Auction

Arya and the other girls who had been selected were led through a long corridor.

The other girls began crying even harder. Arya didn’t know why they were crying, but she felt left out, so she decided to join them.

“Uhuhu…”

Her voice was the loudest.

Attention immediately shifted to her.

The girls stared at her in surprise. She hadn’t seemed scared before.

They thought she had finally realized the situation she was in.

The scarred man found her actions strange and walked up to her.

Only to discover that her face was completely dry.

His brows furrowed in confusion.

She was faking it?

“Why are you pretending to cry?” he asked.

Arya immediately stopped.

“Everyone else was crying,” she replied simply.

The man blinked.

So she was crying just because everyone else was crying?

He couldn’t understand this girl at all. She truly didn’t seem to grasp the situation she was in.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“How did you get here?”

Arya thought for a moment before answering.

“My friend Crystal took me to a b…”

She trailed off, struggling to remember the word.

“A bar?” the man supplied.

Arya nodded quickly.

“Yes. A bar. We were drinking, and Crystal said she wanted to ease herself. Then a man came to sit beside me. Later, they announced that a girl had fainted in the bathroom. I got scared, and the man offered to help me check if it was my friend. He led me to a parking lot… and after that, I don’t remember anything anymore.”

She paused before adding softly,

“I only woke up in that dark room.”

The man listened carefully.

Her explanation made sense.

Any normal person would have already realized they’d been kidnapped.

Which only made her even stranger.

“Why aren’t you scared?” he asked.

Arya looked at him in confusion.

“Why should I be scared? Aren’t you taking me to see Crystal?”

The man finally understood.

Something was definitely wrong with her head.

Soon, they were led into a large open bathroom lined with several shower heads.

“Take off your clothes and wash yourselves,” one of the men ordered.

The girls slowly stepped inside.

Some hesitated before removing their clothes, tears still falling from their eyes.

Arya, however, didn’t hesitate at all.

She didn’t understand why anyone would refuse to take a bath.

She honestly thought the girls were acting strange.

After washing up quickly, she and the others were led into another room.

Several women were waiting there.

Their expressions were fierce and impatient.

One of them grabbed Arya by the wrist.

“Come here. I’ll dress you up.”

Her grip was painfully tight.

“You’re hurting me,” Arya complained.

“Shut up,” the woman snapped.

Arya flinched immediately.

This woman was terrifying.

The woman began rubbing oils onto Arya’s skin before dressing her in a white robe. She styled her hair, leaving it loose while curling the ends neatly.

Arya didn’t understand why they were doing all this.

Why did she need to dress up so much just to see Crystal?

She wanted to ask, but she was too scared the woman would yell at her again.

Once she was done, Arya looked around and realized the other girls had also been dressed up.

The scarred man inspected them carefully before nodding in satisfaction.

“Good.”

It was finally time to present them.

“Let’s go,” he ordered.

Suddenly, one of the girls dropped to her knees.

“Please let me go!” she cried desperately. “I’ll give you any amount you want!”

Her swollen eyes were filled with despair.

Arya felt pity for her.

But the next second—

The scarred man slapped her across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the room.

The girl cried out in pain.

He crouched in front of her and grabbed her by the throat.

The girl struggled to breathe as she clawed at his hand desperately.

“Idiot,” he muttered before slapping her again.

Then he yanked her up by the hair.

He turned toward the others.

“If anyone else tries this nonsense, I’ll kill her.”

Fear instantly spread across the room.

“Do you understand?”

The girls nodded shakily.

For the first time since arriving here, Arya began to realize that something was truly wrong.

How could they treat someone so cruelly?

“Move,” the scarred man barked.

The girls immediately hurried out of the room.

Meanwhile, inside a massive auction hall—

Daxiel sat impatiently, his foot tapping rhythmically against the floor.

Luciano sat beside him in silence.

Just then, the man who had welcomed them earlier rushed in.

“Where is she?” Luciano asked immediately.

“She left,” the man replied nervously.

Luciano’s expression darkened as he glanced at Daxiel.

Just in time to see Daxiel stand.

His nails lengthened sharply.

With one swift motion, he slashed the man across the neck.

Luciano didn’t even react.

He was already used to Daxiel’s temper.

Daxiel grabbed the man by the collar.

“She is still here.”

His cold eyes locked onto the man’s trembling figure.

The man shivered violently in his grip.

“She… she left…” he tried to deny again.

But the moment he met Daxiel’s gaze, fear consumed him.

It felt as though Daxiel could see straight into his soul.

The man quickly nodded.

“She’s here.”

Daxiel released him coldly.

“Lead the way.”

The man scrambled to his feet, ignoring the blood dripping down his neck as he hurried forward.

Blood still dripped from Daxiel’s fingers as he followed behind him.

He tugged at his tie impatiently, veins visible along his neck.

His wolf was growing increasingly restless.

Luciano noticed but remained silent as he followed after him.

The people around them acted as though nothing had happened.

Clearly, scenes like this were normal here.

Suddenly—

The spotlight on the stage turned on.

A man walked onto the podium, leading a line of girls dressed in white robes.

The audience immediately sat up with interest.

“Welcome to the Dark Auction House,” the announcer said loudly.

“Here are tonight’s goods.”

He gestured toward the girls.

Arya looked around nervously from where she stood.

Everyone in the hall wore masks.

Then—

A familiar scent reached her nose.

Sandalwood.

Her eyes widened instantly.

Daxiel.

She quickly looked around the hall.

Was he here?

At that moment, the scarred man grabbed her arm.

“Come here.”

Arya walked toward him slowly as the spotlight landed on her.

“This,” the man announced proudly, “is tonight’s most valuable item.”

“Beautiful. Obedient. Untouched.”

Arya froze.

Why was he talking about her like she was something being sold?

Even though she had never seen buying and selling happen before, Crystal had once explained it to her.

But Crystal had only talked about people selling objects.

Not humans.

And for the very first time since leaving her cage-

Arya felt real fear settle into her heart.