The Billionaire’s Deaf Wife.

Chapter 10: Sold to the Devil

Maria’s POV

I woke to complete darkness, the kind that pressed against my eyes and made them ache from having been shut for God knows how long. My throat burned raw, and every breath scraped against it. My head pounded relentlessly, and my entire body felt heavy, like I had been weighed down with stones. These were the only sensations I could register as I tried to adjust to the pitch-black space surrounding me.

I shifted slightly, but my movements were restricted, my hands were bound tightly behind my back. I checked my legs next; they weren’t tied, but they felt limp and far too heavy to lift. My limbs trembled, and a wave of nausea swept over me.

I tried to speak, but only a faint whimper escaped my lips.

Where was I?

I blinked several times, trying to make out my surroundings, but the effort was pointless. All I could see was a void. I realized I was sprawled on a cold floor, my body aching from the pressure and lack of support. I couldn’t even feel my backside anymore.

I forced myself to think, to remember. To piece together how I’d ended up here. But my mind came up blank. All I could recall was the man in black, the attack, the pressure of his hands strangling me, and the terrifying moment I lost consciousness, convinced I was about to die.

Everything else was gone. I didn’t know if it was day or night. I didn’t even know how long I’d been here.

I cleared my throat and tried again. This time, my voice broke through the silence.

“Hello?! Who’s out there?” I shouted hoarsely.

I tried to shift again, forcing my legs to respond as I wiggled and whimpered, determined to get up since my hands were useless. After much struggling, groaning, and trembling effort, I finally managed to stand.

But no sooner had I taken a step than my foot slammed into something solid and unyielding. I tumbled hard to the ground again.

“Ughhh,” I groaned through clenched teeth, biting my lower lip to stop the tears from spilling.

I forced myself upright once more, ignoring the sharp pain radiating through my foot and the relentless ringing in my skull. My eyes strained into the dark, and I moved cautiously, imagining unseen obstacles ahead. I bent slightly forward, stretching my body toward the wall, feeling for anything, anything at all.

Eventually, I found it. Cold and hard beneath my shoulder. I slid along it, feeling my way until my body bumped into a solid metal surface. A door.

I slammed into it with my shoulder and screamed at the top of my lungs until I could no longer breathe.

“Help! Help me!”

“Anyone there?!”

“I swear, I’ll call my husband! He’s a billionaire, well known all over New York!”

“He’s connected to the FBI, and the CIA!”

“If you think you’ll get away with this, think again! He’ll have you all arrested and locked up for life!”

“Hello!”

“Hey! I swear to God-”

Suddenly, the door burst open, slamming hard into my head and knocking me backward. A tall figure stood in the doorway, the dim hallway light casting just enough illumination to make out his silhouette.

“Shut the f**k up,” the man snapped, his voice low and full of menace.

But I didn’t. I was too scared, too angry, too desperate.

“What do you want from me? Is it money? I’ll give you everything I have. Did Travis send you?” I pleaded frantically. “Tell him he can even move in with me, just let me go, please.”

He didn’t respond. He just stood there, his chest rising and falling heavily. I couldn’t see his face clearly, only the harsh outline of his figure.

“I don’t know anything or anyone,” I cried. “I’m just a young woman trying to survive in New York. I swear, I don’t have enemies. I don’t even have friends. I don’t know what you people want from me. I didn’t do anything. I don’t even know Tra-”

“I said shut your mouth,” he hissed, storming toward me and yanking me up by my hair.

Pain seared through my scalp, but I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

When our eyes finally met, I saw his face clearly. A jagged scar ran from his forehead to his upper chin. His greasy brown hair hung in strands over his forehead, and his gray eyes burned with rage.

“I said shut it. Are you deaf?”

“I’m not deaf,” I snapped, my voice trembling. “Well, I used to be. But not anymore.” And then, without thinking, I spat in his face.

He cursed under his breath, his hand rising fast, ready to strike, but he didn’t get the chance.

Another figure stepped into the doorway, his voice calm but firm.

“I said don’t harm her.”

The gray-eyed man froze instantly. He dropped his hand and backed away, bowing his head.

“Get the f**k out,” the second man said.

And just like that, the first man scurried off like a frightened animal.

I sat upright, breathing heavily, my chest heaving with panic. My lips throbbed, swollen and aching. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and I was sure something was wrong with my left eye. I couldn’t even tell when I got hurt, everything ached now.

“Sorry about him, sweet cheeks.”

My breath caught.

Travis.

A fresh wave of fear surged through me. He was the reason I was here.

“What am I doing here, Travis?” I asked, stunned by how calm my voice sounded.

He stepped further into the room. From my position on the ground, he seemed taller. But I knew if he stood next to Elias, he wouldn’t stand a chance in size or stature.

Elias.

The thought of him shattered my already broken heart.

“I told you, you had two days to decide,” Travis said, crouching until we were face-to-face.

“And then you disappeared for weeks!” I snapped. “I didn’t even know where you were.”

“Yeah, I know. You missed me.” He grinned. “I missed you too. But I had other businesses to take care of.”

“Other women to kidnap and abuse, I’m guessing?” I shot back coldly.

I expected his temper to flare, but he only laughed. He lifted his hand, and I flinched, but instead of hitting me, he just patted my cheek gently. I recoiled, disgusted.

“That kind of attention is reserved only for you, sweet cheeks.”

“You really think doing this will make me give in to you? You’re insane,” I spat. “You’re a sick psychopath.”

Travis’s hand snapped out, gripping my chin harshly.

“I don’t think, sweet cheeks. I know,” he growled. “And if you want to test me… think again.” He shoved my face aside roughly, and I knew that impact would leave another bruise.

“I broke up with you,” I whispered. “Why won’t you just let me go?”

Why wouldn’t he let Lucia go? Why did I have to suffer for her mistakes? Why did she even get involved with someone like him in the first place?

Why?

I wanted to scream. At Travis. At Lucia. At the world. This wasn’t the freedom I envisioned. I didn’t walk away from my husband and son to end up like this, being hunted, kidnapped, and forced to obey men like him.

This… this was never part of the plan.

“I told you I was going to find you and hurt you if you left me, sweet cheeks,” Travis drawled, voice slick with venom. “I’m only fulfilling my end of the bargain since you broke yours, you see…”

It hit me, far too late, that this conversation was circling a dead end. Travis had no intention of letting me go. Not unless I bent, not unless I gave in. I could scream, cry, or claw at him, but it wouldn’t change a thing. Unless I contacted my husband, and risked him finding out the extent of my shame, there was no corner of this earth safe enough to shield me from Travis’s grasp.

There was only one move left.

I inhaled sharply, jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached. Then I forced the words out, stiff and bitter. “I’ll sign the document. On one condition.”

Travis let out a harsh laugh that echoed off the cold, unforgiving walls. He rose to his full height, stuffing his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket, his grin oozing cruelty as he loomed over me like a shadow.

“It’s funny you think you have the upper hand, sweet cheeks. That’s real cute.”

“I know I don’t,” I shot back, meeting his eyes with the last bit of fire I could muster. “But a girl can dream.”

He stared at me for a beat, lips twitching in amusement, eyes gleaming with malice. Then, finally, he said, “I’ll humor you this one time. Let’s hear your condition.”

“You’ll only come in after calling me,” I said, the words brittle in my throat. “You can’t just barge into my house whenever you feel like it. At least give me the courtesy of some fake privacy.”

His smile grew wider, predatory. The golden braces on his teeth caught the faint light, glinting like fangs.

“Fine,” he said slowly, savoring every syllable like poison on his tongue. “I’ll call before coming. But when I do, Lucia, you better be ready for me. You will drop everything. You’ll cater to me, no excuses, no delays. You’ll see to all my needs. Are we clear, sweet cheeks?”

My stomach churned. Rage curdled beneath my skin, mixing with humiliation and helplessness until I felt like I might explode. I wanted to spit in his face. To punch him so hard his smug mouth would never speak again. I wanted him to feel the way I did, small, violated, powerless.

But I couldn’t afford that.

With my teeth grinding together and fists clenched so tight my nails bit into skin, I whispered, “Fine.”

Travis grinned like the devil himself had claimed a soul. Then, without looking away, he snapped his fingers and motioned lazily to the men behind me. “Release her.”

Rough hands gripped my shoulders, then my arms. I flinched as the ropes around my wrists were undone, the fibers dragging against my raw skin. My arms fell limp to my sides, aching. I twisted my newly freed wrists gently, trying to ease the burn, blood rushing back into the stiff joints. It was a small relief, but fleeting.

A man approached with a clipboard and pen, holding them out like an executioner offering the blade.

My fingers trembled as I reached for it. I held the pen like it burned me, like it would sear his name onto my skin. As I scrawled my signature on the document, my vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall. I would not give him the satisfaction.

Every stroke of ink felt like carving pieces of myself away. I signed the last page with a hollow finality, feeling anger boil in my bones. I was burning, inside out, with shame, with rage, with a deep, bone-cutting ache that screamed for revenge.

I would get it. I didn’t know how. But one day, Travis Knox would pay.

Without a word, he stepped back and snapped his fingers again. “Get her out.”

The men closed in on me, one of them holding a black strip of cloth in his hands. My brows furrowed as confusion swept over me. They were trying to blindfold me.

I turned sharply toward Travis.

He offered a lazy shrug, lips curling into that same wicked smirk. “Sorry, sweet cheeks. We can’t have you running to the police describing this place now, can we?”

Another fuel of rage surged through me, but I bit down hard, jaw clenched tight enough to ache. I didn’t speak. I didn’t fight. I only glared at him, silent fury boiling under my skin, as the cloth was tied over my eyes.

I let them do it. Let them steal my sight, knowing there was nothing left to see in that place but rot.

Rough hands grabbed me again, one man on each side, dragging me up from the chair like I was weightless. My body moved with theirs, my steps clumsy and unwilling, the tight grip on my arms forcing me forward. I could feel the air shift, colder as we neared what I assumed was the exit.

I tried to focus on the sounds, the way their boots echoed, the hum of electricity in the ceiling, the slight change in pressure that might tell me where I was, but it was useless. My senses were scattered, like my mind couldn’t hold on to anything steady anymore.

Truthfully, I didn’t even try that hard. I just wanted to get out of there. That was all I could think about, escape.

I heard the creak of doors swinging open, heavy and metallic. Then, without warning, the cloth was yanked up from over my eyes.

Blinding light hit me instantly.

It was so bright, so jarring, that I had to squint against it, my eyes watering from the sudden exposure. The sun blazed overhead, cruel in its contrast to the darkness I’d just left behind.

And then they shoved me.

Hard.

I stumbled forward and landed outside the heavy doors, barely catching myself before I hit the ground. The metal slammed shut behind me with a loud, echoing bang, like a cell door locking from the outside. The sound rang in my ears, final and cruel.

Just like that, I was discarded. Thrown out like trash.

The moment it touched my skin, something inside me shattered.

I stumbled out, blinking, one hand against the wall for balance, the other pressed tightly to my chest like I could somehow hold myself together.

And then I broke.

I collapsed into the cold pavement and sobbed. Loud, aching, unrelenting sobs poured from my chest, ripping free from a place so deep I didn’t know it existed. I had survived, yes, but I had also surrendered. I felt like I had just signed away my soul. Sold it. Traded my dignity for sunlight and silence.

And the worst part?

I had no idea how to undo any of it.