Chapter 3

Ronan’s POV

I stared at the man like he had spoken another language. My brain couldn’t process his words. I’ve been sold? That was it? Just like that? Sold like a fucking object? No warning, no conversation, no explanation, nothing. One minute I was trapped like an animal, the next I was being dragged away like trash being collected.

“I’ve been bought?” I asked, numb, confused, shaking. The words felt heavy and stupid leaving my mouth, but that was all I could think to say. “What do you mean I’ve been bought? By who? When? How? What the fuck is going on?”

The man dragging me forward let out a long, annoyed grunt like I was irritating him. “How the hell am I supposed to know that?”

“So you just sell people without even knowing who the buyers are?” I snapped, planting my feet on the ground to stop him from dragging me, but he shoved me harder like I was nothing.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” he growled without even looking at me. “All I care about is that we got rid of you fast and made good money from it. Now move.”

That sentence hit me like a punch in the gut. I was gotten rid of as if I was something ugly they didn’t want to look at anymore.

I wanted to scream, fight, rip his face off and tear the whole building down but none of that would change anything. These people didn’t care if I cried, if I screamed, if I died. I was just a good to them.

He shoved me again, and before I knew it, I was thrown into a small room like a bag of garbage. The door slammed shut behind me, and the silence that followed made me hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears and I didn’t know how long I stayed frozen on the cold floor.

Being sold and owned? The words kept flashing in my head and I honestly wanted to throw up. This was something I heard about in movies or documentaries. Was I going to be locked somewhere forever? Beaten? Tortured? Raped? Used until I broke? Would anyone ever find me? Did anyone even know I was gone?

The door opened again and two different men came in. They just grabbed me and dragged me down a long corridor. There were other people there too. Other victims, other “goods” like me. Some were chained and bruised while others just stared straight ahead like they were dead inside already. I wondered if I would look like that soon and lose my mind.

We got to a metal back door and stepped outside. The night breeze slapped my face, reminding me this was still real life and not some nightmare. A long black car was waiting with dark tinted windows like some mafia kind of thing. I tried pulling back again, but one of the men shoved me so hard my chest hit the seat first and pain shot up my ribs.

I turned to yell at them, to ask where the hell they were taking me now but I didn’t get a chance because someone behind me grabbed my head and clamped a cloth over my nose and mouth. Something chemical hit my lungs and I panicked, fought it and tried not to breathe but I failed. My body betrayed me, my muscles got heavy, and everything went black.

I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I finally came to, my wrists were no longer chained. That was the first thing I noticed and I could move again. My head was pounding and my mouth tasted weird. I blinked slowly, trying to find the pieces of myself again when I realized I was still in the car. It was moving down an empty road. My eyes adjusted slowly and for a second, I thought I was alone,until I felt someone’s gaze burning into me.

Then I turned and froze because someone was sitting right next to me.I knew that face, those eyes, that same cold expression I saw at the auction. He was there, watching him.

“You!?” I blurted out, panicking. My chest tightened and my eyes widened. “What the hell…why are you here? What’s going on?”

He didn’t even look confused or look guilty and just looked at me like he already owned me.

“I’m Leon,” he said. His voice was deep and smooth in a way that didn’t match the situation. “Leon Black.”

He studied me for a second before adding, “What’s your name, and how old are you?”

Shock made me respond before my brain caught up. “Ronan. I’m twenty-two.” The words slipped out of me too fast and I wanted to slap myself. Why the fuck was I answering him like I had manners? Like this wasn’t insane?

Then anger took over. “Why did you ask for my name? Why did you buy me? And why the hell was I drugged?”

His gaze hardened as he glared at me. “Keep your voice down when you speak to me.” He didn’t yell at me but the power in his tone sent something cold through my body.

I laughed dryly, trying to sound like I wasn't scared and rolled my eyes. “And why the fuck should I do that?” I shot back at him. “Are you ashamed now because you bought a human being? Or is it because you're worried someone will hear your dirty little secrets?”

His jaw flexed hard and a muscle ticked near his temple. He didn’t yell at me like I expected him to, he just looked at me for a long, terrifying moment before saying calmly.

“You should be grateful I bought you instead.”

His words didn’t sink in at first. They just hung in the air between us, heavy and cold.

Grateful?

For this?

For being kidnapped, caged, sold, drugged, and dragged into a car like cargo?

I stared at him, speechless for the first time since this nightmare began. The car hummed quietly around us, the night outside a blur of darkness, and still his eyes held mine like he already possessed every breath I would take from this moment on. Pure terror crawled up my spine, not because of what he said, but because of what he wasn’t saying.

But I had a feeling he was about to tell me.

And whatever his reason was, I had a sinking feeling it would turn my life into a nightmare I couldn’t escape.