The night I came of age, the vampire prince Damon couldn’t wait to drag me to his bed.

He took me with a desperate, wild hunger that lasted all night long.

My body ached, but my heart was full.

I’d been his blood servant for ten years. I thought he was finally ready to give me the Embrace, to make me his forever.

But after, as he held me and talked on the phone with my foster brother, I heard Marcus ask him in Latin, “So, Master, how did my little sister taste? You know how many men would kill to be in your place? They all think she's a goddess.”

Damon's lips curled. “Not bad. A little green. Not nearly wild enough for my tastes.”

Marcus laughed. “Well, she's been hopelessly devoted to you since she was a kid. Never even dated.”

Then Damon’s voice lowered. “Don't tell Serena about Elena. I have to marry a noble vampire like her in the end, and I don't want her upset.”

“A little human like Elena… she's just good for practice.”

But Damon didn't know I'd secretly learned Latin just to feel worthy of him.

Hearing that, I didn't say a word. I just quietly changed my college application from the University of New Orleans to my dream school, University of Oxford.

For ten years, I served the vampire prince Damon as his blood servant. The night I turned eighteen, he finally made me his woman. My dream come true. Except now I know the truth: I was just his practice run before he married into vampire nobility.

"One more time."

Damon’s voice echoed in the dark. His cold fingers gripped my chin, forcing my head up.

My body was limp, and I was gasping against his chest.

"I… I can't," I rasped.

"You can." He bit my earlobe, his fangs grazing my skin. "The night is young, Elena."

I closed my eyes and let him pull me back under.

This was my eighteenth birthday, and the tenth anniversary of the day I met Damon. Ten years ago, a rogue vampire attacked me in a dark alley. He appeared out of the shadows and saved me. To repay him, I became his exclusive blood servant.

At 3 a.m., Damon finally let me go.

He sat up, pulling me into his lap, his hands stroking me, still not satisfied.

"The Blood Moon Ceremony is tonight," I said, looking up at him with hope. "Will you… give me the Embrace?"

Damon’s hand paused. "We can talk after the ceremony."

My heart sank, but I quickly told myself he was just planning a surprise.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand. Damon glanced at it, answered, and said something in Latin. "Marcus, how are the preparations for the ceremony?"

I’d secretly studied the language, hoping to one day stand by his side as an equal. I’d never told him.

On the other end, my foster brother—or rather, the lesser vampire Damon had turned—answered, "Everything is ready, Master. Miss Serena’s gown is finished, and the crown is prepared."

"And my foster sister... was she to your satisfaction tonight?"

"Not bad." Damon turned, his eyes sweeping over me huddled on the bed, a smirk playing on his lips. "A little green. Not nearly wild enough for my tastes."

Marcus roared with laughter. "Well, she's been hopelessly devoted to you since she was a kid. Never even dated."

"Still, for a free, walking blood bag, she'll do."

"Don't tell Serena about Elena," Damon said casually. "I have to marry a noble like her in the end, and I don't want her upset. A little human like Elena… she's just good for practice."

I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood, my nails digging into my palms.

"Then after you marry Miss Serena, what about her…?" Marcus asked carefully.

"Just keep her around for now." Damon walked to the window, his back to me. "Humans don't live long anyway. I don't mind playing with her until she's gone."

They talked for a few more minutes, all about the Blood Moon Ceremony and how to make sure everything was perfect for the precious Miss Serena.

Not a single word about me.

After hanging up, Damon finally turned to me. "I have to go. Marcus needs help with a few things."

I forced a smile. "Okay."

He walked to the bed, leaned down, and pressed a cold kiss to my forehead. "Be good and wait for me. And use the healing salve to get rid of those marks."

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Because I care about you," he said, a fond smile on his face that now felt like a complete lie.

He probably just doesn't want anyone to know we slept together, I thought. If Serena were lying in this bed, would he be so quick to erase the marks he’d left on her?

The answer was obvious.

He vanished into a black mist, gone from the room.

I sat there, numb, as silent tears streamed down my face.

I stumbled into the bathroom and flicked on all the lights. The girl in the mirror was pale and drawn, her neck covered in a delicate tracery of bite marks, like some shameful brand.

Shaking, I took out the vial Damon had left—a potion made from vampire blood that healed wounds instantly.

The moment the needle pierced my skin, a searing pain shot through me.

I watched in the mirror as the bites faded, one by one, disappearing just like my ten years of devotion, so easily erased.

Back in the bedroom, my phone lit up.

A text from Damon: [Have something to attend to tonight. Get some rest. Don't wait up.]

His "something," no doubt, was Serena.

I looked around the room I'd lived in for so long. The walls were covered in vampire histories, the shelves filled with books on the creatures of the night.

I was like some foolish scholar, trying to close the gap between our worlds by learning everything about his.

Pathetic.

I fell into a pained, exhausted sleep. I don't know how long I was out.

My phone rang, waking me. It was my best friend, Chloe.

She sounded frantic. "Elena! Check the video I just sent you! Now!"

I opened it. The Blood Moon Ceremony had already begun.

Damon stood in a perfectly tailored black suit. Beside him, the famous vampire socialite Serena wore a gown worth millions, a glittering diamond tiara on her head.

That tiara. Damon once promised he'd give it to me when I came of age.

On screen, Serena stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to Damon’s cheek.

He didn't pull away.

I remembered all the times I’d been weak after he’d fed, begging for a simple, comforting kiss. He always refused.

"Elena, I am a vampire prince, not some sentimental human," he would say.

Turns out, he just refused me.

Chloe was yelling something on the phone, but her voice was a distant buzz.

I just stared at that tiara, remembering Damon’s words as he once stroked my hair. "When you come of age, I'll give you a crown, so the whole world knows you're mine."

He gave away a crown, alright.

Just not to me.

The video kept playing.

I watched, torturing myself, as Serena clung to Damon’s arm, making no secret of their intimacy.

"It's a birthday present from Damon," Serena cooed into a microphone. "He said this crown was made for me."

The vampires in attendance applauded their perfect union.

Then the ball began, vampires in timeless, elegant attire sweeping across the dance floor. Damon and Serena were at the center of it all, her body pressed against his. They performed the traditional rites of vampire nobility—cheeks touching, foreheads pressed together, fangs ghosting over the side of the neck.

It was a courtship signal.

I thought of just a few hours ago, when Damon was in my bed, whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

Now he was holding another woman in the exact same way.

The worst part? The Blood Moon Ceremony was an exclusive event for pureblood vampires and their chosen mates.

As a human, I couldn't even get through the door.

I ended the video, and the world went silent.

Chloe was still talking. "...Elena, listen to me, that bastard is stringing you along while he's planning to marry some other vampire. He's not worth it—"

"You're right," I cut in, my voice surprisingly steady. "I get it now."

"Get what?"

"Loving someone who doesn't even see you as an equal… it's a sick joke."

Chloe heard the break in my voice. She sighed. "Elena, do you remember your old dream?"

I froze.

"You said you wanted to go Oxford, to become the best art restorer," Chloe said softly. "But you gave it up for him. You chose a school in New Orleans just to be near Damon."

I closed my eyes.

"You're more than his blood servant, Elena," Chloe said, each word hitting home. "You are a person first and foremost."

Her words were like a lightning strike, shattering the fog that had clouded my mind for a decade.

Not a blood bag. Not a substitute. Not an accessory for some high-and-mighty vampire.

I am Elena. A person.

"Thank you, Chloe," I said, wiping my tears, my voice now firm. "I don't want immortality anymore. I want to be human again."

After we hung up, I immediately opened my email and found the acceptance letter from Oxford, sent two months ago. I’d never been able to bring myself to delete it.

I clicked 'Reply,' my fingers hovering over the keyboard.

Ten years. What had I given up for Damon?

A life in the sun, a circle of warm-hearted friends, the school of my dreams. I'd trapped myself in this cold castle, thinking obedience would earn me his love. All I got were lies and whatever scraps he felt like throwing my way.

I took a deep breath and started typing. [Dear Admissions Office, I would like to formally accept your offer of admission…]

The moment I hit 'send,' I felt something snap inside my chest. A chain breaking.

Outside, clouds swallowed the moon, plunging the castle into deeper darkness.

But for the first time, I felt like the dawn was coming.

I withdrew my application to the University of New Orleans and deleted every file I had on Damon. Ten years of memories, tossed in the trash. It was as easy for me as it had been for him.

Finally, I looked out at the night sky and whispered, "Damon, you chose your own kind. So I'm going back to the light."

That night, I didn't get a single message from Damon.

For years, he had been incredibly possessive. He demanded we say goodnight to each other before I went to sleep, without fail.

Tonight, I wasn't going to play along.

The next morning, a chill woke me from my sleep.

I opened my eyes. Damon was standing by my bed, looking down at me. He was still in his black tux from the night before, and he smelled faintly of a cold, unfamiliar perfume. Serena's.

"Morning, beautiful," he said, leaning in to hold me.

I instinctively flinched away.

Damon frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I pulled the covers tighter around me and sat up. "Shouldn't you be busy?"

"Never too busy for you." He sat on the edge of the bed, his icy fingers tracing the side of my neck. "Looks like the marks healed perfectly."

I went completely stiff.

His fingertips lingered there, as if searching for a new place to bite.

"I'm tired," I said, pushing his hand away. "Maybe some other time."

Damon froze.

He stared at me for a few seconds, then let out a cold laugh. "Are you angry? Because I didn't say goodnight?"

I said nothing.

"Such a child." He pulled a velvet box from his suit pocket. "Here. To make up for it."

Inside was a ruby necklace that glittered like blood in the morning light.

"You told me you loved rubies because they're the color of my eyes," he said, his tone full of confident affection. "Put it on. Stop sulking."

I stared at the necklace and thought of the tiara on Serena’s head.

"Maybe Serena would like this more," I said, pushing the box away. "You two are the same kind, after all."

Clatter.

The box fell to the floor. The ruby popped out, a crack running through its center.

Damon’s face darkened instantly. "Who gave you the right to defy me?"

His voice was ice, and a dangerous light flashed in his red eyes. It was the look of a predator, a stark reminder that he was, at his core, a monster.

I had never seen him so furious. All the pain from the last few days came rushing back, and I started to tremble uncontrollably as tears fell, one after another.

"I…"

"Alright, stop crying." Damon's expression softened, and he sighed. "You know I can't stay angry with you."

He bent down, as if to hug me.

Just then, his phone rang.

The screen flashed a name: Serena.

Damon glanced at it, and his face grew serious.

He stood up, looking down at me. "Get a hold of yourself. You know my patience has its limits."

And then he was gone, as if he'd never been there at all.

The only things left in the room were me and the shattered ruby on the floor.

Sunlight streamed through a crack in the curtains, illuminating the fracture in the stone.

I stared at it and, suddenly, I laughed.

"That's the last tear I'll ever cry for you," I whispered.

A few moments later, a notification popped up on my phone. A new post from Serena.

The picture was of a room blanketed in jewels—rubies, sapphires, emeralds, piled up like small mountains.

The caption read: 【Just said I was in a bad mood, and he sent all this. So dramatic! Good morning, my Prince of the Night. 】

The comments were a flood of envious praise.

I put my phone down. I couldn't produce a single tear.

Maybe I'd run out. Or maybe my heart was just dead.

I remembered Damon pointing to a ruby one night and saying, "This color is yours alone, Elena. I will only ever give you rubies."

Just another lie to trap his prey.

I forced myself to get up and start packing. I was leaving.

I boxed up every gift Damon had ever given me. I threw out every piece of clothing that carried his scent.

It only took a day to erase ten years of memories.

Finally, I took a small vial from a drawer.

It was the special elixir Chloe had gotten for me, the one that could erase a blood servant's bond mark—Damon's mark of ownership.

"It'll hurt like hell," Chloe had warned me. "Like tearing your soul from your body."

I tilted my head back and drank it.

The moment the liquid hit my throat, a fire tore through my body. I collapsed to my knees, the back of my neck burning as if branded by a hot iron. The pain was so intense I almost passed out.

But I gritted my teeth and endured it.

In the mirror, I watched as the intricate, blood-red mark slowly faded, until finally, it was gone.

I was free.