the captive heart

THE WRONG GIRL

Siya's mind was a whirlwind of fear and confusion. She couldn’t make sense of how she had ended up in this nightmare. The man who had taken her was no ordinary criminal—there was something terrifyingly controlled about him, as if he was used to this kind of situation. She had watched enough crime dramas to know that this was the kind of man who never made mistakes. But if that was true, then why had he taken her?

Aarav leaned against the wall, his eyes never leaving her. He could see the fear in her eyes, the way she pulled at the ropes binding her wrists, testing their strength. She was scared, but she was also smart. He could tell she was trying to figure out a way out of this mess. What she didn’t know was that there was no way out—not for her, not for him.

When he had realized his mistake, he had been furious with himself. Siya was not the girl he was supposed to take. The plan had been simple: kidnap the politician’s daughter, hold her for ransom, and then disappear. But now, with Siya in his custody, everything had changed.

It wasn’t just that he had the wrong girl. It was that from the moment he saw her, something inside him had shifted. He had never let emotions interfere with his work before. His life was built on control, on staying detached. But Siya was breaking down those walls, and he couldn’t stop it.

He walked over to her, his footsteps echoing in the small room. Siya tensed, her eyes narrowing as she looked up at him. She was trying to be brave, but he could see the fear just beneath the surface.

“You’re not who I was supposed to take,” he said, his voice low and rough.

Siya’s heart pounded in her chest. “Then let me go,” she whispered, her voice trembling despite her efforts to stay calm. “If I’m not the one you want, there’s no reason to keep me here.”

Aarav stared at her, his dark eyes unreadable. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why?” she demanded, a hint of anger creeping into her voice. “Why isn’t it simple? You made a mistake. Just let me go!”

He clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, to do something that would make her understand. But how could he explain it to her when he didn’t fully understand it himself? All he knew was that letting her go wasn’t an option anymore—not for him.

“I can’t,” he said finally, the words heavy with meaning.

Siya’s eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away, refusing to cry in front of him. She couldn’t afford to show weakness. Not now. Not ever. “You’re a monster,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I will find a way out. And when I do, I’ll make sure you pay for what you’ve done.”

Aarav smiled, but it wasn’t a smile of amusement. It was a sad, almost regretful smile. “I’m not a monster, Siya. But I am dangerous, and you’d do well to remember that.”

With that, he turned and left the room, locking the door behind him. Siya waited until she heard his footsteps fade away before she let the tears fall. She cried silently, her shoulders shaking as she wept for the life that had been stolen from her.

But as the hours passed, the tears dried up, and a steely resolve took their place. She wouldn’t just sit here and wait for something to happen. She was going to fight. No matter what it took, she was going to escape this place and get back to the life that was waiting for her.

Meanwhile, Aarav sat in the adjacent room, his mind racing. He knew he had crossed a line by keeping her here. But it was too late to turn back now. Siya was in his life, and he couldn’t let her go. He didn’t know what the future held, but one thing was certain: he was in this too deep to back out now.

As the days turned into nights, and nights into days, the lines between captor and captive began to blur. Siya’s hatred for Aarav was slowly giving way to curiosity, and Aarav’s cold exterior was starting to crack. The tension between them was palpable, a dangerous game of push and pull that neither of them could control.

But even as they drew closer, the world outside continued to close in on them. Aarav’s enemies were getting restless, and the politician who had hired him was growing suspicious. It was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down.