Chapter 1. I Was Sold
1242 Words
Someone kidnapped her.
She was tied down to a bed, unable to move an inch.
“I sold you to a ruthless mafia family.”
A needle pierced her arm.
Then everything went black.
---
Elena Carter shot upright with a gasp.
Her breathing was ragged, and sweat soaked her body. It wasn't real. Just another nightmare.
That's what she kept telling herself.
But a second later, her heart slammed against her ribs.
This wasn't her room.
Actually... she shouldn't have been in any room at all.
Right now, she was supposed to be on a twelve-hour flight to Japan, starting over.
Elena tried to sit up but winced.
A sharp pain shot through her wrists.
Holding her breath, she looked down.
Chains.
Both of her wrists were shackled to the bed.
"No..." she whispered.
This couldn't be happening.
Her mom couldn't have actually sold her.
This had to be the nightmare refusing to end.
Her eyes swept across the dim room.
Expensive furniture.
Massive paintings covering the walls.
And then...
Someone.
A man sat casually in a black leather chair, watching her without blinking.
Panic flooded her chest.
This wasn't a dream.
Her gaze traveled from his crossed legs to the perfectly tailored suit hugging his broad frame, then finally to the icy eyes locked on hers.
"Who are you? Why am I chained up?" she demanded.
He didn't answer right away.
Instead, the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, unreadable smile.
"Welcome."
His deep voice echoed through the room, sending chills crawling down her spine.
He hadn't even stood up before the heavy curtains slowly slid open on their own. Sunlight poured into the room, forcing Elena to squint.
Once her eyes adjusted, she glared at him.
"Take these chains off. Now."
She said it like an order.
His response?
He laughed.
Not a normal laugh.
Cold.
Mocking.
The kind that made her stomach twist.
"Looks like you've got quite the sharp tongue." His gaze hardened. "Didn't your mother tell you who I am?"
He finally rose to his feet.
"I'm Matteo Moretti."
His voice turned even colder.
"And the first thing you need to know about me..."
"...is that no one gives me orders. No one. Especially not something I paid for with my own money."
Elena froze.
Out of everything he'd just said, only one thing registered.
Moretti.
She knew that name.
She'd heard it more than once.
One of the most powerful mafia families controlling Chicago's underworld.
Wait...
Was she still in America?
Had her mother really sold her to a mafia boss?
"Let me go!" she shouted. "My mom doesn't own me! I'm an adult! She had no right to sell me to anybody!"
"That's impossible, sweetheart."
Matteo walked toward her.
The dangerous aura surrounding him made Elena feel like she was staring the devil himself in the face.
"I already paid for you." His eyes were razor-sharp. "And unfortunately, I don't do refunds."
"I'm not some object! Stop talking like you own me!"
"Oh, but I do, Elena Carter."
A faint smile spread across his face.
"I bought you for a ridiculously cheap price. So now you're mine. Your body. Your soul. Your entire life."
Her throat tightened.
Her sweaty hands trembled.
Should she beg?
Maybe if she humbled herself...
Maybe he'd change his mind.
"Please, sir... I—"
"Don't."
Matteo cut her off before she could finish.
"The only reason anyone begs me... is to beg for the privilege of being accepted by me."
He said it without the slightest hint of shame.
"Starting today, this is your home."
He turned toward the door.
"There's an engagement party tonight. The maids will get you ready."
Elena slowly nodded, tears filling her eyes again.
"An engagement party..."
"...whose?"
Matteo glanced over his shoulder.
This time, his smile was even crueler.
"Yours."
"I'm not marrying you!" Elena cried. "This is wrong! I'm an adult! I get to decide my own life!"
Matteo laughed again.
"Looks like there's one thing I forgot to mention."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"I'm not your groom."
Elena blinked.
"...What?"
"My son."
Her world stopped.
His son?
Who was his son?
"That doesn't change anything." She shook her head hard. "I'm still not getting married."
Within seconds, Matteo was standing right in front of her.
His presence was suffocating.
"This isn't a question."
His voice was low.
Deadly.
"And it isn't a choice you get to make. It's an order. What you want doesn't matter."
Elena angrily wiped away her tears.
"Then you'd better be ready to drag my corpse out of this room... because that's the only way I'm leaving."
"You won't have to worry about that."
Matteo's expression never changed.
"I've got hundreds of guards who'll gladly carry you if you refuse to walk."
Her head pounded harder.
As Matteo turned to leave, she instinctively grabbed his hand.
"Why are you doing this?" Her voice shook. "I never wanted any of this. I was supposed to be in Japan by now, starting a new life. My mom forced me. She—"
"Enough!"
His roar shook the room, silencing her instantly.
"I'm sick of hearing your sob story."
He grabbed both of her wrists.
"There won't be any more arguing. The maids are coming, and you'll do exactly what you're told."
His grip tightened.
"And don't even think about doing anything stupid."
His voice dropped into something far more terrifying.
"You really don't want to find out what I'm capable of."
He shoved her hands away.
A second later, the door slammed shut.
Silence swallowed the room.
Elena finally broke.
The tears she'd been holding back came pouring out.
Was this really how the first twenty-four hours of her new life were supposed to begin?
How was she supposed to escape this place?
The door opened again.
Elena stiffened, thinking Matteo had come back.
But instead...
Two women walked in.
"Miss, we've got less than an hour to get you ready."
Elena quickly wiped her tears away.
One was a middle-aged woman.
The other looked young enough to be her daughter.
A tiny spark of hope flickered inside Elena.
Maybe...
Maybe this woman would help her.
But that hope died the moment several guards followed them into the room.
Matteo hadn't been bluffing.
If she refused to walk, they'd really drag her out.
The older woman approached her.
Fresh tears spilled down Elena's face.
"Please..." she whispered desperately. "Help me. I don't want to be here. I was forced into this. If you could just—"
"Quiet."
The woman cut her off coldly.
"Let me do my job."
Elena stared at her in disbelief.
"You have a daughter too, don't you?" she asked quietly. "How would you feel if—"
"What's going on here?"
One of the guards interrupted.
"Didn't the boss say you weren't supposed to chat with the bride-to-be?"
The woman immediately turned to him.
"Nothing's going on."
Her face remained expressionless.
"The bride's just emotional."
She looked back at Elena.
This time, her eyes carried a clear warning.
Then she silently went back to work.
Elena stopped talking.
She felt like she'd cried herself dry.
Crying wasn't going to save her anymore.
It was time to do something.
And she'd do it tonight.
At her own engagement party.
If Matteo thought she was just going to obey...
He was about to find out exactly what kind of nightmare she could become.
- Writer
