Sold

On the deck of the cruise, a woman stood there against the wild wind, the deep blue color of the ocean sent chills to her bones, and she puffed, running her eyes around.

Wearing a traditional wedding gown with wide sleeves, her long hair tied in a bun, and decorated with priceless hair pins, it seemed she time-traveled from the ancient dynasty.

The tension stiffens the ambiance, holding a gun at the neck of a teenage girl, she kept striding backward as the two men before stepped forward, cautiously, furiously, and fearfully.

The wrinkled countenance of one of the men made her laugh hysterically in her heart. So pretentious. Did they actually care for the host?

"Keep that gun down, you will end up doing regretful things," he warned her, shouting again, as if raising his voice would make her give up. He was the father of the young lady who held the girl captive, but there was no worry or any concern on his face.

As indifferent as he had always been, biased against her, just because she was a girl. However, the world is incomplete without double standards.

Even if he was pretending, he looked worried for the teen girl. His granddaughter.

"It's late Shu Ying!" the young lady yelled, referring to her father by his name. Extremely disrespectful.

"We can talk this out! Let my daughter go!" the other man wearing a blue shirt named Shu Yu commanded. This man was her brother,

"Why do you want to kill her?" The vice-captain of the cruise asked, stuck in this tough situation, he had already taken care of the people, asking them to stay in their cabins.

His cold face and murderous glare sent chills to her bones, she had not done this before, it was obvious that her heart fluttered. But she was determined.

"I raised this girl ever since her mother died, I cared for her, why do you think I want to kill her?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes, as she scanned the deck, crew members charged in with guns pointing at her.

She was cornered by them, sticking to the railing, she glanced at the huge ocean, no land to be seen as far as her eyes could see.

The setting sun dulls the color of the sky as if the sun was melting and drowning in the ocean. Her entire body reflected to the surface of the wide deck fidgeting around.

"Aunt, please give up, your life is more important," the girl mumbled, her aunt's slim hand wrapped around her neck, however, she did not feel suffocating.

"You think you are a big girl now? Don't forget you are just seventeen! You don't know anything," the young lady threatened her. She was short of breath, and energy, she could collapse anytime, and the vice-captain was waiting for that moment.

"What is wrong with you?" Shu Yu was running out of patience. He could not take it anymore, with his daughter's life in danger, he could not help but feel restless and anxious.

He knew her aunt wouldn't harm her, but what if she did, he could not afford to risk it. He exchanged a glance with his father after his question slipped out of his mouth. It seemed they were afraid of something else.

"Bloody bastards! You are asking me that? Seriously?" The young lady pressed the gun to the teenage girl's forehead and cried out, her tone filled with hatred and disgust.

"Fine, I will tell you all! Everyone present here, including my little niece, let me narrate a good tale, it would be a bedtime story for you all.

These men standing before me, supposed to be the closest men in a woman's life; are my brother and father.

They are shameless greedy hooligans; they went bankrupt three months ago and to pay off their debts, they sold me to their partner, you know who he is?

The owner of this cruise, Qu Ting Wei! That hell demon!

They tricked me here saying it was some costume party for Qu Ting Wei's engagement.

I am naive, it turned out it was all a lie!

A joke, right?

It's my life!

SOLD!

I am nothing but a bed chambermaid! Not even a mistress! A toy thing!

How am I supposed to accept that face?

I would have accepted to be sold as a bride, a business alliance through marriage! That sounds good!

But no- I am so lowly and so disgusting that they could not even bargain, I am a laughingstock!

This betrayal! It's killing me!" She fell to her knees, letting her niece go, her heart twisting and burning like fire, and it was suffocating.

She curled herself, leaning her head to her knees, sobbing silently, the gun hanging in her fingers, trembling, helplessness mourning upon her delicate body.

"Aunt! I didn't know you were going through so much; I am sorry for what my father and grandfather did to you," she tried to console her.

" Shuan'er, you are too good like me. But it's bad!" She spoke and then paused for a while.

"If you wanted money, you could have told me, I would have paid the amount that I was sold for.

It's such a disgrace for me.

You tainted my clean reputation.

A slave!" She didn't raise her head, hugging herself, to avoid the embarrassment. She started laughing hysterically.

"You are kidding us? Do you even know how much we owed?" Shu Ying sarcastically asked.

"Isn't it just two billion dollars? I can't help but laugh at my fate, I was sold for that petty amount!" She spoke, breaking down. She was unable to accept the fact that she was SOLD.

"You are talking as if it was just two cents, don't be a fool!" Shu Yu mocked her, his daughter's life wasn't in danger anymore, moreover, they had already paid back the amount, and it was the truth she belonged to Qu Ting Wei. She can't escape this.

"She is afraid of the wide sea with a spotless horizon, and she is too cowardly to take her life. It's just her arrogant facade that's making it tough for us," her father whispered.

"You are right! Let's leave! She now belongs to Qu Ting Wei; he will hold us accountable if something bad happens to her," Shu Yu suggested as he glared at his daughter.

She should have run back to him; there she was comforting a woman who almost killed her.

"Aunt, this isn't the end of the world, you can try to talk this matter out with Uncle Qu, I met him before, he is handsome and an easy-going man, maybe he can marry you," she patted her aunt's back.

"Well said! There! Someone with a clever brain!" A thunderous clap of a man reached their ears from a distant place, his deep demonic voice gave the young lady goosebumps as she raised her head up in the sky.

His voice was louder than the helicopter hanging in the sky, he hopped down near the young lady with a devilish smirk on his face. She was bewildered and shifted back to the corner, as much as she could curling herself in.

Meanwhile, Shu Yu pulled his daughter and the family immediately ran out without looking back. The young lady was too stunned to have noticed the details of the background, as her face turned pale at the sight of the man.

Wearing customized handmade black shoes, polished so well, that they shined against the darkening sky. The sun was already down; however, it still had some light impacting the clouds. His black tuxedo and overcoat gave him the perfect elegant look, making his fair skin shine like the moon.

"Your niece was right Miss Shu, we can talk this out, why bother overreacting?" He reached his hand out to help her up, but she hid them inside her wide sleeves. She took her eyes away from him, she was right, it was him, she had seen him in the newspaper several times.

It never came to her mind that she would meet him in real life. She admired him for his prodigy in business affairs, but things have changed.

"Let's go inside! Stop making a joke of my dignity!" He commanded.

"No way!" She shook her head, determined that if he forced her any further, she would jump into the dark sea.

"I will not touch you, okay? I promise! We will just go inside and talk, we can discuss this," he took his hand back, in his pocket and stood there, waiting for her to respond.

"Promise? I don't believe you! Who knows what you will do! You are so big; I won't be able to fight against you. We will talk here!" she replied, there was no way she would lose just like that.

"You are making my blood boil," he smirked and hinted at the vice-captain to retreat. It was dark now, and how clever can a girl be? She didn't know how vicious men are!