Shock

Isobella's POV

"I'm sorry, Bella. There was no other way to do this." My father said.

"A co-collateral. That's all I am to you. That's all I ever was and all this while you were taking your time to sell me to the highest bidder." I murmured bitterly.

"No, you-"

"Is-Is there any-anything we can do please?" I stuttered, trying to gather myself together whilst thinking hard of ways to escape this mess my father put us all in. This was all too much for me to take in.

"I am afraid, there is nothing else you can do. Your father signed you off already." A smirk played on his lips as he strode to the stool before me and retrieved the file on it.

My brows furrowed when he scanned it.

"What is that?" 

"Now, you belong to me." He waved the brown document in his hands before me before passing it to one of his henchmen.

"I don't belong to you!" I lashed out at him as it all dawned on me.

My father had signed me off on paper like I was some cheap settlement he could use to cover his debt. I had always known that he was heartless but I didn't know it ran this deep.

The room was silent and the only noise was the clock ticking with each passing second reminding me that I now belonged to a total stranger. I could not agree to this. 

"I will pay you everything he owes you but you-"

"Are you sure about that because last I checked your father who should be sponsoring you through school now has nothing in his name well except of course the only thing you have which is" He scanned the almost empty room.

Courtesy of my father. 

"this house is now in my name."

"What?" I staggered back a bit before regaining my composure as I turned to my father.

"Don't you have anything to say to that?" I questioned him, still unable to believe it.

"I was going to tell you that too, Bella." My father avoided my face. I concealed my shock immediately. Letting him see our weakness would do no good. He now held all the cards.

My life was his to command and my body, his to mark.

I swallowed and clenched my hands into tight balls. Would there be no end to my father's selfishness? All he had done since mother's death was ruin my life.

"Just give me more time, sir..." I had obviously forgotten his name. The shock of today was enough to make me even forget a lot.

"Artemis is the name, Bella and it would help if you store it here because you will be using it more frequently." He tapped the left side of the brain.

"And I'm afraid, there is no more time. I have all I need and I won't rescind the contract. Well of course if you can churn out five million dollars in three minutes." A mischievous smile twirled on his lips.

That was as impossible as the devil begging for God's forgiveness. The only thing in my name was my logbook. I only had dreams. Dreams that now looked bleak. Bleaker than the night sky.

"He pleaded with me for some more cash when he ran out of money and I lent him some extra." He said like three million dollars meant nothing to him.

Tears sprang in my eyes and I wiped them away. I had to find my way out of this. Getting married at this age wasn't in the plan at all especially since I didn't want to make the same mistakes as my mother. I still had a lot to do and that did not include getting married to a horrible demon such as Artemis Lancaster.

A thought popped in my head. If I could get to my room, I would escape through my window. Jhena, my best friend, would take me into her apartment without a second thought. There, I could think of a way to sort this out.

Even though I felt like betraying my father, he was still family and family was everything.

I only needed to find my way out of the watchful eyes of these men and their boss.

"I'll go in and pack my things." I swirled around

"Oh no, you don't have to." Artemis covered the distance between us, his cologne wafting into my nostrils as his hands covered mine.

Our gazes locked and my heart skipped a beat. I was lost in his orbs and for some weird reason my body was betraying me by responding to him. 

The movement brought our palms together, his calloused fingers brushing against mine gently as if they were precious gems. His eyes softened with warmth and for a moment I forgot to breathe. 

When he touched me, everything around me heightened and every thought and instinct came to a screeching halt because of him. 

"You don't have to bother about that, my secretary will get you clothes from the mall. And every other thing you need will be sorted out by my men." He tilted his head towards the tall unsmiling men.

"We are leaving for the courthouse now." He dropped the bombshell

"Now?" I froze and went pale immediately. At that moment, all my plans shriveled like a crumpled paper.

With my lips apart, I turned to my father. He hadn't said anything about this in his cryptic message.

As I stared into his eyeballs, the full truth dawned on me. That message was cryptic for a reason. But it wasn't only cryptic, it was worded in a way that commanded urgency because my father knew that it would send me coming home without thought.

I had left my books to come home to a father who signed me away without a wink. A father who had played on my intelligence without mercy. Fathers were meant to protect their daughters but mine cared about shielding himself from his debts.

Anger and disgust roiled in me. Not only had he sold me, my father had lured me home to get married. I was roped into this and there was no way out.

"I hate you!" I lashed at my father with more tears brimming in my eyes.