IF ONLY

ADELINE'S POV

"We rarely ever do things like this but there was a vote. Our buyers insisted on getting a sneak peak on what they would be sending their money on and majority of the leaders of erotica voted for it…" She sounds annoyed today. Like she didn't want this to happen. I know from the look on her face that Veronica is not a woman that likes to lose. She's in a bad mood today and I sure do not want to get on her nerves.

As Veronica speaks, I can't help but zone out as I think of going back to my room and laying in my sheets. She woke us all at five this morning. Something about a last-minute decision from the erotica board. Her voice is like a dream to me as she speaks, a nightmare and all I want to do is drown her out. I don't want to hear the sinister words that are coming out of her mouth.

"So today, we will focus on getting you ready. They will be here at three at the dot so we all have to make a good impression. I will not tolerate mistakes. You will be expected to do your make up as I taught you. You will be expected to dance as well as I taught you all and you will wear one of the best dresses in your closets."

As she walks back and forth, she examines us like we were specimens in a laboratory and I don't know how I feel about that.

"With luck, some of you might find your husbands today." Her eyes light up in excitement as she speaks. Her mood changing as fast as one can blink like the bipolar psychopath she is. "I guess this is a good thing."

Her voice becomes more happy and relaxed as she speaks. I hate it when she's happy. I hate it when she has a smile on her face. All she deserves is heartbreak after what she made me go through yesterday. I wasn't even able to talk to or touch Naomi. All I could do was stare at her form the other side of her cage while Veronica incessantly taunted me. Rubbing it in mine and Colton's faces that there was nothing we could do to help our situation.

"If our buyers see you guys today and are interested in you, they will stop at nothing to get the ones they are interested in. They will spend more money and auction day will be a huge success." Veronica says clapping her hands excitedly as she focuses her gaze directly at me. She has already made it known to me that I am the angel. That of all the girls in here, I will be the one the buyers will be mist interested in and I have no idea how that makes me feel.

She stops directly in front of me and pushes a loc of hair away from my face. Veronica says I look best when my hair I let down. She says she wants me to wear it like that on auction day.

"Oh you will be just perfect on auction day, Angel." She says as she gazes at me. But the look in her eyes isn't one of admiration. The look in her eyes is sinister and all it tells me is that all I am to her is a means to an end. The look in her eyes is a threat that I must be as perfect as she wants and not do anything to ruin her special day.

"You will glow. You will turn heads and everyone will want to place a bid on you." She laughs and walks towards the other girls my age. I see Della staring at me from the corner of my eyes with something that looks like pure jealousy and hate. Veronica compliments the other girls too but they all look at me like I just ruined their day.

I want to tell them that it doesn't matter whether or not Veronica praises e malls he wants. At the end of the day, all the girls that are supposed to be bought will be bought right? But something tells me that is very far from the truth.

"I'll have you all know." Veronica starts to say and something tells me that the next thing that will come out of her mouth will be anything but pleasant.

"Although it almost never happens at erotica, it is however not guaranteed that all of you will find buyers on auction day." Veronica says, a new edge and sound to her voice. I know where this is going and I don't like it. The girls gasp in ear and some of them start mummering to themselves.

"SILENCE!" Veronica screams and then she smiles. "You needn't worry girls. If you put to practice everything that you have been taught, I see no reason why you shouldn't get buyers. If no one wants you on auction day, then the only person you will have to blame for your incompetence will be your own selves. If no one wants you then that only means you weren't alluring enough and that is no one's fault but yours. You can't blame others if you're ugly. So do everything just like how I have taught you and everything will be okay…"

She walks towards one of the girls who will be auctioned off and speaks in a deadly voice. "Because if you don't and no one buys you on auction day, you will be discarded. That would mean you would die for nothing. That would mean everything that you worked so hard to accomplish since you were brought here would have been for nothing. That would mean you would have wasted a big part of your life. You would miss out on the opportunity to get married for a while, live in a huge mansion and breed for powerful men. Surely that is a much better fate than death isn't it?"

The other girls stare at me, hot hatred in their eyes and I know Veronica has noticed it. She looks at me and smirks. Stirring the fire that is brewing in these girls' hearts and making it hotter. Does she want them to hate me? Is she just a sadist? Does she want the other girls to hate me more than they already do?

Silver looks over to me and I can see some of the other girls staring at her with hatred. I know Silver isn't insecure. She's literally so beautiful and if there is anyone who will be taken out of here on auction day, it's her. She has worked hard for it since she got here. It's all she knows and I know if she cannot get out of here to her freedom, then she would rather be bought.

I look over to Della and she looks at me just like the rest of them. I can't even blame the other guls for hating me right now. They think that I'm taking the spotlight away from them. They think that I'm going to be the reason they die and for people who have been in this place living on survival mode, they think I'm just another obstacle they want out of their way.

Colton and Dante's plan has to push through soon. I need o get out of here soon. I don't know for how much longer I can take this. I need it to stop and I need it to stop now. For the rest of the morning, Veronica prepares the house. She mops it from top to bottom. She cleans it like it has never been cleaned before. She gets everything ready and perfect for the men that will meet us soon.

And then she makes us get ready. As I stare at all the girls lined up next to me, everyone looks their best. All the other girls did their absolute best to look as perfect as they could. They all have huge smiles on their faces, even Della and I don't know how they could even manage to fake smiles in their current positions. They must be so desperate.

I feel bad for them. I feel bad for us all. Even the girls who will not be auctioned on auction day look their best. I let out a sigh and stare at a painting in front of me.

I remember being ten years old when my father got me my first canvas. He wanted me to pick up a hobby and he wanted me to start with painting. I loved it. I loved to express my emotions with a brush in my hands. As I grew up, I drifted farther and farther away from painting. After all this time, I didn't think that looking at this one painting in front of me will bring back those memories and now I regret it.

I regret not doing all the things that I wanted to do growing up. I regret not following all the many passions that I had, that I still have, all because I wanted to please my parents. I regret not being brave enough to go after all the things that I like. And now it's too late. I'm stuck in this place with no way out and all I can think about is the number of things I could have done if only I were brave enough.