No one came for me. The door remained a firmly sealed obstacle keeping me from freedom, from Kieran, while the rest of the facility continued to run as per usual.

From my glass prison, I watched the other girls get whipped, caned, tied up, and fucked. Each visit was monitored by a Lady clone. Every so often, one would intervene, not to assist the girl, but to adjust an abusing hand, or dictate a process. Any other time, any other place, it could have been a dance school training clients on how to properly position themselves during a routine.

The women were stripped of everything and made to endure acts that—under different circumstances—may have been beautiful and inspiring, but in my position, each one terrified me. After watching as one girl get slapped in the face by her owner, then spat on, I concluded I didn’t like it. Nothing about humiliation appealed to me. If anything, it made me want to cry for her. But the girl had smiled up at him and he’d kissed her. The whole thing had been so confusing I couldn’t watch anymore.

Unfortunately, there was nothing else to do. Sleeping was out of the question. Any sort of vulnerability immediately spurred my senses on high alert. Even the thought of closing my eyes sent a current of terror through me. The only thing remaining was to huddle in my corner, swaddled in my blanket, and wait for it all to end. I didn’t want to believe it would be much longer. I couldn’t even be sure how much time had passed. I guessed a day, maybe two, but without windows, even that was out of my control.

After what felt like hours later, the men were ushered from the cubicles. The women were taken to be cleaned and bathed, and returned. The Lady clones sealed them into their proper places, pretty dolls returned to their shiny boxes, and left for what I assumed was the night.

Visiting hours must have been over.

Tiberius Rutherford visited me just when I was beginning to think I’d die in that room. He entered my cube clad in a flat, gray suit, his expression polite with just a hint of annoyance that he concealed by lifting his chin up a notch, narrowing his eyes. Behind him, Lady sealed the door and stood mute just over his shoulder

I scrambled out of my corner, my blanket securely fastened around me, not that he seemed to care that I was practically naked.

He clasped his hands together before him and observed him down the length of his nose.

“I was told you requested to see me.”

I nodded hastily. “Yes, thank you.”

He inclined his head, gaze unwavering. “I don’t normally accommodate a doll, but Lady has been quite insistent.”

I couldn’t help it, I frowned at him. “I’m not a doll, Mr. Rutherford. My name is Gabrielle Thornton and I’m being held here against my will. I am not a submissive. I’m not a slave. I’m not David’s. He does not own me. He’s a liar, a rapist, and a kidnapper, and you’re an accomplice.”

His chin lifted a notch more, if that were at all possible. “I assure you, I am very thorough in my research. My files are impeccable.”

“I’m telling you, I do not belong here. I do not give my consent. That’s something you require, isn’t it? A willing admission from the ... the dolls? You said in your speech during orientation that you run a legal business. I can promise you, Mr. Rutherford, nothing about me being here is legal. Yes, I signed that paper, I admit that, but it was under coercion. It was the only way I could get away from him, away from that house and the things he had planned for me. It was supposed to buy me time until ... until I could disappear.” I hadn’t told anyone that before. My plans had always been a closely guarded secret, but what was the point of hiding it now? Even if he told David, what difference would it make? I was already his captive. “I love Kieran,” my voice dropped to a whisper. “I just want to go home. Please.”

For a long moment, he said nothing. I wasn’t sure what was worse, his unwavering deliberation, or Lady’s stillness. I’d never met anyone who could freeze so completely. It was unnerving.

But I kept my focus on him, on the man who held my fate in the palm of his manicured hands.

“Just ... call him,” I pleaded, voice breaking now. “Please, just ... he’ll tell you. He’s probably worried sick.”

He looked away from me towards the window and the pretty dolls all tucked away in their beds. “You yourself admit that you consented. You signed the papers giving him full ownership over you. There is nothing I can do about that.”

“Then I break the contract!” I cried. “Take me to court. I would really like to hear what a judge would say about this.”

My temper seemed to take him by surprise. He turned his chin down until we were locked in a silent battle of wills, one I was fully prepared to win, and did when he flicked his gaze away.

“I have other matters that require my attention,” he declared curtly, startling me. “Please cause no more trouble, or you will get punished.”

“Punished...?”

He was already starting towards the door.

“Please!” I grabbed his arm. “He will hurt me. Please, don’t give me to him.”

His gaze lowered to where I held him before lifting to my face. “It’s your word against a Master with the proper paperwork. Yes, your consent is always taken into consideration, but we’ve had difficult dolls here in the past, dolls who have said whatever it took not to get punished.”

“You’re making a mistake,” I cried, tears welling. “If you give me to him, it’s rape. He’s my father, did he tell you that? Is that in your files? Did you think our last names being similar was just a playful coincidence? Or that he dragged me in here unconscious? Is that normal?”

Something shifted in his eyes. It was subtle, but enough to prickle hope.

“Surely, even if you’re fine with rape, you can’t be okay with incest.”

It was a deliberate lie. There wasn’t a drop of blood between David and I—a blessing if there ever was one—but it wasn’t something David would have told this stranger. It wasn’t something Rutherford would know. To the public, I really was David’s daughter in all the ways that mattered.

He tugged his arm free, eyes narrowed. “I assure you, I’m not fine with either.”

He was gone before I could get another word out.

Lady paused a moment longer before following.

The door was shut behind them and I was left alone in that room.