Chapter 3: Ridiculous Offer

ISABELLA

"Where am I?"

The nurse checked my IV fluids and replied, "You're in the hospital, Miss Sterling."

A flashback flooded my mind. I held my head and asked, "Where's the man who saved me?" I took a deep breath, trying to recall his face, but it was so blurry. I could only remember his voice.

"A man?" the nurse smiled. "Miss Sterling, you were brought in by your driver."

I grasped the sheet tightly, fighting back tears. There was no man.

The door opened, and Caspian entered, this time with Danica. Danica clung to his arm, a sweet smile on her face. She looked me up and down, her gaze lingering on the bruises on my arm. "I'm so sorry for what happened, dear cousin. We did our best to find the person who did this to you, right, Caspian?" 

And I glared at her, my stare piercing her very soul. But she just laughed. "Look at her," she said, "look at how she's staring at me, as if I was the one who tried to kill her."

Caspian walked towards me and snatched my chin. "Isabella, you've been through a lot. But there's nothing you can do. Everyone wants you dead because of your father's mistakes."

I pushed him away. The nurse tried to help me, but Caspian shoved her aside. "Get out of here, or you'll lose your fucking job!"

The nurse ran away.

I scoffed at Caspian. "What do you want from me, Caspian? Why are you even here?"

"I'm here to collect what the Sterlings owe the Thorne family," he said, his voice a cold, flat line. He pressed his thumb to his lip, a predatory sneer twisting his features. "I want you to choose, Isabella. Be auctioned off like chattel, or spend the rest of your life as a servant, a shadow, within the Thorne household?"

"How… how could you?" My voice broke into a raw, ragged whisper. The very air in the room seemed to vibrate with the sheer cruelty of his words.

Danica, her smile sickeningly sweet, settled onto the edge of my bed, her gaze like a viper's. "Caspian is only trying to help you, Isabella," she rolled her eyes and added, "Do you want to waste away, a nameless drudge, scrubbing floors to pay for your father's debt? Or do you want to be sold at auction, where a wealthy man can give you the best life?" Her eyes glittered with a malicious glee. "Think of it, Isabella. The payment from the auction… it goes directly to the Thorne family. Your debt, your father's debt, it vanishes. You'd be free to go. Free from us. Free from this." She gestured vaguely around the sterile hospital room, a place that suddenly felt like a prison. "No more shadows, no more debts hanging over your head. A clean slate, paid for with… a price."

Caspian held Danica's hand as they stood up in front of me.

I laughed bitterly at them, a laugh born of desperation as if I had no choice but to take this last chance, or else I wouldn't know what to do anymore.

Then, the laughter died, leaving a cold, stern resolve in its wake. "Of course," I said, my voice low and steady. "I would much rather be auctioned than spend my life scrubbing floors. I wasn't born to be a slave to the Thorne family."

Caspian's eyes narrowed. "Watch what you say, Isabella."

Danica, however, only laughed, a sharp, mocking sound. "Let's see if you're still laughing on auction day," she sneered, "especially when some big, bald, old, dirty man buys you." She tightened her grip on Caspian's arm. "Let's go, babe."

"I've known you for so long, Caspian," I said, my voice cracking. "I thought you were the one person who wouldn't hurt me. But you're the first. How could you hurt me like this, betray me, sleep with my cousin behind my back?"

"I... I never loved you, Isabella," he said, without hesitation. "You know it was all because of our familial ties." His words were a brutal, icy blast, worse than anything I could have imagined.

"And... And you choose her over me?" I asked, my voice rising in anger. "Instead of trying to help me in my lowest moment?"

He replied, "Isabella, your father put you in this situation, and I have nothing to do with it. Danica is the woman I want, not some spoiled brat heiress like you."

"Oh, really, Caspian? Are you sure you know Danica at all? I bet you don't." 

Caspian pointed a finger at me, "She's better than you." 

"I hope you will never regret your decision, Caspian." 

“Oh, trust me, this is the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.” he said as he turned his back.

Danica smiled at me, a crowing, cruel smile, as she pulled Caspian out of the room. 

The pain was carved across my face, raw and agonizing. And as the door closed behind them, I burst into tears, my heart beat racing rapidly in rage.