Chapter 6- Sold To Pay Debt
AVA ~~
"What do you mean, Auntie?" I asked her, my voice barely louder than a whisper. The tears that had been pouring from my eyes suddenly paused, stuck in confusion.
She didn't answer me. She just stared at me like I was some strange creature.
"Are you deaf?" she snapped, her tone sharp like a slap. I quickly shook my head, showing her I heard her loud and clear.
My heart was beating fast, but a strange kind of hope started crawling its way into my chest.
"Thank you, Auntie," I said quickly, my voice trembling as the tears started falling again — but this time, they were mixed with something that felt like relief. "Thank you so much for saving me… for not letting me go. Thank you for not letting Uncle sell me off to work as a maid for the pack."
I dropped to my knees in front of her, overwhelmed with emotion.
"I don't even know how to thank you enough. You don't understand how scared I was. I thought it was over for me. I thought my life was going to end in that strange place, serving people I don't know, doing things I can't even imagine. But you… you saved me."
My lips quivered as I spoke. I couldn't even explain the feeling in my heart. It was like a thousand chains had been taken off my body.
Even though this house felt like hell most days, at least it was hell I knew. If I was going to be treated badly, I'd rather it be from the devil I know than a monster I've never met.
I wiped my tears and breathed out for the first time in peace. The bleeding in my head even felt like it stopped, like my body was responding to the relief inside me.
"I swear I'll pay you back, Auntie," I told her sincerely, still kneeling. "I'll work harder. I'll do anything. You don't know what you just did for me."
But then…
She stared down at me with this look of disgust, like I was some rotting trash she forgot to throw away.
"Are you sure the blood rushing from your head didn't mess with your brain?" she said coldly.
I blinked, still smiling, trying to laugh it off. "No, Auntie. Trust me, I'm okay. In fact, it's your kindness that made me feel better. That assurance you gave me… it stopped the pain."
She raised one eyebrow, then tilted her head. "Assurance? What assurance?"
"You told me to pack my things and leave," I explained, still trying to hold onto my smile. "Which means you don't want me here when the people come. You don't want him to take me to the Alpha's pack. You're saving me from that. Right?"
She stared at me like I was speaking another language. Then… she laughed.
It was cruel…... Mocking.
"You must be dumb." Her voice was laced with venom now. "Now I understand. You're not pretending to be stupid. You're actually stupid."
My heart dropped.
"Your parents must've known you were going to be a dumb, useless bastard. That's why they died early. They didn't want to stick around to see the disappointment you've become."
And just like that… my entire world shattered again.
My tears stopped. Not because the pain was gone—but because it was too much to cry anymore.
Why do they always bring my parents into everything?
They were the only good thing I had left in my mind. The only thing that gave me a little comfort. And they kept spitting on their names like it meant nothing.
My voice was small now. Weak.
"Let's say you're just joking…" I whispered. "You said I didn't have to go, right? Because you saved me."
She took a step closer, her face twisted into something ugly.
"Do I look like a savior to you?" she hissed. "What made you think for one second that I saved you?"
"How special did you really think you are?" she asked me, and the way she said it… it hit me like a punch to the chest.
That was when it finally made sense.
She didn't say those words to protect me.
She didn't say them to stop my uncle from sending me away.
She said them because she was surprised I was still here. I hadn't even been taken yet.
I had misunderstood her completely.
I stood frozen in place, my knees weak, my body trembling. My chest tightened as her words settled deep inside me.
"Ava, you are so, so useless," she said without any pity. "So don't ever think that you matter enough for me to change my mind about you."
My heart started pounding again. The tears that had dried up came pouring back all over my cheeks.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Why, Auntie?" I cried, my voice shaky, broken. I looked at her with everything inside me begging for just one ounce of kindness. "You were my mom's sister… Don't you care? Don't you remember how much she loved me? How much she never wanted me to end up like this? She would never have wanted me to be sold off like a slave."
She didn't even blink.
Her voice was cold.
"First of all, your mother is dead."
That alone made my heart shatter again.
"She's not here. I'm the one taking care of you. I've fed you, clothed you, kept you under a roof. Now you've come of age, and it's time you actually became useful."
"Auntie, please," I begged. I was down on my knees before I even realized it. "Tell me how much you and Uncle owe. I swear, I'll work day and night. I'll clean the streets, carry firewood, sell my blood if I have to. Just tell me the amount—I'll pay every single coin back. Please, just don't send me away."
She looked at me like I was some stupid child talking nonsense.
Then, like it was some kind of show, my uncle brought out a thick envelope and dropped it on the table with a thud. He opened it slowly and spread the cash on the table like he was showing off a trophy.
"It's too late," she said, smiling as if she enjoyed watching me fall apart. "We've already been paid. The debt is cleared, and this"—she pointed at the remaining stack of bills—"is what's left after everything."**
I stared at the money like it was poison.
"So this… this is how much I'm worth?" I whispered, my voice barely coming out. "Just this?"
She scoffed and folded her arms.
"Honestly, you should feel lucky. We thought you were completely worthless. Just like your dead mother. But then someone made an offer, and we took it without thinking twice."
I didn't think the pain could get any worse, but it did.
"You can cry all you want, Ava. You can scream, roll on the floor, even curse the heavens if you want. But nothing's going to change. Day after tomorrow, they'll come for you. And you'll go. Just like that."
She smiled at me again, that wicked, satisfied smile.
It was like she took joy in watching me break.
My chest was burning. My legs gave way, but I forced myself to stay still.
But inside, I was already crushed.
I already knew I was worthless. I had felt it in how they treated me every day. But did they have to throw it at my face like this? Did they have to laugh about it?
Why did they enjoy breaking me?
Why do people like to remind someone who already knows they're nothing that they're… nothing?
I should've known better.
I should've stopped hoping.
And I shouldn't have spoken at all, because no matter what I said… it was already too late. They'd made up their minds.
No begging could fix it now.
The only thought left in my head was simple and painful:
I wish I had died in that fire with my parents.
At least then, I wouldn't be standing here, being sold like an object. At least then, I wouldn't have to feel this pain.
I turned away from them—both of them—and walked out of the room. They didn't stop me. They didn't care.
I dragged myself back into my small, broken cubicle of a room. The moment I stepped in, I collapsed straight onto my bed—if I could even call that dying thing a bed.
I curled into a ball, pressing my face into the thin, torn sheet.
And then I cried.
I cried harder than I ever had in my life. My throat burned from the sobs. My chest ached like it was going to explode.