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Logan was silent for a moment.

“I don’t think he would have let you have the choice,” he began somberly. “He was giving you the illusion of a choice so he could manipulate you later on…but that night, it never would have ended up different.”

He was right. I knew he was right. I didn’t know why I’d been so insistent all these years that I was the one solely responsible for ruining my life…when the truth had been right in front of me all along.

The last few days I’d been going over everything that had happened over the years and what he’d said and done leading up to my eighteenth birthday.

My “choice” had been an illusion all along, and I’d spent these years playing into his hands by hating myself every single day for something I couldn’t have avoided if I’d tried.

As terrible as it was…that realization that I’d never had a choice at all, it was eye-opening. I hadn’t let myself even think of that possibility before I’d met Logan. But now that I’d come face-to-face with it, I felt my self-loathing and guilt drift away.

For the first time, I felt…lighter. Innocent. Like the pieces of myself I’d given away had just come back to me.

I was free.

CHAPTER41

SLOANE

The phone vibrated on the nightstand, Everett’s name flashing across the screen like a beacon of dread. I froze, my chest tightening. Logan was beside me, his jaw clenching as he looked from the phone to me, his expression a mix of frustration and concern.

“Don’t answer it,” he said, his voice low, commanding.

I hesitated. I wanted to listen to him, but something deep in my gut told me I couldn’t ignore this.

“I have to,” I murmured. “I’m not going to cower. Not anymore.” I grabbed the phone before he could argue further. Tapping on the screen, I put it on speakerphone. My voice was shaky as I said, “Hello?”

“Good morning.” Everett’s smooth, venom-laced tone filled the room, curling around me like a noose. “Judging by the fact that you aren’t in your condo, it appears you’ve made the wrong choice.”

I swallowed hard, my fingers tightening around the phone. Logan’s hand brushed mine, steady and grounding, even as his eyes burned with barely restrained rage.

“I told you I was done,” I finally said, proud of the strength in my voice.

Everett’s silence stretched unbearably before he clicked his tongue, a sound that always made me feel like a disobedient child. “Youaredone, Sloane. I’ve decided you’ll be sold. Permanently. The bidding will start in a virtual auction at five.”

Logan went rigid beside me, his entire body coiling tight like a spring about to snap. His jaw clenched so hard that the muscles in his neck stood out in sharp relief, and his fists curled against his thighs, the knuckles white with pressure. My breath hitched, my body freezing like ice had shot through my veins.

Sold.

The word echoed in my head, hollow and damning. My knees threatened to buckle, but I locked them, forcing myself to stay upright.

“You can’t do that,” I managed, though my voice cracked on the words. Logan’s hand was now a steady pressure on my back, his touch both comforting and desperate, like he was trying to hold me together.

Everett ignored me entirely. “And Logan,” he continued, his tone shifting to something darker. “Don’t try to intervene. You can’t win. If you want Sloane to live—or if you value your own life—you should take my advice.”

He’d been watching us.

Logan’s hand jerked, his body taut beside me like a bowstring about to snap. His rage was tangible, radiating off him in waves. He grabbed the phone from me. “Listen you little sick fuck. I will?—”

“Enjoy your last day,” Everett interrupted with cold indifference. Then the line went dead.

For a moment, the room was silent except for the sound of my uneven breathing. My hands trembled as I set the phone down on the nightstand. I couldn’t meet Logan’s gaze. My head was spinning, and bile was coating my throat.

“Five,” I choked out.

“What the hell does that mean? That he’ssellingyou?” he asked, his voice sharp but laced with worry.

I closed my eyes, the weight of the truth crushing me. “The wife auctions,” I said finally, the words falling from my lips like stones. “They’re…it’s where the highest bidders…they buy us permanently. I’d heard about them, but I never thought…”