Chapter 4: The Slave Establishment
1359 Words
The pungent scent of rusting iron—and something else she couldn’t decipher drew Angeline out of her unconscious state.
She winced at the skull-splitting pain in her head, and when she tried to move, it felt like a mountain was taking a nap on her body.
Darkness settled in like something that had crawled out of a nightmare, coupled with the deafening silence.
Angeline’s heart thundered in her chest as her mind raked through the series of events that had happened.
How she had been bundled out of the club, struck a vase on that mafia’s head, and then escaped—only to return home and find her parents’ loan sharks waiting for her.
She looked left and right, but she still couldn’t make out her surroundings.
Then she remembered Maria’s heartless words, and it finally clicked.
They had actually sold her off.
Angeline had thought they were bluffing, just empty threats but she had never been more wrong in her life.
Still, she prayed to wake up from whatever nightmare she was trapped in.
Footsteps approached.
Angeline stilled, and then a dim golden bulb suddenly began to flicker.
It was then she saw the rusty iron bars, caging her inside a small cell.
The footsteps continued until they halted right in front of her.
Angeline mustered the last bit of strength within her to look up, and her eyes landed on her stepmother.
Clinging to the last shred of hope that Maria had changed her mind and was here to get her out, Angeline struggled to stand.
She staggered forward, clutching the iron bars for support, her lips trembling.
“Mother… you wouldn’t leave me here, right?”
Maria’s lips curled in amusement, as if she was enjoying Angeline’s suffering.
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked coldly. “The loan sharks have been on our throats for months now. I’ve been telling you to start bringing more money home, but you never listened.”
Angeline’s eyes pricked with tears, her heart breaking with every word.
“Mother, if I had the money, I would have given it. I give you all the money I earn and—”
“You’re nothing but a stroke of bad luck,” Maria snapped. “Ever since you were born, nothing has been going well for Harold.”
Her face hardened, then softened into something worse—a sinister smile.
“I even had to make plans with him to murder your mother just to be with him. But all the money I aimed to get disappeared into thin air because of you, you cursed child.”
“What?” Angeline staggered back, the words hitting her like a slap.
They had… killed her mother.
Her blood boiled with rage.
“You both killed my mother,” she gritted out, betrayal burning her throat, the urge to rip them apart clawing at her chest. “You won’t get away with this. I’ll make sure you both pay for what you did to her!”
“And how would you do that?” Maria scoffed mockingly. “Nobody escapes from the mafia slave establishment.”
Angeline’s grip on the iron bars tightened.
“If I had known, I would have sold you off long ago. The money was easily enough to cover the debts and set us for life. Too bad you—”
Her words hung in the air, unfinished.
Angeline suddenly reached through the bars, grabbing a fistful of Maria’s hair and slamming her head against the iron.
Maria quickly escaped her hold and landed a solid punch on Angeline’s face, sending her crashing to the floor.
Before Angeline could recover, Maria was gone, leaving behind only the ghost of her presence.
Angeline trembled with rage, her chest tightening.
Her mother had done nothing wrong. She had been kind and caring. All she had done was love her heartless father, yet she had been met with cruelty.
Angeline wiped the tears from her face, making a silent promise to escape this place and make Maria and her father pay for what they had done.
Time slipped through her fingers like sand.
And the very next morning, two guards stormed into her cell, dragging her out like a thief.
Beaten, hungry, and exhausted, Angeline had no strength left to demand her freedom.
She was taken outside, the bright sun making her eyes burn. Before she could process anything else, she was shoved into the back of a truck.
Other girls were already inside, chained together, hopelessness written on their faces.
Angeline was handcuffed along with the rest, her legs bound by thick ropes.
“Why is the auction date two weeks early?” she heard one of the men ask.
“Boss’s order,” another replied. “You don’t dare question it, or else you have no use for your head.”
“They haven’t been properly trained and—”
“Let’s just follow the damn orders, Simon.”
His eyes raked over all of them, and Angeline felt a chill crawl down her spine.
“Whoever doesn’t behave and fails to get sold will be killed.”
His words were nothing less than a warning.
The air turned colder as the truck door was shut, leaving them in semi-darkness.
With her mouth gagged, Angeline couldn’t speak. Her eyes roamed around, landing on the girls who were in the same condition as her.
If she didn’t get sold, she would be killed.
She swallowed hard.
Her eyes dropped to her blonde hair resting on her lap. Somewhere between when she was brought here and now, someone must have taken her wig off.
If she looked too attractive…
Her mind conjured a horrifying scenario—an old man’s hands roaming her body and bile rose in her throat.
No.
She couldn’t let that happen.
She would rather die, but she had to stay alive to avenge her mother.
Her gaze fell on the back door of the truck. As the drive continued, the door creaked and shook loudly.
Her way out.
She turned and met a pair of brown eyes staring at her. The girl shook her head slowly, as if she could hear Angeline’s thoughts.
But Angeline’s mind was already made up.
With enough force, the door was bound to fly open.
Angeline didn’t have a watch, but she could feel that hours had passed. From the thin space at the door, she could see the sky darkening.
While the others were lost in their own despair, Angeline had managed to undo the ropes tied around her legs.
Now she counted the seconds, her heart hammering with the bold plan forming in her mind.
Eighteen… nineteen… twenty…
She sprang up suddenly, rushing forward and slamming her body against the door.
It flew open.
Angeline tumbled onto the road.
There was no time to wallow in pain.
She pushed herself up and took off running, noticing how deserted the road was. Thick forests surrounded both sides, but she didn’t stop.
Darkness swallowed the sky, and then she heard an angry yell behind her.
The truck driver.
He must have noticed she escaped.
Angeline’s eyes darted toward the forest. She was about to make a sharp turn when a sleek black car suddenly approached her.
She barely avoided getting hit, but the car screeched to a stop.
The door flew open.
Before she could even see who stepped out, the truck driver caught up to her, spinning her around harshly and pressing his gun to her head.
Angeline’s pulse skyrocketed.
Her life flashed before her eyes. She was sure he would blow her brains out.
Then he suddenly took a step back, lowering his gun.
“B…boss Kaden,” he stammered.
Angeline froze, her eyes widening.
It couldn’t be…
She swallowed hard and slowly turned.
Her gaze fell on black polished shoes first, then traveled upward until she met stormy gray eyes—soulless and menacing.
The same eyes she had escaped from that night.
Kaden.
His lips tilted into a smirk that looked like it belonged in hell.
“Well…” he drawled. “Look what we have here.”
- Writer
