BOUND BY VENGEANCE

​"I will not do it, Father! I would rather starve on the streets!" ​My voice shattered the stillness of the dim room, hitting the cracked plaster walls and bouncing back into my face. I stood across the heavy oak table, my chest heaving, my diploma still rolling tightly in my sweaty right palm. I had graduated only three hours ago. Three hours of feeling like I finally had a future, like the endless nights of studying had paid off, only to walk into my childhood home and find my life sold to the highest bidder. ​"You will speak to me with respect, Lena!" my father, Alexander, roared. He slammed his fist onto the table. The wooden legs groaned under the force, making the rusted oil lamp rattle. His graying beard vibrated with fury, his eyes bloodshot and dark. "You are my daughter. You live under my roof, you eat my food, and you will obey my command!" ​"He is old enough to be your father!" I stepped closer, leaning over the table, refusing to shrink back. The heat in my blood felt like liquid fire. "You want me to marry a man who belongs in a grave? Lord Valerius is a monster! Everyone in the lower territory knows what he does to people who displease him. He is old, cruel, and cold. I am twenty-two! I just finished my degree. I have a life ahead of me!" ​"You have nothing!" my father barked, his voice cold as steel. "You have what I give you! You think that piece of paper in your hand means anything in this world? It means nothing! Without power, without position, you are a piece of meat for the wolves!" ​"Then let me be!" Tears of anger burned behind my eyelids, but I bit my lip hard, holding them back. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me break. "I will get a job. I will work in the city. I will pay for my own life. You cannot force me into a bed with an old man!" ​The heavy curtain at the back of the room pulled open. My mother, Elena, stepped into the light. Her face was pale, lined with sharp wrinkles that made her look ten years older than she was. Her hands were folded tightly across her apron, trembling slightly. ​"Lena, please," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Stop shouting at your father." ​"Mom, tell him he's crazy!" I turned to her, grabbing her thin shoulders, searching her dull eyes for a spark of motherly protection. "He wants to marry me off to Lord Valerius! Tell him you won't allow this!" ​My mother didn't look at my face. She kept her eyes glued to the dusty floorboards. "It is the only way, Lena." ​My hands dropped from her shoulders as if I had touched hot iron. "What?" ​"It is the only way to save us," she murmured, tears finally overflowing her sunken eyes. "We are drowning, Lena. Before you were even born, your father took a massive loan from the Valerius estate. A debt of blood and money. We have lived in the shadows for over twenty years, hiding from his collectors, paying interest with every drop of sweat we have. But the debt is due. Lord Valerius found us." ​"So he buys me?" I let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. "I am the payment for your bad decisions? Father, how could you?" ​Alexander rounded the table, his heavy boots thudding against the floorboards. He grabbed my forearm in a vice grip. His skin was unnaturally warm, his physical strength far greater than any normal man his age. I pulled back, but his fingers bit deep into my muscle. ​"Listen to me, girl," Alexander hissed, his breath hot against my cheek. "This is not just about a debt. This is about survival. Lord Valerius demands a bride from our line to settle the account completely. You marry him, and our family is liberated. The debt is erased. We get our land back. We get our dignity back." ​"Dignity?" I spat, glaring straight into his hardened eyes. "You sell your only daughter to a ruthless old man and call it dignity? You are a coward!" ​SLAP. ​The blow sent my head snapping to the side. My cheek burned with a deep, throbbing heat. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth where my teeth had cut the inside of my lip. I stood frozen, my cheek stinging, breathing heavily through my nose. ​My mother gasped, covering her mouth, but she didn't step between us. She never did. ​Alexander leaned down, his eyes dark, filled with an ancient, bitter hatred that felt far deeper than a simple debt. "You will pack your bags tonight. The armored carriage arrives at dawn. You will walk into the Iron Citadel, you will bow your head, and you will become the wife of Lord Valerius. If you fight this, if you run, I will make sure you never step foot in this territory again. Do you understand me?" ​I wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. I looked at my father, seeing him clearly for the first time. He wasn't just a bitter man struggling to feed his family. There was something dark, calculating, and cold behind his eyes. A secret he was hiding deep inside. ​"I will go," I whispered, my voice dripping with pure disgust. "I will go to pay your precious debt. But hear me now, Father... from this day on, I am no longer your daughter. You sold me. And I will never forgive you." ​Alexander didn't flinch. He simply turned his back on me and walked toward the back room. "Be ready by dawn."