Chapter 2

Memories came flooding back.

Back then, I was not an ordinary white-collar worker named Quinn.

I was Sophia Spencer—the old Godfather's most beloved youngest daughter.

In the lawless district we lived in, human lives were worth less than dirt.

I pulled a boy on the verge of starving to death out of a pile of trash.

He had the eyes of a wolf, yet when he looked at me, he was as obedient as a dog.

I named him Jackson Grant.

He became my most loyal bodyguard. He took bullets for me and drank poisoned wine in my place.

Eventually, we fell in love.

It was an absolute taboo within the family.

Everyone said he was scheming, that he seduced the family's princess only to climb the ranks.

I was the only one who knew that he knelt in the mud searching all night just to recover the necklace I had lost on a stormy night.

He was always trying.

He tried so hard to become someone worthy of me.

Just as my father was beginning to relent, disaster struck our family.

Several rival families who had long coveted our wealth joined forces to wipe us out, and a traitor emerged from within.

I knew the collapse was inevitable.

If Jackson stayed by my side, he would die with me.

I had to make sure he lived.

Therefore, I slapped him hard across the face in front of all our men on that rainy night.

"Jackson, can't you take a good look at yourself?

"I'm bored. Do you get it now?

"It makes me sick to think of someone as low as you even touching me."

With the cruelest words and the most contemptuous gaze I could muster, I tore his heart out of his chest.

I could never forget the look in his eyes when he left.

Disbelief.

Heartbreak.

Finally, an overwhelming hatred.

The day our family was destroyed, my parents were brutally killed. I was captured, but I jumped into the sea and escaped in the chaos.

For five years, I hid my identity and lived as an ordinary office worker. I became Quinn.

When Calvin suggested the cruise trip, I was actually afraid to go.

However, I heard that a newly risen power had recently wiped out our former enemies and these waters had changed hands.

I thought it was safe.

I never imagined the master of that new force would be Jackson.

The pain pulled me out of my thoughts.

Calvin's hands were roaming over me again.

"Quinn, your skin is as smooth as silk.

"Godfather Grant is definitely going to be satisfied.

"But…"

Calvin suddenly paused for a moment. An odd smile crept onto his face.

"Sending you over directly would be such a waste.

"And men like the Godfather don't necessarily cherish what's handed to them.

"You'll be the grand finale of the auction tonight."

Auction?

An icy chill crawled up my spine.

As the former Godfather's daughter, I knew all too well what underground auctions were.

They were hell on earth.

Women there were not treated as human beings. They were flesh sold by the pound, toys for men to vent their darkest desires.

"You're going to auction me?"

My voice trembled as I stared at him in disbelief.

"Didn't you say you were giving me to Jackson? Why auction me off?!"

There was something playful in Calvin's gaze as he lifted my powerless chin.

"Quinn, don't be naive.

"Just handing you over? What if the Godfather doesn't like you and sends you back? Who would I beg to then?

"An auction is different.

"The Godfather will be there tonight.

"If he likes you, he'll bid.

"And if he doesn't…"

Calvin gave me a sinister smile.

"Then some other rich man will.

"As long as I get the money, it doesn't matter who you're sold to.

"You just need to lie still, spread your legs, and do what you're meant to do."

I felt like I had fallen into an icy abyss.

I never imagined that my attempt to live an ordinary life would lead me straight into Satan's hell.

If Jackson recognized me, considering the hatred he bore toward me, would he let me die quickly?

No.

He would buy me.

Then, he would make sure I suffered a fate worse than death.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.