[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-bound-to-my-enemy":3,"chapter-bound-to-my-enemy-bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-57":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Bound to my Enemy",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1599995,2067,"Chapter 57.","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-57",57,"\u003Cp>Margaret doesn’t leave the dining room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She comes back in carrying a small plate, something simple she must have forgotten the first time. Bread and butter, her movements are slower now, cautious in a way they weren’t before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m halfway through standing when she stops beside me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elaine,\" she says softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I look up at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes are fixed on my neck, looking intensely at the juncture between my neck.Like she’s making sure she isn’t mistaken,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That mark,\" she says. \"What happened?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane stiffens across the table, I feel it without looking at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t hesitate, I don’t weigh my words. I’m still tired, sore, and past pretending or trying to cover up for any asshole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He did it,\" I say, nodding my head ince toward him. \"Last night. He grabbed my neck and threw me down.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Margaret’s face immediately drains of color.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her fingers loosen around the plate. It slips and cracks against the floor. The sound is sharp and loud in the quiet room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" she whispers. Then louder, \"No, no, no.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She steps back like the floor has shifted under her feet. Her breathing turns uneven and her hands shake as she presses them to her chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane is on his feet immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For fuck’s sake,\" he snaps at me rounding the table. \"Elaine, get out. Now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Margaret’s breath catches. She’s shaking her head, eyes unfocused, stuck somewhere that isn’t here, deep in her mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane drops to his knees in front of her. The anger drains from his face like someone flipped a switch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Margaret,\" he says, calm but urgent. \"Look at me. You are safe, you are here. No one is going to touch you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She doesn’t respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulls her gently against him, one arm around her shoulders, the other braced on the floor to keep them both steady.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re okay,\" he murmurs. \"No one will hurt you. I won’t let that happen. You hear me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her breathing is shallow now. Sharp inhales that don’t seem to reach her lungs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thomas!\" Zane yells without looking up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The driver appears almost immediately, as if he’d been waiting just outside the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas crouches beside them, immediately understanding the situation. \"Margaret, it’s me. Let’s go somewhere quiet, yeah? Away from here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She doesn’t answer, but she lets him take her arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane stays kneeling until she’s on her feet. He keeps one hand at her back, steadying her until Thomas takes over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when he finally, he looks at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes are hard again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You shouldn’t have said that,\" he says coldly. \"Leave the dining room.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I open my mouth to argue, then close it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This isn’t the moment and time and I know it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turn and walk out, still dumbfounded by what just happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>——\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t make it far before the driver who now has a name I can attach to his face finds me again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knocks once on the door to the small sitting room I ducked into, then steps inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She’s resting,\" he says. \"I got her settled.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I nod. My throat too dry to talk or say anything right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What just happened?\" I ask. \"Really.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hesitates. Long enough that I know this isn’t his story to tell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, he sighs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Margaret wasn’t always... Margaret,\" he says carefully. \"Before she came here, she was married, for a very long time. Bad situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sit on the arm of the sofa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bad how?\" I ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He exhales slowly. \" Her husband was violent and controlling. The kind that creeps up on you until you don’t even recognize yourself anymore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My stomach twists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zane found her,\" he continues. \"Years ag, not like this under different circumstances. She needed help, somewhere safe.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And he offered her a safe refuge,\" I say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes. She insisted on earning her place. Said she didn’t want charity. Cooking was something she loved, something she could do perfectly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pauses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She still has triggers. Voices. Certain words. Seeing marks like that, like today .\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I swallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s why he reacted like that,\" I say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes,\" Thomas replies. \"Not because of you. Because he knows what it does to her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence settles between us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn’t mean to remind her of her experiences or bri....\" I start, then stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas shakes his head. \"You didn’t cause this. You told the truth. Sometimes the truth just lands badly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turns to leave, then hesitates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My name’s Thomas,\" he adds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like I didn’t know that already, I humored him though\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m Elaine,\" I say. \"Thank you. For telling me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nods once and leaves, closing the door quietly behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sit there for a long moment, staring at nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My neck still aches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And for the first time since yesterday, I feel something heavier than anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guilt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t leave my bed for the rest of the day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not for lunch or dinner, not even when my stomach starts to ache in that dull, hollow way that means it’s been ignored too long. I lie on my side with my phone in my hand, scrolling without really seeing anything. Social media, old messages, Nothing new.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every time I shift, my neck reminds me, a tender throb. I keep my hair loose so I don’t have to look at myself in the mirror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time the light outside my window fades into that deep blue-black, hunger finally wins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I drag myself out of bed, pull on an oversized hoodie and a pair of shorts, and slip my phone into my hand. The house is quiet when I leave my room, I turn on my phone flashlight and step into the hallway, padding forward slowly, careful not to make noise even though I don’t know why that matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I find the kitchen by memory more than sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fridge light is too bright when I open it. I squint, and grab the first thing I see that doesn’t require too much effort, and close the door again. Ice cream and vanilla flavored too, guess who’s in luck today. I sit at the table and peel the lid back with my thumb, eating straight from the container.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Halfway through, I hear something. A low sound, glass maybe?. A soft clink. I freeze, spoon hovering in midair. The sound comes again, deeper in the house.\u003C\u002Fp>",1060,"2026-06-06T09:39:37.420Z",1,"novelbin.me","6f9d450788fa7fad30edd4934f7590e80f4913cd82524ed84a596e517247a1c4","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-58","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-56",266,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbound-to-my-enemy-cover.jpg"]