Claimed Beyond Escape

Chapter One

“Say it again.”

My voice trembled, not with fear, but with barely restrained rage as my eyes locked onto my father.

For a moment, he didn’t respond. He just sat there, his fingers tapping slowly against the armrest like this was nothing more than a casual conversation. Like he hadn’t just shattered my entire world with a single sentence.

Then he sighed, as if I were the one exhausting him.

“In three days,” he said flatly, “men from the Obsidian Circle will come for you. And when they do… you’ll go with them.”

The words echoed in my head, over and over again, refusing to settle into something real.

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “That’s not funny.”

But he didn’t laugh.

Didn’t even look at me.

“That’s the least you could do in return for raising you,” he added, his tone cold, detached.

Something inside me snapped.

“And what’ll happen if I refuse?” I asked.

My heart was pounding so fast it felt like it might burst out of my chest. My hands curled into fists at my sides, nails digging into my palms as I tried to steady myself.

I knew my father never loved me.

I had known that for years.

But this?

This was a different level of cruelty.

A slow smirk crept onto his lips, the kind that made my stomach turn.

“You don’t have a choice, Aria.”

He leaned back into his chair, like the matter was already settled.

Like I was already gone.

I stood there, frozen.

My feet felt numb. My chest felt heavy. My thoughts scattered in every direction, refusing to make sense of what I had just heard.

Three days.

Three days until strangers would walk into this house and take me away like I meant nothing.

Like I was nothing.

A slave to the Obsidian Circle.

The name alone sent a chill down my spine. Everyone in Virelia knew it. You didn’t speak of them unless you had a death wish. They weren’t just criminals—they owned everything. Power, money, people.

And now…

They owned me.

My throat tightened, my eyes burning as tears threatened to spill, but I forced them back.

I would rather die than give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. He didn’t look at me again, already done with me like I was just another burden he had finally gotten rid of.

I was still trying to breathe through the weight crushing my chest when—

A sharp, stinging pain exploded across my back.

A gasp tore from my lips as I stumbled forward, collapsing onto the ground.

The pain burned, spreading through my body like fire. My vision blurred for a second before I forced myself to turn.

And there she was.

My stepsister.

Standing behind me, a whip in her hand, her lips curled into a wide, twisted grin.

“Dad!” she squealed, her voice dripping with fake innocence as she rushed toward him. “There’s no food on the table.”

She climbed onto his lap like a child, clinging to him, while her eyes flicked toward me—cold, cruel, and filled with satisfaction.

That look.

That same look she always gave me.

Like I was nothing more than something she enjoyed breaking.

My fingers curled against the floor as I slowly pushed myself up, ignoring the pain screaming through my back.

Something dark stirred inside me.

Something I had been holding back for years.

I had endured their insults.

Their punishments.

Their cruelty.

But this?

This was the last straw.

Before she could react, I moved.

I grabbed the whip from her hand and yanked her forward, sending her crashing to the ground with a sharp scream.

“What the—”

The rest of her words were cut off as I struck.

Once.

Twice.

She shrieked, trying to scramble away, but I didn’t stop. Every hit carried years of anger, years of pain I had buried deep inside.

“You think this is funny?” I snapped, my voice shaking with fury. “You think I’m something you can just step on whenever you feel like it?”

“Stop!” she cried, shielding herself, her earlier confidence gone.

“Aria!!”

My father’s voice thundered through the room.

Too late.

I raised the whip again—

But before I could bring it down, a strong hand grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

The force sent me stumbling, the whip slipping from my grip as I hit the floor again.

A sharp slap followed.

My head snapped to the side, the sting spreading across my cheek.

“You’ve lost your mind!” he barked.

I tasted blood.

But I didn’t look away.

“Then maybe you should’ve thought about that before trying to sell me,” I shot back, my voice breaking despite my efforts to stay strong.

His expression darkened.

For a second, I thought he might hit me again.

Instead, he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me toward the door.

“Get out.”

I froze. “What?”

“Get. Out.”

Before I could react, he shoved me forward. The door swung open, and cold air rushed in.

Then—

I was outside.

The door slammed shut behind me.

And just like that…

I was alone.

Rain poured heavily from the sky, soaking me within seconds. My clothes clung to my skin, my hair sticking to my face as the cold seeped into my bones.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the closed door.

Waiting.

Hoping.

But it never opened.

A shaky breath left my lips.

Then another.

And another.

Until I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

A sob tore through my chest.

My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the wet ground, my hands pressing against the pavement as tears finally spilled down my face.

All the pain.

All the anger.

All the years I had spent holding everything in—

It all came crashing down at once.

“Mom…” I whispered, my voice breaking.

Her face flashed in my mind.

Her smile.

Her voice.

The way she used to hold me like everything would be okay.

But she was gone.

And I was alone.

I cried harder, my body shaking as the rain mixed with my tears, washing everything away—but not the pain.

Never the pain.

Minutes passed.

Or maybe hours.

I didn’t know anymore.

Eventually, the sobs faded into quiet breaths, my body too exhausted to keep going.

Slowly, I lay back against the cold ground, staring up at the dark sky as the rain continued to fall.

My hand moved instinctively to the back of my neck, my fingers brushing against the small scar hidden beneath my hair.

I never knew where it came from.

Never understood why it was there.

But in that moment…

It burned.

Faint.

But real.

My eyes grew heavy, my body giving in to the exhaustion.

And as darkness slowly pulled me under, one thought echoed faintly in my mind—

In three days…

They would come for me.

And nothing would ever be the same again.