Collateral

"Papa, tell me this isn't true. Are you doing this again?" Hot tears trickled down her cheeks as her lips trembled and a small whimper escaped from them.

She dug her fingertips into the chair while she stared at her father as he hung his head. He gave her no reply. Just like he hadn't given her any since she walked in.

His reply only meant that it was true.

"This can't be true." She whimpered reliving how her father had run into different debts in the past which she used her hard-earned money to clear.

It wasn't an easy time for her because she had to go through a lot to get the money. She did something she wouldn't have ever done just to save his head.

The room was silent and the only noise was the clock ticking with each passing second. She now belonged to a total stranger because her father couldn't control his gambling addiction.

"Is there anything we can do please?" She turned to address the young man whose name she had forgotten within a few seconds.

The shock was enough to make her forget. 

"I am afraid, there is nothing else you can do. Your father signed you off already." He strode to the stool before Oliver Alexanders and retrieved the file.

He waved it before her.

"Now, you belong to me." He smirked.

"I don't belong to you!" Carolina lost her anger.

How dare he say that? It wasn't her fault that the man whom she called father wasn't mature enough to know when to stop a bad habit. Neither was it her fault that he owed the most popular Alpha in town.

"How much does he owe you?" She asked even though she knew the answer would be more shocking.

"Are you sure you want to hear that, young lady?" Connor quizzed her.

"Just tell me how much it is, Alpha… Whatever name you call yourself." She hissed.

"Connor is the name 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.

"Just answer the damn question!" Carolina gritted her teeth.

"Your father owes me three million dollars." Connor dropped the bombshell. 

"What?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

Carolina staggered back a bit before regaining her composure. Her lips were slightly parted as she glanced at her father.

"Don't you have anything to say to that?" She questioned him.

"And let me make this clear, you belong to me now. Your father had every opportunity to sell this house to me but he chose to offer you instead." Connor revealed much more to her surprise.

Carolina swallowed and clenched her hands into tight balls. Would there be no end to his selfishness? 

Her father was a gambler and had gambled away most of their property for years until all they had left was this house.

He couldn't even afford to send her to school, so her uncle stepped in the gap and all he could do was ruin her life in just a few hours.

 Alpha Connor stared at her with pity. He wished things didn't have to go this way but ever since he met her back then, he couldn't forget her. He had lost the opportunity to have her back then due to family issues.

This was his opportunity to have her. To own her. To mark her his.

"You have to do this for Papa, Caro. This is the only way." Her father finally raised his head to speak.

"Really? What about the times I had to clean up your mess also? Have you forgotten how you made me lose my chance of entering college last year with your gambling habit?" Carolina's body shook with sobs.

"You stole my tuition fee and gambled it away only for you to come back with nothing! Who paid for that!? Who? Since mother, every second I have spent with you is full of re-regret." Carolina stuttered, suppressing a sob.

That wasn't news to Connor. He knew how deep into gambling her father was. Only that Oliver Alexanders didn't know when to stop.

"Wasn't that enough for you? You delayed my life for one good year. And now I finally got into school, you sold me to another man." She spoke with so much hatred in her voice.

This was the height of it all. A man who sold her could do anything he wanted with her. What was worse than this?

How could a father give up his only child for his wayward ways? Connor was repulsed at Mr. Oliver's attitude but since it was to his advantage, he didn't care.

"Mr. Oliver Alexanders, I really don't have much time to waste. It was nice doing business with you. I think she's okay and I'll accept her." Connor said.

Immediately he set his eyes on her again, he could feel the mating connection. He knew she was his so he wouldn't give her father the chance to renegotiate anymore. He would not accept anything else. 

"I'm sorry, Caro. There was no other way to do this." Oliver said.

"So I am collateral. That's all I am to you. That's all I ever was and you took your time to sell me to the highest bidder." She said bitterly.

Her life had changed in one moment. She wished she had died with her mother that very day. If only she had insisted on following her.

"Since we have finalized the arrangements already. I will send my car for her as early as 9 am tomorrow. Please be punctual." Connor dropped another bombshell. 

Carolina stared at him in astonishment. She hadn't even recovered from the shocking news, she had to move already.

"So quick?" She exclaimed.

"I don't waste time in possessing what is mine. Be ready by 9am tomorrow." Connor smirked and turned to walk out of the house.

Carolina fell to the floor sagging against the wall as more tears blurred her vision.