Chapter 1 - Sold

The smell of whiskey and cigarette smoke filled the air.

I stood at the doorway of my father’s study, his cold eyes scanning me like I was nothing more than a burden. He didn’t speak at first. The only sounds were the ticking of the old grandfather clock in the corner and the faint laughter of my stepmother drifting from the living room. She was probably spoiling her precious son again, while I was summoned here like a servant.

“Sit,” Father ordered, without glancing up from the papers in his hands.

I obeyed, clutching the hem of my worn-out dress. My palms were damp, and my heart hammered so loud it almost drowned out the silence of the room.

“You’re eighteen now,” he finally said, taking a long puff of his cigarette. His lips curled into a smirk that meant anything but good. “And it’s time you started being useful.”

“Useful?” My throat tightened. The way he said it made my stomach churn.

He leaned back in his chair, eyes sharp and calculating.

“The Romano family made me an offer I cannot refuse. You’re to marry Adriano Romano.”

For a moment, the words didn’t make sense. Adriano Romano?

My stomach twisted violently. His name was enough to send shivers racing down my spine. Everyone had heard of him. The youngest mafia don, a man whose empire stretched across cities. Ruthless. Untouchable. They said he built his throne on blood and fear, and that those who dared cross him vanished without a trace.

“W-what?” I stammered, my voice barely audible.

My father’s gaze remained unfazed.

“You should be grateful. He could have asked for your life. Instead, he wants your hand.”

The words stabbed into me like knives. Grateful? For being handed over to a man like him?

I shot to my feet, the chair screeching against the wooden floor. “Papa, I can’t—you can’t just force a marriage on me!” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care.

His eyes darkened. Before I could blink, his hand cracked across my cheek. The sting burned, and for a second, I saw stars.

I stood there frozen, one hand clutching my face. It wasn’t the first time, but it still knocked the breath out of me.

“You ungrateful b*tch,” he spat. “You’ll marry him, and that’s final.”

His voice was venom, dripping with hatred and disgust.

Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let him see me cry. I turned and stormed out of the study, his curses following me down the hallway. My feet carried me to my room, where I locked the door and slid down against it.

That was when the dam broke. The cries I had held back spilled out of me, shaking my whole body. I pressed my palm against my aching cheek and curled into myself on the floor.

My hand found the necklace around my neck, the one piece of my mother I still had. I clutched it tightly as if it could protect me from the hell closing in around me.

“Mom, I miss you,” I whispered through my sobs. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

I shut my eyes and let the memories come—my mother’s warm voice singing me to sleep, the way she smelled of jasmine, how she used to stroke my hair and call me her little star. She would never have let this happen to me.

But she was gone. And now I was nothing but a bargaining chip in my father’s game.

I dragged myself up and stumbled to the small cracked mirror on my wall. My cheek was red, swollen where he’d struck me. My reflection stared back, tired eyes ringed with shadows, lips trembling. For a moment, I hardly recognized myself.

How could I marry Adriano Romano? The very thought of standing at his side made my skin crawl. Rumors about him whispered through the city like ghost stories. Some said he killed his own cousin to seize power. Others said he had no heart, that women who entered his world never came back the same.

A shiver raced down my spine. No, I couldn’t let that be my future.

As the tears dried on my cheeks, something else began to burn inside me. A spark. Anger. Defiance.

No. I would not be sold like cattle.

If my father thought he could trade me away to a monster, he was wrong.

I pressed my hand to the cold glass of the window, staring out at the night sky. Somewhere beyond this house, beyond these walls, was freedom. I didn’t know where I would go or how, but one thing was clear—

I would escape.

Even if it meant risking everything.