Chapter 1
1.
The first night of our marriage, Brad carved the word “Slave” into my skin.
He said I belonged to him, and no one else was allowed to touch me.
Then one day, I saw an identical rose tattoo on his sister, Brittany’s, chest.
Curious, I reached out and touched it, asking her what it was about.
She panicked, pulling her shirt up, and looked at me with tears in her eyes. “My brother did this for me, with his own hand. Don’t you dare ruin it!”
Brad just stood there, silent.
The next day, I found myself up for auction online: “Pure Female Slave – Starting Bid $1!”
…
I saw the auction link Brittany sent me. There was a semi-nude photo of me attached.
My whole body started to shake uncontrollably.
Was this some kind of sick joke?
Before I could think it through, Brittany sent a voice message. “This is Brad’s punishment for you,” she sneered. “Who told you to touch my tattoo?”
Brad did this? No way!
I took a deep breath, determined to confront Brad and get an explanation.
But before I even reached his private room, I heard him talking to his buddies. “Dude, before she retired, Annie was like, a total porn star! How could you put her up for sale, her body is so hot!”
Brad chuckled nonchalantly. “She had no business touching the rose on Brittany’s skin.”
He paused, his voice softening with tenderness. “Brittany is pure and precious, like a flower bud waiting to bloom. Only I can touch her there. Annie is nothing!”
“This auction will teach her a lesson.”
I felt like I’d been struck by lightning, rooted to the spot.
So Brad really was behind the auction.
Then, someone joked, “Everyone knows how much you spoil Brittany. She is so beautiful, and she is already twenty years old, when are you willing to let her marry into my family?”
“Don’t worry. If Brittany marries me, I’ll take good care of her for you.”
The air went silent for a few seconds, and Brad’s voice turned icy. “Say that again?”
Through the crack in the door, I could see the veins bulging in his forehead. He was furious.
We’d been married for five years, and I’d never seen him this angry.
The others quickly tried to smooth things over. “Bro, we were just joking!”
“Yeah! Everyone knows you’re crazy about your sister! You wouldn’t let her out of your sight for anything!”
Brad’s tone softened a little. “Brittany’s a bit of a scaredy-cat. She needs me to hold her to fall asleep. She can’t live without me. So you can all just forget about it.”
I was speechless.
I knew Brad and Brittany were close, but I had no idea it was this close.
They were still siblings, though.
I clenched my fists, ready to burst into the room.
Suddenly, someone asked, “If she finds out you’re auctioning her off for a one-night stand, won’t she divorce you?”
Brad laughed smugly. “As long as no one tells her it was me, she’ll believe anything I say.”
“And even if she finds out, so what? What can a washed-up actress do?”
“Honestly, if it wasn’t for my grandmother insisting I marry her, I wouldn’t even look at her.”
“Once the auction’s over and she’s been used and abused, I’ll have a good reason to kick her out.”
I instinctively took a few steps back.
I realized my marriage, which I had prided myself on, was a complete joke.
Just as I was about to turn away, someone inside the room shouted, “Brad, the auction already has over ten thousand bids! This is insane!”
“But starting the bid at $1 might be insulting to Annie. She used to be a star, after all.”
“So what if she was a star?” Brad sneered. “She’s still just a slave to me.”
“If she knew how many new owners were interested in her, she’d be loving it.”
He seemed to pull something out.
My heart tightened. Peeking through the door, I saw it was a picture of me, with the word “Slave” tattooed on it.
I almost lost my balance, my face burning with humiliation.
A moment later, someone whistled. “Damn, Annie is so cheap! She actually agreed to this?”
“Brad really is charismatic. He can conquer anyone.”
“Brad, you’re so good at this. How did you train her? Is it a lot different from the master’s perspective?”
“This is so exciting, seeing that word is making me want her already.”
Brad watched it all, completely unfazed, his face full of arrogance. “You have no idea how disgusting she is when she calls me master while we’re doing it.”
2.
Hearing his words, I bit my lip so hard I almost drew blood, desperate not to cry.
I suddenly remembered that “Slave” tattoo. Brad had carved it into my skin on our wedding night, slowly, painfully.
I almost passed out from the pain, but he just laughed and said, “When you marry me, you become my property, including this.”
Now, he was showing those intimate photos to strangers, selling my body to the highest bidder.
He wasn’t always like this.
He used to chase after me, buying out every movie theater in the city just to boost my box office numbers.
He even flew to another country and back in a single day just to buy a purse that I barely glanced at.
Everyone knew Brad loved me more than anything.
So when he carved that word into my skin, I naively thought it was because he loved me too much and wanted to possess me completely.
I felt so stupid.
This wasn’t love. It was pure, unadulterated humiliation.
I took a deep breath and called Brad’s grandmother. “Grandma, I want to leave the Crawford family.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, then a gentle voice said, “Are you and Brad fighting? Don’t worry, Grandma will help you sort things out.”
I bit my lip and told her everything about the auction.
Grandma was silent for a long time. When she spoke again, her voice was full of disappointment and anger. “Alright, I understand. I’ll take care of everything.”
I hung up and was about to leave when I heard Brittany’s deliberately loud voice behind me: “Sister-in-law, are you here to see my brother too? Why aren’t you going inside?”
The room went silent.
A moment later, Brad pushed open the door and walked out.
He saw me standing there, but instead of looking flustered, he frowned and scolded, “I haven’t even gotten around to yelling at you yet, what are you doing here?”
I could feel the burning stares of his buddies behind him. Some of them were even staring at me with undisguised lust, grinning like perverts.
I felt uncomfortable all over, but I forced myself to ask, “Yelling at me?”
“Brad, I want to know what’s going on with this auction?!”
He clearly didn’t expect me to know about the auction, and he certainly didn’t expect me to confront him in front of his friends.
He frowned, then burst out laughing. “That’s it? I’m just punishing you, so you know what you did wrong.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “What did I do wrong?”
“Oh, I know. It’s because I touched your and Brittany’s matching tattoo, right?”
“How dare you ask?” He grabbed my wrist. “Brittany is pure and innocent. How could you dare to touch her?”
“And watch your mouth! Don’t try to smear Brittany’s reputation!”
I was shaking with rage. “So, you’re going to auction me off?”
He let go of my hand and chuckled. “You’re the mistress of the Crawford family. Who would dare to buy you for a night?”
I laughed bitterly.
If I hadn’t heard their conversation earlier, I might have actually believed him.
He saw me laughing and suddenly flew into a rage. “What? Are you disappointed? Do you actually want to get auctioned off? Are you that desperate?”
Brittany smirked, hooking her arm around Brad’s. “Since you’re here, sister-in-law, why don’t you come in and join the fun?”
“You used to be a celebrity. You’re used to being the center of attention.”
Brad scoffed, grabbing my wrist and dragging me into the room.
I stumbled, twisting my ankle, and cried out, “Brad! Grandma will never forgive you for this!”
Brad paused when I mentioned his grandmother, then sneered. “I’m her grandson. Why would she help an outsider like you?”
He had no idea that my mom had died saving Grandma’s life. My family were Grandma’s saviors!
He didn’t know that Grandma had me marry him to protect me for the rest of my life.
If Grandma found out he was treating me like this, he would be sorry!
3.
Brittany walked up to me, sneering. “You need to remember that you’re not a Crawford by blood. We, the Crawfords, are the ones who make the rules here.”
“Don’t be so disobedient to my brother.”
She picked up a glass of wine and offered it to me.
I glanced at the clock. The auction was less than five hours away. I stared at the wine, refusing to take it.
Brittany sensed my hesitation and put on a pitiful act. “So sister-in-law is still jealous of my relationship with my brother, huh?”
“You!” Brad roared. “Your mind is filthy, you see everything as filthy!”
He pinched my chin, forcing me to drink the wine.
When I resisted, his buddies pounced on me, holding me down and groping me.
I cried out, “Brad!”
Brad’s sneer deepened. “What are you pretending for? You’re obviously enjoying this!”
Seeing that Brad wasn’t reacting, they became even more aggressive, shoving their hands into my clothes.
They poured bottle after bottle of wine down my throat until I collapsed on the floor.
I fought to keep my head above the alcohol, and said, “Brad, I want a divorce.”
“Divorce?!” Brad squatted down, his eyes dark. “Huh, seeing how many bids you’re getting tonight, you’re eager? You think you can just dump me? Do you even have that right?!”
“Get on your knees and call me Master. Then, maybe, I’ll forgive you.”
Hearing this, his buddies started to egg me on. “Say it! I saw the video, you were so good at calling him Master.”
“Yeah! Say it and let us have some fun!”
I bit my lip and refused to say a word as his buddies poured more wine down my throat.
I lost track of time, and Brad finally told them to stop. “Let’s go. It’s time.”
I was shoved roughly into a black car, and the back of my head slammed against the door, making me see stars.
Brad sat next to me, a mocking smile playing on his lips. “What’s wrong, can’t take it? Don’t worry, tonight will be even more fun.”
The car sped off, and my heart sank lower and lower.
They took me to the top floor of a hotel owned by the Crawfords.
The moment I was pushed inside, the whole room erupted in cheers. “I came just for her, she’s even more irresistible in person!”
“I’ve wanted her for so long, finally I have a chance!”
Crude, vulgar words filled the air. I was locked in a cage, displayed on a stage like a product.
I stared at Brad, grinding my teeth. “This is against the law.”
Brad walked up to the cage, looking down at me. “A slave needs to act like a slave. Dare to talk back to your master, and you’ll regret it.”
“I gave you a chance, but you didn’t cherish it. Don’t worry, I won’t hate you after tonight.”
With that, he turned and walked off the stage, taking a seat in the most visible spot.
The host excitedly announced, “The starting bid is $1! Gentlemen, start bidding!”
Instantly, someone raised their hand. “$100,000!”
“$200,000!”
“$500,000!”
I saw Brittany smirk, mouthing the words “You deserve it.”
In less than ten minutes, the bid had skyrocketed from $1 to $1 million.
The host excitedly started the countdown. “$1 million going once! $1 million going twice!”
Just then, a furious shout came from the back of the room. “I want to make a ‘sky lantern’!”
“What?!” Brad’s expression changed. “Who dares to put that much on this trashy woman?!”
Just as he turned around, his grandmother stood in front of him and slapped him across the face. “You animal! Get on your knees!”
Behind Grandma was a group of bodyguards, and Brad’s uncle, who had an angry look on his face, and was the father I never had.