💘Before the Dawn💘

The velvet ribbons fell to the floor like discarded skin. Kenya popped a gold-leaf macaron into her mouth, her eyes scanning the mountain of designer boxes still left to open.

"Is this it?" she muttered, tossing a diamond-encrusted watch onto the bed with a yawn. "I told Father I wanted the pink diamond, not the clear."

Outside, the snow of December 23rd fell softly, but inside the mansion, the air was thick with the scent of expensive sugar and Kenya’s suffocating boredom. She didn't care that the world was freezing; she was warm, rich, and untouchable.

Then, the world shattered.

A deafening crash of glass erupted from downstairs. Kenya didn't panic; she was annoyed. She marched toward the kitchen, heels clicking sharply. "If the staff broke the crystal centerpiece again, I’ll have them—"

She stopped. The words died in her throat.

The kitchen was a slaughterhouse of broken porcelain and blood. Her father, the man who had bought her the world, was curled on the floor, his face unrecognizable under the heavy boots of three men. In the adjacent room, her mother’s rhythmic, terrified screams were being muffled by a coarse hand.

"Ah, the little princess finally joins us," a man with a jagged scar across his nose sneered. He stepped over her father’s limp body. "Do you have any idea how many zeros are at the end of your father’s debt, sweetheart? 400 billion. And he’s decades behind on the interest."

"Get out," Kenya hissed, her ego fighting through the terror. "My father will have you killed for—"

Before she could finish, a hand clamped into her hair.

"Aah!" She was yanked backward so hard her neck snapped back, her eyes watering.

"Your father can't even pay for his own life, let alone yours," the leader growled, leaning into her ear. He forced her to look at the man on the floor. "Watch."

Bang.

A single shot silenced her father’s groans forever.

"Boss," a voice called from the other room. "The mother’s gone. Her heart gave out. Guess she couldn't handle the 'festivities'."

Kenya’s breath hitched. Her world—the mansions, the silk, the arrogance—was being burned to ash in seconds. The leader gripped her jaw, squeezing until she felt her teeth might crack.

"Don't waste the girl," the leader said, his eyes dark with a sickening hunger. "She’s pure. The auction houses will pay a fortune for a pedigree like this. But... we have a week before the next bidding starts. No sense in letting her go to waste while she's still fresh."

The next seven days were a blur of cold concrete and agony. They didn't treat her like a human; they treated her like a stray dog they hated. They fed her scraps when they remembered, and used her body to vent their cruelty when they were bored.

The arrogance was beaten out of her. The ego was starved away. By the seventh day, Kenya couldn't even remember the color of the pink diamond she had wanted.

Today is the day.

The bright lights of the auction stage blinded her as she was pushed out, draped in nothing but a thin, translucent silk that did nothing to hide the bruises. A collar sat heavy on her neck.

"Lot 402," the announcer shouted over the roar of wealthy monsters in the crowd. "Untouched until a week ago. High pedigree. Starting bid: 50 million."

Kenya looked out into the darkness of the theater, her spirit broken, waiting to see which devil would buy what was left of her soul.