Chapter 2 - The Price of a Soul
The papers in my hands were written in cold, clinical legalese, but they burned like acid. I read the words, and the ground beneath my feet dissolved. My father hadn't just sold me to the Crowes; he had been systematically liquidating every asset associated with my mother’s inheritance, including the trust fund meant for Miles’s life-saving treatment. He had gambled it away on a failed real estate venture, and when the debt came due, he traded my life—and my brother’s medical security—to Julian Crowe to cover his own incompetence.
"He sold your future to hide his past," Dante said, his voice low and vibrating with a controlled rage that made the rain around us seem even colder.
Before I could process the betrayal, Julian’s guards swarmed the church steps, weapons drawn. Dante didn't flinch. He didn't even turn around. With a single flick of his wrist, his own men emerged from the shadows of the parked cars like specters. The air grew heavy with the promise of violence, but Dante remained focused solely on me.
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"Get in the car, Serena," he commanded. "We are going to your brother."
I didn't argue. As we sped away, leaving the screaming farce of a wedding behind, I looked at Dante. He wasn't the monster the city whispered about. He was the only person who had treated me like a human being in three years.
