Sometimes a life is sold with just a signature. My father sold mine too. But that night, I was oblivious. Rain was falling gently on the street. As I listened to the sound of water trickling down on our roof, I heard my father talking to someone in his study. The tension in his voice startled me. In recent weeks, he'd been missing a lot, arguing with someone. I'd heard the word "debt" a lot, but everything he said "I'll take care of" only got worse. That night, he didn't say "I'll take care of it" again. He simply remained silent.
The next morning, I saw him waiting at the breakfast table. There was a strange peace on his face. "Get ready, Lina," he said. "I'll take you somewhere." I didn't ask where we were going. The silence beside my father told me that questioning was pointless. We got in the car and drove out of town, toward the old industrial zone where no one lived. A gray building rose amid rusted signs and abandoned factories. A name written in capital letters: "MOREAU HOLDINGS." When we entered, two men in black suits greeted us. My father was sweating.
He tried to explain something with his eyes, but I didn't understand. Then he arrived. Jack Moreau. A tall man with a steady stride and a cold silence. It was as if all the air in the room belonged to him. He looked me up and down, but his eyes held calculation, not desire. He moved behind the desk piled high with papers. "Mr. Aras, have you looked at the contract?" he asked. My father bowed. "Yes, everything is ready." The contract. Something stirred inside me at that moment. "What contract?" I asked. My father was silent for a moment. The guilt in his eyes told me the answer was bad. Jack closed the file. "Your life belongs to me now," he said. He said the words so calmly, so firmly, it took a few seconds to register. My father averted his eyes, his lips trembling. "Forgive me, Lina… I had no other choice," he said. My vision darkened. I took a step back, my heart beating rapidly. "Did you… sell me?" My father couldn't answer. Jack bowed his head slightly. "Not legally," he said with a cold smile, "but practically, yes. I paid the debt. I took you in return." It was as if the world slipped from under my feet. In that moment, I knew I would remember my father, myself, and this man with hatred but I couldn't take my eyes off Jack.
He looked like a monster… but strangely, there was something deep in his eyes. Hidden behind the coldness, an almost cruel silence. Then my father turned. "How could you do this? How could you sell me, father? Did you never think about me? Did you never think about my life? Was it that simple? Don't be silent, father, answer me. How could you do this to me?" I shouted at him, but it was useless.He didn't answer a single word. He just turned and left me there alone with a man I didn't know.
The man who bought me looked me in the eye and said, "Come on, you'll live with me now. You either come willingly or I'll take you by force, but believe me, you won't want me to force you, little one." As I watched him go, I thought my life was over. But at that moment, everything was just beginning.