The Captive Heiress: Trapped By Him

The aggressive vibration of the phone against Carley Holman's palm sent a sharp jolt up her arm.

She stood in the middle of the JFK Airport arrivals terminal, the handle of her suitcase gripped so tightly in her other hand that her knuckles were entirely white. The automated voice over the intercom announcing a landing faded into background noise as she stared at the screen.

Dad (Sterling Newton).

Her stomach dropped. The heavy, greasy feeling of dread pooled in her gut. She had just turned the phone on ten seconds ago. She hadn't even texted the real estate agent about the apartment yet.

Carley took a shallow breath, her chest feeling instantly too tight. She swiped the green button and pressed the cold glass to her ear.

"Hi, Dad. I just-"

"You are finally back," Sterling Newton's booming voice cut through the line. It wasn't a greeting. It was a statement of ownership. "Your mother and I have everything ready at the house."

Carley closed her eyes. The noise of the airport seemed to press in on her. "Dad, I actually have a place lined up in Manhattan. I want to get settled there first and-"

"Nonsense," Sterling snapped, his tone dropping into that sharp, displeased register that always made her throat close up. "What place is better than home? Martha had your room cleaned days ago. Pippa even took the day off school to wait for you."

"But I need to-"

"Hank is already at the exit," Sterling ordered. "Don't disappoint us, Carley."

The line went dead.

Carley pulled the phone away from her ear. Her lungs burned as she forgot to exhale. The dial tone was a physical weight pressing down on her shoulders. Her grand plan for independence, her desperate need to stay away from the Newton family and the suffocating guilt attached to them, was crushed in less than five minutes on American soil.

She forced her legs to move. The wheels of her suitcase dragged heavily against the polished floor.

As she pushed through the sliding glass doors into the main pickup area, a familiar face broke through the crowd. Clara Bishop was jumping up and down, holding a piece of cardboard with CARLEY written in thick black marker.

Clara threw her arms around Carley, squeezing the breath out of her. "You made it! Are you ready for freedom? The apartment I found you is amazing. Brick walls, huge windows!"

Carley let go of her suitcase. Her arms hung limply at her sides. She shook her head, a bitter taste rising in the back of her throat.

"I can't," Carley whispered.

Clara pulled back, her smile vanishing. "What do you mean you can't?"

"Sterling just called." Carley rubbed the center of her chest, trying to ease the sudden ache. "They sent a car. They expect me at the estate."

Clara's jaw dropped. Her eyes flared with instant anger. "How can they do that? You are twenty-four years old! You aren't a child they can just