Chapter Thirteen.

Talia's POV:

Even if I didn't make it back alive, my grandmother would never be worried. She hated me that much. The guards took me back to the house.

My head hurt from all the screaming and fighting. I was still screaming when they drooped me on one of the bamboo seats. The kind guy looked at me with pity while Zack was furiously punching stuff on his phone without caring about what was going on.

"Talia," my grandmother warned, "behave yourself!" She ordered.

Even David flinched at the sound of her roaring

"Don't you dare!" I told her.

I was always the respectful, loving granddaughter. Even when I was hurting, I never showed it. Always smiled and followed all her instructions. But I couldn't keep quiet and get sold off.

I needed to come up with a plan. I needed to get myself out of this mess right now. I must think but couldn't focus because my grandmother kept warning me with her cold eyes. She can't do this to me. My heart felt heavy when I thought about my dream and goals.

I worked very hard to get to this point, and now this? I felt tears in my eyes and for the first time, I couldn't hold them back. It was never my thing to break down in front of people. I hid my emotions so well. Today,

I couldn't just be that strong girl. Here I was weeping like someone had just broken my heart into a million pieces.

The kind guy walked over to me and surprisingly gave me a warm hug. I needed one. His action only boosted me to cry some more. This indeed was my reality. My happening.

"It's okay. I know that this is all too much for you to handle, but, you might end up being grateful for this opportunity. It won't be such a bad idea" he told me.

I just shook my head. I really don't want to be anybody's property. This wasn't an opportunity. I was going to be imprisoned. The only difference was that this was forever. No parole. Trial. Hope of finishing my sentence. Me, with an unknown pervert until my death. Oh, I had a brilliant idea.

"I am pretty convinced that whosoever bought me could get any woman of his choice," I told them with a smile, wiping the tears using the back of my hand. "You see, I am obviously not such a man's taste.

Maybe I could work as his maid while I get other jobs to pay him back whatever he paid my grandmother. That way, he can go for a more sophisticated woman," I said, smiling, feeling on top of the world. I mean, I came up with a solution no one even considered.

"I wish it was that easy," the kind guy mumbled.

"You are an ungrateful, spoilt, brat, Hailey. Do you ever think that your stupid proposal would lead anywhere?" my grandmother asked.

"How much were you paid?"

She sneered at me and gave no response.

Turning to the kind guy, "how much did you pay her?" At least he seemed like a better opportunity of getting a response than my grandmother and Zack

"Nobody has time for this shit. Just listen to your grandmother, will you?" David growled.

"Whosoever put you up to this must be insane. And, you acting in this manner means that insane people also work for an insane man. No offense." I told him.

"None taken. If you want to survive in your soon-to-be new environment, I advise you to watch your tongue," he told me, continuing with what he was doing on his phone.

Was he actually telling me that there was no going back on this? This was his way of telling me what the future held. This was another level of pain But I didn't cry, I just kept quiet.

"How much do you owe them?" I asked the kind guy again.

"I'll pack your stuff," said my grandmother.

"I don't want you near any of my stuff." She irritated me at the moment. She had no right to put her filthy hands on my stuff. A hand she used in exchanging her only grandchild for money.

Was this not another form of human trafficking? Only that this time, it was done by my flesh and blood, not a stranger. Maybe that is why it stabbed my heart the more.

"Why is nobody answering me?" I screamed, hitting the table with my hands.

"Five million dollars and a new house," Zack casually said, shrugging. He said it with ease like he had just mentioned a hundred thousand dollars.

"What did you even do with the money?" I asked my grandmother. What could an old woman do with five million dollars, please? God, I wish I never met her. I wish I could strangle her or punch her. I might as well pack up and go serve my new master.

How long was it going to take me to repay the loan with interest, when low-class people who worked hard all their lives were never even able to save up to a million dollars? I'd never been so angry in my life. I have to find a way to get back here as soon as possible.

I knew that my new master had more important things in his life than to look after me, so he would get tired of staring at me and tossing me out in no time. Then, I would find a way to face my life and put all this crap behind me.

Heaving a sigh, "what do you need me to do?"

"Zack, we have a new order," David said to the kind guy.

Zack read the content on David's phone and replied, "Talia, for now, you do nothing. Mention this to no one. Go to school and finish your finals. When it is time, we will be back."

I was confused as ever.