Chapter 29 Mr. Number 19

Cassandra’s POV

I still shook my head vigorously when I heard what the woman in front of me said.

Among all the nightmares I’ve endured because of my father, I could tell tonight the worst one.

“Usually, I’m not this kind to others. But you look so pitiful, so I’m making an offer.” The woman shrugged. “When I started this business, my network wasn’t as large as it is now, so 20 thousand dollars for a woman was impossible. But I can guarantee you that all the guests who come have more than enough money to buy a woman. If they don’t have that much, of course, they’ll choose to sleep with an ordinary woman who can be rented at a lower price. They’re prostitutes who are no longer that attractive. All the women auctioned here are high-quality. So the customers are more interested in the auction at my place.”

“I’m married,” I shook my head, “I don’t have that kind of quality.” At least, I knew they’d probably prefer to buy a virgin woman for a fantastic price. The problem is, I just lost my virginity two days ago. Whether that’s a problem or a stroke of luck, I can’t categorize it now.

“I know how to judge women better.” The woman snorted, “You’re beautiful, and your eyes are very lovely. Maybe many have told you that, but consider it a compliment from me.”

“I...” I didn’t know what to do. My eyes glanced toward the big man still standing near the door. I knew I couldn’t fight him with my strength, so I didn’t try. My only hope was... this woman because I could feel her sympathy for me. “I have a scar on my back,”

Even though I felt incredibly ashamed, I was forced to lift the shirt I was wearing to show the scar on my back.

The woman inhaled sharply and clicked her tongue.

“I can’t do this. Please let me go,”

“Well, would you rather become my prostitute?” She sat on the sofa a bit farther from me, crossing her legs casually. “Prostitutes here can service more than 10 men in one day. You just have to lie in your bed, and the men will come in after paying. They won’t care about your scars—”

“No,” I cut her off, covering my ears because I couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen next.

“That’s why I chose you for the auction. Anyway, I already made a deal that you only have to do it once because I feel sorry for you.” The woman rolled her eyes, “I’m starting to feel like my business will go bankrupt because I’m always pitying others.”

I fell silent, clenching my hands. My mind raced to find a solution to this cornered situation.

“Damn, this thing has been ringing since earlier, and I’m getting sick of it.” The woman said, pulling something from her bag.

My eyes widened when I saw my phone there. It was on, and the screen displayed the name of someone... a man I clearly remembered because he had just called me this morning.

“Bastard?” The woman narrowed her eyes, “Is that your husband?”

I stared at her in disbelief, especially when she snorted and pushed the phone toward me.

“I know all women think of men as bastards, even after marriage.”

The problem isn’t that, but of course, I can’t explain the real situation right now.

“Listen, I might be able to contact someone who can give you 20 thousand dollars. If I can do that, will you let me out of here?”

“Well,” the woman thought for a moment, “20 thousand dollars is very little compared to your father’s debt. If you know someone who has 20 thousand dollars for you, why not raise it to 50 thousand?”

“What? You said I only need to raise 20 thousand dollars, right?”

“Yeah, because I thought you were very poor. But it seems like you have someone who can give you 20 thousand dollars. So, let’s raise it to 50 thousand.” She replied indifferently. “Call your husband and ask him to give you 50 thousand dollars. After that, I’ll let you go.”

I looked at her skeptically. I couldn’t call... my husband. Not that bastard.

But then, one name came to mind—someone who might lend me the money. However, I wasn’t sure whether this person would give it to me after everything that happened yesterday. I might have ruined our relationship, but I hoped he could help me now.

“Okay, I’ll try,” I said.

I immediately grabbed my phone, which was still ringing, and rejected the call from Mr. Alexavier. I didn’t know why he kept calling me, but now I had to call Franco.

“Turn on the speaker,” the woman said.

I sighed deeply and did as she told me.

But after waiting for a while, the call was dropped, and Franco didn’t answer.

I stayed positive, thinking he might have left his phone or something. So I called him again.

By the seventh call, he continued to ignore me.

“Is Franco your husband?”

I looked up and shook my head, then called the man again for the eighth time.

“So why don’t you call your husband?”

“He won’t give it to me,” I said quietly.

My body started to weaken as I realized that Franco was deliberately ignoring me. Even when I called him for the ninth time, I found his phone was off, meaning he had turned it off.

“Is he a poor man?”

I looked up again, and now my eyes were full of tears when I realized I had no way out anymore. My only chance had disappeared, and I might be trapped here with all the destruction that awaited me.

My phone screen lit up again, and I saw that same name again—the name of the man who had been calling me earlier.

I know I can’t rely on him, but I have no one else now. Selling myself to that man isn’t the right choice, but at least he… has married me.

“Do I have to struggle again to call you?” The voice came from my phone after I turned on the speaker.

“Tell him,” the woman in front of me said.

I stared at the phone screen hesitantly, but I knew I had to do it.

“Who are you with?”

I didn’t expect Mr. Alexavier to hear the voice of the woman in front of me.

“Someone,” I answered softly. “I… need your help.”

There was a long pause on the other end, and I felt increasingly unsure about what I should say.

There’s no future for any of this—whether when I decided to sell myself to this man or to the woman sitting in front of me.

“Where are you now?”

“The brothel,” I could feel the bitterness in my voice. “I need 50 thousand dollars to get out of here.”

“You what?” The man laughed briefly.

I knew I couldn’t rely on him.

That was enough. The sound of his laughter was enough to make me make a decision. So, I immediately hung up the phone and moved it away from me.

I looked up with a face full of tears and stared at the woman in front of me desperately. “You’ll let me go after this, right?”

“As agreed,”

This time, my life would truly be ruined. “Alright, show me where that place is.”

***

I might regret this decision for the rest of my life, but I knew I didn’t have much time. My mother had been waiting for me since this afternoon, and I didn’t know how she was doing now.

The woman in front of me—Monica, led me through long corridors filled with countless bedroom doors. Some of the doors were open, so I could see a woman standing in lingerie, observing the line of women made by Monica. There were about 10 women standing behind me while Monica walked arrogantly in her high heels. They were all wearing lingerie… just like me.

This was the first time I was wearing it, and I felt extremely embarrassed. It wasn’t uncommon for us to pass by men walking in the opposite direction. Monica greeted some of them and showed them the room number they were looking for. They were… customers.

It wasn’t rare for them to try to touch us—me and the 10 others. They tried to touch my butt, and I was grateful I could avoid it. I don’t know what I could be grateful for in this situation because, after this, I knew there would be men who would do much worse than this.

I wiped my tears as pain filled my heart. I remembered someone who once saved me from a man who tried to touch me. But now, that man wasn’t here, and no one would be able to help me.

In this situation, memories of the past began to spin in my mind, and I began to realize that what happened yesterday wasn’t as bad as what I was experiencing now.

“Don’t cry again. The customers won’t look at you if you do that!” Monica snapped while observing me. “Listen, they only touch your butt, and I’ve already forbidden them from doing that.”

I immediately wiped my tears when I heard what she said.

After that, Monica led us down the stairs to the first floor. She walked quickly, so I had to speed up my steps if I didn’t want to lose track of her.

On the ground floor, I found a bar and a gambling arena, which was quite crowded with customers. Again, Monica greeted some of them as if she had seen them there so often that they became familiar.

I ignored all that because now my eyes were only focused on a stage in the middle of the room. Around it were chairs hidden in the darkness.

Monica walked straight toward the stage and climbed the five steps there. I kept following her, along with the other women.

The cold air greeted my skin when I stood there. This place was much colder than the bar area, which was separated quite a distance as if not everyone could enter this exclusive area.

I could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at me in the darkness. Their seats weren’t very clear, but I noticed that most of them were wearing masks to cover their faces.

A woman, also wearing lingerie, spoke in the middle of the stage; she seemed to be the operator who would lead the auction.

I didn’t know what to do to cover my body because this lingerie really exposed all of my skin, except for my back, which had already been covered with makeup by one of Monica’s staff. They said customers wouldn’t pay too much attention to it and asked me to make sure to turn off the lights before doing so.

I shuddered when I imagined it. It felt so… disgusting, and I hated all of this.

While I was still lost in my thoughts, I was shocked when suddenly a light shone on me, making me squint.

This stage was deliberately designed to have dim lighting, but they used a spotlight to get anyone on stage to get their attention.

I immediately lowered my head and hugged my body to cover my nakedness. This was the most humiliating thing, and I didn’t know how to get out of here. When I looked to my side, the other women had already found their buyers, and now I was the only one left there.

While I was still struggling to adjust to the bright light, the operator began to announce my data, including my eye color and age.

“15 thousand dollars.” The operator’s voice was heard again, and the amount she mentioned shocked me.

It turns out that someone bought me for such an expensive price. I hadn’t expected this before because my mind was so chaotic.

“25 thousand dollars.” Once again, the operator’s voice startled me.

I tried to find the person who had turned on the light in their seat to place a bid on me. However, they were far behind, so I couldn’t see anything. The light shining on my face made it impossible to look too long, or I would go blind.

“50 thousand dollars!”

Monica, who was standing next to me, laughed upon hearing that bid.

“100 thousand dollars!”

As the bids kept increasing, I became more and more scared. My fate was now uncertain. I was going to be bought by a man I didn’t know, and I was sure he wasn’t a good man because no good man would sit in this auction.

I couldn’t bear to imagine that a stranger would touch my body. I had kept myself safe for 23 years, and this was the end of everything.

Even though I no longer had my virginity and had given it to… my husband—even though I didn’t do it with my consent, I still felt deeply sad.

Since I was young, I had hoped to marry a good man whom I loved, and then we could share our first time together with love.

Now, all of that had happened, and I couldn’t do anything. That man wouldn’t even help me after claiming I was his wife. I have to admit that I was foolish for ever putting hope in him. But what could I do? I had no one I could rely on, and by coincidence… that man was my husband.

Slowly, I wiped away my tears because, without realizing it, I was crying again, and I remembered Monica saying I shouldn’t cry here.

“500 thousand dollars!”

I was startled when I realized that the auction had gone so far, reaching such a large amount.

“600 thousand dollars!”

I moved my gaze to the two men who last mentioned an incredibly large amount. I couldn’t believe this, and neither could Monica.

“This is insane,” she muttered in surprise, but I couldn’t deny that she also looked very pleased.

“650 thousand dollars!” A red light lit up on the seat at the far back left. I could find the seat, but I couldn’t see his face because the man was wearing a mask, leaving only his eyes visible, which I couldn’t make out clearly because of that damn spotlight.

“700 thousand dollars!” Now, a man on the right, a bit in front, turned on his light.

“750 thousand dollars!” said the man on the left.

“800 thousand dollars!” The light turned on again for the man on the right.

“850 thousand dollars!”

“900 thousand dollars!”

It seemed that only these two were still bidding back and forth, not willing to give up, which made me stare in disbelief.

“1 million dollars!”

I heard everyone gasp when that amount was mentioned, along with the light turning onto the right side.

I could feel my heart beating fast—waiting for whatever result I would get now.

The man on the left didn’t turn on his light again, as if he had admitted defeat.

I didn’t know who was lost here, that man, or my life.

“One million dollars. Is anyone else going to bid?” The operator’s voice came again after nearly 10 seconds of silence.

Nothing.

No one turned on the light, and everyone just sat in the dark.

“The auction is closed. Sold to Mr. Number 19 for one billion dollars!”

The voice felt like a death sentence for me.