Chapter 1
It had been three years since I got out of prison when my fiancé', Silas Thorne, dragged me out of an underground fighting ring.
He smashed a fist straight into my face, his eyes bulging with fury, veins popping on his neck. "Evelyn Cross! Who gave you the goddamn guts to stay away from home and let yourself turn into this ragged mess?"
I swiped the blood off my split lip and grinned, a hollow, devil-may-care grin. "President Thorne, that punch is 100,000 bucks. If you're still not satisfied, hit me again. I just need the cash to cover this year's rent."
His fist shook uncontrollably, but his voice softened, rough around the edges. "Come home with me… go apologize to Bianca. She's got a good heart. She already forgave you for smearing her name ages ago." His gaze raked over all the cuts and bruises crisscrossing my body, and his eyes darkened with a complicated, unreadable emotion. "Look at you, covered in blood like some rabid stray. What the hell difference is there between you and a mangy dog digging through the garbage?"
My whole body went rigid with a jolt, then I spun on my heel and walked away.
He would never get it. All this blood caked on my face, every scar on my skin… it was the only way I knew how to survive now.
Prison taught me nothing else.
"Don't you dare walk away! I am still your fiancé, whether you like it or not!" he roared behind me.
I stopped dead in my tracks. How could I ever forget? How could I possibly let go? It was the night of our engagement three years ago.
Bianca Cross drugged me unconscious and had me shipped straight to a black market auction, where my virginity was put up for sale like a commodity, with a price tag hung right on it.
That night, I was humiliated beyond repair, and I became the talk of the entire city of Silverton.
Every person in Silverton labeled me an insatiable slut.
And the man who signed those auction papers to sell me off? That was none other than my own damn fiancé.
*****
Sharp, jeering laughter erupted behind me. Silas seethed with anger and embarrassment, furious that I had made him lose face.
He was the richest man in Silverton for crying out loud, and here his fiancée was fighting for pocket change, splattering blood and sweat in a pit full of brutal men.
I tuned him out completely and walked straight back to the changing area.
When I climbed back into the octagon, the floodlights cut across the iron cage across from me, and a guttural, beastly roar rumbled out from inside.
"Tonight! Fighter sixty-seven takes on the Burmese Tiger! Last calls for bets, no changes once you place them!"
The canvas curtain flew open with a violent yank. A thunderous roar shook the entire arena, and I found myself staring straight down a massive, bloody maw inches from my face.
I sucked in a sharp, cold breath.
"Sister."
It was Bianca. I tilted my head up. Decked out from head to toe in high-end designer, she leaned against the railing, wearing a smug, triumphant grin.
"I heard you're desperate for cash. I put this little surprise together just for you, so you can earn even more money." Her voice sounded sweet and girlish, but it reeked of cold cruelty. "I bet a million dollars on you to win. Don't let me down, okay?"
A million dollars.
I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. Thinking of my old family ancestral home that was about to be seized and sold, I stepped forward without a single moment of hesitation.
Just then, Silas shoved the door open, and Bianca threw herself straight into his arms. "Silas, I know my sister's too proud to accept handouts. Let her win that million all on her own. I heard she's won so many fights in a row already. The fight club owner must really favor her, huh..."
Silas lifted his chin and stared at me with haughty disdain. "If you apologize to Bianca right here, right now, in front of everyone, I'll still give you the million dollars. No strings attached. Refuse, and you'll have to pry that win out of the tiger's jaws yourself."
Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto me. They all knew for a fact I would cave. But I strapped on my fighting gloves without a single shred of hesitation.
Silas' face went dark as storm clouds in an instant. His eyes blazed so hot with fury you would think he was about to incinerate me on the spot.
The tiger lunged forward. I flipped forward to dodge its attack and drove my foot hard into its throat. But the power gap between us was insurmountable. That gaping, blood-soaked maw snapped at me over and over, coming inches away from crushing my skull.
Silas stared me down, his face growing darker and darker by the second.
I never once gave in and called it quits. By the time we had traded clashes a handful of times, my arm was torn to ragged, bloody shreds under the tiger’s claws.
A shot from the tranquilizer gun rang out, and the massive tiger crumpled to the mat.
Silas tossed the gun aside, his hand coiled around my arm like a vice as he roared in a furious rage, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Blood dripped steadily onto the mat of the octagonal cage, and fine beads of sweat broke out across my forehead, but I still clamped my jaw tight. "I didn’t lose. Make sure you get my money to me."
His hand snapped around my throat and squeezed hard, his ice-cold gaze boring straight into mine. "You’re completely hopeless. If you’re this desperate for cash, should I have just let that auction sell you off for a good price back then, huh?!"
My whole body jolted so hard it shook. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I blacked out right there.
Right before I lost consciousness, a secret I had overheard back then echoed loud and clear in my ears. "President Thorne, we’ve completely ruined her reputation tonight. That’s finally gotten that revenge out for Miss Bianca."
"She brought this on herself. This is the price she pays for slandering Bianca."
