Loveless Sacrifice
Daisy Swift · Completed · 6.9k Words
Introduction
As long as you possess enough Love Value—the genuine affection held for you by your family or spouse—you can trade it there for any miracle.
My biological brother, Noah, died in a car crash. My parents, my husband—everyone was forcing me to go to the pawnshop and use my Love Value to bring him back.
The pawnshop's laws were absolute and unforgiving: a sacrifice of a life for a life required the pawner to be of the exact same generation as the deceased, bound by deep ties of blood or fate.
That meant in this entire family, only I and the adopted daughter, Chloe, were eligible to make the trade.
But what my family didn't know was that I had already exhausted every last drop of my Love Value for this very family.
If someone with zero Love Value forcibly stepped onto the altar, the pawnshop's punishment mechanism would crush the sacrificer alive, skin and bone.
Chapter 1
In this world, there exists a place called the Life Pawnshop.
As long as you possess enough Love Value—the genuine affection held for you by your family or spouse—you can trade it there for any miracle.
My biological brother, Noah, died in a car crash. My parents, my husband—everyone was forcing me to go to the pawnshop and use my Love Value to bring him back.
The pawnshop's laws were absolute and unforgiving: a sacrifice of a life for a life required the pawner to be of the exact same generation as the deceased, bound by deep ties of blood or fate.
That meant in this entire family, only I and the adopted daughter, Chloe, were eligible to make the trade.
But what my family didn't know was that I had already exhausted every last drop of my Love Value for this very family.
If someone with zero Love Value forcibly stepped onto the altar, the pawnshop's punishment mechanism would crush the sacrificer alive, skin and bone.
...
"Elena! How much longer are you going to play dead? Noah is still lying in the morgue, and you, his older sister, have the nerve to dawdle here!"
My mother glared at me, her eyes brimming with undisguised disgust.
"I... I don't have any Love Value left," I choked out. "Mom, I really can't go to the pawnshop. If I force the trade, it'll kill me..."
Five years ago, when she was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I had already gone to the pawnshop.
I exhausted all my Love Value just to buy back her life.
"Shut up!" my father roared. He strode over, grabbed me by the collar, and hauled me violently off the floor.
"Still lying! You married Arthur, and we gave you the title of the Miller family's eldest daughter. How could you possibly have no Love Value? You're just selfish! You just want to watch your brother die!"
I was choking, unable to breathe. The pain in my chest spread wildly like suffocating vines.
Ten years ago, I was brought back as the true, long-lost biological daughter.
At first, my parents had held my hands and said, "Years of raising a child are just as important as bloodlines. From now on, you and Chloe are both our most cherished daughters."
I had been so blissfully naive, thinking I finally had a home. But that fragile balance was effortlessly shredded by Chloe.
When I baked cookies for Noah, Chloe secretly laced them with crushed peanuts.
Watching Noah collapse in anaphylactic shock, she stood off to the side, trembling and crying, hesitantly dropping hints that I had done it on purpose.
"How could we have given birth to something as vicious as you!"
My father slapped me to the ground.
Under the guise of "protecting" Chloe and Noah, my parents punished me by locking me in the pitch-black basement for three days.
From that moment on, no matter what I did, in their eyes, I was always wrong.
Once, when Noah was sick and needed a blood transfusion, Chloe faked a fainting spell to get out of it.
I was the one who let them draw 800ccs of my blood, but in the end, it was Chloe who my parents pulled into a tearful, grateful embrace.
"Let her go, Dad. Maybe Elena really isn't feeling well." A soft, fragile voice drifted in from the hallway.
Chloe turned to look at me, a fleeting, triumphant gleam flashing in her doe eyes. "Elena, I know you don't like Noah. I know you think he stole Mom and Dad's attention away from you. But he's so young... If you really don't want to go, let me do it. Even if my Love Value isn't enough, even if the pawnshop drains my life away, I'm willing to sacrifice myself for this family."
"Nonsense!" My mother immediately pulled Chloe into a fiercely protective embrace, her tears falling instantly. "You have such a weak body, how could you possibly survive that place? If anyone has to die, it should be this heartless, ungrateful wretch!"
My heart violently recoiled. Even though it was already riddled with holes, hearing my own biological mother say, If anyone has to die, it should be her, still suffocated me.
Just then, my husband, Arthur, appeared at the door.
His frigid gaze swept over my pathetic, crumpled form without a single ripple of emotion—as though he were looking at a nauseating piece of trash.
"Arthur..." I trembled, reaching out toward him like he was my last lifeline.
Ten years ago, during a massive highway pileup, I was the one who dragged him out of his burning car. My back is still covered in sprawling burn scars from that day.
We had genuinely, deeply loved each other once.
But everything changed the moment I returned to the Miller family, the moment he met Chloe.
With just a few tears and some hesitant hints of grievance, Chloe effortlessly painted me as a vicious, jealous woman who threw her bloodline around to bully others.
Through her repeated manipulations, his love for me was completely ground down into nothing but defensiveness and disgust.
Arthur swatted my hand away in disgust. He walked straight to Chloe, gently draping a coat over her shoulders.
When he turned to look back at me, his eyes iced over once more. "Elena, drop this pathetic victim act. Do you think this will get you out of your responsibility? Noah is your own brother. Even if it costs you your life, it's the least you can do."
I stared at Arthur—the man I had loved for ten years—and felt like a ball of cotton was lodged in my throat. I couldn't utter a single word.
A tear fell, shattering against the back of my hand.
"Fine," I heard my own voice say. "I'll do it. I'll go to the Life Pawnshop."
Hearing my concession, my mother let out a cold snort. "At least you still have a shred of conscience."
My father finally released his grip, and I collapsed onto the floor like a broken ragdoll.
Arthur kept his arm around Chloe's shoulders, turning on his heel without a backward glance.
Right as they rounded the corner, Chloe peeked over her shoulder, a victorious smirk sweeping across her lips.
I closed my eyes, but my fingers curled into tight fists.
A desperate, pathetic sliver of hope sparked in my chest: If I can just find a way to make them—my parents, or even Arthur—feel a single ounce of genuine love for me before we step foot in that pawnshop... maybe I won't have to die.
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
The rejected white luna
BROKEN TRUST
Neither of them knew she was carrying his child.
Emily’s affair didn’t just end her marriage—it erased the life she thought was guaranteed. Ryan left without looking back, carrying his anger like armor and leaving Emily alone with regret she would never outrun. Three years later, fate drags them back into each other’s world, along with a little girl who has Ryan’s eyes and a truth that shatters everything he thought he knew.
Old wounds reopen, grief masquerades as rage, and love refuses to stay buried. As parenthood binds them together and the past demands accountability, Emily and Ryan must face the question neither of them is ready to answer: is broken trust the end of their story… or the beginning of a love forged through loss, forgiveness, and brutal honesty?
Bonds at War: The Virgin is Mine
Perhaps then they would stop controlling my every move. Maybe my brothers would stop resenting me. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel so invisible anymore.
No one believed I could do it—not even my mate, Alpha Jaxon Trevane.
The night I planned to tell him... I found him tangled in bed with my best friend.
Heartbroken and humiliated, I left everything behind and went to Elite alone.
But the academy isn’t the fairytale I dreamed about.
Beneath the grand halls and traditions, a brutal game is being played.
The four ruling Alphas of the North, South, East, and West fight for power, dominance... and now, for me.
A virgin. Untouched. Unclaimed. The prize they all want.
There’s the mate who shattered my heart and swears he’ll win me back.
The brilliant strategist who wants me as his Luna.
The dangerous playboy who promises no one will ever touch me but him.
And the cold, possessive Alpha who watches from the shadows—and would destroy anyone who dares to take me from him.
But in a place where love is a battlefield and lust is a weapon... falling in love might be the most dangerous thing I ever do.
Welcome to Elite Order Academy—where every desire has a price, and my body is the ultimate trophy.
The Lycan Kings and the White Wolf.
Faking It With My Worst Enemy On Ice
But on his birthday, everything falls apart when his girlfriend exposes Clare's most humiliating secret in front of the entire team.
Just when Clare is ready to disappear, Rhys Calloway, her worst enemy and the team's arrogant captain, pulls her into his arms and tells everyone she is his girlfriend.
She should have pushed him away, but she kissed him back instead.
Now Clare is locked into a two-month fake relationship with the most infuriating man she has ever met, trying to get over a stepbrother who never cared and survive a captain who makes her forget why she was supposed to hate him.
The problem is that Rhys kisses like he means every single second of it, and just when Clare starts to move on, Zane decides he wants her back.
One girl, two hockey players, and a heart that was never supposed to feel this much. Will she choose the stepbrother who broke her or the enemy who caught her when she fell?
The Legacy Game
When scholarship student Chris Linds stumbles onto a mystery someone has killed to protect, she becomes the next target. The only person standing between her and death is Ashen Ford, the academy's cold, untouchable Student Council President—and heir to one of Corvain's founding families.
As anonymous invitations summon twelve students into the legendary Legacy Game, alliances fracture, secrets surface, and every challenge brings another deadly truth to light. But the greatest secret isn't who will win.
It's why one winner vanished without a trace... and why someone will do anything to make sure history repeats itself.
Luna On The Run- I stole The Alpha's Sons
But Axton is more than just a rival, he's her fated mate. And he's been searching for her not for love, but for revenge and a chance to destroy her father's pack. The next morning, Elena rejects him, walking away before he can trap her in his ruthless schemes.
But Axton does not take rejection lightly, and his retaliation is brutal: a leaked video, a ruined reputation, and a family that turns their backs on her drive her to flee the city in disgrace.
But when Elena disappears, she takes something Alpha Axton never planned to lose - his sons. Now, he'll stop at nothing to get them back. He wants his heirs, he wants his mate, and Elena will learn that no one runs from the Alpha.
Everybody is Guilty Here
Middlesbrough's underworld is a dangerous game, and Matthew Smith finds himself right in the middle of it. A once-feared gang leader, he is now forced to be a pawn in a deadly cat-and-mouse game. Matthew's only shot at freedom is helping the police bring down Mr. K, the elusive mafia boss of the city. The only problem is that the detective he is forced to work with is the same man who arrested him years ago.
Masahiro Payne is everything Matthew hates: cold, calculating, and relentless. But their only hope for survival is by pretending to be a happy couple, blending in amidst dangerous crime, deceit, and power struggles. The closer they find themselves to taking down Mr. K's empire, the more they are attracted to one another, an affair too potent to turn from.
As their undercover mission spirals into a web of lies and hidden desires, they face a growing threat from all sides. But the greatest risk is the one they can't control-their own feelings. With every touch, every stolen kiss, the line between their fake relationship and real emotions blurs.
In a world of betrayal, trust is a luxury, and falling for each other may be the deadliest mistake of all. Can they survive the deadly mafia games or will their passion be their demise?
The MC Hacker’s Stolen Princess
She did not come to find out her father had promised her to another man.
As the only daughter of Shane “Rook” Rourke, president of the Lost Coast Renegades MC, Taryn has always known club business comes first. But when Rook signs a treaty with the dangerous president of Iron Mesa, he crosses a line even she never imagined.
Safe passage through Arizona territory comes with a price.
Her.
Kellan Stroud is thirty, powerful, ruthless, and already waiting at Sturgis to meet the woman he expects to marry.
Taryn wants no part of him, no part of the agreement, and definitely no part of a future chosen for her by two men who think a signature is enough to decide where she belongs.
Then she meets Bobby Fuentes.
At twenty, Bobby is one of the youngest fully patched members of the Sons of Doom MC. He is quiet until he has something to say, dangerous when he needs to be, and smart enough to get into places no one else can. Hacking is what he does best.
Until Taryn gives him a new problem to solve.
One reckless connection at Sturgis becomes something neither of them can ignore, and when Bobby realizes exactly what Rook has promised away, walking away stops being an option.
But stealing another president’s future wife is not a misunderstanding.
It is an insult.
A betrayal.
And in the MC world, it can mean war.
Taryn refuses to be anyone’s property.
Bobby has never been good at following rules.
And Kellan Stroud does not forgive what he believes belongs to him.
The road out of Sturgis may cost them everything first.
Letters to a Dark Prince
Thrown into Isteros Academy—a world of old money, blood money, and cruel social games—she's an outsider by birth and an afterthought by design. Her sister Solyn is the school's untouchable queen and Mara is her favorite target.
Everyone expects Atreus to treat his fiancée’s scholarship sister like everyone else does—as if she doesn’t matter.
Instead, his dorm room sits directly across from hers, close enough that she can see his light go out at night. Some nights, he climbs the old maintenance trellis just to check on her. He teaches her chess. He shows up exactly when something's gone wrong—and never once asks to be thanked for it.
"Don't fall in love with one piece," he warns her, over a board neither of them treats like a game anymore. "It punishes the person who only sees half of it."
Mara doesn't understand why the boy who's supposed to make her life harder keeps quietly making it easier—not until she realizes the anonymous stranger she's been writing to every week already has a name.
His.
He doesn't know he's writing to her, either.
By the time they find out, it's too late to stop what's already happening. Far too dangerous for anyone to find out.
In an empty studio, in the middle of a rainstorm, she asks him: 'Am I the kind of girl who kisses a boy engaged to my sister?'
He doesn't answer.
So she asks: 'What are we?’
He told her not to fall in love with one piece.
She fell anyway.
And he was never far behind.
Accardi
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.
Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
Tempted By The Enemy
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
