Chapter 1 [The Captive Girl ]
“You… gave me away?” Akiko’s voice trembled as she stared at her father across the table.
The words tasted bitter on her tongue, unreal and suffocating—but the man before her responded with nothing more than a calm, unapologetic nod.
His fingers were laced together, cigarette smoke coiling lazily around his face as if they were discussing nothing more than a failed business deal.
“You’re just a guarantee,” he said evenly. “I’m not selling you off permanently. Once the debt is settled, I’ll bring you home.”
Her chest tightened.
A guarantee.
As if she were an object—something to be handed over, then retrieved at his convenience.
“I’m not a thing, Dad,” she whispered. “You can’t just give me away and take me back whenever you want.”
She was twenty, but in that moment, she felt painfully small—crushed beneath years of disappointment she had never been allowed to voice.
"You said you’d never hurt me again. No more pain. No more of this.”
But promises had never survived inside this mansion. Not in a place this cold, this suffocating—where every wall echoed with memories she had spent her entire life trying to forget.
Her father exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This is the only way.”
His gaze hardened. “That man wanted Keinara.”
Akiko’s stomach twisted.
Keinara.
Of course he did. Her older sister—the perfect daughter. Beautiful. Brilliant. Untouched by the rot that poisoned this family.
“But instead,” Mr. Eloise added flatly, “I’m offering you. To protect her.”
“To protect her?” Akiko echoed, disbelief rising like bile in her throat. “So I’m… expendable?”
“You were never meant to carry this family’s name,” he replied coldly. “Keinara was always the rightful heir."
"Be grateful. That man was willing to take you in her place.”
Her hands clenched beneath the table.
“Why him?” she asked quietly. “Who is he?”
“A business partner,” he answered. “And my only way out. The stock crash nearly destroyed the company.”
He didn’t look at her as he spoke. His attention remained fixed on the cigarette between his fingers. Akiko swallowed hard. His failures—his greed—had finally come for her. She had endured years of pain alone, years of loneliness, only to be reduced to collateral.
“You have your own savings,” he said without emotion. “Use that to survive. I won’t spend another cent on you.”
“I can't, it paid for my treatment,” she replied, her voice tight. He laughed—short and humorless.
“Treatment?” he scoffed. “For what? It’s nothing but a waste of money. You’re not important enough for that kind of expense.”
"Stop pretending you’re fragile.” His gaze turned cruel.
“You’re just like your mother. Weak. Pathetic. And you’ll die the same way.” The words sliced into her chest. They weren’t new. But they never stopped hurting.
Silently, Akiko reached into her bag and slid her bank card across the table.
“Take it,” she said. “Use it for your debt.”
Mr. Eloise snorted and shoved it back toward her. “That won’t even cover a fraction of what I owe.”
And in that moment, Akiko understood. She had never been given a choice. “You never wanted me, did you?”
Her voice was quiet—stripped of warmth. “So when that man asked for one of your daughters, you chose me right away. I know you had the money to refuse him… you just didn’t think I was worth the cost.”
Her father didn’t answer. He took another drag of his cigarette, smoke curling between them like a wall.
“If you care about your sister,” he finally said, his voice sharp as glass, “go meet him. He’s waiting.”
He tapped ash into the tray. “And don’t ever let Keinara find out.”
Numb, Akiko stood and walked toward the room. Her pulse roared in her ears as she pushed the door open.
The sight inside made her blood run cold. A man—shirtless, tangled with one of the company staff—lounged against an armchair without shame. His broad frame was relaxed, confident, the scent of whiskey heavy in the air.
“Oh… Miss Eloise,” he drawled with a lazy grin, dark eyes glinting.
“Care to join us?”
Disgust hit her so hard she nearly stumbled. She caught the sharp line of his jaw, the arrogance in his smirk—and the quiet danger that clung to him like a living thing.
Without a word, she turned and fled. She didn’t stop until she reached the street outside—until the mansion was behind her.
Needing air, needing space, she headed toward the only place untouched by her family’s poison: her favorite ice cream shop.
She stayed there for a few moments, forcing herself to breathe as the night breeze caressed her face. But a second later, she froze. A chill crept down her spine.
Across the road, a sleek black car sat parked, its windows tinted dark. She couldn’t see inside—but she could feel it.
Someone was watching her.
Inside the car, a tall man observed her with an unsettling smile.
“Mr. Eloise must think I’m a fool,” Glen Xander McKenzie murmured. “I asked for his perfect eldest daughter… and he sends me this?”
“Shall we take the eldest by force, sir?” his assistant asked carefully.
“No one has ever seen her in public,” he continued. “She must be somewhere well-hidden. After all, she’s the rightful heir to Mr. Eloise’s company."
“No.” Glen’s lips curved. “Let him play his little game. I have my eyes on his second daughter.”
He stepped out of the car, adjusting the cuffs of his suit with lethal ease.
Across the street, Akiko took a cautious step back.
“Ignoring me already, Miss Eloise?” his voice called out.
Her heart skipped.
She ran.
The silence was worse.
Slowly, hesitantly, she turned her head.
He was still there—hands in his coat pockets, posture relaxed, as if this were nothing more than a casual encounter. His hazel eyes never left her figure.
“You can run,” he said evenly, his voice carrying through the quiet night. “I won’t stop you.”
Her breath trembled.
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
A faint smile touched his lips. “Once I decide something is mine… it always finds its way back to me.”
The words reached her clearly.
“Sweet, fragile little thing,” he murmured. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
