FROSTBOUND

3 — Offer

"My name is Margaret." The woman finally spoke, still keeping her gaze intently on me.

"Margaret?" I stared skeptically at them. "Where am I?"

"Right now you're in a hospital in Vine City." The woman walked closer this time, taking her steps slowly as if she counted them to make sure she stepped on the right spot.

"Vine City? How... did I get to Vine City?" I questioned and paused, giving thought to my questions, then laughed bitterly in my mind.

Of course, I was sold and didn't have to be told I would be taken far away.

But at least, I'd hoped it would be a place I would be able to trace my way back home.

However, I didn't even know this city, which is called Vine.

And now, in a hospital?

"I saved you from your sister who sold you for s*x slavery two months ago." She explained.

Two months? Has it been that long already? How come I slept that long to wake up now?

"I'd like to apologize for the little changes you will see on your face and body." She spoke in a calm tone.

My face?

It reoccurred to me.

"What have you done to me?" My eyes shone inquisitively.

I knew my feeling was right about myself. About being totally different from who I was.

"It's not something that will take your life, my dear, trust me. Doing that is the only way we can help each other. The two of us are going to work together," She said.

"Work together. What do you mean?" I glared at her, feeling my blood run hot.

"What do I mean?" She quizzed, "It's a pity your own sister sold you for s*x slavery. But as fate would have it, I bought you before anyone else could. So right now, you should be very thankful to me for saving you from your sister's treachery. Imagine what would have become of you if one stupid man bought you before me."

I turned to look at the man beside me and tried to recognize his face, but it wasn't the man who'd bought me from the bar.

She was lying.

"He's not the man who bought me," I declared disapprovingly.

"Yes, I know. I paid the one who did. So consider my help as something you can never get easily in your entire life. Don't worry about how you're going to repay me. It's going to be quite simple."

My gaze flickered, unable to put a meaning to what this woman was bluffing about. Unable to understand this strange body I was wearing.

Margaret continued, "Two months ago, my daughter-in-law was involved in an accident almost at the same time I bought you. Until now, she has been in a coma, and I'm sure she won't make it alive. The doctor has already declared her time of death.

Now that you have my almost dying daughter-in-law's face, once she dies, you will replace her immediately. You're going to act as my son's wife. And don't worry, my son is one of the top billionaires in Vine City. You know what that means? You will be walking side by side with him as his wife. You're going to have your dream life where no one will sell you for slavery."

A dry chuckle left my lips, looking at her like someone speaking a strange language.

My brows knotted, eyes searching her face as though the words hadn't settled yet. Then I let out another bitter laugh, having pity on myself.

"I don't believe you. You are all a bunch of liars. You stole my dignity. You stole my body, you stole me!" Tears burned down my cheeks.

There was no point in believing them. I could not accept a reality where I woke up surrounded by people who had taken advantage of me.

"Where is Maya? I'm sure she's the one paying you to do this. Where is she?!"

"Your sister Maya? Oh..." Margaret creased her brows as if suddenly realizing someone like that existed.

"Other than the simple transaction of the sale and buy, which was not done directly by me, I have no business with your sister and don't care where she is. But I believe she's rotting in hell now."

"What do you mean?" Panic clawed up my throat.

Margaret paused, then said, "I'm a straightforward woman who hates beating around the bush. To tell you the truth, I'd ordered someone to get rid of her. So you shouldn't worry about seeing her ever again. She's already paying for what she has done to you. Wicked ones, like your sister, deserve to go to hell."

Chill threaded through my spine.

They killed Maya?

If they could kill my sister, nothing would be safe. What they might do to me could be far worse than I could dare imagine— worse than slavery.

They'd already changed my body. And I'm sure, my face too.

Only if I can find a mirror and see exactly what I look like.

What if they went further? What if they stripped away everything human, turning me into something…monstrous?

I've heard of people being turned into hybrids with the help of doctors.

"No, take me back to where I come from! I don't want any of this. I don't want it here!"

"Back to meet the ghost of your sister or the mother who's now blaming you for her daughter's death?" Margaret snorted.

"Even though you'd not consented to this before, I did what I had to do. I was already running out of time to wait for you to agree with it at first. If the public learned that my daughter-in-law had an accident and was about to die, then that would be the end of it for my son. Before that happens, someone must replace his dying wife. Someone must replace her before things get to the public."

"No! I don't want any of this!" I began kicking and smashing through the sheets. Begging to be released—afraid of dying, afraid of the people around me.

"Madam Margaret, what are you going to do now?" For the first time, the doctor spoke.

Margaret exhaled. "I'd believed that waking to know that someone had saved her life would make her feel grateful and agree to whatever I asked her to do. I thought she would agree to play the role without hitches." Margaret looked at me the way one looks at bad news.

"I wanted to take this the good way, Kane. But now, the only option we have left is to proceed with another plan. I've gone too far to let go. You know how hard it was for me to find someone whom I believe no one will come asking for in the future," Margaret answered.

"What are you talking about? What are you going to do to me?" I trembled, searching for an escape, but the woman had already given the doctor a go-ahead nod and the next thing I felt was something piercing into my skin until darkness welcomed me.