Chapter 1
PART 1: Out of the Storm
She had no idea whose door she had just opened.
“Did anyone see the girl?” “No, ma’am. I think she ran toward the dirt road.”
That night, it didn’t just rain. The sky unleashed a furious torrent, hammering the earth as if the heavens themselves were raging.
Aria Montgomery stumbled out of the muddy, overgrown trail behind the estate. She was barefoot, her ankles bleeding, her shredded silver gown clinging like a second skin to her shivering frame.
Soaked sheets of dark hair plastered across her face, masking the bruised, burning imprint where her stepmother’s signet ring had cut into her cheek.
She wasn’t running for help. She was running because inside that nightmare of a manor, there were still hands, voices, money, and a pack of hunters tracking her down.
Behind her, a beam of flashlight cut through the skeletal trees, fracturing the heavy rain. Aria held her breath. Through the downpour, she heard her name called out. It wasn’t a call born of worry. It was the call of ownership.
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“Aria! Come back before things get worse!”
Victoria Montgomery never shouted unless she had completely lost control. And tonight, Aria had ruined the single most important transaction of Victoria’s life. All because Aria had refused to play the part of currency.
