Chapter 1: The Price of a Face

The rain fell in relentless sheets against the grimy window of Lynn’s tiny apartment. It was a cold, New York kind of rain, the kind that seeped into your bones and made you forget what warmth felt like. Inside, the air was thick with the smel of turpentine and desperation. Canvases leaned against every available wall, some finished, most not, all echoing the struggle of a young artist trying to keep his head above water.

Lynn’s phone buzzed on the rickety table, its screen lighting up with a number he’d come to dread—the hospital. His heart plummeted before he even swiped to answer. The voice on the other end was clinical, impersonal. His sister, Anna, had taken a turn for the worse. The experimental treatment she desperately needed was far beyond his reach, a sum of money so vast it might as well have been on the moon. The doctor’s words, “Without it, her chances decrease significantly,” echoed in the silent room long after the call endd.

He sank to his knees, the rough wooden floor biting into his skin. The weight of it all—the fear, the helplessness, the sheer unfairness—pressed down on him until he could barely breathe. He was twenty-three, an art student with more talent than luck, and the sole guardian of his sixteen-year-old sister, whose life was hanging by a thread. Their parents were gone, his father’s death a dark, painful mystery he’d never fully unraveled. All he had was his art and his love for Anna. And now, it seemed, that wasn't enough.

A sudden, violent crash shattered the silence. His front door splintered inward. Lynn scrambled back, his artist’s heart hammering against his ribs, as several men in severe black suits filed into the room. They moved with an efficiency that spoke of practice and power, their faces impassive. They didn’t speak, simply took up positions, creating a wall of silent intimidatin.

And then he walked in.

The man filled the cramped space without seeming to try. He was tall, impeccably dressed in a coat that probably cost more than Lynn’s entire year’s rent. But it was his eyes that held Lynn frozen. They were a cold, piercing gray, like the winter sky over the city. Those eyes swept over the shabby apartment with a flicker of disdain before landing on Lynn, and in them, Lynn saw not a person, but an object being appraised.

This was Caius Evans. Lynn knew the name, the face from busines magazines and society pages. The CEO of the Evans empire, a man whose influence stretched across continents. What was he doing here?

Caius took a step closer, his gaze unnervingly intense, tracing the lines of Lynn’s face with a scrutiny that made Lynn’s skin crawl. The air grew colder. After a moment that felt like an eternity, Caius spoke, his voice low and devoid of warmth, cutting through the sound of the rain.

“Your face,” he said, the words dropping like stones. “It’s worth your sister’s life.”

Lynn stared, uncomprehending. “What?”

“From today, you belong to me.” Caius gestured slightly, and one of the men placed a sleek leather document folder on the table next to Lynn’s phone. “Sign the agreement. Complete obedience. In return, your sister receives the best medical care in the world. She lives.”

The world tilted. Belong to him? Obedience? This wasn’t real. This was some twisted nightmare. But the cold, hard certainty in Caius’s eyes said otherwise. This was a transaction. His freedom, his very self, traded for Anna’s life.

Rage, hot and bitter, surged up his throat. He wanted to scream, to throw the contract in this monster’s face. How dare he? Who did he think he was? But the image of Anna, pale and fragile in a hospital bed, rose before him, extinguishing the fire of his anger into cold, hard ash. What choice did he have? There was no choice. There was only Anna.

His fingers trembled as he reached for the pen inside the folder. The document was full of legalese, but the core message was brutally simple: his life was no longer his own. He would live where he was told, go where he was told, be what he was told to be. He was to become a possession.

As he scrawled his name at the bottom, the pen felt like a lead weight. Each stroke was a surrender. When he finished, he couldn’t bring himself to look up.

Caius moved then, a predator satisfied with his catch. He reached out, and Lynn flinched, a full-body recoil of pure instinct. But Caius merely brushed his fingertips against Lynn’s cheek, a touch that was chillingly possessive rather than gentle. It was the touch of a collector examining a newly acquired piece.

“So like,” Caius murmured, almost to himself, the words so low Lynn barely caught them. “It’s uncanny.”

A fresh wave of revulsion washed over Lynn. Like who? Who was he being compared to? He was just a thing, a stand-in for someone else. The humiliation was a physical pain, sharp and deep. He stood there, rigid, every muscle tense, hating the man in front of him, hating the situation, but most of all, hating himself for his powerlessness. He forced his breathing to steady, forced his trembling hands to still. He lowered his gaze, a picture of meek submission.

But beneath the bowed head and the docile posture, a different fire began to burn. It was a small, hard ember of defiance. Caius Evans thought he had bought a docile pet, a broken replacement. He had no idea. Lynn met Caius’s cold gaze for a fleeting second before looking down again, and in that moment, a silent promise was made.

This is just the beginning, Lynn thought, the words a fierce, silent vow in his mind. You think you’ve won. You think you own me. But the game has just started. And the roles of hunter and prey… they will be reversed.

He let Caius see only the surrender. He hid the storm of hatred and the beginnings of a plan deep behind his eyes, masking it all with a facade of quiet acceptance. The game, indeed, had begun.