Her voice was sore by the time she had given up on crying out for help. It was more than apparent that her calls were useless, that her words were falling on deaf ears. Outside the door she could hear the shuffling of feet as the guards switched shifts. It made her hopeful for a time. For a fleeting moment she believed that someone had heard her screams and was coming to ensure her prompt rescue. But, there was nothing. No one had come through the doors, not even to tell her to be quiet or let her know what was going on—not that they needed to. Clara had already surmised that her father had royally pissed someone off. If he hadn’t unjustly terminated someone’s employment, then he had used underhanded tactics to seal a deal. David Allerton was a cunning businessman, disreputable and untrustworthy despite all his success. He blamed it on his upbringing in therapy. It was a true rags to riches story, one where he had to scratch and claw his way to the top in all facets of his life—damn all the pathetic souls that got hurt and ruined along the way. A dirt poor boy from the streets, he learned that hard work and dedication wasn’t enough. In order to truly reach the highest heights he believed one had to be willing to take what belonged to someone else and make it his own. He lied, he stole, he cheated, and he manipulated his way to the top, making Paradigm a leading giant in the magi-tech industry. Of course, no one outside the upper echelons of the corporation knew, though rumors circulated often. It was hard to believe them when he was so amiable and disarming in the public eye.<br/><br/>His family paid the price for his callousness and deceit, but no one more than his dear daughter. It took her a long time to forgive him for the practices that placed her danger. As she sat in silence, waiting for negotiations to made and ultimately met, she surveyed her surroundings. There were no windows and the only door she could see was to the left of her where she heard the guards moving. Even there were an alternate exit she wouldn’t have been able to get there. Her ankles were secured to the legs of the chair and her torso was bound against the back. Her wrists, chafed and red from twisting against the cuffs, were throbbing. Clara knew it was useless, but if she wasn’t wrenching and tugging then she felt as though she weren’t doing anything. It was infuriating to be so incredibly helpless.<br/><br/>Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door opened and through them came a man in an expensive suit, tailor made to fit his form. Behind him there was an armed guard, approaching her swiftly to undo her binds. “Am I leaving?” She asked. Her answer was silence, but it wasn’t too farfetched to believe that she might be released. Though her father was a dishonest man, he was not without compassion for his family. He loved his daughter and he would stop at nothing to ensure her safe return. If not him, then her fiancé would surely come to her aid. Andreas Hale was a politician, well-connected with an arsenal of resources at his disposal. It was likely that the authorities were knocking down every door and tearing the city apart searching for her. But, Clara didn’t realize just how far she was from their reach. Unbeknownst to her it was unlikely that anyone would find her soon.<br/><br/>As the ropes were removed, the blonde was hoisted up to her feet. Her legs were weak from hours of being immobile. The idea that she might collapse in her stilettos perished when the man demanded a knife. Panic frenzied within her, and adrenaline allowed her the strength to pull against him as he grabbed her arm and forced her to the stage. “W-wait. My father will give you anything you want. Just name the price.” She told him, still struggling against his lead till she was standing on the stage in her white dress, full of dirt and dust. The knife slid under the strap and the cool metal made her flinch just as the blade sliced the material. A gasp escaped her. Instinctively she wanted to move her hands, but the cuffs jerked and the chain punctuated the silence. He moved to lift her skirt, scrunching it up to her hips. With one of her large, round breasts exposed, gleaming in the spotlight that shone upon them, and her dainty white thong just barely covering her womanhood, she trembled. The embarrassment was enough to make her want to shed tears, but she refused. Still, it was apparent by the way she stuttered that she was barely holding it together.<br/><br/>“S-stop! What are you doing?” She demanded as he pulled her panties down her thighs. At her knees, the material fell to her ankles, leaving her completely bare from the waist down. She was further shocked when he revealed that her father hadn’t complied with the man’s demands. “If . . . If you just wait . . . you’ll have the money.” Clara plead. Though she was initially somewhat compliant, not that she had much choice in the matter, she wasn’t about to allow herself to be degraded. The command to get on her knees was met with an obstinate look. Her aqua eyes narrowed at his darker ones.<br/><br/>“No. I’m not . . . I won’t do that.” She told him firmly as she resumed her struggling to be free of his grasp. Clara didn’t understand what was happening. She knew that if asked, her father would have given him more money than he could possible imagine. She was left to assume that he hadn’t received the amount he was promised. “If you just<i>wait</i>. . . I know he’ll give you what you want. My fiancé will give you what you want. Just . . . give them more time.”