CHAPTER THREE

The knock came at 6:30a.m. Three short raps. Firm measured. I didn't move.

My breath slowed, shallow in my chest as my eyes locked onto the cracked ceiling above me. Today is the day.

I had hope foolishly, desperately that my father would change his mind. That he'd finally remember that I was his daughter, not his debt.

But the knock was real. And so was the cold dread that clawed its way up my throat.

"Amanda," his voice came.

"Get up." I didn't answer.

The door opened anyway. My father stepped inside, still in his crumpled office shirt, the stench of stable beer clinging to him like guilt. His eyes were hard. Determined. Unmoved.

"I told you yesterday. Today is the day. Don't make things ugly."

I sat up slowly, my heart pounding.

"Please," I whispered.

"Don't do this I'm your daughter."

He said nothing. Just turn to the hallway.

"Georgina!"

Foot steps clicked down the corridor. My breath came in short. Every creak of the floor board, sounded like thunder. And my muscles stayed coiled ready to run, but too frozen to move.

Georgina – my step mother entered,arms crossed. Lips painted blood red even at this hour. She looked at me over with an icy sneer.

She's still not dressed?" She laughed bitterly.

"You'd think with what she's worth, she'd at least try not to look like a street eat.

Behind her was my stepsister Linda, peeked in – eyes smug. Arms folded.

"They aren't gonna pay top price for a pouty little brat and a slut."

"Get up," Georgina said walking towards me. "Or do you need help?"

When I didn't move, the woman hands struck my cheek without warning. The sting bloomed across my face as my breath caught.

"Enough of this drama," my father growled.

" You are going , Amanda. It's either you walk or we drag you."

"I'm not a thing." I whispered. But they didn't hear me, or maybe they didn't just care.

They dressed me like a doll. Pulled my long hair into waves. Powdered my face until I couldn't recognise my self in the mirror. Linda threw a pale blue dress on the bed. Tight, short. With a necklace that made my stomach burn.

"This one shows off your legs." Linda said sweetly. As if, picking an outfit for a date.

"They'd like the innocent look. Don't forget to smile."

I said nothing as they dressed me. They stripped off everything. But my silence. My resistance, my dignity was still there.

And when I was done dressing, my father already stood by the door, waiting with keys in his hand. My soul felt like it has already been auctioned off – long before we reached the building.

The car ride was silent. The sun rose higher, casting a golden glow over the city.

But all I could feel was cold. I stared at the side mirror, watching the house disappear behind us like a dream I couldn't return to.

The car turned off the main road, and followed a narrow gravel path. Behind high hedge and thick trees. I didn't know this place. But the structure that rose ahead . Tall grey and windowless made my blood run cold. They were guard at the front gate. Suited. Armed. Waiting.

My body reacted before my brain could catch up. No - no, no,no –"

I unbuckle my seat belt, tried the door but it was locked.

"Let me out."

My father grabbed by wrist across the console.

"Stop."

"You are selling me like I'm nothing – like I'm not your daughter!" I screamed, slamming my fist against the window.

" How can you this? How can you – dad please —"

"I'm doing it because, I can't allow you to ruin the family's dignity. This is where slut b like you belong to." His voice broke.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. That word made no sense.

The car pulled up in front of the building. The men approached. Her father stepped out. And left me there, screaming behind the glass. The guards open the door and dragged me into the same place I'd never walk out of the Same again.

In side the auction house, everything was polished. Elegant – cruel but n its prettiness. Men and women on suits walked calmly through red curtain halls. I was handed off to a woman in a velvet blazer who smelled too hard and smelled of roses and rot.

" She's and a beautiful one " the woman said looking at me up and down.

"Virgin?"

My father nodded. "As far as I know."

My breath caught. I wanted to scream, to run – but my body betrayed me . Frozen with shame and disbelief. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be real.

A door opened. A man in suit greeted us.

"Lot #27" the woman nodded. The man's gaze slid to me.

"Beautiful keep her quiet. We'll have her processed in ten."

I was led to the glass doors. past long hallways of velvet wallpaper and champagne glasses. Laughter floated from deep Inside. My steps faltered. This wasn't a place for people it was a place for property.

I was marched into an arrow corridor led by flickering bulb. Pale girls with wide eyes leaned the wall like ghosts.

"Strip!"said a woman In a burgundy suit as I entered the next room.

I didn't move. The woman didn't blink.

"Now."

I looked straight at her, but my hands moved. Not by choice. By training and trauma.

I did as she said. The room was freezing. My skin prickled, but the heat of my chest pulsed hotter than the second.

"Turn." I turned.

"Bend forward. Hold." Every word shredded me a little more. When it was over, they shoved me in to a warm bath. Not to soothe, but to sterilise. The water reeked of chemicals. Another girl was dunked next to me coughing as she came up.

They scrubbed every inch of my skin.

" Clean girls sell higher." One handler muttered.

I was dressed With a yellow dress –short, sleeveless. Soft enough to make me look fragile.

In the next room, they Gave me a speech, memorize. corporate. Heartless.

"You will be silent when presented. You will not speak unless prompted. You will walk forward shoulder back, chin down, no smiling unless instructed. No eye contact. Buyers may ask for a demonstration of obedience, don't resist. There will be consequences."

I stared at the woman reading the lines. She didn't blink, didn't nod.

I was already maping the room. The doors. The guards who carried keys. Which one were watching and which one were lazy.

We waited in the room, while the bidding commenced.

Lot #4 was up – a girl with sharp cheeks bones and sad eyes. The audience clapped softly after her price was called.

I clenched my fists. A man walked up behind me – probably one of the security guards. Tall. Expensive

"You are worth a lot," he said." Behave and this will go gently and easily." I didn't reply.

I leaned forward slightly, as if accepting his words.

But in my mind, I was thinking about the keys on his belt. Left side. Easy to be unclipped. He noticed my looking.

" Don't get clever." He said.

But it was too late. The idea had planted itself like a seed.