"I hate you"!! Fina screamed loudly as she stormed out of the room.
Madrex was astonished as he had never seen a girl who dared to talk back at him or scream at him... He thought to himself, his eyes darkening with obsession and amusement, "she will be mine".
He watched her disappear down the corridor, the sound of her heels fading, and his fingers clenched lightly at his sides. He could still see the defiance in her eyes, the trembling that was not fear but raw unfiltered rage. The scenario of what had just happened played over and over in his mind, each replay sharpening his desire.
Fina could feel her chest beating so loud while she slammed the door and walked out, she thought to herself, "how could he treat someone like that".... even as she tried to calm herself, a small, uneasy thought crept in; He will not forget this. He will come after me… and somehow, he will want what is beyond your power.
Fina!! She screamed at herself.. you should have minded your business for goodness sake!!
***
Madrex is a 27 year old Billionaire with attachment issues and little bit of a shadowy side the world isn't ready to see.
Days did not pass peacefully.
From the moment Fina walked out on Madrex, a shadow started following her.
She did not notice it... not the reflection in shop windows, not the footsteps that paused when she paused but someone always lingered just a little too close.
Madrex's spy.
Every step she took, every person she spoke to, every door she opened… was reported back to him, and Madrex listened.
That evening, Fina returned home tired, replaying the embarrassment of the day for the hundredth time. Her uncle had not come home yet. The house was quiet... too quiet. She dropped her bag and let out a shaky sigh.
Then a loud bang shook the front door.
Before she could react, the door flung open and three men stormed inside, their faces hard and hungry.
"Where is he?" the tallest one barked.
Fina's breath caught. "Who... who are you?"
One grabbed her wrist so tightly she gasped.
"Your uncle owes us money. Big money. And when we do not get our money…"
He smirked.
"…we take our payment another way."
Before she could scream, two of them dragged her uncle from outside, beaten, bloodied, begging.
"Please! Please, I just need time!"
"No more time," the leader said.
He turned to Fina, eyes sweeping over her slowly, calculating.
"Maybe we should take her instead."
Her heart froze.
If she could pay off my debt, of course you can take her.. "her uncle said remorselessly"
The man leaned closer to Fina, his breath hot and foul
"Seems you do not mean much to your dear uncle the loan shark smirked as he watched Fina at the verge of tears"
"You have until tomorrow to get me my money.."the leader said.
Or I'll just fulfill your uncle's wish and take you with me "he said looking at Fina".
Then they dragged him out.
Fina sank to the floor, shaking violently.
Her world had crashed in a single moment.
And miles away, Madrex listened to the report… a slow smile forming.
"This is perfect," he murmured.
Fina could not sleep that night.
She sat on the cold floor long after the loan sharks dragged her uncle away, her body shaking, her breath shallow. Every sound outside made her flinch. Every shadow made her feel watched. Her mind kept replaying her uncle's voice, cold and selfish:
"Of course you can take her."
By morning, her eyes burned from tears she did not remember shedding.
Then...
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She froze.
Another knock sharp and firm.
She forced herself to walk to the door. When she opened it, a tall man in a black suit stood there, emotionless, crisp, dangerous.
"Miss Fina," he said. "Mr. Madrex sent me."
Her stomach twisted.
No greeting.
No explanation.
Just the name she had been dreading.
"I… I don't understand," she whispered.
He stepped aside, revealing a folded document in his hand.
"The debt has been paid," he said.
Fina blinked, confused. "Wh-what?"
"The loan sharks were compensated in full at 6:23 a.m. They will no longer disturb you."
She didn't even know she was shaking until she saw her hands tremble against her clothes.
Madrex had paid it.
Madrex.
The man she had screamed at.
The man she had insulted.
The man she feared would come after her.
And he had... Just not in the way she expected.
"Why… why would he do that?" she whispered, mostly to herself.
The man simply handed her an envelope.
Inside was a letter on expensive paper, written in Madrex's clean, sharp handwriting.
***
Miss Fina,
Consider your uncle's debt cleared.
You now owe me.
Report to my office at 8 AM tomorrow.
Dress formally.
There will be a contract waiting for you. One you will not refuse.
Madrex Pedro.
***
Fina's breath stuttered in her throat, her vision blurred for a moment.
This wasn not generosity, this was not kindness.
This was a claim, a trap.
She grabbed the doorway for support as the man in black added:
"You should know, Miss Fina… Mr. Madrex does not like being kept waiting."
And then he left, silent as a shadow.
Fina shut the door slowly, her hands trembling around the letter.
Her uncle had betrayed her.
The loan sharks wanted her.
And now…
Madrex owned her.
Not in words, but in reality.
She was not free anymore.
She wasn't safe most certainly she thought.
She wasn't even sure she could run.
Because a man like Madrex…
A man who could make a debt disappear before sunrise…
Would make her disappear just as easily.
Her knees buckled and she slid to the floor, whispering:
"…I'm trapped."