The Captive Girl [Chapter 1]

“You… gave me away?” Akiko’s voice cracked as she stared at her father across the table. Her heart sank as the man nodded, calm and unapologetic, fingers laced together, cigarette smoke curling around him.

“You’re just a guarantee. I’m not selling you off permanently. Once I pay the debt, I’ll bring you home,” he explained, as if discussing business, not his own daughter.

Akiko’s throat tightened. Guarantee? As if she were an object—something to be loaned and reclaimed at will.

“I’m not a thing, Dad. You can’t just… hand me over and pick me up when you feel like it.” Her voice wavered, her nineteen-year-old frame shrinking under the weight of disappointment.

“You promised,” she whispered."You said… you’d never hurt me again. No more pain. No more of this.”

But promises meant nothing here—in this cold, suffocating mansion that reeked of memories she 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. “The man… he wanted Keinara.”

Akiko’s stomach twisted. Keinara? Her older sister? Of course. Keinara—the perfect one. Beautiful. Smart. Untouched by the shadows of this family.

“But instead, I’m offering you,” Mr. Eloise added flatly. “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? Who is he?”

“A business partner. And now… my only way out. The company… The stock crash hit us hard.” He avoided her eyes, focusing instead on his cigarette.

Akiko swallowed back the sting of humiliation. Her father’s greed, his failures—they had finally come for her. She had been fighting alone for so long… enduring the pain, the loneliness… all to be reduced to this.

“You’ve been working for years. Where did all the money go?” she challenged softly.

His eyes narrowed, cold and sharp. “Where did it go? I’ve been sending you money every month, and now you question me?”

“It paid for my treatment,” she replied, her voice tight.

A humorless laugh escaped him. “Treatment? You’ve always been sickly. Stop acting so fragile. You’re not special. You’re just like your mother… pathetic. And you’ll die the same way. Ungrateful brat.”

Akiko’s chest was constricted. His words weren’t new—but they never lost their sting. Her illness… her existence… nothing had ever been enough.

Silently, she reached into her bag and pulled out her bank card, sliding it across the table. “Take this. Use the money for your debt.”

Mr. Eloise snorted, tossing it back at her. “That won’t cover a fraction of what I owe.”

And just like that, Akiko understood. She was never meant to have a choice. Not then. Not now.

“You never wanted me, did you?” Akiko’s voice was quiet, but hollow… stripped of any warmth. Her eyes remained fixed on her father, her expression unreadable. “So when that man asked for one of your daughters… you didn’t even hesitate. You were glad to be rid of me.”

Mr. Eloise didn’t reply.

He simply took another drag of his cigarette, the smoke curling lazily in the air between them, as if her words meant nothing at all. For a moment, there was only silence—the heavy, suffocating kind that filled the space like fog.

Finally, his eyes flicked to her, cold and calculating. “If you care about your sister at all,” he said, voice sharp as glass, “go meet him. He’s waiting in the library.”

His fingers tapped the cigarette against the ashtray. “Don’t ever let your sister find out about any of this.”

Numb, Akiko stood and made her way to the library. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she pushed the door open.

What she saw inside made her blood run cold. A man—shirtless, entangled with one of the house staff—completely unashamed. His broad, muscled frame lounged carelessly against the armchair, the faint scent of whiskey heavy in the air.

“Oh… Miss Eloise,” the man greeted with a lazy grin, his eyes dark and predatory. “Care to join us?”

Akiko's stomach twisted violently. The disgust hit her so hard she nearly stumbled. Her eyes scanned the sharp lines of his jaw, the arrogance in his smirk—and the quiet, dangerous confidence that radiated off him like a storm barely restrained.

She didn’t say a word. She simply turned, her legs weak, the bile rising in her throat as she left the room. Her heart thundered. Her skin crawled.

“No… please.” Her whisper barely left her lips as she stumbled through the hallway, needing air—needing space.

She kept walking—past the suffocating mansion walls, past the guards who barely glanced her way, until finally—she reached the quiet street outside.

Desperate to clear her mind, she headed toward the only place untouched by her family’s rot: her favorite ice cream shop.

“Vanilla, please,” she ordered softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You alright?” the vendor asked, noticing the paleness in her cheeks.

“I’m fine,” Akiko lied, forcing a smile as she paid and stepped outside.

The cool night air did little to calm her racing thoughts. Her footsteps echoed softly along the pavement as she wandered through the quiet streets near the park.

But then… she froze.

The hairs on her neck prickled, a chill slithering down her spine. Was someone… watching her?

Her eyes landed on a sleek, black car parked across the road. The windows were tinted too dark to see inside, but she could feel it—the weight of an unseen gaze locked onto her.

Inside the car, a tall, broad-shouldered man watched her with an unsettling smile.

“Mr. Eloise must think I’m stupid,” Glen Xander McKenzie muttered, fingers tapping the armrest. “I asked for his perfect eldest daughter… and he sent me this?”

“Shall we take the eldest daughter by force, sir?” the assistant asked, his tone low and cautious. “No one’s ever seen her in public. Maybe Mr. Eloise is hiding her.”

“No,” Glen replied smoothly, his eyes never leaving Akiko’s figure. “Let Mr. Eloise play his little game. I’m far more curious about his second daughter.”

His lips curled into a dark, amused smile as he stepped out of the car with unsettling ease, adjusting the cuffs of his expensive suit.

Across the street, she took a cautious step back, her pulse quickening—but before she could react further, his voice sliced through the quiet night.

“Ignoring me already, Miss Eloise?”

Her heart skipped. She recognized that voice.

“I—” Her voice faltered. Panic gripped her. Without warning, Akiko turned and ran.

Her shoes slapped against the pavement, her breathing ragged as she pushed past startled pedestrians. The night air was cold against her flushed cheeks, but it barely registered. All she could hear was the frantic pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.

But deep down, she knew it was useless. She could run to the ends of the earth. But once Glen Xander McKenzie claimed something… it always ended up in his hands.

From the safety of the shadows, Glen watched her flee, his smirk deepening.

“Sweet, fragile little thing,” he murmured under his breath. “I’m going to enjoy this.”