Page 40 of Bound By Hate (Born in Blood)

“What if I’d chosen him? What would you have done then?”

“I would’ve just sold Mila instead. But I like her. She’s sweet. Actually, I wouldn’t mind marrying her. So, once I sell you and get my millions back, I’ll marry Mila, and all will be right in the world.”

I can barely breathe. Air doesn’t make sense to me right now. Nothing makes sense to me right now.

“Why are you doing this to me? Why not find someone else?”

His expression turns from dark to pity, filling me with more fear. “Because you’re the most egotistical, annoying bitch I’ve ever met. You think you’re so much better than any other man. But you’re just a woman, Viktoriya. A woman who doesn’t knowwhen to watch her mouth. Now, have fun out there.” He nods at the men holding onto me and walks away.

“Wait!” I scramble after him, but the men drag me away. “Wait!”

The men say something in Russian to each other, giving me a nasty look that makes my skin crawl. I don’t need to know exactly what they said to know it isn’t good.

They pull me through a doorway, and there it is—a large stage. The curtain is down, so I can’t see what’s on the other side. But what I can see is a single line of women standing on the stage. They all have a collar around their throats attached to the floor. They’re not going anywhere.

They’re being sold just like I am.

“Let me go!” I scream, but the men ignore me. They force me onto the stage and wrap a collar around my neck. I choke when it digs into my throat. I try chasing after the men, but the chain draws me right back into place. I’m not going anywhere.

Not until I’m sold—to who, I’m not sure.

I wanted so desperately to be back on a stage. but not like this.

Never like this.

I chose to trust Gleb. I chose him because I can’t stand Aleksander. I chose him because I assumed he would be the easy option.

But he was playing me all along.

I’m an utter fool. Maybe Vera and Aleksander and Sofiya were right—I’m not worthy of anyone.

I glance to my right and see a young woman standing beside me, shivering. She can’t be older than eighteen.

“Help me,” she whispers.

I wish I could, but we both know I can’t.

Then, the curtain is raised, and blinding lights shine into my face again. I can’t see, but I can hear, and what I hear is clapping. We have an audience.

Once my vision clears, I see I’m in a large theater filled with men holding auction paddles.

I’m not just being sold. I’m being sold to the highest bidder.

Gleb is in the audience, smiling smugly at me. He’s going to get millions from selling me, and I’m going to be stuck with a man who bought me for money like some cheap whore.

A man who looks like a car salesman walks onto the stage. He first speaks in Russian and then in English. “The bidding will start at five hundred thousand dollars for this beauty.”

The salesman drags the shivering girl next to me toward him by her chain. “Let us start.”

And the men do.

They bid on her like it’s nothing. Like she’s not a human being when, in reality, she’s a scared girl who can’t be older than eighteen. She’s like Mila.

If I’d chosen Aleksander, Gleb would have taken Mila here and sold her. She came to me for help about Gleb, and I brushed her off. I thought she was trying to ruin my moment for me.

The moment I finally marry and make my dead father proud.

But she was trying to warn me that Gleb couldn’t be trusted. I knew the first moment he stepped into our house he didn’t belong. I should have listened to that voice.

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