Chapter 23: Chapter 23

SARAH

She was happy, and I felt extremely sad, but I tried not to let my feelings show and forced a joyless smile.

"Didn't the fact that you're no longer a virgin bother him?" I asked, after all, that's what he had bid for in an auction.

"Why would it bother him?" She responded rhetorically, showing little concern.

"You're right. There's no reason for such concern anymore."

I concluded that the situation had become insignificant. He was completely captivated by Rachel, and in the end, he fulfilled his strange fetish by conquering the virgin he desired so much.

After a brief moment of silence, it was evident that Rachel was savoring the feeling of no longer worrying about loan sharks or living in a small apartment in a lower-middle-class neighborhood. Considering how important my status was to my sister, this achievement was truly significant for her. I decided to retreat to my room, but before doing so, I made it clear what I thought about the situation.

"I can't judge you if you don't mind selling yourself like that," I spoke my mind, "but I won't condone it either."

I stood up from my spot beside her on the sofa and was about to leave the room when Rachel seemed to grasp the meaning of my words.

"Hey!" she shouted when I was already holding the doorknob in my room.

"I just spoke my mind, Rachel. But you're an adult, and you know very well what you're doing with your life."

"You're mistaken, sister. I didn't sell myself or anything like that."

I turned back to her, waiting for her to explain her words further.

"So, what did you have that Kael Graham could desire?"

"You, Sarah," she said, leaving me completely disoriented, "Kael Graham wants you in his bed for a month."

I couldn't say anything as I felt the world spinning around me, and darkness took over at that moment. It was only a few minutes later that I realized dizziness had struck me, causing me to faint in horror upon learning of the new agreement between my sister and Kael Graham.

I was sold by my twin sister.

It was hard to expect anything different from Rachel, as she showed more and more every day that she was a shallow and selfish person. Knowing this shouldn't surprise or hurt me, but unfortunately, she managed to affect me emotionally in both ways.

Bitterly, these thoughts ran through me as Rachel handed me a glass of water, looking at me expectantly. Despite that, I still hesitated, wondering if this gesture was only out of fear that her "deal" could be jeopardized if I had some health problem.

"Do you feel better?" She asked, genuinely concerned.

"A little."

Only now did I realize that I hadn't been eating properly in the last few days. To be honest, since our lives changed drastically, simple tasks became difficult for me, like eating or finding comfort in reading, something I always loved to do. Now, my time was entirely devoted to thinking about how our lives had changed and what steps we should take from here.

While I worried about finding a dignified path forward, Rachel seemed only interested in maintaining her easy life, like a spoiled rich girl who had everything at her disposal, even if it meant sacrificing her dignity.

"I know our perspectives differ, Sarah," Rachel said, settling down next to me with an uncertain expression, "but please try to see things from my point of view. We're beautiful, intelligent, and well-educated. We've had access to everything money can buy. It's not fair that we have to go through this situation now!"

Rachel gestured broadly, highlighting the tiny room with second-hand furniture worn out from previous tenants' use.

"We need to face our reality, Rachel," I insisted, repeating what I had been saying since the moment we found out there was no inheritance for us. "And make the best of what we have."

"And what do you consider 'the best,' Sarah?" Rachel's tone changed as she stood up beside me, visibly upset.

"Getting an honest job, trying to study, and finding a way to improve our living conditions without resorting to selling our bodies. That's what I believe, and I think you should consider it too," I replied firmly.

"How can you settle for being a mere servant, earning a salary that barely covers food, when we could continue enjoying the finer things?" Rachel questioned, now quite agitated.

Seeing Rachel's indignation, I realized that continuing to argue would lead nowhere. For her, the path she was choosing seemed to be the easiest, even though it was clear to me that it wasn't the most fulfilling in the long run.

I decided there was nothing more to do than wait. Wait for time to show my sister that easy choices don't always bring happiness. I just hoped she wouldn't have to suffer too much to learn such a simple lesson.

"I choose to be an honest maid, Rachel," I said, resigned to our differences in thinking.

"You don't get to choose anything!" She shouted, out of control. "You'll stay with Kael Graham until he gets tired of you, which shouldn't take long, considering how annoying and irritating you are. We'll take as much money from him as we can."

I looked at her, truly horrified, as I had never witnessed such a lack of control from my sister, nor had she ever treated me in such a rude and harsh manner.

"We've always been so close," I said sadly.

"Everything is easier when you have plenty of money at your disposal, and you don't even have to worry about what to eat for breakfast, something that has always been so simple for us," she sneered.

I wouldn't give up on my sister just yet. Maybe if I could make her see that the most important thing was to stay united, she would understand that things might be tough, but together, we could overcome the challenges we face today.

"You've always been protective of me, Rachel. I remember that until recently, you took care of me. Always preventing people from taking advantage of my lack of confidence or my gullibility."

"Of course, I took care of you, Sarah," she said, looking at me with a sarcastic laugh that made her next words clear about what she meant. "You were a fool! Naive, with no idea how everyone around us was just selfish, only there for their convenience."

Hearing each word from Rachel hurt deeply. The feeling of being blind to everything around me, including the truth about my sister, was overwhelming. However, despite her terrible conduct towards me, I couldn't allow anything bad to happen to her, especially when it was in my power to help her.

"I simply can't understand what happened to you, sister. Just a few days ago, I knew a Rachel completely different from the person standing before me today. I am..." I tried to think of a word to describe how I was feeling at that moment, but nothing seemed enough to name that sensation in my chest. "I don't even know what words to use to define how I'm feeling right now."

"I don't care about what you're feeling now, Sarah," she dismissed, showing no remorse for her harsh words. "All you need to know is that we don't even have a single dollar in our account, and if I don't pay the loan shark by tonight, he said I might have an unpleasant surprise tomorrow."

I covered my mouth with my hand, open in horror at the loan shark's threats to Rachel. Despite her horrible behavior towards me, I would never allow anything bad to happen to my sister, especially when it depended solely on me to get her out of it.

"Is this what you want to happen?" She pressed on, using her fingers to enumerate, summarizing our current situation. "We have no job, no money. We have an apartment we can't sell, and now we have a loan shark threatening us. And all of this can be solved with a simple word from you."

It wasn't just a "simple word," and I felt my heart tighten. It was a decision that would put me in a horrendous situation, submitting myself to a powerful and unscrupulous man for a month. It would be thirty days where I'd be completely at the mercy of Kael Graham, forced to fulfill all his desires without being able to oppose him. It was evident that his goal was just to satisfy his whims.

"I will go to Kael Graham's bed."