1. Addison
1
ADDISON
T he constant beeping of the hospital monitor started to fade into the background as I looked over the newest email to hit my phone.
It was the one I’d been waiting for. The one that would change my life forever.
It had the power to give me back everything I’d lost. Everything he’d taken from me. But it also had the possibility to destroy me if I wasn’t careful.
It’s worth the risk. I would do anything to get back at him. The anger had been rotting under my skin and making it unbearable to think of anything but getting even.
There was nothing and no one in the world left for me. At least no one who was conscious.
My eyes shifted to the bed. My mother was wrapped in hospital-grade blankets that would be making her skin itch if not for the thin sheet in between.
She lay there so still that, if not for the constant beeping of the monitor, I would mistake her for a corpse. Her skin had become pale enough for it.
In the last few years, my mother’s mental health had deteriorated. I had been too busy working back-to-back jobs to notice just how much she had been struggling.
Mother said she couldn’t work because it’d ruin her image. And her perfectly manicured nails. My eyes fell to the now grown-out red claws. The nurses had helped me file them down because we didn’t know how long my mother would be in this state.
She’d be appalled.
She did all she could to keep up the image in front of her friends. Friends who kept her around from our previous life because they pitied her.
I’m positive she knew it, but it was the world my mother knew better than anyone. She’d grown up with them in their mansions. She came from money, so having none made her the outcast. But she dug her sharp red claws into them and hung on for dear life.
Even if they talked behind her back. Laughed at her.
She just couldn’t handle the violent dismantling of our life.
Her lack of a job meant that when she wasn’t with her friends, she was holed up in our apartment—the only property we now owned—all day long doing nothing but scrolling social media.
Our family’s scandal was long past, but the comments on her social media posts made it seem as if it happened just yesterday. There were always a few people still holding a grudge against my father.
Even when he’s dead. I often wondered if they would ever just let up.
He was gone, and so was all our money. We had been punished thoroughly by whatever god they believed was angry enough to take vengeance on us.
I was guilty of scrolling through the posts too, each one just another notch on the anger belt that was getting tighter and tighter around my neck.
Her blonde hair lay by her side in a careful braid. Another thing the sweet nurses helped me with since I'd been too busy with work.
How did I miss it?
Behind the anger, there was pain. Guilt. Shame.
I may have grown up with my father’s money, but I was young enough to adapt. He taught me that much at least before leaving this earth.
My mother, on the other hand…
My eyes welled with stinging tears while a renewed anger burned bright inside me, threatening to destroy everything in its path.
His fault. All his fucking fault.
If it weren’t for him, Father would still be here and Mother wouldn’t have dared?—
My throat caught. I couldn’t think about it anymore.
I looked over the welcome email again, my eyes catching on the bold title.
Black Silk Auction welcomes you…
I never thought I'd stoop to this level. Sell my body.
Being raised in a millionaire family meant I’d never really thought much about what would happen if we lost our money. It was almost impossible.
But the impossible happens every day.
And this would be my only chance to get back at him .
“Ms. Mercer?”
My gaze snapped to the door, Mother’s doctor standing there with a forced smile and sad eyes.
Shit.
“I thought Fridays were your day off,” I said and started to grab my things. A cheap tote, my Gentle Monsters that I hid from the creditor, and my phone. I didn’t have much on me anymore. A bit embarrassing. But nothing was more embarrassing than the conversation we were about to have.
“I’m covering,” he said and jerked his head back, signaling me to step outside.
Not like Mother can hear anyway . My thoughts were bitter, but inside I appreciated the gesture.
I stood and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on my mother’s forehead.
“I’ll be back,” I whispered. “Trust me. I’ll save us.”
I followed the doctor out into the hallway. It was late at night with only a few nurses at the station. Visitor hours were long since over, but they made an exception for the blonde Mercer girl. Even if it was out of pity, I would take what I could get.
I crossed my arms as the doctor turned to me, a silly habit and a way to physically try to keep myself together when it felt like the world was going to tear me apart.
The doctor had kind hazel eyes behind rounded frames, messy sandy blond hair, and a light scruff, no doubt from all the extra hours he’d been working.
I paused, the voices from the nurses making their way down the hallway.
“No, she’s the one!”
“No way. She doesn’t even look that rich. Did you see those roots?”
“That’s the point! They lost it all! Her dad was some crazy, fucked-up CEO who, like, stole everyone’s?—”
The doctor cleared his throat loudly, silencing the nurses. “Get back to work.”
There was a chorus of Yes, doctor, but nothing else.
“Sorry about that,” he whispered.
“I’m used to it,” I said with a grimace. It had been years, but some things didn’t change.
He cleared his throat, getting back to business.
“Ms. Mercer, last time we talked about the insurance costs?—”
“I have a plan,” I said quickly, cutting him off. “I’ll make sure it gets paid. I promise.”
He kept his gaze on me before sighing and looking back at my mother’s door.
“Look, payments and stuff aren’t usually something I handle, but I feel bad for you. I know you’re struggling, so I wanted to warn you before?—”
“And I’m grateful,” I said, laying my hand on his arm. His eyes fell to it, and I jerked it away. “Sorry.”
“You’re not…” He looked like he was struggling for words. “Going to do anything illegal, are you?” His voice had dropped to a whisper.
I swallowed thickly, feeling my face heat.
No, but I am going to sell the last valuable thing I have.
“Thank you for caring about us,” I said, a genuine smile spreading across my face. “It’s been a while since anyone has done that.”
He looked taken aback by my words.
“Just be careful, okay?” he urged.
I nodded and took a step back.
“I’ll fix this,” I vowed. “Please take care of my mom in the meantime.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but I was already turning on my heels and racing down the hallway.
I can’t be late for my welcome party.
* * *
My stomach twisted in knots, aching as I looked myself over in the mirror.
Music from the party filtered through the room, only making my nerves worse. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
They had provided an outfit for the welcoming party as a way of hiding who the girls truly were. Apparently, even the smallest detail could give away our identity, and they wanted to make sure it was a surprise until the very end.
My fingers rose to run along the edge of the shiny masquerade mask they’d given me.
It was made of a silver material and covered more than half my face. Each girl was assigned an animal, and mine was a cat. The ears were sharp, but not as sharp as the teeth displayed in the bottom half. It was lined with crystals and gems that shone in the dim light of the dressing room and matched the deep blue of my dress.
It was tight and shorter than I'd ever been allowed to wear, ending a bit higher than mid-thigh. The body was made of blue velvet, strapless, and the collar and hem were lined with more shine.
My hand trailed to the Swarovski collar on my neck. Chains with dangling crystals came out from it and circled my shoulders.
I was dressed up to look like a real woman. Beautiful. Desired . Elegant.
The type of woman the men out at the party would desire.
Even my hair was set in an elaborate updo.
“It’s time to go, A,” a warm voice said from the other side of the door.
I recognized it as the manager of the girls. My stomach flipped.
Can I really do this?
I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders, catching my blue eyes in the mirror.
“I can do this,” I whispered. For Mother. For Father.
For me.
I turned and opened the door.
Dante Sinclair met me with a shocked expression and a low whistle.
“Looking gorgeous, my love,” he said and held out an arm for me.
I took it and let him lead me out.
My face was heated at his compliment. When my family still had money, Dante and I ran in the same circles. The son of a billionaire who’d paved his own way was the talk of all moms with eligible daughters.
It didn’t hurt that he was hot.
With black hair, deep brown eyes, dimples, and a warm personality, it was hard not to love him.
Why he had ended up working at the auction and not owning part of it was lost on me. And a bit embarrassing, since someone from my old life knew me, but he was too sweet for me to feel ashamed around him for long.
“I bet you say that to all the women under your care,” I teased.
He sent me a smile that showed his dimples.
“Now that remains to be seen, but trust me when I say you’re going to be the talk of the party.”
My stomach churned, and my grip on him tightened. The music got louder as we closed in on the door.
He let out a laugh.
“No need to be nervous,” he said. “Remember, they won’t touch you. If they recognize you, they contractually can’t say shit. Hell, if you want to stay silent the entire night, you can, but the more you mingle, and the more they like you, the higher the chance you’ll start a bidding war.”
I took another deep breath.
“And we want that,” I muttered.
Correction: we needed that. The more money I got, the easier I could pay off the massive medical bill.
As it would turn out, bringing someone back to life and taking care of them while they were in a coma sucked up hospital resources and left me with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
Because Mother had no insurance. Father took care of that with his company when he was alive; now, there was no one to help, and I couldn’t afford to get her a plan.
“Yes, you do,” he replied and squeezed my shoulders.
“What if I can’t get in?” I whispered, fear clawing at me. I might have been invited to the welcome party, but there was always a chance they wouldn’t pick me for the auction.
It all depended on the next hour and on how people felt about me.
He gave my shoulder another squeeze. “Go wow them, A. I know you can do it.” And with that, he pushed me toward the door.
I forced all the worries from my mind and stepped into the party.