Chapter one : Auctioned off

"Dad, can I not go? Can you not sell me to those people?" asked Madison Copper, the girl that was just about to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. She was kneeling down and clutching her adoptive fathers shirt with a tear-streaked face, begging her father not to auction her off. After all, she didn't believe that she was going to fall into the hands of a good person. The experience from her adoptive parents was enough of a lesson to make her lower her expectations when it came to human nature. She had always craved for warmth, but all she got was insults and torments. Realising that she had no one to rely on but herself, she lowered her expectations. She always heard people say that no one could understand the human heart. At that time, she always thought that it was a joke. She only came to understand those words when she left the orphanage. After all, even though she would suffer in the orphanage from time to time, it was nothing compared to the worst fate she experienced in the hands of her adoptive parents. There was a point that Madison felt like taking her own life, however, the thought that she could somehow in the future change the lives of many people, who were in the same precarious situation like hers, she would throw the suicidal thoughts to the back of her mind.

Her voice was still echoing in the room when the door was pushed open from the outside. Her adoptive mother immediately entered.

"Mother." Madison looked at her pitifully. She thought that maybe her adoptive mother would take pity on her and plead on her behalf. However, to her dismay, her mother only snorted at her and focused on her adoptive father.

"What are you still waiting for? Take her out of here. Do you want to miss the auction?" Mrs. Cooper, Madison's adoptive mother, chided her husband.

Startled by his wife's sudden yell, the henpecked husband, Mr. Cooper, immediately came back to his senses and nodded his head repeatedly.

"Yes yes, right away honey." After saying that, Mr. Cooper didn't wait for anything else and immediately dragged Madison, who was still kneeling on the floor, up with force, making her stumble. Were it not for her right balance, she would have fallen on the ground by now. As she was being dragged away, she couldn't help but forcefully pull out her hand from her adoptive father's and face her adoptive mother, who had her hands on her waist and was glaring daggers at Madison, her eyes filled with bone-chilling hatred. This hatred was what startled Madison the most. She wondered why her adoptive mother would hate her to that extent?

"Why?" Teary eyed, Madison opened her mouth and asked. Her voice had turned hoarse from the continuous crying, but at that moment, she didn't care. She only wanted to know why she was being sold off so suddenly.

Of course, her adoptive mother understood the question well, were it not for the fact that she was far from her, she would have slapped Madison across the face. Just the thought of her made Mrs Cooper gnash her teeth in hatred.

"Ha! Why? You dare ask me that? If it wasn't for the fact that the fortune teller said you'd bring luck to us so that I could conceive, do you think I'd have bothered with a lowlife like you? Now it's been eight years, but I see no change. What's the use of keeping you here? Moreover, our company is facing a crisis, it's only right for us to sell you off so that you can pay us the upkeep fee." Mrs. Cooper said coldly.

She didn't care what her reaction would be like. She only wanted to vent. After pouring out her pent-up grievances, she felt much better. However, Madison was only feeling cold. Her entire body, including her heart, only felt cold. She never would have thought that was what her adoptive parents thought of her. Even though she was not their blood, couldn't they have treated her a little bit better? Madison knew she was greedy, too. Perhaps no one owed her such warmth. She was just expecting things in vain. Tired of looking like a clown, she turned her back on her adoptive mother and walked out with slow but heavy steps, which seemed to describe her current feelings.

Mr. Cooper looked at the girl who had suddenly stopped causing a ruckus and sighed inwardly. When he saw her slumped shoulders, he suddenly felt a pang in his heart. He wanted to say something but refrained from doing so in the end. He sighed and followed her out.

An hour later, at a famous auction centre, Madison arrived accompanied by her adoptive father with her hands tied together in rope. She didn't show any panic or anything of that kind. She only showed despair. After all, there was nothing else she could feel at that moment. The parents she had tried her best to please by doing their bidding suddenly were selling her, telling her she had exhausted her value to them. What else could she think of at such a time? Moreover, she knew that she was going to fall into another pair of cruel hands. At that moment, It felt like truly there was nothing worth living for. What only motivated her was the fact that she had just sat for her college entrance examinations and was waiting for the results. Maybe she could be able to change the world and lives of many people! However, she dared not have any hope about it. What if she didn't have the time to go to university when the time came? She had already braced herself for the worst. However, she still felt a pang of sadness in her chest. She wondered, was it really wrong for someone to be an orphan?

It wasn't that she was looking down on herself. It was the fact that everywhere she went, she would always be despised because of the fact that she came from the orphanage.

After her adoptive father whispered something to the MC on the stage, he pulled her down to sit. Soon, it was time for her to be auctioned. Sure enough, when the men saw her clean, beautiful, and fragile body and face, they felt the need to get their hands on her. They just felt that they had to protect her well. They even wondered what her parents were thinking when they were auctioning her.

True enough, Madison was the most beautiful around both in school and at home. She was so beautiful that she would always attract envious gazes and hatred wherever she went. Madison was typically a shy girl. Being scrutinised by so many people in the auction hall, she couldn't help but lower her head. Nonetheless, people had already seen her exquisite face. The auction hall was filled with noise clamouring and bidding;

"One hundred thousand dollars," a voice said from the crowd. It was from a handsome youth who appeared like a spoilt brat;

Another voice chipped in;

"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars "

"Five hundred thousand dollars "

An arrogant, yet cold voice came from the back. It was the voice from a famous wrestling champion in the country. When people looked over and saw him, those who wanted to bid immediately quietened down,

Seeing this, the MC of the auction announced;

"Five hundred thousand dollars going once, five hundred thousand dollars going twice