When love is the currency and freedom the price, who truly comes out owning who?
—
"WHAT?!!".Alex and I screamed in unison the sound ripping through the sudden, suffocating silence of the room.
No. This isn't happening. It can’t be happening. This had to be some cruel, elaborate prank, a twisted joke designed to shatter the last vestiges of my sanity.
Not that the idea of being bound to Alex was entirely repulsive—my body’s traitorous response to him was a constant, undeniable hum beneath my skin, but not like this. Never like this. Not now, especially not when I could practically taste the silent contempt he held for me, the way his dark gaze promised not affection, but danger and an unbreakable claim.
Not when I knew he didn’t want me.
My whole future—college, independence, dreams
