CHAPTER 1

Disclaimer & Content Warning

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

Please be advised that this story contains mature and potentially triggering themes, including violence, sex trafficking, and graphic fight scenes. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

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CHAPTER 1

Araceli

“Will you drop that plate, you fat pig?” my stepmother snapped.

I flinched, my fingers tightening around the ceramic plate of tortilla española as it clattered dangerously close to the edge of the table. My throat went dry, and for a second, I thought I’d stop breathing.

My stepmother’s sharp heels clicked against the marble floor as she crossed the dining room towards me. Her perfume hit me before she did, that cold and expensive scent that always made me feel cheap and out of place.

“I–I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“Liere, stop that.” My papá said softly.

I was surprised. This was the third time he’d cautioned his wife today. He had never done that before. Usually, he pretended not to see the way she treated me.

She ignored my dad and snatched the plate from my hands, inspecting it as my touch had contaminated it. “You can’t even hold a plate properly,” she sneered. “Maybe if you stopped eating like a horse, your hands wouldn’t shake so much.” I lowered my head, hiding the tears from my eyes.

Behind her, my stepsister ‘Naiara’ stood by the window, her arms folded and that same cruel smile curving her lips. “Mom, maybe she’s just hungry again. You know how she gets when she skips a meal.”

They laughed so hard. The sound was high and sharp, slicing right through my chest.

“I didn’t–” I tried to explain, but my stepmother cut me short. “Don’t talk back,” She snapped. 

“TE DIJE QUE LO DETUVIERAS!” my papá snapped, anger slicing through his voice. 

I SAID STOP IT.

Liere and Naiara froze, their laughter dying instantly. They exchanged quick, startled glances, as if they couldn’t believe he had actually raised his voice.

I swallowed hard and turned away, heading for the kitchen—anything to escape the rage I knew was coming from both of them.

“Araceli, come sit and eat breakfast with us.” My papá’s voice stopped me mid-step. “I have something to discuss with you.”

“M-me?” I pointed at myself, confused. I couldn’t remember the last time he asked me to eat with him, much less have a conversation.

“No, not you. Your mom.” Liere sneered, an evil smirk twisting her lips.

Ouch.

 Her words stabbed deep. My mother had died a year before Liere forced her way into this house, yet she spoke of her more than anyone—always in the cruelest ways possible.

“If you say anything about her again, I will sell you to settle the debt.” My papa’s voice dropped into a dangerous threat. “Araceli, ven y siéntate.”

Araceli, come sit.

“Debt?! I pray he does sell her.” I muttered inwardly, then slipped into the seat beside my father.

“Mi niña, I have something very important to tell you,” he said softly.

My little one.

My heartbeat slammed against my ribs. My papá hadn’t sat me down for a real conversation in years. What is happening? And why me? I was always the last in everything and the invisible one in this house.

“Oh, please.” Liere rolled her eyes dramatically. “Cut it off. She’s not a child.”

She leaned forward, face twisted with satisfaction.

“You’re getting married tomorrow morning.”

Her words hit me like a bomb.

My eyes widened. I stared at her, then slowly turned to my Papá. He met my gaze and stayed silent. His silence answered me.

 It was true.

“W-why?!... H-how?!... To whom?!” That's the only words that could escape my mouth as I process a million thoughts.

“We need to clear our debt, Araceli,” my papá said softly. “Sonia, our family friend, brought us a marriage contract from Matvei Orlov.” He exhaled slowly, as the words weighed too much. “The money he’s offering is more than enough to clear everything… even rebuild my business.”

My vision blurred, and this time I didn’t hold the tears back. It streamed down my cheeks.

I couldn’t believe it, a huge debt, and Liere spent money like water. She buys luxury shoes, makeup, bags every week… and now I was the one paying for it. I’m not even placed on an allowance, and my papá stopped buying clothes for me three years ago. I don’t know who this Matvei is, and why he is offering money to marry him. He might be an old man looking for a wife to marry. I don’t want to get married.

“I can’t,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I-I won’t, I don’t even know him.”

“It’s only marriage, Araceli. You can get to know him in marriage.” My papá reached out, placing his hand on top of mine, gentle, almost apologetic. “You can come back anytime—”

“How dare you say no?!” Liere snapped. “You have no potential. You’re not smart. What use are you in this house?!”

I know I don’t have anything to offer… and every time she reminds me, it makes my chest ache, and it hurts in places I can’t reach.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I lowered my face. A small, desperate part of me hoped for my papá to say something.

But he didn’t.

Silence.

His silence always meant approval.

So he agrees. My papa thinks I’m useless, too.

“And who would even want to marry you?!” Liere continued, jabbing a finger at me. “Araceli, have you looked at yourself?! Your weight is bad, you’re not beautiful, you’re a big dummy.”

I know all of that. I know. I know I’m worth nothing. But it still hurts every time she says it.

How could I be so stupid to think I had the right to make decisions for myself? Anyone who marries me would be doing me a favor… and I should be grateful for that.

“Take a good look at Naiara.” Victoria pointed at her daughter, who sat opposite her with a proud, satisfied smile—as if my humiliation was entertainment. “She is beautiful. She has a master’s degree. And obviously the best body ever.”

“You’re clearly ungrateful.” She hissed the words, then stood and stormed out of the dining room.

My papa let out a long, tired sigh.  “Mi niña… please think about this,” he said softly. “For me. For your mother.”

My little girl.

I lifted my head and stared at him, my pain-filled eyes glistening with tears. I’m worth nothing. I have no potential. I’ll never be like Naiara… but I’m still his daughter. I’m bound to make sacrifices, and maybe gain something from this one thing they want so badly from me.

“I-I-I’m scared, papa,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“You can, Mi niña,” he said softly, tapping my hand on the table.

“Well, you have no choice.” Liere’s voice cut through the room as she slammed a file onto the table. “Sign that. Now.”

Her glare made my stomach flip. Heat prickled down my skin. Fear took over completely. My hand moved on its own. I gripped the pen and signed the papers without reading a single word.

I don’t even know what I’ve done. My hand shook over the contract. I had just surrendered to fear, signing a marriage contract to someone I didn’t even know.