Author Alexの小説

~ AUBREE ~By the time the taxi pulled up outside my parents' house, I was tired of looking at the bank statements.The numbers hadn't changed during the ride here. My parents had received Dominic's money directly since the beginning of the contract.A separate sum for Lily's ongoing medical care, and a monthly payment described in the contract as "compensation for the donor's family."It had always struck me as a polite way of saying payment for the girl we purchased, but I had never said that out loud.The point was, my parents handled the finances. They deposited my portion into the account opened for me.They controlled the flow of my money.And now they had stolen even that.Fifty thousand dollars every month.Month after month.For two and a half years.There should have been over a million dollars sitting in that account waiting for me when the contract ended. Money to rent my own place. Money to go back to school. Money to start over somewhere nobody knew my name.Instead there

AUBREEI didn't get any sleep. Every time I put my phone down, I picked it up again a few minutes later. The numbers kept staring back at me, daring me to find an explanation that made sense. But there wasn't one.The account balance still sat at two hundred and thirty-seven dollars. It didn't increase and made everything out as a dream.I had checked it so many times during the night that I could have recited the number from memory.When I first opened the account, I hadn't expected to become rich. I wasn't stupid enough to trust my parents, but I had expected there would be something in there after almost three years.Something that's tangible and worth giving to Lily urgently whenever she requests something which she rarely does.All through the night I kept scrolling through pages of transactions and watching my future disappear one withdrawal at a time.By morning, my eyes hurt and my head felt heavy. I tossed my phone onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.The worst part wasn't

AUBREEI made it back to the basement before the tears started falling. I pressed my back against the door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor, my knees pulled to my chest, my whole body shaking.I hated this. I hated myself for crying over a man who had never once looked at me as if I was a person. Never once, had he ever once defended me. He had to kiss my sister right in front of my eyes without flinching.Not even trying to save face or my emotions. And the worst part? The most humiliating, shameful part of all of this?I still felt something when he called my name. I am a fool. The biggest there is. If only he hadn't stolen my first kiss. If only he had not kissed me so passionately that night, none of all these emotions would have started.I pressed my palms against my eyes until I saw stars. What was wrong with me? Dominic had never made me a single promise. He had never whispered sweet nothings or held my hand or told me I mattered. He had never given me any reaso

DOMINICI stood up from the breakfast table and straightened my suit jacket. Aubree was still picking at her food, eating small bites like she was afraid the plate would disappear."Come to my office in an hour." My voice came out colder than I intended. I softened it a little. "We need to visit my family."She flinched. Why? I have never raised my hand to her.So why? "Yes, sir."That damn word again. I wasn't her boss and she wasn't my employee.I opened my mouth to tell her to stop calling me that. To just use my name. But the words stuck in my throat.What difference did it make? She was here because of a contract. No difference from an employee. I left the dining room without another word.When I got to my office, I barely had time to sit down before Marcus barged in. My secretary. Though calling him that felt wrong since he has been my friend since college.Marcus loved two things in life: expensive watches and my money. In that order.He dropped into the chair across from m

AUBREEI woke up the next morning feeling worse than yesterday.My arm ached where the needle had pierced my skin and a bruise was forming already. I can't count the scars on my arm and the pain I usually feel in my veins. I wish I could eat better to nourish my body but even proper food I can't. I lay in bed staring at the small basement window near the ceiling. Gray light filtered through the dirty glass. It's been raining for a while now, and I guess it will rain again. When I was younger, I loved dancing in the rain. When I tried it when I first came to the mansion, Dominic's mother had me punished and locked up in my room for a week. Since then, I could only enjoy the rain from my basement window. It's okay, I tell myself. Everything would be over soon. I gazed at the calendar and I smiled.Six months from now, I will be a free woman. I could date and be with anyone I wanted and the stupid infatuation I have with him will be gone as well. I forced myself to sit up and the

AUBREEI walked back to my room cautiously, still holding the gauze against my arm where the needle had been.When I got to my room, I sat down too dizzy and was almost losing consciousness.They call this basement my room but I know even this wasn't mine. Nothing in this mansion was mine. Not the bed, not the clothes in the closet, not even the air I breathed.Everything belongs to him including me. I struggled to my feet and went to the calendar, I marked another day off.I staggered back to the bed and fell back as I thought back to three years ago, when all the madness began. [Three Years Earlier]I ran through the hospital halls, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would explode. I had eleven missed calls from my mother and I am too terrified to listen to them. God, please let nothing happen to Lily. I found them in the ICU waiting room. My mother was sobbing into my father's shoulder. Her makeup was ruined, as well as her mascara, which was running down her face. Vivian