My husband brought me to an underground auction in Budapest.

He was there to show off his new toy, a shop girl who'd clawed her way into his bed.

She pressed against his shoulder, trembling like a frightened rabbit.

"Boss, these people are so brutal... I'm scared."

I couldn't stomach her pathetic act.

"Weren't you the one begging Mason to bring you here? You wanted to 'see the world,' remember?"

"If there were fewer thrill-seekers like you," I added coldly, "maybe fewer souls would be forced onto these stages."

My husband’s response was a chillingly calm defense of his pet. "Darling, why pick a fight with a girl?"

He let her cry into his suit jacket and said nothing more.

But later, he had his men drag me from the restroom and dump my body onto the circular stage in the center of the hall.

Ready to be sold.

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1

When I woke up, I saw Mason Kane standing in the VIP section, his arm draped around Emma's waist.

The spotlights were blinding me.

"You wanted to save the poor souls, didn't you?" he called out. "Well, now you can perform for everyone."

Emma leaned against him like a delicate bird. "But Irene is your wife. It doesn't seem right for her to perform like that."

"What's wrong with it?" he sneered. "She knows all about the art of the human form."

A chain was clasped around my neck, my hands and feet shackled. I was tethered to a steel pole in the middle of the stage like a dog.

I opened my mouth, but my throat was raw.

I could only manage a choked whisper. "Mason Kane, what did you do to me!"

"You're too loud. I was afraid you'd disturb the guests," he said calmly. "It just stops the screaming. You're not going to die."

I was once a well-known figure in Chicago. I cherished my reputation. Now, my own husband had silenced me with poison.

Tears streamed down my face in silence. "Why?"

"My wife is so gorgeous. Of course, more people should get to see her." He smiled. "Stop wasting time. Start your pole dance."

Someone behind me cracked a whip across my back. The force threw me to the floor, and a cold sweat of pain broke out over my body.

The man ordered me to start dancing in accented English.

I looked around in horror. The buyers' eyes were filled with a perverse excitement.

Before me was a cold steel pole. The site of my coming humiliation.

A fall from that would leave me crippled, if not dead.

The guard behind me kept cracking his whip, urging me to get up. When I didn't move, he struck me again and again.

With every lash, a new, bloody gash opened on my back.

Emma couldn't hide her smile anymore. "Mason, if Irene falls and ends up paralyzed, you'll have to take care of her for the rest of her life."

"How about we watch something different?" she suggested. "Let's have her do a striptease."

Mason pinched her chin. "Alright. Whatever you want."

He then announced to the room, "Irene! If your striptease satisfies me tonight, or if any of the bosses here are willing to pay for your freedom, you can leave."

"And if I refuse?"

Mason's smile widened. "I forgot to tell you. You've been sold as one of the auction items."

His words sent a murmur rippling through the crowd.

"Boss Kane, you're really willing to give your wife to us?"

"Even in her late twenties, she's a knockout. That waist, that chest, that ass... she must be a hell of a ride!"

"I'll tell you what, I love a mature woman. They have a certain... depth."

Mason Kane roared with laughter. "If you all like her so much, then start bidding."

"What's the fun in bidding right away?" someone shouted. "Let's see the goods first. Make her strip so we can inspect the merchandise!"

The others joined in, demanding I strip.

The pain in my chest was so sharp I could barely breathe.

"Mason Kane, ten years of marriage," I choked out. "And because I said one thing to Emma, you humiliate me like this?"

"Do you know how much your words hurt her?" he shot back. "Since you're so righteous, why don't you perform for them instead!"

Ten years. I never knew he despised me this much.

I stood up. With a flourish, I tore off my shawl, leaving me in nothing but a backless dress.

The crowd cheered. Men whistled.

"Not bad, Boss Kane! You tell her to strip, and she strips. How did you train her?"

"Damn, I've wanted a taste of this Rossi beauty for a long time. Just watching her move is making me hard."

I then slipped the backless dress off my shoulders, leaving me in a strapless bra and panties, covering only what was necessary.

Emma shrieked. "Oh my god, is Irene really going to strip naked? Maybe just have her apologize to me. It's so indecent to be naked in front of so many people."

"Irene," Mason called down. "Get on your knees for Emma. Beg me to let you go, and I'll let you keep your last shred of dignity."

I stood defiantly. "Today, I belong to the highest bidder!"

The room erupted.

"Boss Kane, I'll pay one million dollars!"

Mason's face soured. "Is my wife worth only a million?"

"Ten million dollars!" another voice yelled.

Mason's cold eyes locked on me. "Let me explain the rules before you bosses continue."

"The bidding starts at fifty million dollars!"

"Boss Kane, that's insane! As beautiful as Irene is, she's his leftovers. Fifty million? Is she worth that much?"

"Exactly. A woman pushing thirty, after you've had her for ten years? Ten million is generous."

Emma giggled. "Irene, they don't think you're worth much. What are you going to do? If no one buys you, you'll be stripping here for the rest of your life."

"Maybe you should pay for your own freedom," she mocked. "Oh, I forgot. The Rossi family went bankrupt, didn't they? You're not a princess anymore!"

"I think you'd better start begging Mason. Otherwise, you'll lose what little dignity you have left!"

She giggled and leaned against him. He cradled her dotingly, planting a kiss on her lips.

"Mason Kane, are you proud to have your wife stripping for all these men?" I asked.

His face turned to ice. He had someone bring him a document.

He glanced at it, then tossed it onto the stage.

I picked up the paper. The words DIVORCE AGREEMENT stared back at me.

"I leave with nothing? On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that the Rossi family is dust. Chicago belongs to the Kanes now!"

A bitter laugh escaped me. "When I first met you, you were just a punk on the street."

"Without my help, your business would never have taken off. Now you stab me in the back after everything we've been through? Are you even human?"

"Irene, I've done more than enough for you," he spat. "Letting you keep the title of Mrs. Kane was the last courtesy I could offer. But you had to pick fights with Emma. So this? You brought this on yourself."

Someone from the crowd yelled, "Boss Kane, I heard your wife is barren. You still stayed with her for ten years. I'd say you've been more than generous."

Emma covered her mouth, feigning a giggle. "Mason is just too kind. If it weren't for his gratitude for her past help, he wouldn't have put up with her for a decade."

"But luckily," she purred, "he has me now."

She shyly stroked her flat stomach. "There's a little Mason in here now. I'll make up for all his disappointments."

I couldn't believe it. She was pregnant.

"So, Boss Kane, that means we can play with your wife without any consequences! How nice!"

"Hahaha, she's a natural-born mistress! I want to take her right now!"

"Boss Kane, how about a discount? I'll take her for five million."

"Fifty million," Mason said flatly. "Not a penny less."

"Then how do I know if she's worth it?" the man shot back. "Let her take it all off so I can see the goods."

Mason's eyes bored into me. "Strip."

They thought I'd be scared. Especially Emma. Her face was already set in an expression of smug victory, waiting for me to beg.

Naked? Who comes into this world wearing clothes?

I reached behind my back and unhooked my bra.

The entire hall erupted.

"Look! She has a red poppy tattooed on her chest!"

"It's true!"

Emma scoffed. "She actually took it off. Does she have no shame? And a poppy tattoo to seduce men? How pathetic!"

"I heard the Principessa of the Romano family has a poppy on her chest," someone mused. "Boss Kane, what's your wife's connection to the Romanos?"

"The Romanos? You mean the Italian mafia that runs everything, legal and illegal, all over the world?"

"The very same."

Mason laughed dismissively. "What could she have to do with them? She's just a washed-up, barren woman from a bankrupt family."

"But the Romano princess has a poppy just like that!"

"I bet she just heard about the tattoo and copied it to feel important," Emma sneered.

Suddenly, Mason came down from the VIP section and strode toward me.