Chapter 1: The Gilded Cage of the Black Market

A biting cold pierced every pore, but it was not the cold of the air. It was the icy chill of the stone floor upon which Merin was forced to kneel. The musty scent of the dungeon mingled with the stench of the many Alphas and Omegas imprisoned around her. It was the smell of despair, the smell of fear, so thick and heavy in the air it was almost suffocating.

The iron chains shackling her ankles chafed her skin raw and red with every movement. The leather collar, fastened so tightly it was constricting, was a brand marking her as no longer ‘human,’ but merely ‘merchandise’ awaiting auction.

Merin closed her eyes, trying to banish the last image of her family from her mind: her stepfather’s feigned grief and false guilt, and her stepmother who turned her face away, not even meeting her eyes as her life was about to be cast into the abyss… all to settle a massive gambling debt they couldn't pay.

‘It’s for the family, Merin… think of it as helping us.’

That voice still echoed in her ears like a curse. Helping? By selling their only daughter in the black market? Bitterness surged up, choking her throat, making her want to vomit her guts out.

Tears she thought had long run dry began to well in her eyes again, but she quickly blinked them away. She would not let anyone see her weakness again. When there was no one to rely on, there was no need to show weakness for others to pity.

The heavy footsteps of a guard approached, along with the blinding light of a torch. “Your turn,” a rough voice barked, before the chain tethering her to the wall was unfastened, and she was mercilessly yanked to her feet.

Merin was led like an animal, stumbling down the narrow, damp corridor. The light from the main hall at the end grew brighter and brighter, along with the cacophony of people—laughter, chatter, and the resounding call of numbers. It was the sound of a living hell she had to face.

As she crossed the threshold, the full force of the noise crashed over her. Her body was shoved onto an old wooden stage in the center of the hall. A spotlight fixed on her form, clad only in a thin white linen cloth that vaguely revealed the silhouette within, forcing her to wrap her arms around herself in shame.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes from below stared at her like a pack of wolves eyeing delicious prey. Those gazes were filled with lust, greed, and the desire to possess.

“And here is the final item you’ve all been waiting for tonight!” the auctioneer's voice boomed across the hall. He walked to her side, his grimy hand grabbing her chin and forcing it up, revealing a pale face that still held a trace of beauty. “A female Omega, her scent as sweet as a Merin flower blooming at dawn! Though she comes with a slight blemish from her family’s debt, I can assure you, this Omega has never been marked by any Alpha!”

A murmur arose from the bidders. The pheromones of the aroused Alphas filled the air, making Merin dizzy. It was a crude, vulgar scent, full of a raw desire that disgusted her, making her want to flee.

“Look at this smooth, fair skin! Look at those frightened, light brown eyes! Just imagine what beauty is hidden beneath this thin cloth! And how sweet her cries will sound when she is under you!”

The auctioneer spoke while running the back of his hand down Merin’s arm in a lewd gesture. She flinched violently and tried to back away, but the chain on her neck only allowed her to stand trembling in place.

“Alright! Let’s not waste any time! Bidding starts at five hundred thousand!”

“Six hundred thousand!” a voice shouted almost immediately from a portly Alpha in the front row.

“Seven hundred thousand!”

“Seven hundred and fifty!”

The numbers escalated rapidly. Merin stood like a statue, her mind too numb to register anything. She was just an object being priced, a doll about to be passed on to a new owner she had no right to choose.

Ten million… fifteen million… twenty million…

The price skyrocketed to a shocking amount, but then, everything fell silent. The large wooden doors of the hall were pushed wide open.

A tall, slender figure in a perfectly tailored black suit strode in. Every step was firm and steady, as if nailing itself to the floor. The once-raucous hall fell as silent as a graveyard. The crude pheromones that had filled the air instantly vanished, replaced by the aura of an Alpha so powerful and cold it made the others instinctively bow their heads. It was a clean, pure scent, yet as sharp as a winter blizzard, mixed with the faint smell of steel fresh from the forge.

Aries… the number one female Alpha in the underworld of business. No one did not know her name, and no one dared to cross her.

She walked slowly and stopped at the front of the stage. She didn't look at the auctioneer or the crowd trembling in fear. Her sharp, smoke-gray eyes, cold and vacant, were fixed solely on Merin. It was a gaze that showed no desire, no lust, no pity. There was only a cold-blooded assessment, as if looking at an uncut stone.

“Fifty million.”

Her deep, low voice was spoken evenly, yet it resonated through every inch of the hall. It was the final number that no one dared to challenge. The portly Alpha who had been bidding fiercely turned pale and lowered his head, not daring to meet the speaker's eyes.

The auctioneer, who stood frozen on the stage, hastily grabbed the wooden gavel with a trembling hand. “F-fifty million going once… going twice…” He glanced around quickly. Seeing no one dared to move, he swiftly closed the auction.

“Sold!”

Bang!

The sound of the gavel fell, bringing a complete and final end to Merin’s old life.

Aries ascended the stairs to the stage with the grace of a queen. She looked at Merin with the same impassive eyes before turning to the auctioneer, who respectfully handed her the key.

Click.

The collar that had been chained to the post was unlocked. Aries didn't remove it from Merin’s neck, but instead grabbed the end of the hanging chain and gave it a gentle tug, a signal to follow. “From now on… you are mine.”

That was the first and only sentence she heard before she was led away from that disgusting auction hall, following behind the Alpha who was her new owner, leaving only silence and the fear of those left behind.

A jet-black car was waiting outside. A bodyguard in a suit opened the door as soon as he saw his boss. Aries pushed Merin into the car before getting in and sitting beside her. The silence inside the car was even more suffocating than the clamor of the black market.

Merin shrank against the opposite door, not daring to even breathe too loudly. The aura of Aries, just an arm's length away, was so powerful and oppressive she felt like she was about to suffocate.

The car moved out of the damp alley and onto the city's main road. The neon lights of the night intermittently illuminated the car, revealing the side of Aries’s face, which remained impassive and cold. She didn't look at Merin at all, her gaze fixed forward, as if Merin were nothing but air.

This was her new owner… a female Alpha who had bought her for fifty million just to possess this body. Yet, in her eyes, there was not a hint of desire. What on earth did she buy Merin for?

The thought terrified Merin more than before. The unknown was more frightening than predictable cruelty. She did not know what fate awaited her in the grand mansion that was her new ‘cage,’ from which she could never escape.