It was Sophia Colombo, my best friend, who was calling out to me. She was my bridesmaid for my wedding to Owen.

I must have been feeling a little anxious about the wedding, which was why I had that nightmare.

Owen was the Don of the Thorne family, after all. He had plenty of women by his side. As for me, I was just a former Principessa from the bankrupt Warwick family. He wanted me to feel secure about our relationship and promised me an unforgettable wedding.

He wanted me to be the world's happiest woman.

…

I held Owen's hand and walked to the priest. Our friends and family were there as witnesses with their blessings.

"Emma, are you willing to take Owen as your lawfully-wedded husband?"

Owen was holding up the ring box in front of me while looking deeply into my eyes. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world. I smiled and was about to say 'I do', a phrase I had been waiting a long time to say out loud, when my gaze suddenly met the eyes of a man past Owen's shoulders. He was seated right next to the stage when I looked at him in disbelief.

It was like my nightmare had appeared right before my eyes, and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. It was him!

The man was wearing a black suit. He had harsh features but could still be considered very good-looking. There was an obvious scar on his face.

He looked just like the man who had lunged at me in my dreams.

No, I was right. It was him! I was so sure of it that fear started to engulf me. Was that really a dream? Why would the man I dreamed of appear here?

I was so scared that I started to tremble. Owen thought I was feeling nervous from the excitement, but the truth was that I was so scared, I wanted to escape right away.

My mind was in a mess, and I had no idea how I got through the ceremony. I kept focusing on the man with the scar on his face through the corners of my eyes.

After the ceremony, I saw the man suddenly standing up. He walked out to get on a call, and I followed him without thinking. This was too much of a coincidence, and I had to find out what was going on.

I followed the man as he stood outside the church. I could hear his conversation on the phone. "Hurry up and get here. The wedding has ended. That's five million well spent. She really is the most beautiful woman in Arenville. She's at least a D cup, and one look was enough to get me going.

"Owen must really need the money. I can't believe he's willing to put such a gorgeous specimen's virginity up for sale."

I stood stunned where I was. Five million? Virginity for sale? His words matched the line I heard in my dream exactly, and his malicious laughter sounded exactly like the one I heard in my dream. A chill ran down my spine.

I had to make a run for it! I covered my mouth and turned to leave.

I accidentally kicked the bin next to my foot and made a loud noise.

"Who is that?!" I heard the man's footsteps quickly approaching, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest from nervousness. If my dream were true, I could not let him discover me!

I turned frantically to run out of there. However, I suddenly remembered him saying that those people were about to arrive. I would be caught if I ran out.

There was no choice but to turn the other way and keep running up the stairs. I could hear the powerful steps behind me getting closer and closer. I was so scared that I ran out of the stairwell and into the church corridors.

I kept dashing forward without knowing which floor I was on. All I could do was knock on every door I saw.

"Is anyone in there? Open up! Please open up!" I knocked on several room doors, but no one answered. The rooms might be empty, or no one was willing to open their room doors for me.

That was until I crashed into a room door in a panic, and the door actually opened. I was so happy that I dashed into the room and closed the door behind me.

The door separated me from that man. I covered my mouth and hid behind the door until those frightening steps got farther and farther away and vanished. I was finally relieved.

I jumped when my phone suddenly rang. I looked at it and saw that the call was from Owen.

The memory of that dream made me want to hang up, but my feelings for him surpassed the horror of the dream, and I decided to find out the truth from him. So, I picked up the call.

Owen's anxious voice was heard coming from the other end of the call. "Where are you, Emma? I can't find you anywhere."

I tried my best to suppress the fear in my heart and calmed myself down before finally replying, "Owen? I got a headache from all the people and noise, so I left to get some medicine."

"You left?!" Owen's pitch suddenly became high, and for the first time in my life, he questioned me in a panic, "Where are you? Tell me! Stay where you are and don't move. I'm coming over to pick you up!" He sounded like he was worried I would run off.

My heart sank. I could not help feeling suspicious and scared. I told him the name of a drugstore near the church before hanging up.

Almost immediately after I hung up, I heard a phone ringing in the corridor outside.

"What? She left? Why didn't you watch her properly? Get out there and drag her back here!" It was the voice of that man. He had not left!

I pushed my ear up against the door to listen carefully.

"If she escapes, Owen, I'll cut you to pieces tonight!" The man hung up immediately after threatening Owen viciously. He left the floor very quickly.

He must have really left this time, but I could not cheer up at all. The revelation of being betrayed by the man I loved almost had me breaking down. I could not believe that the ridiculous dream I had the night before was coming true.

Owen had sold my virginity to a bunch of men. It was true that he needed money, and it was true that I had been sold for five million to others, including the man with the scar on his face. All of it was true!

Owen was crazy! How could he sell me to 30 men? How could he do this to me and betray me when I loved him so much? I hated him as much as I loved him before. He deserved to be chopped into pieces.

I took a deep breath and tried my best to suppress my anger. It was more important for me to escape from this place than try to kill Owen. Owen and the man with the scar on his face would discover I had lied to them soon enough.

I had to escape this place before they returned and make sure they never catch me.

I struggled to help myself up by leaning against the door and reached out for the door handle. Right then, a chiseled arm came from behind me to grab my wrist. Fear engulfed me, and my heart skipped a beat. I could hardly breathe.

I jerked my head around to look and saw a tall, slender man standing against the light. He was wearing a pair of golden-rimmed glasses that looked good on his handsome face, but when he looked at me, I could see the excitement and taunting in his eyes.

"Where are you trying to run to, pretty little liar?"

There was someone in this room! A chill ran down my spine, and my blood froze. I bit his hand without hesitation, and he let go of me while shouting in pain.

I took the opportunity to pull my hand away and unlock the door to run out. However, before I could leave the room, the man's long arm clasped around my waist. A powerful force that I could not fight against pulled me off the ground.

The next second, I was flung violently onto the bed, and I saw black momentarily. The world spun around me as all that was left inside of me was endless panic.

The man closed the door and locked it. I looked at him cautiously as he smiled and slowly took off the coat of his suit. He removed his tie while staring at me with his sharp eyes. He did not bother to hide his gaze as he stared at my face and moved his eyes down to my chest, waist, and thighs.

He even took the time to admire my feet, which had become dirty after I lost my shoes while running away.

He approached me slowly and grabbed my calf with such force that I was unable to escape from his grip. "Peter was right. It's five million well spent."

The man laughed huskily as he suddenly reached out to violently force my legs apart as if he were inspecting his goods. He did not hesitate at all, and it felt like there was no way for me to resist it.

My body trembled slightly from the force of it as I was unprepared. Muffled moans escaped from my lips involuntarily. It did not take long for the man to start breathing heavily.

The eyes behind those glasses were filled with a strong desire to possess me. I was startled when I saw the huge bulge appear almost instantly in the area.

I quickly turned over in an attempt to escape, but he seemed to have anticipated my movement. He grabbed me by the throat the moment I tried to run.

"Don't move! If you're a good girl, I'll allow you to only sleep with me." He spoke calmly, but his tone was domineering. "But if you're disobedient, I'll have every last one of them take turns with you!"

The man stared right at me with his cold eyes. My blood froze when I saw in his eyes that he wanted to plunder my innocent body. He was like an experienced and dangerous hunter, while I was the prey he had just captured. Any struggle against him was futile.

It scared me to even make any slight movements. If I angered him, he might not mind handing me over to the other predators and sharing me with them.

I remembered how I was groped and grabbed by numerous hands as those men surrounded and sexually assaulted me in that nightmare. They had their way with me until I finally vanished from the world.

I wanted to convince myself that it was nothing but a dream and that this was just a coincidence, but the truth before me told me that I was deceiving myself. If everything in the dream were to come true…

It frightened me so much that I felt weak all over and fell limply onto the bed. Even my breathing felt weak. My sudden act of docility might have pleased the man as he pressed onto me in a good mood and kissed me on the corner of my lips.

"Be good, Baby," he said huskily. "I won't hurt you if you're a good girl."

I trembled while forcing myself to think clearly as I questioned him, "Who exactly are all of you? Why are you treating me this way?"

"All of us? We're all just your husband's clients." When the man smiled, he looked like a polite gentleman with his golden-rimmed glasses on his face. However, the hand he placed between my legs treated me roughly.

It felt like he was getting impatient, which was why his fingers were particularly violent when they went in and out of me. They stirred so hard inside of me that I could hardly take it. I could not stop him from invading my body, and this made it even more imperative for me to escape.

I grabbed his arm and begged him, "How much did all of you pay Owen? Was it five million? I'll give you six million to let me go. Please!"

The man laughed and shook his head. "You're wrong, baby. It's not five million total. It's five million per person." He slowly removed the veil from my head. "Thirty of us paid a five-million fee each to take your virginity."

My eyes widened in shock as I saw the glint in his eyes. He carried me up from the bed and straddled me on his lap. "You need to pay us at least 150 million. Do you have that kind of money?"

No, I did not. I did not have that much money, but I refused to give up. I begged the man in front of me like the good girl he wanted me to be, "I'll give everything I have to you. You can have all of my money. Please let me go. Please?"

There was no way I could pay 30 men, but I could at least afford to pay the man in front of me first. I thought he would let me leave on account of the money, but he suddenly laughed. The man pinched my cheek and whispered into my ear, "But I don't lack five million, baby. Compared to five million, what I really want is you."

Why me? Why did he refuse to let me go? A look of despair appeared on my face. Was it really impossible for me to escape? I could not accept that! "Who exactly are you people? Tell me. I need to know the answer!"

The man was convinced that I had no way of escaping, which was why he did not mind revealing more information. "Have you heard of Vincent Corleone, baby? He's known as Don Corleone to the people of Socario. He's the Don who holds absolute power and has full control of this state."

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. There was a tinge of respect in his amused tone. "We initially bought you as a special present for him as congratulations for becoming the new Don. After all, who wouldn't like such a beautiful bride like you?"

The man laughed softly. Then, there was a slight look of regret on his face. "Too bad Don Corleone believes in the ancient rules of Socario. He's fully focused on conducting those boring, legitimate businesses and has no interest in fun, hunting games like this. He left without even revealing himself."

He leaned in close to me and licked his lips greedily. "If Don Corleone doesn't appreciate this gift, the rest of us don't mind opening it up for him…"

The man tore the wedding gown off me right away, revealing my naked body in front of him. His hand was like a cold, venomous snake that groped every part of my body with a force that I was not able withstand.

He grabbed my leg the next second to lift it onto his shoulder. He lowered his head while pushing his pants halfway down his leg. I screamed when I felt his warm, throbbing rod push into my body. "No! Don't touch me!"