They Locked Me In a Tower. All To Please Her Chapter 01

They Locked Me In a Tower. All To Please Her Chapter 01

I was born with severe acrophobia.

Standing on a second-floor balcony made my legs shake and my head spin.

My fiancé, Knox, spent six months putting me through “desensitization training.”

First, he put me on a ten-meter platform with only a ladder.

I clung to the rail, crying until I was dehydrated.

He recorded my breakdown from behind the monitor.

Then he took me to cliff swings and glass bridges.

Every time I screamed, knelt on the ground, refused to move—

he’d shake his head and sigh.

“Mila, my wedding house is a top-floor river view.”

“If you can’t even handle this, how are you going to marry me?”

I thought he was disappointed in me.

That he wanted to help me.

Until tonight. He took me to an abandoned observation tower in the suburbs.

The glass platform at the top was crumbling. The rails were loose.

He blindfolded me and led me up.

Then he disappeared.

I ripped off the blindfold. A hundred meters of empty air hit me.

Vertigo swallowed me whole.

Warm liquid ran down my legs. Soaked through my pants.

In a panic, I found Knox’s dropped Bluetooth earbud.

Inside—my best friend and Dorian, laughing.

“You get it? Mila peed herself.”

My best friend, suppressing laughter, “Got it, got it. She’s on the ground, crying like a dog.”

“Ella’s going to crack up.”

Dorian’s voice, mocking, “Knox is a genius. Filming Mila’s phobia attack to cheer Ella up.”

“Her depression’s been getting better.”

Knox, casual, “If it weren’t for her, Ella wouldn’t have been cyberbullied into depression.”

” Humiliating her to cheer Ella up—it’s compensation.”

The cold wind hit me like blades.

Every “desensitization session” this half year.

All of it—a comedy show, orchestrated to make Ella laugh.

And I was the only clown on stage.

—

Half an hour later, a security guard found me.

My legs were jelly. My pants clung to my skin.

Humiliating.

My best friend, Daisy, pinched her nose, laughing so hard she couldn’t stand straight.

“Mila, you reek.”

Knox looked at me with disgust. Tossed me a set of new clothes.

“Change. You’re disgusting.”

Open ground. No cover.

I begged quietly, “Knox. Can I change in the car?”

He frowned, “I just replaced the interior. Do you think I want it smelling like piss?”

He pointed at a crumbling ticket booth nearby.

“Change there. Hurry. Ella’s waiting for us at home.”

I dragged my numb legs into the booth.

Pulled off my dirty clothes.

Just as I pulled on my underwear—a shadow lunged from behind.

A hand clamped over my mouth. Dragged me into the dark.

I kicked a metal wall. Tried to make noise. Hoped Knox and Daisy would come.

They didn’t.

I was dragged deeper. Rough stones scraped my legs. Raw. Burning.

I was shaking. Crying.

Then my abductor yanked off the mask.

My brother. Dorian.

Daisy walked in, giggling. Filming. Camera pointed at me.

“Ella, did you see that? Mila looked like a pig being butchered.”

Ella’s voice, laughing, “Haha, I should’ve recorded it.”

“Her stupid face. I could watch it forever.”

Dorian leaned in. Gentle.

“Don’t worry. Knox and I made a funny video for you. Guaranteed to make you laugh every time.”

Ella’s laugh was bright. Like little knives slicing my nerves.

Something snapped.

I lunged. Grabbed Daisy’s phone. Smashed it on the ground.

The screen shattered.

Daisy screamed. “Mila, are you insane?”

Knox walked in. Face dark.

“It was a joke. Do you have to be this petty?”

I looked up. Eyes red. Stared at all three of them.

“A joke? Or torturing me to make Ella laugh? You know which.”

Knox froze. Something flashed in his eyes, “You knew?”

I opened my palm. The Bluetooth earbud blinked faintly.

“Why use my pain to entertain Ella?”

Knox’s face was blank, “You caused Ella’s cyberbullying. Her depression.”

“She can’t even leave the house. We’re helping you make amends.”

My voice cracked,

“I didn’t do it! She plagiarized my work! She deserved what she got!”

Smack.

Dorian hit me.

My head snapped sideways. Half my face went numb.

His eyes were full of disappointment,

“Mila. When did you become so cold-blooded?”