The Girl He Locked Away

It was the day I got discharged from the mental asylum where I had been for the past year and a half.

The sun was shining so brightly that I had to raise my hand to block it out.

"Madeline, over here."

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I slowly turned around to see Jason Lacroix standing nearby.

He looked the same—regal and handsome.

However, I was filled with fear when I saw his face. I had the urge to run away.

He walked over to me, which terrified me so much that I retreated backward.

"Madeline, what's going on with you?"

I looked at him with fear and caution. It was completely different from the past, so it was only normal that he found it odd.

In the past, every time I looked at him, my gaze only gleamed with nothing but adoration.

I opened my mouth, finally able to find my voice. "Mr. Lacroix—I mean, Jason. I-I'm fine."

He sized me up suspiciously. I was wearing the same clothes that I wore when I was sent to the mental asylum. It was not only outdated, but also a little big on me. I lost more than ten kilograms the past year or so.

"Let's go. Get in the car."

I trailed behind him, not knowing if I should sit in the front passenger seat or the back. Jason opened the front passenger seat for me. I had no choice.

Neither of us said anything in the enclosed car space. The car's soundproofing was done so well that the only thing we heard was our breathing.

Jason suddenly said, "The fact that you've been discharged means that you've recovered. Take a few days of rest before heading back to work. I hope you don't think about anything else."

My entire body suddenly trembled.

I had loved Jason for six years, but I had never once told him. I was his adopted sister, but I was also his assistant, helping him at work.

One day, I entered the office to see everyone looking at me weirdly. When I opened my emails to start the day as usual, I saw an email that made my blood run cold.

It was a video of Jason falling asleep in his office. I had put his coat over him and leaned close to him to kiss him. Even though I did not do it in the end, my face was extremely close to his.

Someone had taken a video of us and sent it to everyone. My love for him, which I had kept hidden for many years, was finally out in public.

Jason saw it as well. I could never forget the icy gaze he gave me. "Madeline, you should know your place. I'm your boss, and I'm also your brother. How could you have such unnatural thoughts? Are you crazy or what?"

He completely humiliated me. All I did was love him. I wasn't abnormal, nor was I crazy.

I was adopted by Jason's parents when I was 16 years old. Jason and I weren't related by blood at all, and everyone knew that.

It was love at first sight for me, but I had never once expressed my feelings.

Once I graduated from college, I started working in Jason's company, becoming his assistant.

I had always been an orphan until they adopted me at 16 years old.

Jason had listened to his first love, Camila Fisher, to send me to a mental asylum to get treatment for my condition.

I should not have loved him.

Loving him was a mistake—it was unnatural.