sold to the devil

CHAPTER 2

Amanda’s POV

The sting from Georgina’s slap hadn’t faded. My cheek still throbbed, hot and sharp, as if her handprint was seared into me. My skin burned, but it was the humiliation that really cut. I stood there frozen, the silence of the room pressing down on me.

Linda smirked, enjoying every second. Her lips curved like she’d been waiting for this moment all along. I wanted to claw that smile off her face, but I couldn’t even move.

My father kept staring into his glass. He hadn’t taken a sip, just held it as if the weight of it kept him standing. For years, that man had been my anchor, my protector, the one I thought would never bend to anyone. Now, he wouldn’t even look at me.

“You’ll be sold,” he had said. The words still echoed in my head, heavy and wrong.

Sold.

People didn’t get sold. Not in this world. Not in this city. I wasn’t some object to be traded. I was his daughter.

I shook my head, my throat dry. “You can’t mean that. Dad, please—”

Finally, he looked at me. His eyes were hollow, tired, and it almost broke me more than his words. “You’re no longer my daughter. You’re a debt. And debts have to be paid.”

The room tilted. My fingers dug into the strap of my torn dress. “No… no, that’s not true. I haven’t done anything—”

Linda stepped closer, her perfume filling the space between us. Sweet, suffocating. “Don’t fight it, Amanda. This is bigger than you. Someone out there will want you. At least you’ll be useful for once.”

Her voice was sugar-coated poison.

I wanted to scream, but my throat locked. All I could do was stare at her. The girl who had smiled at me last night, handed me a drink, and whispered, “Let’s stop fighting. It’s your birthday.” I had believed her. Like a fool.

The front door creaked open. Heavy steps.

My heart leapt.

Correy.

The sight of him pulled the air back into my lungs. Relief rushed through me. He was my boyfriend, the one person who loved me. He would fix this. He would tell them the truth.

I stumbled toward him, my voice breaking. “Correy, please—tell them! Tell them I was waiting for you last night. Tell them I didn’t do anything wrong!”

But he didn’t even look at me. His eyes slid right past me. Straight to Linda.

And Linda… Linda smiled. A slow, knowing smile.

I froze. My stomach twisted. “Correy?”

He walked to her. Not me. Her. He stood beside her like he belonged there, his arm brushing hers. Too close.

“No,” I whispered. “No, not you.”

Linda’s hand rose casually, brushing his chest like she’d done it a hundred times before. Her voice was velvet and sharp. “He’s been mine for a while, Amanda. You just never saw it.”

The ground fell out beneath me.

Correy didn’t deny it. He didn’t even flinch.

My knees wobbled, but I locked them in place. My voice cracked as I forced the words out. “How could you? After everything? After all your promises?”

Finally, his jaw tightened. But still, he didn’t meet my eyes. “It’s over, Amanda. Whatever you were… it’s gone. You’ve ruined yourself. I can’t save you now.”

The words tore through me, sharper than Georgina’s slap, sharper than Linda’s lies.

Linda’s laugh was soft, cruel. “He doesn’t want to save you. Nobody does.”

I couldn’t breathe. My chest felt too small, every gasp cutting like glass. The world blurred, but I kept standing, because collapsing in front of them would only give them what they wanted.

Georgina crossed her arms, her voice clipped and cold. “Enough. This charade is over. The decision’s been made.”

I turned to my father, clinging to the last thread of hope. “Please. Please, don’t do this. I’ll leave if you want me gone. I’ll disappear. Just don’t—don’t sell me.”

His hand tightened around the glass. For the first time, he looked at me properly. There was no anger in his face, no love either. Just a hollow resignation. “You don’t understand, Amanda. This isn’t a choice. They’re coming for you tonight.”

My stomach dropped. “Who?”

Linda stepped forward, eyes glinting. “The men who run the auction house. They’ll collect you. And you’ll walk into that building whether you like it or not.”

Her words hung in the air like poison.

The auction house.

I had heard whispers about it. A place where women were paraded like property, where men with too much money bought whatever they wanted. I never thought it was real. Never thought my own father would throw me into it.

I staggered back, gripping the sofa for balance. My legs shook, but I refused to fall. “No. You can’t do this. You can’t.”

Linda tilted her head, her smile cruel. “Oh, but we can. And we will. By midnight, you’ll belong to someone else.”

I shook my head violently. “I won’t go. I won’t!”

Georgina’s hand shot out, gripping my arm with surprising strength. Her nails dug into my skin. “You don’t have a choice, girl. Try to run, and they’ll drag you back. Worse than this.”

Tears blurred my vision, but I blinked them back. “You’re monsters. All of you.”

Linda’s laugh echoed in the room. “No, Amanda. We’re survivors. You’re the sacrifice.”

I tore free of Georgina’s grip, stumbling backward. My father didn’t stop them. He just turned away, as if he couldn’t watch.

The air in the room grew heavy, pressing in on me from all sides. My chest ached, my breath shallow.

Tonight.

They were going to take me tonight.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly, each second a countdown. Midnight was coming. And with it, the end of everything I had ever known.