Garcìa

prologue

Valentina was singing along to her music when the doorbell rang. She stopped the music to open her door. She was currently home alone, her parents had to meet with some clients. She walked to her door and opened it to see two police officers.

"Hello. Is this the Garcìa residence?" the left officer asked the girl in front of him.

"It is." she replied unsure.

"Are you Valentina Garcìa?" the right officer asked.

"Yes, I am. What is going on?" she asked the officers, she was starting to get worried.

"We're afraid that your parents have been in a car accident, ma'am." the left officer told the girl.

"Are they okay?" she asked, tears filling her eyes.

"We're sorry to inform you that they sadly passed on scene." the right officer said with sympathy.

"N-no. They're not dead. They're okay. They have to be." she said, her tears now falling freely.

"We're very sorry ma'am." the right officer said again.

She stumbled backwards. She couldn't believe that her parents were really gone. They couldn't be. They had so much time to still spent with her. She struggled to breathe and the officers started to worry. The right officer ordered his colleague to call an ambulance, just in case.

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down. Take deep breaths." the right officer said as he calmly approached the girl.

She shook her head, indicating that she couldn't breath. She stumbled to the ground, the officer by her side in a second. She grasped at her chest, trying to get herself to breath. But nothing worked. Not the soothing words of the officer, not her own words of encouragement and not the news she had just received. A second later, her world turned black.

The officers quickly scooped her up and carried the unconscious girl to the ambulance. They drove her to the nearby hospital. The officers followed behind the ambulance, making sure the girl got there safely. They also needed to call her next of kin. With one officer next to her, Valentina opened her eyes briefly before they closed again. Bringing her back into the unconscious world.

She woke up again some time later. Only this time she wasn't in a hospital room. She looked around the room she found herself in but couldn't recognise it's grey walls and the big king-sized bed she was in. Where in the world could she be? She stumbled out of her bed, determined to figure out her location. Uncle Alicestar and Aunt Maggie must be worried sick. She made her way to the door before softly opening it. She peered into the hallway but found no one. She stepped out of the bedroom and made her way to the stairs at the end of the hallway. She noticed that it was a big house, probably from someone rich.

She followed the line of pictures on the wall. All of them seem to be pictures of important people. She watched them, trying to figure out whose house she was at. Until she came to a stop at the last picture. She froze all her movements. It was a picture of Elijah Knight. Her parents' 'enemy'. He was always jealous of the success her parents had. She covered her mouth with her hand. He took her from the hospital. He kidnapped her. Oh god, what was she going to do?

"I see you're awake." a voice said from behind her.

She quickly turned around to meet Elijah's cold gaze. He looked at her with only coldness. He held no sympathy for the girl who just lost her parents. He only needed her alive for the valuable information her parents had told her over the years. She was the key to his company's success. And he would do anything to get it out of her.

"Why am I here?" she asked in a small voice.

"Because you are my ticket to success." he replied with a smirk.

Shivers ran up Valentina's spine. He was going to ruin her, she knew it. But she wouldn't give in easily. She wouldn't let her parents' 'enemy' ruin her and get everything he had always wanted.

"Let's get you back to your room." he said with authority.

Before she could disagree, he pushed her towards the stairs she had just come from. He walked behind her, every so often he would push her so she would walk faster. She was terrified by the man who was walking behind her. But she wouldn't let him see her weak. She wouldn't cry in front of him. Not now, not ever. He opened the door for her before pushing her inside the bedroom she just escaped. She caught herself before she could fall on the floor.

"Clean up. We'll talk in an hour." he said with coldness.

Before she could respond, he slammed the door in her face. She took deep breaths before a sob broke out. She made her way into the ensuite bathroom to wash her face. She made sure it didn't look like she had just cried. She couldn't show any weakness. She decided to wonder around in the bedroom. She noticed another door and opened it to find a walk-in closet. It was filled with some of her clothes. Probably stolen from her house. She sighed before closing the door and looking around the rest of the room. It was a nice room for the situation. But she knew she couldn't start getting comfortable. He had cruel intentions. Ones she couldn't forget, ever.

She had been laying on her bed when the door swung open. Elijah stood there, but not on steady feet. It appeared to Valentina that he was drunk. He stumbled towards her and she quickly got off the bed. He stood a few feet in front of her. Only two steps and he would be directly in front of her.

"Tell me everything you know about your parents' company." he demanded with slurred words.

He had been so stressed about the situation that he started drinking when he had left her room. But he now realised that he might have had a bit more than he intended to. Valentina didn't reply to his question. She stood still in front of him, eyes not wavering away from him. This made him furious. He advanced towards her and slapped her across the face, hard. A sob broke out of her mouth. She had never been hit or slapped. Ever.

"You stupid bitch! If you want to live, you'll talk!" he said before slapping her again.

She tumbled to the ground and saw his figure leaving. He opened the door to reveal a maid. He mumbled something to her that Valentina didn't hear. The maid nodded before making her way over to Valentina who was still on the ground.

"Let's get you cleaned up." the woman said to Valentina.

Valentina didn't respond, she only followed the woman to the bathroom.