
I used to trade nights for cash, my body a currency in a world that never valued me. Then Alex walked into my life—steady, kind, real. For the first time, I wanted more than survival. But the past doesn’t let go easily. The people I owe are coming, and now they want to use him against me. I have to choose: run and lose everything we’ve built, fight and risk it all, or surrender and become their pawn again.

CRIMSON SILK & STOLEN HEARTS
I used to trade nights for cash, my body a currency in a world that never valued me. Then Alex walked into my life—steady, kind, real. For the first time, I wanted more than survival. But the past doesn’t let go easily. The people I owe are coming, and now they want to use him against me. I have to choose: run and lose everything we’ve built, fight and risk it all, or surrender and become their pawn again.My hands won’t stop shaking as I stare at the burner phone on the bathroom sink. The message is simple: ‘Midnight. Docks. Come alone—or he finds out everything.’
I splash water on my face, avoiding my reflection. Alex is making dinner downstairs, humming that stupid song he knows I hate. He thinks I’m just stressed. He doesn’t know I used to belong to men like Victor. Men who own secrets—and bodies.
A knock at the door makes me jump. “Sandra? You okay?” His voice is soft, so damn pure.
I swallow hard. “Yeah,” I say. “Just… need a minute.”
But I don’t have a minute. And if I don’t go tonight, Victor will make sure Alex sees the videos. The ones of me before him. Before hope.
