Love Locked Away

Agonizing pain dragged Sienna Lockwood awake. A pulsating throb radiated from her lower body, grounding her in a harsh, unforgiving reality. She blinked her heavy eyelids, fighting against the dim, gray light filtering through the cracks of a dilapidated shed. Cold rainwater dripped steadily from the rotting wooden ceiling, splashing against her pale skin. Yet, her attention was instantly anchored to the gruesome sight of her foot. A raw, gaping wound marred her flesh, fresh blood steadily mixing into the muddy puddles on the uneven floor.

A chilling truth settled deep into her bones. She was not dead.

The memories of her demise were searingly fresh. In her previous life, the very family she bled to please had dragged her battered, dying body aside to inflict further torment. Her biological family, the prestigious Lancasters, had orchestrated her ruin for the sake of Chloe—the fake heiress who stole her rightful place.

Sienna stared at the steady flow of red. She had been thrust back through time, exactly one year after she first stepped into the opulent Lancaster residence. A bitter taste coated her tongue as she reflected on her pathetic past. She had spent every waking second groveling for the smallest crumb of validation from her parents and brothers, only to be shoved into the shadows by Chloe’s manufactured perfection. That desperate chase had culminated in her brutal death.

For nineteen whole years, Chloe had enjoyed the lavish warmth and unconditional protection of the Lancaster family. When Sienna finally returned, hoping to find her real parents and brothers, she was met with cold disdain. The Lancasters went out of their way to humiliate her, treating her as though she did not exist, ensuring Chloe never felt threatened. Whenever Chloe orchestrated a flimsy scheme to frame her, the family rallied behind the fake daughter, forcing Sienna to apologize for wrongs she never committed. As long as Chloe breathed, Sienna was destined to be a mere stepping stone.

Her grim epiphany was abruptly shattered. The flimsy door of the shed was thrown open with aggressive force. The biting chill of the rain-soaked wilderness swept into the small space, bringing with it her fourth brother, Declan.

He stepped into the dim light, dripping wet from the downpour. He was a striking man, a top-tier idol known for his dangerous stage presence, but right now, his handsome face was twisted into a scowl of pure indignation. He did not spare a single glance at the severe, bleeding gash on Sienna’s leg. Instead, his glare bore into her with unmistakable hostility.

"Sienna!" he snapped, his voice cutting harshly through the drumming rain. "I made sure not to make you look bad in front of the cameras earlier. But you scraped Chloe's leg. Why can't you simply apologize? And you dare to hide in here and sulk about it?"

Sienna stared at him. This was Declan Lancaster. The same man who, in her previous life, smashed her head against a concrete wall when she was barely clinging to life, just to prove Chloe was the only sister who mattered.

Right now, they were in the middle of *Primal Survival*, a live-streamed reality show set on a secluded island. The contestants were isolated from the outside world, forced to scavenge for supplies and endure grueling challenges set by the producers. The Lancasters had orchestrated this endeavor to elevate Chloe’s stardom and cement her public persona. Declan, the superstar who could sing and dance, had been roped in to team up with Chloe, ensuring maximum screen time. And Sienna? She was brought along to be the ultimate, unlucky scapegoat, explicitly designed to make Chloe shine even brighter.

The truth behind the so-called accident that brought her to this miserable shed was a bitter, twisted pill she had swallowed in her past life. Earlier that day, during a steep terrain challenge, Chloe maliciously lunged at Sienna, trying to shove her down a treacherous slope. Recognizing the danger, Sienna relied on her instincts, dodging the attack.

The maneuver caused Chloe to lose her footing. Stumbling toward the edge, the fake heiress panicked and grabbed Declan’s arm, threatening to pull him down the jagged decline with her.

In that split second, Sienna’s ingrained, foolish instinct to protect her biological brother took over. She could not bear the thought of Declan getting hurt. She lunged forward, intervening to break his fall. She managed to yank him back to safety, but the momentum sent her tumbling down the harsh, rocky slope in his place.

Her reward for saving his life? Declan flew into a blind rage because Chloe suffered a minor, superficial scrape during the scuffle. Once the cameras were off, he verbally ripped into Sienna, accusing her of deliberately harming Chloe. When she refused to apologize, Declan abused his power, explicitly barring the production's medical staff from treating Sienna’s severe wound. He left her in the freezing shed to bleed out and faint from the excruciating pain.

Now, staring up at the man who prioritized a scratch over her shattered flesh, Sienna felt a profound shift within her soul. The desperate warmth she always harbored for him evaporated, leaving an icy void.

Slowly, her lips curved upward. It was a wide, unsettling smile that did not reach her eyes. Framed by the gloomy light and the relentless rain, the expression was downright eerie, the kind of smile that made the blood run cold.

She was done being the Lancaster family's sacrificial pawn.

"What's so funny?" Declan demanded, his scowl deepening. He stared at Sienna, feeling an unexpected jolt of unease.

Her eyes were locked onto him, but they were hollow, bottomless pools devoid of any familiar affection. It felt as though she were pulling him into a freezing vortex. An inexplicable, suffocating pressure crept over his chest. He tried to shake the feeling off, replacing it with irritation. What gave this meek, desperate girl the right to look at him like that?

Sienna shifted her weight, deliberately lifting her injured foot into his direct line of sight. The bright crimson blood coated her instep, a gruesome contrast against her pale skin and the dark mud.

"Are you blind?" Her voice was icy and flat. "Can you not see I am the actual victim here?"

Declan’s expression faltered for a fraction of a second as his eyes finally registered the mangled state of her flesh. Yet, his ingrained stubbornness and deep-seated bias held firm, shielding him from genuine empathy.

"You brought the injury upon yourself," he retorted callously.

Sienna let out a cold, hollow laugh. The sound bounced off the damp walls, devoid of any humor. "Why don't you get your head on straight before you open your mouth? I fell because I pulled you back from the edge. If I hadn't intervened, you would be the one lying in this dirt with a ruined leg. Who are you to say I deserved this?"

She paused, her indifferent gaze piercing his arrogant facade. "And after I saved your life, you refused to let the medical staff treat me. This is the ultimate betrayal. People call that biting the hand that feeds you."

A flicker of genuine guilt crossed Declan’s handsome face. He shifted his stance uneasily. Deep down, beneath his layers of prejudice, he knew the truth. He knew that if Sienna had not grabbed him in time, he would have been the one tumbling down the dangerous terrain. But he was Declan Lancaster. He was used to towering above Sienna, used to her endless groveling and bending over backwards for him. His pride refused to let him concede defeat to someone he deemed so insignificant.

He forced his expression to harden, burying the guilt under self-righteous anger. "This is payback for you having it out for Chloe. You tried to hurt her first."

Sienna looked at him with pure, indifferent sarcasm. It was pointless to argue logic with a man who had already decided she was the villain. The Lancasters would only believe Chloe.

"Yeah, I really deserved it," Sienna said.

Outwardly, it sounded like a concession, but inwardly, the words carried a heavy weight. She knew she only deserved this agonizing pain for her own foolishness. In her past life, her stupidity cost her everything. She endured their nonstop mind games, believing that if she just poured out her heart, she could warm theirs. She deserved the pain of the past for chasing a toxic illusion. But this time, she would not waste a single fragment of hope on the Lancaster bloodline ever again.

Declan stared down at her, expecting the usual tears. Instead, he was met with a face barren of expression. Her gaze was as cold and distant as still water, stripped of the desperate warmth she used to harbor for him. It was a look directed at a stranger.

An inexplicable, sudden panic gripped Declan's chest. As he stared into her dead eyes, an unsettling instinct warned him that something vital was quietly and permanently slipping away from his life.

Frowning, he tried to suppress the rising panic by softening his tone. "Sienna, just apologize to Chloe. Do that, and I will get someone to treat your foot right immediately."

Sienna did not blink. She simply stared at the man who was offering her basic medical care as a conditional reward for bending the knee to her abuser.

Her response was a single, venomous command.

"Get lost."

Declan’s face darkened instantly. The soft compromise he attempted to offer evaporated, replaced by bruised ego and fury.

"Do not take my kindness for granted," he warned, his voice dropping into a menacing register. He glared at her, delivering a cruel, ultimate ultimatum. "If you keep stalling and acting stubborn, your foot might end up beyond saving. And let me make one thing clear to you—the prestigious Lancaster family would never accept a cripple."