Chapter 1

I stared at my mother and father from across the table. I was never a person of many words, I preferred watching people. My parents were strange.

"Elaine... I hope you're enjoying the last few weeks you have left of your studies. It won't be long before you go on and make your own life." My mother smiled faintly as she spoke to me.

She was beautiful and perfect even at her age. Her dark brown hair falling in waves, full lips, rich chocolate dipped eyes, even the faint lines on her face couldn't mar her beauty. She was on the thinner side but still healthy, her skin the color of caramel. As a child I wondered if her skin tasted just as sweet. She was elegant and everything about the way she looked was calculated. Unlike me.

I looked at my father, trying to read his thoughts. I know he felt differently. Say something please. Nothing but silence. I rolled my eyes and drank some OJ.

My father was an average looking man, he still tried his best to take care of himself. He was much older than my mother, his hair full but gray, his eyebrows were so hairy. He was a tall man unlike my mother who was very petite. He always looked so strong, broad shoulders, big fucking head though, and a bit of a stomach. He had light brown eyes and deep lines on his face, my father looked so tired. He tried his best to keep us safe, to protect us.

I know that once I left, my father too would be relieved.

"I'm not ready," I said. My mother was about to say something, but I got up from the table. "I'll be heading to class now." I walked as quickly as I could to the car waiting outside but not before I heard my mother's voice say, "You are."

I shut the car door rather loudly and was greeted by Mitch, one of our drivers. I asked that today he take the long route to the academy; I needed a nap.

***

"Vane, you need to talk to her! She cannot continue behaving this way." Elena gave me a pleading look. "She is going to get herself killed and you know it, please talk to her."

"She's just anxious because the ceremony is approaching. You know she's not normally like this, she'll get chosen."

Elena gripped my hand and I saw how frightened my wife was. Our society was not kind to its females. I wanted more for Elaine but from this I could not protect her.

Her voice broke, "I was lucky," she pressed her face against mines, "Things are different now Vane, if it was bad before for me—I can't imagine… there has to be something we can do."

"There's nothing." I shook my head gently as she started pacing around.

"How many applicants?" her voice trembled a bit.

"Around 12, all the top high rollers. They want her, we knew this—."

"How much?" her eyes filled with tears.

"It's at 163 million right now." I went to her as her tears slowly traveled down her cheeks and I held her there.

"You must talk to her, please. She needs to be ready Vane."

I cradled her head against my chest and nodded, "I will."

***

I walked into class and sat at the seat closest to the window. The seats slowly filled up with other women who I'd be joining in the ceremony. All beautiful all perfect. Not like me, I was different. Nothing about me was precise, nothing about me screamed effort. Not like these women.

I was better. I was stunning, exquisite, effortless. I was a treasure. My family took pride in my beauty. They weren't known for much in our community. They had money but my father's empire wasn't one of much power. That was until I grew into my body, until I became a woman and drew out the desires of men. Men whom my father feared. Now all the attention was on my family. Unfortunately, my mother never bore a son. So, my father's company would not be transferred to his heir.

When one of the prominent families bore a daughter, if the parents came from wealth, they would send them to an academy. From the moment we were accepted into an academy at age 14 we were prepped and primed for men. For over 10 years we're brainwashed, our bodies trained to betray us and respond to the men who would own us.

We start out in pre-school as kids, grade school, then middle school where we get a normal education. Then at age 13 our families decide whether we go to a regular high school curriculum or they apply for us to get into an academy. At first, we had no idea, no clue. Our families never said a word.

Once we were accepted into an academy the molding started. How to speak, when not to speak, how to look, how to dress, what to eat, etc. All of our courses were centered around etiquette, how we carry ourselves, looking a certain way and maintaining that physique. We also took regular advanced courses you would take at a traditional school.

If you didn't keep up with the school standard, you were removed. If you had no sponsors you would also be removed. Afterwards you would be integrated into a regular high school or college curriculum. Depending how far into the academy curriculum you were in.

Then came the routine checks of our purity. When a woman was no longer a virgin she would be removed from the program. The money placed on her would be returned to the corresponding sponsors and she essentially would be indebted to the school unless her family could pay off her debt to the academy.

There were different types of removal for instances where you could not pay off your debt to the academy

. The first type of removal was being placed into a role of servitude to the community, caretaker, nanny, maid, cook, and sex worker. Essentially roles that didn't require an education to perform. You worked until your debt was paid off. As you can imagine, these roles never made enough money to pay off their debts.

The second type of removal is where another family pays for your debt and therefore would get to decide what to do with you. This was the least desirable option. You never know your fate when you're at the hands of another family. They could decide to kill you.

It wasn't easy to make it to the 10 years in the academy.

The women who graduated from the academy and I use the word graduated very loosely here, they would marry into the family who buys them out. This was the most desirable outcome.

There were different academies. Each one was known for its own purpose. I attended Leon Del Rio Academy. My academy was run by the Leon Del Rio family. Each woman in the academy was examined upon acceptance and a price was placed on her. Based on many factors, the family she came from, physical appearance, genes, intelligence, fertility among other things. If her family did not have an heir, they would take that into consideration since her father's company would be transferred over to the winning bidder.

The girls would have online profiles created by their corresponding academy where every single piece of information you could think of was uploaded. Updates were made constantly, and each family who could afford to would pay to access these files. Each academy had a different price point. Paying for an academy's files would only allow you access to the girls attending that specific academy.

The girls were placed in tiers, and you had to pay extra to view each tier. The higher the tier, the better the girl. Each revision would also update the cost of the girl. In the final weeks families had to pay a starting bid to gain access to the girl during the ceremony, that pool of money collected went to the academy funds. My pool was at 163 million from 12 bids. That means that each family had to place a starting bid of around 13.5 million dollars to have the opportunity access me during the ceremony which is essentially an auction. I currently held the highest pool of money for my academy. The money I am auctioned off for goes to my parents, as a dowry. They basically forfeit all rights to me. This would be the money my parents live off for the rest of their lives.

It was discouraged for the women attending academy to be seen by others. Our elusiveness made us more desirable. The community press followed us everywhere. So even when we weren't in the academy we were being watched and analyzed. We all played our parts perfectly.

My skin felt cold.

The women at the academy seemed so happy and eager. They couldn't wait for the day of the ceremony. Only a few of us didn't show the same enthusiasm. Perhaps it was because we knew what was waiting for us. Or maybe we didn't know. The eager ones wanted to be sold to one of the top five families. The one's with the biggest empires, the most money and therefore, the most dangerous. The few of us who were scared hoped to be placed with one of the less wealthy families.

I got up and left briefly. Walking slowly towards the bathroom. I wonder how my family must feel about all of this; before it didn't feel real. I can't say the same now. I hovered over the sink. I couldn't raise my head to look at my reflection.

I feel sick. Three weeks… just three weeks I kept repeating to myself. Relax. I wish I could see which families bid on me. No high rollers. No high rollers.

I sighed and straightened myself as Nuri entered. She was tall compared to me, flat blonde hair, blue eyes, fairly flat chest, not much from behind either. Her family dealt in insurance fraud. I started making my way back to class.

***

When I arrived home one of the servants informed me that my father wanted to speak with me. Great. I walked myself over to his office, knocking lightly on his door before I walked into my father kissing Lettie, a maid whom I've caught him with many times. I rolled my eyes.

"Leave us," he told her.

"C'mon don't look at me like that," he walked over to the couch and gestured me to sit beside him. Lettie strolled past us and closed the door.

My father held my face with his rough hands and just stared at me. I looked up at him, eyes becoming watery. "I love you," he said, "you were my first true love. The one thing I loved beyond measure, I would always do right by you." He wiped each tear witch his thumb but still held me, "I have never been so afraid in my life… than when we had you." More tears came from me. "We wanted more for you Elaine, so much more."

I was a child in my father's arms, "I'm scared," I whispered. I wanted to get on my knees and plead to him, I wanted to beg, please don't let me go. I gripped his arms freed my face from his hand and looked down. I sobbed, "Please father… please. There must be something you can do."

He was quiet and then he spoke, "You are strong, you are beautiful like an angel. There are women who haven't had the same privileges as you. Young women who have lost their lives Elaine. Yet you're here, whoever buys your contract out will cherish you. Look at you!"

He shook me gently. "There is no one in this world that will look upon your beauty and not want to protect you."

He lifted my head, "Listen to me carefully. The men at these auctions, they have no power over you, you have all the power Elaine. You're a smart woman… cunning just like your mother." I smiled at that.

He looked at me tenderly, "Use that, use your beauty and your cunning Elaine and you can make any man kneel before you."

I gave my father a slight nod. I wanted him to feel reassured, but his words didn't help with the uneasiness within me. I squeezed his hand as I rose towards the door, "Thank you, I'll try."

I went up the steps towards my room, the servants bowed their heads as I walked passed them. Upon entering my room, I could hear my bath running. I stood in front of my mirror and slowly undressed myself. Lettie caught my eye from the edge of the mirror. She was a healthy-looking woman, in her 30s, not quite slim not overweight either. I caught her beneath my father a couple times. She stared at me as I slid the rest of my garments from my body. I stood there naked admiring myself,

I think Lettie admired me too, "You are so beautiful miss," her cheeks rosy. I know I am. "Your husband will be so pleased." You can't wait to get rid of me, can't you?

I walked past her and stood beside her briefly, "You smell like him," She cast her eyes down, "You know how wicked my mother can be Lettie… I wouldn't feel so relieved if I were you." I toyed with a strand of her hair, "Haven't I been kind to you? Even after all the times I've caught you with my father?"

"I can't refuse him miss he's my—Ow!" I pulled on her hair not hard enough to rip it out of her scalp like she fucking deserved but hard enough to satisfy my annoyance.

"Don't even. You don't moan like a bitch that's being forced."

I slid underneath the water.

"You can leave," I said.

I started thinking about the Families as I laid relaxed. Libertino. Their empire was built on human trafficking. They didn't discriminate either. Other families looked down on the Libertino empire. It was dirty work; I don't know what other way to put it. The Libertinos' consisted of a family of three males. Sebastian Libertino, father of Caesar and Issandro Libertino.

Sebastian had married many times and participated in the auction for years. Every single woman he took as a wife he murdered, including Caesar and Issandro's mother. If you were smart you feared the man and made sure you didn't attract his attention.

Caesar was the eldest and in line to inherit his father's empire, he too was known for being violent. He was 12 when he witnessed his father murder his mother. He's always seen with women but never with the same woman twice, other than Paola. Paola is Caesar's on and off girlfriend. A beautiful blonde, very slender and tall from what I've seen online.

Then there's Issandro, 10 years younger than Caesar. He's 27 and a doctor. He might be the most normal one in the family. He's not married either, no women in his life and doesn't really attend any of the functions the families like to throw. Libertino family… one of the top 5 empires within our community.

I can't be placed with them. A shiver went down my spine, they could protect me… but they might very well kill me too. Fucking hell.

I stepped out of the bath and wrapped a towel over my body. I plopped my body on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

How in the world am I supposed to make the Libertinos kneel for me?! I sat up quickly.