Love Under Fire

"You can’t be serious," I hissed, my knuckles white as they dug into the edge of the dining table. The wood made creaking sounds under the pressure, but I didn’t care. My parents sat across from me, their eyes fixed on mine. My father looked at me and cleared his throat, trembling. "Ava… it was the only way to save us." “The only way to save us? Are you actually being serious right now? The only way to save us? By selling me off like livestock? To the Invanto mafia of all people?” I laughed, but it was sharp and bitter. "…Ava, we had no choice, the family company was on the edge of bankruptcy, We couldn't afford to let our years of hard work crumble." my mother whispered, tears streaming down her face. She looked older than she had that morning, her cheeks hollow and her hands shaking on her lap. "No choice?" I slammed my hands on the table, standing so rudely my chair toppled over. "You had a choice, and you chose this! You chose me over the family’s company, you chose your o

“This isn’t my life. This can’t be real” these were the only words coming out of my mouth. I stared at the ceiling only to see the sun's rays cast into my room.“Shit it’s morning!” I’ve been up the whole night and hadn’t realized that.I sat on my bed, running my palms over my face, trying to make sense of everything. As I turned, my eyes landed on a dress, sparkling jewelry, designer bags, and a note lying beside me. In bold, commanding letters, it read: "a stylist would be with you in an hour, try not to be an animal and cooperate with her”It was Jayden obviously, he would be the only monster that could talk to me so disrespectfully. “Fool!” I muttered as I left for the bathroom.————-“Who is this? I don’t look like me, this can’t be the life I’d have to live now” I said endlessly in my mind as I stood before a gilded mirror in a room that felt more like a luxury prison.The woman staring back at me wasn’t me. She wore designer clothes I hadn’t chosen, makeup I didn’t apply, and

The next morning, I sat stiffly at the dining table, watching as Jayden poured himself a cup of coffee. He moved with the same frustrating ease as always, every action deliberate, calculated and analyzed. “You’re training with me today,” he said without looking at me. His tone made it clear it wasn’t a suggestion.“Is that an order?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.He finally glanced up, his face unreadable. “It’s an opportunity. You should take it.” I laughed softly. “You call training with you an opportunity? have a funny way of making opportunities sound like prison sentences.”He smirked, setting his cup down as he leaned forward, his forearms resting on the table. “Prison isn’t the right word. Let’s call it... guidance.”“Even your guidance feels like prison” I said crossing my hands across my chest as we both stared at each other.“Don’t worry you’ll learn” he chuckled looking back at his papers “you’ll learn Ava” he muttered once more.---Later that afternoon, we he took me to