CHAPTER 1
"I will sell her virginity to the highest bidder on her eighteenth birthday."
I froze. The teacups rattled on the tray in my hands.
Sell my virginity?
The cruel words immediately violently clashed with the doctor's grim voice from just three hours ago.
"Your organs are failing, Rhea," Dr. Aris had sighed, refusing to meet my eyes. "I don't know what you've been ingesting, but the damage is irreversible. You have one month left to live."
One month.
My eighteenth birthday wasn't just my death sentence anymore. It was my auction date.
"But Madam Carl," a maid's hesitant voice drifted through the cracked door, pulling me back to reality. "She's looking so weak. Shouldn't we consider giving her some rest to recuperate?"
"That's the only thing that dead weight of a stepdaughter can do," Madam Carl snapped. "Had her father left us with anything, I wouldn't have made her start dancing for my business. Those men pay good money to see their favourite dancer get it on stage."
My jaw clenched. Lies. Father had left us an absolute fortune. She stole it all.
"So what if she's looking weak?" Madam Carl continued coldly. "Feed her more tonics. Have her work Celia's shift while Celia and I are away on business. Understood?"
"As you wish, Madam Carl."
"And start making the announcement. I want everyone bidding for Rhea's first night."
I stumbled a step back, my chest heaving as I desperately gasped for air.
No. If I only had thirty days left in this realm, I refused to die as her slave.