Auctioned Daughter, Shattered Wife

e I adored, sent his men to tak

ughter, Julianne, on a stage, being auctioned of

after Julianne's subsequent suicide attempt, he let his mistress-an unqualified re

laiming our marriage was a l

ughter's life, only to let his mistress

ulianne, they tricked my mother

light of stairs. As I knelt over her broken body,

my presence at his celebration

be t

pte

e sound echoing in the silent, temperature-controlled garage. Two of her husb

ing?" she asked,

ust looked at her in the rearvi

ell you?" he aske

st said to

ate road. They were driving away from the city lights, deeper into the hills. A knot of dread fo

the tech billionaire she had loved with ev

research scientist he was funding. Kaylynn Clin

swinging open without a sound. Lights blazed from every window, but t

er door. "Mr. Spears is

The air was thick with the smell of expensive perfume and

lroom, on a raised platform,

stood there, wearing only a thin, white slip. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with terror, fixed on Charlotte

agne flutes and murmured to each other, their faces alight with a kind of sick excite

g of glasses, was a roar in Charlotte's ear

ur final, most exclusive piece of the evening. A living sculpture. A wor

owd laughed, a hi

body was frozen. The men who brought her stood on either si

sed, struggling agai

rs, a single drop tracing a path thr

ous research scientist was clinging to his arm, whispering something in his ear. Everett smiled down at her, a gen

the architect of this horror while their daug

limbed higher and higher, the voic

voice cracking. "What are you doing

His eyes were cold, bored. As if

cene," he said, his voice car

ttached to his arm. He stopped a few

ault, you know,

e pulled at the sleeve of her dress, revealing the dark, ugly bruises on her arm fr

the bruises and then away,

discussing a business deal. "Kaylynn needs that position to go to her preferre

rds sink in. "I asked you

o throw away my

said, his voice dropping to a low, menacing

her. She looked at Julianne, who was trembling on the pla

cern. "Everett is just trying to help you make the right choice, Char

e man she had married. The man who had once sw

ords catching in her throat. "You pr

her ER, a John Doe with amnesia after a car crash. She had cared for him, defended him,

ere, she had told him.

anged. He' d swept her off her feet, ignoring his family' s objections to marry a

This hand saves lives. I will never let anything happen to

nt, depraved ballroom. The man who said t

coy smile on her face. He nodded, his eyes

a bonus," Everett announced, his voice booming with false m

ran cold. She kne

verett

the guards, lunging toward t

' s gavel came

eir fate. The crowd

. The room spun. The only thing she could

with desperation. "I'll resign! I'll give

g-annoyance? satisfaction?-in his eyes. He r

rabbing her chin and for

tte," he murmured, his breath cold against her

owd with Kaylynn. The guards pulled Charlotte out of the ball