The lights in the expansive, oriental-styled hall dimmed as the next special item in the auction was brought to light, A lady with luscious blonde hair and beauty that seemed to illuminate the entire room.
“This is the next item on our agenda, It needs no mention of the appeal it holds. A beautiful maiden in distress, Now audience, display your resolve, she'd be all yours, and would do anything you asked- I repeat-ANYTHING."The auctioneer said emphasizing the last word he uttered.He winked at the audience.
“So gentlemen, show your resolve in capturing her wailing heart"
“The starting price is 5 million dollars"
“6 million" A voice that seemed to be from the front-row seat beckoned.
“9 million" Another man said.
“15 million" A third man said.
The bidding war continued till a fat and unpleasant-looking man raised the bid; “29 million".
The situation was spiraling and it left people guessing why anyone would splurge such money just to have one virgin girl.
The fragile-looking lady who was the center of attention seemed to be surprised by the price she heard and stared in the direction of the bidder.
She didn't seem too pleased about falling into the clutches of such a creepy-looking blob of a man.
Anyone who would partake in such a barbaric event of human trafficking was creepy enough but the pervasive stare of the man even from a distance made it worse. His intentions for her were as clear as daylight.
Aliyah had always been in the spotlight all her life and for the right reasons. She took pleasure in that fact but not today while she was under the bright light of an auction hall. Being sold off to the highest bidder.
There was nothing pleasant about the entire situation. Being put on sale in before ugly looking leering and lascivious shady men. What could be worse and dehumanizing? But this was commonplace in the underground.
Anybody who was sitting here had very little to no humanity in them. This was where all atrocious manner of criminal proceeds were commercialized. From human organs to slaves, from stolen jewelry to smuggled art pieces...
“29 million, Anybody willing to challenge that? "
For all Aliyah knew, anyone who would partake in such a show was more or less a scum of the earth. She has no choice in the matter. Her life replayed in her mind. How did it get to this point in the first place?
Her father was neck deep in huge debts and went ahead to take out even more loans from money-hungry, exploiting, loan sharks.
“An inheritance of a mountain of debt...What an amazing gift to leave to a child with, father" she thought to herself.
Aliyah's entire family had deserted her and left her at the mercy of the moneylenders who'd go to any length to make sure they got their returns with almost impossible interests.
Being the only accessible thing bearing her father's name, she was roped into this and thus the situation.
“Going once."
“Oh God please no, anyone but him” she prayed silently not to fall into the ugly, unsavory-looking man's hands.
“Going twice." he took a long pause for dramatic effect.
She closed her eyes tightly in silent prayers, almost resigning to the inevitability of the situation.
“Going Three times," the auctioneer said raising his gavel to the block set.
“100 million," A man roared from the private area above.The entire house was in chaos, Who'd be that crazy enough to bid such an amount on a human, a mere human, this wasn't a timeless art piece or anything of the sort. To men of such nature, human life was indistinguishable from trash.
The auction show had turned into a game to blatantly display wealth and affluence, and this game was one only the chosen one could win without sweat.
No one could rival such an insanely high bid. This was common knowledge amongst people of the underground. No one could outbid the king of the underworld, Ben Carlo
“100 million? Aliyah opened her eyes in shock trying to gauge the situation. She scanned to see where she heard the voice from, she squinted but could hardly make an image of the man's face as he was sitting in the distance. Aliyah gave up as she would soon meet this mysterious man sooner or later.After the auction came to an end Aliyah was escorted by heavy guards into a Bentley bentayga parked right in front of the entrance and was taken away.
Apparently, her buyer, had left earlier and it would be until she reached his place before they could meet. She prayed at the back of her mind that he wouldn't be a trashy human being no matter how horrible. It took a while before they reached their destination.
The car door was flung open by one of the escorts. As soon as Aliyah dropped from the car, the view before her was astonishing, she was sure she had never seen such an architectural marvel.
It was a sight to behold from the Infinity pool to the beautiful sculptures. But all this was nothing compared to what she saw inside as she walked in scanning from corner to corner. It was a palace befitting of the highest royals, and the intimidating security guards that lined every corner made it more believable.
Who could possibly own such a house? What's his identity? She was now very eager to meet this man.
Aliyah was left alone to find her way to the living room which seemed to be quite far away. The house was so big that it felt like she was walking on a football pitch.
She finally reached the living room and heard footsteps walking closer, she turned towards her side and her face fell on the man in front of her.
A handsome-looking Chad with big brown eyes, in a perfectly fitting button-down shirt with a few buttons undone and a rakish demeanor that spoke of class.
“You? What the hell are you doing here?" she asked visibly shocked.
“You?....what the hell are you doing here" she asked visibly shocked. After taking a look at her, the man acted as though he did not hear what she just said as he took a sip of his drink in his hand and set it down on the center table. “I see you still remember me, I should be asking you the same question, but then I'm well aware of why you are here" he replied now glaring at her, whether she recalled his face or not didn't matter, her face on the on the other hand was one he could never forget, for all the bad reasons. “It has been quite a while Aliyah, I'd ask how you are doing even though I do not care, but well it is obvious considering you put yourself up for sale at an auction to get out of debt" he scoffed after making the snide remark. “This... this is a mistake," Aliyah said gesturing with her hands as she turned around to make her way toward the door. Ben dashed toward her, grabbed her by her arm, and dragged her to the floor. “Let me go, what the hell is wrong with y
Aliyah finished taking her bath and felt a little comfortable. Relaxed enough to finally take in the view of the whole room, the mixture of modern European decor in the room was masterful and eye-pleasing. An elaborate space filled with imported furniture of the highest command. Vintage aesthetics and artistic wall frames. Nothing was lacking. She, all her life, had never seen such a seamless array of exotic interior designs explored to perfection. Aliyah's family belonged to the middle class of their society. They were on a well-to-do scale and were quite affluent in their own right, having an unrivaled mansion and always donning outfits people around them fawned over but right now, This was of course a next-level luxury. The architecture, furnishing, and decor were charmingly classy seeming like a meticulously carved wing from a contemporary manor of a regal fantasy world. In comparison to what she was used to and often bragged about, the difference was like heaven and earth.
She wondered what he meant while she lazily walked the large hallway down to her room. She thought perhaps he meant to speak to another person. But why ask for a change of clothes? Where are they going? It was then it dawned on her that she actually had nothing to wear out. As soon as she walked into the room, she noticed that there were boxes stacked up on the bed. As she stepped closer to inspect, she finally saw what was inside them. It was clothes, not just any clothes, the most expensive kind, different designer brands, the top of the fashion chain. “Is this all for me?" She exclaimed. Her internal excitement became visible on her face, she lit up with a smile but was dragged back down to earth when she reasoned the face behind the gifts. All Ben did was unsettle her, with every breath, with every action of his. She was from a well-to-do family but was sure she had never seen this much designer wear packed together in one spot. After a while, she had dressed up and was ready
Ben stopped in his tracks as soon as her words settled in his ears.“Did you have to beat someone up that badly, in broad daylight?" she added, now tensed in anticipation of his response.He turned to face Aliyah and stared daggers at her, she was rendered mute by his stare. What even is his problem? Aliyah thought to herself. The look he gave her sent shivers down her spine, One minute he was forthcoming and chatty and the next he was like an entirely different person. How did he become such a scary person? Ben swiftly walked toward her, Aliyah backed away until she was cornered to a wall. “Perhaps I should remind you of your place." Before Aliyah could say a word, he lunged his arm at her, wrapping it around her throat, tightening his fingers like a noose around her neck, just enough to allow her to breathe. Aliyah tried to break free almost on the verge of tears, but she was no match for his manly strength. “What is wrong with you? I can't breathe" His abrupt action took
2 men hid behind a billboard across the street observing the situation from afar. “The boss is gonna have my head today," he said as he nervously scratched his rough head of hair. Jonn was a man who worked under the Ernesto family, he and another man had been assigned to look after the boss' nephew who came from out of town, to keep him safe and out of trouble because he wasn't familiar with the ways of the mafia and now things had taken a turn they did not expect.“I leave him for a few minutes, and he goes to fuck with the Carlo family, who even knew this was one of their businesses. Do they want to take over this entire freaking city?.” He said as he peeked at the men that were a few streets away. “What..what are we going to do now?" the second man asked frantically. After scrambling through his brain for the best course of action Jonn replied: “We are just going to wait and see for now, we don't need to do anything for now."Drago was instructed to throw the man out of sight,
After a while they stopped in front of what seemed like a nightclub, Ben parked his car and got out. Aliyah who had no idea where they were supposed to be going also followed suit. Ring! A call came in on his phone And he answered. Ben stood for a minute at the entrance still on a call. He rested upon his car as passersby gazed upon his refined and elegant looks.Aliyah could see the looks that people gave him. It was now that she finally got to observe him closely. Without him staring daggers at her with his brown eyes.He looked too good for a man who'd resort to choking a lady out of breath, just in the name of getting his point across. She had always turned heads anywhere she went, given her superior looks, but this was the first time that a guy next to her was stealing the spotlight. She stared at the handsome devil almost forgetting what he had done to her this morning. She snapped back into reality. “You could at least tell me where we are headed to you know" Aliyah sugges
Aliyah danced and danced throughout the night till they left the nightclub, her face was awash with exhaustion, and the thought of the embarrassment she had just gone through, was like like bulb in her throat she couldn't swallow, After the nightclub they had wasted no time In leaving, which she was actually thankful for, any other minute in that outfit and she just might have died of intense shame. As they went on, she randomly peered at Ben who was driving and paid no attention to her. the humiliation she faced, making her dance in front of all those horny perverts, It was something she could never forget for the rest of her life, and it was all because of this uncouth man, her eyes were rife with hatred and disgust, she felt a slight urge to stab him right then and there with whatever she laid eyes on in the car. Even if they ended up in an accident she wouldn't mind if that was how it ended. The humiliation she had to face today was more than anyone should get in a lifetime or t
Aliyah was forced to wake up by the large and noisy entrance Ben made into her room. She turned around on the bed and her groggy gaze fell on the man standing at the edge of the bed, looking all graceful and ready to start a new day with an evil intent of troubling her. Her body still ached from the physical exertion she went through, dancing all night and still having to clean up an entire house, that was too much physical exercise for a normal person to do in a day, talk less of someone as frail as her. Any normal person would be aware of that, any considerate person would, but the man was neither of those things, far from it even, he was as vile and malicious as they came. “Get up. We have something to do," he said, his eyes were pierced straight to her and Aliyah felt like he intended to dig a hole in her forehead. He was heavily pissing her off with his haughty attitude. With a frustrated sigh, Aliyah brushed her hair to the back and asked “What's that?" She attempted to mak