Chapter 1

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.