I’d been planning how I would escape my father’s overbearing clutches since the day I turned eighteen. Granted, that had only been three years, but it was plenty of time to realize that I was sick of being a mindless daddy’s girl.

I needed my freedom.

I had no friends to turn to, but I could only hope that would change when I escaped my gilded cage. I could imagine my future with a dozen gal pals to hang out with, maybe a cute boyfriend to snuggle close to at night. I wouldn’t be as forward as to invite him home on the first date, but a kiss would be nice.

I liked to think I’d read enough romantic fiction to know the basics of how kissing would work; I just hoped I would be good at it. I imagined it would take a bit of innate talent, or maybe some gentle guidance. As I strode down the street in the direction of my apartment, I imagined what my handsome stranger might look like.

I was vaguely aware that I may have looked silly fantasizing my life away while one of my father’s most valued bodyguards trailed behind me. At least he gave me a workable distance.

He spent most of his time loitering around the outside of my apartment, seeing that I got home safely, and making sure I managed not to get myself killed in the distance between the building’s entrance and my front door. It was embarrassing to consider how little my father thought of me, and by association, how foolish his cronies must have thought I was. While, deep down, I knew my father had my best interests at heart, I also knew our ideas of my best interests differed wildly.

I paused as I stepped into the building, glancing over my shoulder to where I knew the bodyguard would be waiting.

The large man lit a cigarette, offering me an amicable wave as he sat on the bench outside the complex. I exhaled a sigh, grateful that he would at least allow me a little distance tonight. I didn’t want to think of my father and my entrapment tonight, beyond potential ways to escape.

I had to at least play innocent until I made it inside, however. I realized I had been staring at the man for perhaps a moment too long. He watched curiously as I meandered into the apartment complex, and I counted under my breath for several beats before sprinting towards the stairs. Up to the top floor I went, rushing through the door and slamming it shut behind me.

“That was close,” I muttered under my breath, though I wasn’t quite sure what the bodyguard could have suspected me of doing.

Perhaps just being a weirdo, though I suppose that went without saying at that point. I sagged against the door, sliding to the floor and stretching my legs out in front of myself. I rested my head back, staring towards the ceiling with a baleful expression.

Large dreams weren’t a strange notion to me; I’d been entertaining the notion of escaping and making my way back to the States for some time. Perhaps not even to the U.S.—maybe I’d go somewhere he would never expect to find me.

Whenever I sat down and truly worked the thoughts out in my mind, though, I realized how hopeless the situation was. The odds of me managing to book a flight out of Guam, without my father somehow managing to find out, seemed nearly insurmountable. My father had eyes and ears all across the territory—across the world, really, if I were to acknowledge just how far his power reached.

Perhaps it was foolish to think I could outwit the man, especially considering his status as a papa bear protecting his cub. I had learned much from my father in the time I’d watched his dealings, but how to escape his notice was one of those things I had long given up on trying to pick up.

Allowing my eyes to flutter shut, I exhaled a deep breath as I listened to the distant sound of thunder. It felt as tumultuous as the emotions raging in my heart, the sound that may have been soothing in other circumstances managing to make me feel even more trapped. God, if it rained, I could imagine the damper it would put on my already struggling plans.

Maybe I would be better served to stop entertaining the idea of making some great escape. The life I had wasn’t an awful one, not entirely. It could be much worse. I never went hungry, I wasn’t abused…

My mind briefly flickered to the sensation of his hand colliding with my cheek, and I winced as I replayed the moments leading up to it. I had pressed him too hard, brought up memories better left dead and buried. I knew he blamed himself for my mother’s death, and I knew how upset he could get whenever I brought her up in conversation. It was as if, all these years later, he was still mourning.

I supposed I couldn’t blame him for that; I was certainly still mourning my mother as well. Still, it had never been enough to drive my father towards physically striking me. It was possible that he’d just been pushed too far.

Even after all I’d been subjected to, I knew in the depths of my heart that I would forgive my father. We would fall back into the complacency of my life at his side; he would teach me all there was to know about dealing and running an empire.

Someday, I was expected to take his place. Everything he did, he claimed to do for me. I couldn’t decipher just how much truth there was in that notion, but I knew he thought he was doing me a favor. I could let him down gently, let him know that I wanted nothing to do with his shady lifestyle. I could tell him I wanted to break free of the two-story walls he had constructed around us. The walls were metaphorical, of course, though they felt literal more every day.

How far would I have to push him until he decided to revoke all of my privileges? I was supposed to count myself lucky that I was even allowed an apartment outside of his estate and to go on supervised excursions. Those were things I had earned through years of good behavior, things that could be ripped away from me the moment the desire struck.

He didn’t want to agree to the small measure of freedom I had to begin with, but how far would I have to push him before I was shoved back into my cage altogether?

If there was one thing I knew about Randy Madden, it was that he wasn’t a particularly patient individual. He made something of an exception for me, his only child. I couldn’t help thinking it was less because I was his child, and more that I was the sole remaining piece of my mother that he could cling to.

Shaking off the thoughts, I stood up and shuffled over to the window as raindrops began to pitter-patter against the glass. I stared out into the city below, where I longed to be. In spite of the hundreds of men that my father had in his arsenal, I like to entertain the idea that I could outsmart all of them.

It wasn’t as if my father’s henchmen were the most highly educated men in the world. If I could manage to slip past them, maybe I would be gone before they could report my absence to my father. It was a thought that lingered in the back of my mind as I pressed my palm to the cold glass of my window.

They had to sleep sometime or another, didn’t they?

I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to celebrate the first moments of my birthday, though it would be some time until the clock struck midnight. I would just have to keep myself entertained long enough.

I settled down with one of my racier novels, some fantasy story about a knight rescuing his princess from evil forces. It was more smut than plot, to be honest, and I found myself flipping through the ‘filler’, as it were, just to get to the next steamy scene.

A girl has needs after all, and mine certainly weren’t going to be met any time soon.

Taking a sip from my mug, I allowed myself to be swept away to a better world. A world where a knight in shining armor would come and rescue me from my sad life in Guam. A man with eyes that could see deep into my soul, the sort of man who would be all too honored to give me my first kiss.

As thoughts of this mystery man swirled in my head, I stripped down to get comfy, and was startled by a loud beeping sound. I jolted upright, looking for my phone. Realizing I’d left it in the pocket of the shorts I’d just taken off, I rose out of bed to grab it and read the text.

“Happy Birthday, sweetheart. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you somehow,” I read the message aloud, rolling my eyes at the meaningless promise my father was making.

There was no way he could make up for the years of loneliness. There was nothing he could do to mend the ache in my heart.

Flinging the phone away without bothering to send a reply, I stomped back towards my bed and checked the clock, which had just struck 12:05.

“Happy birthday, indeed,” I harrumphed, tucking myself beneath my thin comforter and drawing it up to my chin.

I curled up on my side, my mind turning once more to the mystery man who would save me from all of this.

If only he actually existed.