The house reeked of perfume, cheap wine, and the hollow laughter of men who came only to buy illusions. Within its walls, life was traded in whispers and flesh. To many, it was nothing more than a brothel. But to Amara, it was the only roof she had left after losing her parents and every fragment of family she once called her own.
Her companions, Tari and Selene, had long surrendered to the life here. They were bold, flirtatious, painted in rouge and secrets. To them, survival meant giving in, turning shame into currency. They had become "allots"a word spat in the streets with mockery, yet worn by them with hardened acceptance.
But Amara was different. She had never touched a man, never desired to. Her nights were not filled with customers, but with books and restless dreams. She was here only because she had nowhere else to go, and because Tari and Selene, in their strange sisterhood, helped pay for her schooling.
That night, as the music throbbed downstairs and the drunken laughter echoed through the halls, Amara sat quietly in her tiny room. Her hands rested on an old book, but her eyes were unfocused. She was thinking again about life, about fate, about the suffocating way the world cornered her.
The door burst open without warning. Tari leaned against the frame, her crimson lips curling in excitement. Selene followed right after, her eyes glittering with mischief.
"Amara," Tari said breathlessly, "you won't believe this. There's a man downstairs asking for you."
Amara blinked in surprise. "Me?"
Selene grinned. "Yes, you. And not just any man. He's handsome. Too handsome for this place. And guess what he's offering a fortune just to have you. Tonight could change your life."
Amara's face tightened. She looked away. "I don't want to. You both know I'm not"
"Oh, stop it," Tari interrupted, rolling her eyes. "You've lived under this roof for months while we hustle to keep you in school. Do you think we can keep doing that forever?"
Selene's smile faded to something sharper. "This is your chance, Amara. Don't be foolish. A man like that could take you out of here. Why cling to innocence when it can't feed you?"
Their words lingered like knives. Amara's chest ached with guilt, but her heart whispered otherwise. "No," she said quietly, shaking her head. "I don't want to go."
Tari and Selene exchanged a look, disappointment thick in the air. "Fine," Tari muttered. "But don't expect us to carry your burden much longer."
With that, they left her alone.
The room seemed colder after their departure. Amara sat in silence, her thoughts a storm. Who was this man, and why her? Why now? Was it truly fate or just another trap disguised as fortune?
Her chest tightened with unease, and exhaustion pulled at her bones. Instead of dressing up, instead of stepping into the unknown, she laid on her thin mattress. She closed her eyes against the noise of the brothel, against the pressure of her friends' words.
And slowly, she drifted into sleep never knowing that downstairs, the handsome stranger waited. His patience was inhuman, his presence unsettling, and his eyes burned with something more than desire.
For he was no ordinary man.
He was the Devil.
And tonight, he had chosen her.