Selling Myself

Harper POVThe light cast a sliver of warm yellow across the door seam. I stood in the deep shadow, fingers resting on the brass handle, hesitant to push. The air inside the house had been suffocating since Father died."Joseph, I've settled it..."I barely managed to push the front door open before my arm was wrenched away. My body slammed against the leather sofa.A dull pain shot through my back, knocking the air from my lungs.When I opened my eyes, Joseph's face filled my vision."What did you talk about with Adrian?!" His jaw was rigid.I rubbed my reddened wrist, my voice a sheath of ice. "Do you honestly think there's another option?"I wanted to tell him that the name on that contract was mine.But looking at the desperate crimson in his eyes, I swallowed the words."Harper, Adrian is doing this purely to humiliate our family.""And he can crush us effortlessly, can't he?"Joseph buried his face in his hands, his voice raw and broken."No. I won't let Aria go..."Aria, th

Harper POVOnly two days remained before the departure, and I spent almost the entire time lying in the servant's room. The mattress was hard, the curtains faded and threadbare, and the air was thick with a faint, musty staleness.My cuts were beginning to scab over, but the wounds in my heart, I knew, would never fully heal.Thinking I needed to pack a few changes of clothes, I returned to the main house. A light, cheerful humming sound drifted from my walk-in closet. I paused, stopping dead in my tracks to peek through the door crack.Aria was inside, wearing one of my haute couture gowns. She posed in front of the mirror, shifting angles, as her phone emitted the faint click of the camera shutter."Why should she get to have all of this?"Another click."Send her off to be that pervert's plaything… and all of this will be mine."The doorknob felt ice-cold against my fingertips. I released it and stepped back.As long as she cried in front of Joseph… his choice in the end… would

Harper POVWhen I woke from the coma, the stinging pain in my wrist and the stark white sheets told me I was in a hospital.My vision slowly swept across the room. Adrian was sitting by my bedside, a hint of mild amusement in his eyes.The last anchor point in my memory was him helping me into the car and asking, "Have you decided? You still have a chance to change your mind." My hand had brushed past his waist and touched something cold, hard metal. I gave a bitter smile in my heart. Good thing he hadn't put that thing to my head before asking the question.I answered with my final shred of strength, "I don't regret it." After that, memory was a white blur.This was the second time I'd seen him, and the first time I had truly looked at him. He was handsome, with a high bridge to his nose and sharply defined contours, like a masterpiece.Could a person like this really be a killer and a pervert?My body remained rigid, moving uncontrollably toward the side farthest from him."Wha

Joseph POVI ran after Harper, but she was gone. The hallway was deserted, as if the confrontation had never occurred. I stood there in a daze for a long moment before finally heading home in defeat.Every day since she left, I had been staking out Adrian's villa. Father's crew had long disbanded, the men scattered; I had to handle everything myself. I didn't care. For Harper, I would go without sleep, without food, without fear.Finally, on the fifteenth day of staking the place out, I found her. But she refused to escape with me. In that single moment, my world utterly collapsed.I slumped onto the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.The door suddenly burst open, followed by the clicking of high heels on the floor. Aria walked in, laughing, with three people in luxury store uniforms trailing behind her. They carried bag after bag into the house, piling them up into a small mountain. When the door closed, the air was thick with perfume and the scent of new leather.Aria h

Harper POV Adrian said he would take me out for a drive. The car had just pulled out of the courtyard when Joseph blocked the hood.I asked Adrian to stop the car and stepped out. Joseph stood before me, his eyes bloodshot and raw."Harper," his voice was hoarse, "I found it… I watched the street corner surveillance video…" "I'm sorry…"My eyes stung bitterly, and my throat felt clogged.Slight footsteps sounded behind me. Adrian's hand smoothed over my arm, pressing down firmly.I let out a cold laugh. "You believed everything Aria told you. The moment she cried, you decided I was the one bullying her."He interrupted me frantically. "I was wrong. I've already thrown her out of the house. Come back with me, Harper, and I'll spoil you like I used to."I shook my head, my gaze chilling by degrees. "It's impossible, Joseph. That obedient Harper died the second I fell off the roof."Adrian's grip tightened further. His scent, his body heat, made me feel a stability I had never know