Liora

e air. Suddenly, it was too quiet. Inside, it was a different world. It smelled like brand-new leather and an expensive, wood-scented cologne. The seats

uching. He pressed a button on the armrest, and a small black partition slid up, hiding the driver f

ut to faint. I can't bring a half-dead girl to s

father's broken watch. I could feel the gold-plated metal digging into my pa

voice sounded tiny in the plush inter

like Darian Volkov needs something, he doesn't just look. We know everything. We know about the $512,000

h the heater. I felt naked. Exposed. "You

someone young. Healthy. And most importantly... someone with no ties. No boyfriend to cause a scene. No powerful family to i

ce. Somewhere in that maze of concrete, my mother was being wheeled tow

oice barely a whisper. "What kind of se

ov is the head of a multi-billion dollar empire. But empires are fragile without an heir. His

ts a wife?

iora. He doesn't want a wife who will take half his fortune in a divorce. He wants a biological

ault. I felt sick. "You

imple. You will live in the Volkov estate. You will have the best medical care, the best food, and every luxu

way to

number hang there. "That is enough to pay off every cent of your mother's bills. It's enough to buy

ed paper in my hand. Then I thought about the baby. A baby. My brain

... if I can't l

ou will sign is ironclad. You will be a shadow in that house. A ghost w

et and pulled out a cell

ou texting

"I'm telling them to stop the transport. I'm tell

into tears. My mother would stay. She would liv

iora... I haven'

p, his thumb hoveri

v is not a kind man. He is a king who expects total obedience. If you agree to th

ne and the beat of my own terrified heart. What am I doing? I thought. I'm selling a per

other's life worth $500,000, or should

t the man who was offering me the

d," I wh

e. He just tapped

ay. "The money is moving. Your mother

e it. But as the car sped toward the giant glass towers of the city, I realized I