Sold To The Monster: My Silent Nightmare
I’ve spent eighteen hundred days as a silent ghost in the Crawford estate, a place where the air smells of expensive cigars and terror. My father, Senator Jed Bowen, sold me to Alek Crawford to pay off his gambling debts, trading his daughter’s life for a seat in the Senate.
Alek doesn’t just want my service; he wants my complete submission. He tracks my every move through cameras and bruises my skin just to see if I’ll flinch. He thinks he owns me because he holds the contract, and his mother ensures I’m kept in my place with slaps and insults.
When a scandal involving my half-sister and Alek’s brother hit the news, the house turned into a war zone. Alek cornered me in the dark, his hands stained with blood and ink, whispering that I was nothing but a receipt for his family's money. He’s been forcing me to take pills for years, believing they’ve kept me drugged and mute.
"She needs to speak again," he told a surgeon over the phone. "Whatever it takes."
He thinks he’s fixing a broken toy, but he’s actually planning to carve the silence into my throat permanently. He has no idea that I’ve been switching those pills for years, or that I’m more awake and more dangerous than he could ever imagine.
I’ve endured the biting cold and the crushing weight of his obsession, waiting for a single sign that my nightmare could end. Tonight, a secret message reached me in the rain, confirming that the only man I ever loved has finally finished his mission.
Kole is coming back for me.
The contract review is tomorrow, but I’m not planning on signing anything. I’m planning on taking back everything they stole from me, starting with my voice.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 2
Eva slipped into the narrow changing room adjacent to the staff quarters. It was little more than a closet, smelling of bleach and starch.
She locked the door. She jiggled the handle, ensuring the deadbolt had fully engaged. Click.
Safe.
She exhaled, a long, shaky breath that rattled in her chest. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of her uniform. She peeled the fabric away, revealing pale skin marred by the red imprint of Alek's fingers on her jaw.
She looked at herself in the small, cracked mirror above the sink. Her eyes were hollow, dark circles bruising the skin beneath them.
She turned on the faucet. The water ran cold. She splashed it onto her face, the shock of it grounding her, pulling her out of the panic spiral.
The doorknob turned.
It wasn't a rattle. It was a slow, deliberate rotation.
Eva froze, water dripping from her chin. She stared at the door in the mirror's reflection.
The sound of metal sliding against metal followed. A key.
The lock disengaged with a heavy thud.
Eva spun around, clutching her unbuttoned uniform together at her chest.
Alek stepped inside.
He filled the small space instantly. He didn't look drunk, which was worse. He looked focused. Predatory.
He closed the door behind him. He turned the lock, sealing them in.
Eva backed up until her hips hit the edge of the small vanity table. There was nowhere to go. The walls seemed to shrink, pressing in on her.
Alek took a step forward. His eyes dropped to her shoulder, where the uniform had slipped, revealing the curve of her collarbone.
"Hiding?" he asked. His voice was devoid of humor.
Eva opened her mouth to scream, but the conditioning choked her. Be silent. Be invisible. Only a harsh exhale of air escaped her lips.
Alek smirked. "Pathetic."
He reached out. He didn't go for her skin. He grabbed the collar of her uniform.
Rip.
The sound of tearing fabric was deafening in the small room. Buttons popped, pinging against the tiled floor like hail.
Eva gasped, instinctively bringing her hands up to push him away. Her palms hit his chest. It was like pushing against a marble wall.
He caught her wrists in one hand, pinning them above her head against the mirror.
With his free hand, he swept the toiletries off the vanity. Bottles of lotion and hairspray crashed to the floor, rolling into the corners.
He pressed his body against hers, trapping her. He buried his face in the crook of her neck.
His teeth grazed her sensitive skin. It wasn't a kiss. It was a claim. A bite.
Pain sparked, sharp and immediate. Tears pricked Eva's eyes, hot and stinging. Her body began to tremble, violent shudders racking her frame.
Alek stopped.
He didn't pull away, but he froze. He could feel her shaking against him. He could feel the terror radiating off her skin like heat.
He pulled back, just enough to look at her.
Eva's face was wet with tears. Her eyes were wide, pleading, terrified.
Something flickered in Alek's expression. His brows knitted together. The cruelty in his eyes wavered, replaced by a flash of confusion, maybe even... regret?
Click-clack. Click-clack.
The sharp staccato of high heels on the hallway tile cut through the tension.
"Alek!"
Hester Crawford's voice was a whip crack.
Alek flinched. The spell broke. The confusion vanished, replaced by a mask of annoyance.
Hester pounded on the door. "Open this door. Now. I know you're in there."
Alek cursed under his breath. He released Eva's wrists.
Eva slid down the wall, collapsing onto the floor amidst the scattered bottles. She pulled the torn edges of her uniform together, curling into a ball.
Alek straightened his jacket. He ran a hand through his hair, composing himself in a split second.
He unlocked the door and pulled it open.
Hester Crawford stood there, dressed in impeccable silk, her face a mask of icy rage. She didn't look at her son. Her gaze went straight past him, landing on Eva.
Her lip curled. Pure disgust.
"Mother," Alek said, stepping into her line of sight.
"Get out of the way," Hester snapped. "You're late for the conference call with the board. And you're here... playing with the help? Don't give me that pathetic, wide-eyed look, girl. I know exactly what you're doing."
"It's none of your business," Alek growled.
"Everything in this house is my business," Hester retorted. "Especially when it threatens the family name."
While they locked eyes, Eva saw the opening.
She scrambled to her feet. She grabbed a spare oversized janitor's jacket hanging on a hook near the door.
She bolted.
She squeezed past Alek and Hester, her bare feet slapping against the cold floor.
"Hey!" Hester shouted.
Eva didn't look back. She ran down the corridor, the oversized jacket billowing around her. She turned a corner, then another, her lungs burning.
She found a supply closet at the end of the service hall. She threw herself inside and pulled the door shut, sliding down into the darkness among the mops and buckets.
You may also like
9.1
My husband, Dante Moretti, the feared Underboss, signed the divorce papers I slipped him without a glance. Too busy texting his true love, Sofia, he was blind to the annulment decree ending everything. The Reaper couldn't see the death of his own marriage.
For three years, I was Elena, his silent wife, the "Caged Canary," cleaning his messes while meticulously planning my escape from our loveless world.
He dismissed me for Sofia's every whim, publicly shaming me after a past love letter was read, then abandoning me again for her fake crisis.
That night, he violently shoved me against a wall, leaving me bleeding and concussed, rushing instead to protect Sofia. Discarded and injured, my invisible love became a weapon against me.
His crushing blindness, the cold realization I was a mere placeholder, fueled a profound injustice. How could he be so lethal, yet oblivious to his wife, favoring the one who betrayed him?
With chilling resolve, I uploaded Sofia's confession, initiated a massive financial transfer dismantling his empire, and staged my own death. Under a new identity, I fled to San Francisco, ready to build my power, far from his bloody, deceitful world.
9.2
Slave to her pack, Delilah Hunt has suffered the worst betrayal from those she considered family. Turning from a Sentinel to a wolfless member of the pack, she has lost all hope. Not until she met General Kane, the executioner.
Kane lost all empathy and developed a stony heart years ago when his birth mother was banished by his father. He never bothered to search for his mate, refusing to love or be loved by anyone. He lived closed off from the rest of the world except a few of his pack members. But an encounter with Delilah Hunt, one of his many prisoners, sets off something in him.
For how long would he be able to resist their bond?
8.1
My fiancé, Freddie, signed the papers to have me committed to a mental asylum. He told everyone my "episodes" were becoming a liability to his family's pristine reputation.
The truth was, he and his mistress, Jessie, wanted me out of the way. They painted me as a hysterical, unstable psycho so their affair could continue without a single complication.
I spent my last days in a chemical haze, trapped and forgotten. My final memory wasn't of love or compassion, but of orderlies forcing my head under the stagnant, drugged water of an asylum bathtub. Freddie just watched, his face cold and indifferent as I drowned.
He stole my life, my sanity, and my future. He got away with murder while playing the part of the devoted, heartbroken fiancé to a world that believed his every lie.
Until I opened my eyes again.
The blinding Hampton sun stabbed my retinas, and the smell of chlorine filled my lungs. I wasn't in the asylum. I was back at the Madden family's annual summer party, three years before my death.
Across the pool, I saw Freddie laughing with Jessie. They thought they had won.
They had no idea I was back from the dead to burn their entire world to the ground.
9.4
Hayley was betrayed by those who should have loved her most. To save their precious adopted daughter from a punishment she deserved, her own parents sent Hayley straight into a living hell—an infamous prison where survival demanded cruelty, and weakness meant death.
Four years later, the girl who had entered those iron gates no longer existed. She emerged with a single, unbreakable rule carved into her soul: Every betrayal would be repaid tenfold.
The day she walked free, the world trembled. A convoy of luxury cars lined the road. A legion of loyal followers awaited her triumphant return.
Her father tried to buy her silence with money. But money had long lost its power over her.
Her adopted sister hid behind sweet words and false kindness. But empty smiles no longer fooled her.
Everything that had once been stolen would be reclaimed—piece by piece.
When her parents attempted to tie themselves to the city's most feared man by offering their adopted daughter, Hayley's lips curved into a cold smirk. "Not on my watch."
Backed by a legendary hacker, shadowy allies, and an entire prison willing to burn the world for her, Hayley dismantled her enemies with terrifying precision.
Then the tyrant noticed her. "You're interesting," he said. "Be my woman, and the city is yours."
Hayley raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You want to own me? Survive me first."
High society became their battlefield. Power collided with desire. Ambition clashed with obsession. In this ruthless game of dominance and temptation, only one would kneel first.
The girl once abandoned in hell rose from its ashes, crowned by fire and vengeance—And in the end, even the most feared ruler in the city would bow, offering his empire to the woman who had conquered both hell… and him.
8.1
She never imagined love would begin with a marriage she didn't want.
Forced into a union to save her family, Elena promised herself one thing, she would never love her husband.
But the man she hated was nothing like she expected...
And the heart she tried to protect slowly betrayed her.
8.4
Eleven years ago, Damien Falcone pulled me from the freezing waters, and I thought I was marrying my savior.
Instead, he orchestrated my absolute ruin by forging evidence to frame me for selling a vital mafia bootlegging route to the FBI.
Under the guise of saving me from the family's brutal death sentence, he stripped away my future as his Mafia Queen. He dragged me to New York and locked me in a gilded penthouse cage. For eleven years, I rotted away as his secret prisoner until my failing body finally gave out.
As I collapsed in the freezing New York snow, he caught me, his hands trembling as he held my dying body against his chest.
"No, Fia, stay with me. I did it to keep you alive. I had to—"
I didn't want to hear his monstrous lies anymore. I had given him all my love, and he repaid me with a tomb. Loving him was the only unforgivable sin I ever committed.
"I pray... we never meet again."
When the howling wind faded, I opened my eyes to the heavy stench of rust and lake water. I wasn't dead.
I was back in the cramped cabin of a cargo freighter, exactly sixteen years old again. It was the very night my jealous cousin sent an assassin to carve up my face and void my marriage to the Falcone family.
This time, I quietly gripped the heavy oak slat under my mattress.