After everything I'd done to escape him, to escape that life—he was here. The question was: had he come for revenge, or to drag me back into a cage where he was the only key?
I shot him when I escaped. Left him bleeding on that concrete floor without a backward glance. I had to. I was finally free, finally Grace again instead of just another lab rat. I had my Harvard acceptance letter and a future that was mine.
Except it wasn't. My stepsister somehow got hold of my test scores, my achievements, my entire identity. Suddenly, she was the genius heading to Harvard while my parents beamed with pride. "We're so proud of you, sweetheart."
And standing right beside her? Damian. Clean-cut now, designer clothes, playing the perfect "Yale golden boy." But those eyes—I'd know them anywhere. They weren't the dull gray of our captivity anymore. They were sharp, calculating, and fixed right on me.
He'd found me. After everything I'd done to escape him, to escape that life—he was here. The question was: had he come for revenge, or to drag me back into a cage where he was the only key?







