The Buyer Of My Body

A NEW PRISON

Celine lay in total surrender, her eyes squeezed shut. She chose to numb her heart, allowing her senses to fade as she let Leo’s hands roam wildly over her body.

Leo began to map her skin with feverish kisses. He pressed hot, urgent tracks across her pale flesh, leaving behind deep red marks. They were stamps of forced possession.

His breath came in ragged gasps as his desire reached a breaking point. He stared down at her face. She looked lifeless.

“Why are you just lying there, Celine? Open your eyes. Look at who owns you now,” Leo demanded, his voice thick and hoarse.

Celine opened her eyes, but only to stare blankly at the ceiling. She refused to look at him.

“Just get it over with,” she snapped. Her voice was brittle, saturated with a cold, hard hatred.

A devious smile tugged at Leo’s lips. “I paid a high price for you, Celine. I intend to savor every second.” He leaned down, whispering sharply against her ear.

With a rough shove, Leo’s hand moved to her most intimate space. “You’re wet. That’s a sign that you’re enjoying this too, isn’t it?”

The accusation stung. Celine’s chest heaved, not from passion, but from the effort of stifling her sobs.

A small, sharp cry escaped her lips as he forced his way inside her.

“Aggk!”

The tears she had been fighting finally broke free.

“Does it hurt?” Leo whispered, his tone dripping with cruel satisfaction. “This is nothing, Celine. I’ll make sure you feel even more pain. I want to ensure you never forget this night.”

Leo began to move his hips with a fast, punishing rhythm. Celine remained silent. She could only reach out and claw at the silk sheets beneath her, enduring the agonizing physical pain paired with the systematic destruction of her dignity. She closed her eyes again, the tears flowing in a steady, silent stream.

****

The Following Day.

Dawn had only just begun to touch the sky, leaving the hotel room draped in dim shadows. Celine opened her eyes. She was draped in Leo’s arms. In sleep, his face looked calm and peaceful. It was a haunting contrast to the brutality of the night before.

Celine disentangled herself from his embrace with agonizingly careful movements. She bit her lip, stifling a wince as a sharp ache flared between her thighs. With unsteady steps, she made her way to the bathroom.

Under the spray of the warm shower, Celine let the water wash over her skin, but it failed to cleanse the ruin in her heart. When she finished, she returned to the room wrapped in a towel.

She stood by the bed, watching Leo as he slept. For a fleeting second, fragments of tenderness from an old memory surfaced, but they were quickly incinerated by a blaze of cold hatred.

“Are you satisfied now?” she whispered, her voice catching. “You kept me locked away in prison for ten years. And now that I’m free, you’ve given me a new one.”

Her tears fell, but she stood tall. She wasn't crying from physical pain anymore. She was crying because she realized she had lost everything, including her pride, for the sake of this man.

Celine dressed quickly. Without a single backward glance, she walked out of the hotel room. Her steps were weak and pained, but her resolve was as hard as steel. She had just left her old cage, and she needed to plan how to escape Leo’s new one.

“I’ll make sure this is the last time we ever meet, Leo,” she murmured, quickening her pace as she left the hotel.

****

Celine sat at her mother’s bedside in the hospital ward. She held her mother’s thin hand, forcing a smile. she worked hard to hide any trace of the wreckage from the previous night.

“Ma, listen to me,” Celine said softly. “In two days, you’re going to have your surgery. You have to stay strong and get well soon.”

Celine pulled a bag of green grapes from her purse. “Would you like some? I bought your favorite.”

Her mother’s weak eyes searched Celine’s face, clouded with questions.

“Surgery?” her mother whispered. “Where did you get the money, Celine? It must be so expensive.”

Celine looked down for a moment, swallowing the lump in her throat. She knew she had to lie.

“Do you remember my boss, Mrs. Betrix?” Celine replied, trying to sound cheerful. “She’s very kind, Ma. She lent me the money. She said she’ll just deduct it from my salary every month.”

Her mother’s breath hitched. The worry on her face melted into an expression of profound relief and gratitude.

“Oh, thank God,” her mother whispered, a tear of joy tracing a path down her cheek. “Thank God for sending such good people to help my daughter.”

Celine could only offer a faint, hollow smile. Her heart felt crushed. She kissed her mother’s forehead. That lie was the only gift she could give her. It hid the bitter reality that the "good person" her mother spoke of was a madam, and the money was the price of Celine’s soul.

****

Leo woke up slowly. He felt the space beside him and found it cold. Celine was gone.

He sat up and reached for his robe. As his eyes swept over the bedside table, he noticed a small slip of white paper.

Leo picked it up. The handwriting was neat but firm, as if every word had been forced out through gritted teeth.

The note read:

I’m sorry, I took five hundred dollars from your wallet. I needed it for taxi fare and to buy some fruit for my mother. Please deduct it from the payment for my body.

Celine.

Leo read the words. Five hundred. Such a trivial amount. A bitter, crooked smile touched his face. He crumpled the paper in his hand.

His smile faded, replaced by a cold, predatory focus. He tossed the paper to the floor.

"You think you can just walk away from me, Celine?" he muttered to the empty room.

“I’ll make sure you stay right in the palm of my hand.” Leo spoke with a hardening jaw, his eyes sharp with a ruthless determination.

****

The night was late. In a modest coffee shop, Celine was finishing her shift. She moved efficiently, stacking dirty plates and coffee mugs as the scent of roasted beans filled the air. The shop was closed, with only the small side door left ajar.

As she wiped down the tables with quick, practiced strokes, she heard a set of distinct footsteps approaching. They were firm, accompanied by a mocking laugh.

“Is being a w***e not enough to support you?”

That voice. Leo. The mockery in his tone ignited an immediate fire in Celine’s chest.

She didn't turn. She didn't react. She continued to scrub the table surface vigorously, acting as if she hadn't heard a word he said.

Leo lost his patience. He reached out and grabbed Celine’s wrist, forcing her to stop and look at him.

Celine wrenched her arm away with a violent jerk. She slammed the wet rag onto the wooden table with a loud, wet thud. It was a clear, sharp signal of her rage.

“Don’t we hate each other?” Celine snapped, finally meeting his gaze. Her eyes were like daggers. “It’s best if we never see each other again.”

She grabbed the rag and went back to work, trying to build an invisible wall between them.

But Leo moved closer. This time, he caught both of her hands, bringing her work to a total halt.

“Marry me, Celine,” Leo said. His voice was low and deadly serious. “Let’s get married.”