Chapter 1
The sun rises every morning over the horizon, flooding the world with light—that’s nature’s unchanging law. But in my world, the sun has already set... It’s been over a week since I last felt its warmth or saw its golden rays. Time feels like it’s stopped for me, like night and day forgot to switch places.
I open my eyes with a heavy heart. The silence around me is like a graveyard. I’m sinking deeper into this darkness, a dark ocean where no one can save me. The darkness is so thick sometimes I can’t even feel myself.
Suddenly, a harsh, unpleasant sound of the door breaks the heavy silence. That sound pierced my heart like a dagger. I try to get up, but my body won’t obey. My legs are so weak, so powerless, it feels like life has completely turned away from me. I’m weak as always, defenseless as always...
Staring at the door in the dark, only one question echoes inside me: “What’s waiting for me this time?”
Dragging my legs, with trembling hands, I opened the door. Standing there was my stepbrother. The sharp smell of alcohol clung to his clothes, and his bloodshot eyes felt like a death sentence. His gaze was full of so much hatred, it was like he was ready to strangle me right then and there. Yes, I’m useless to everyone, just a worthless thing left abandoned at the edge of the world... No one to lean on, no shelter.
He stared coldly at me for a moment, then suddenly roared and grabbed my hair. Pain shot through my whole body, but I didn’t even have the strength to scream. He dragged me like a dog into the room and started beating me mercilessly. Each blow didn’t just hit my body—it shattered my broken spirit even more. The reason was painfully simple: his blood didn’t run through my veins, I was just a stranger to him.
Jack leaned close to my face and hissed with hatred:
— The day I get rid of you has come, Miso! I sold you off. You were born a slave, and a slave you’ll remain!
Hearing those words didn’t bring me joy or sorrow. My feelings were frozen. I didn’t even tremble hearing I was sold because my soul had already left this world—only my weak body was left in their hands. Jack’s words echoed in my ears like a death sentence: “I sold you off!”
They handed me over to seven ruthless mafia bosses. To them, I wasn’t even a living person, just a sacrifice for their years of built-up hatred. Their eyes held no mercy, only the black flames of revenge. The name Miso no longer meant freedom—it meant endless torment.
When they brought me to their dark, cold hideout, the chill in my heart was stronger than the cold in my body. Each of the seven men stared at me like they were about to take revenge for some old grudge. I didn’t know what crime I had committed, but their anger was ready to burn my little world to ashes.
They practically threw me into a black-windowed car. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping this nightmare would end, but every passing second reminded me how bitter the truth was. The car stopped in front of a huge, cold mansion that looked like a fortress. This was their place—the lair of the seven bloodthirsty mafia leaders.
They dragged me inside. Even though the lights were on, everything looked dark to my eyes. Someone shook me and threw me to the cold marble floor.
Miso... I lay there, trembling as I looked up at the seven pairs of shoes towering over me. They were the seven cruel mafia members known by name, feared by the whole city. Each looked at me like an angel of death. Their eyes held the remnants of some old, bloody revenge.
“So, this little girl is the prize we’ve caught since that day?” Darian said coldly and firmly. His words echoed through the hall.
Kai pulled out his knife and moved closer to me, his gaze icy:
— It’s a shame to kill her. She needs to feel every blow as our revenge.
They dragged me to a damp, windowless room and locked the heavy door behind me. Now I was not only a prisoner of darkness but also of these seven revenge-thirsty men. I said nothing, didn’t cry. Just curled up in a corner and whispered to myself:
“The revenge you seek isn’t in me, but my body is doomed to suffer...”
Days passed one after another, but time lost all meaning in that chilly room. Wrapped in my own body in the damp corner, I listened to the whispers of life outside. Even though hunger and thirst burned inside me, the pain in my heart was even stronger.
Suddenly, the door lock turned softly. I closed my eyes, expecting the usual blows. But this time, instead of the breath of death, a quiet, different kind of calm entered the room.
Footsteps stopped beside me. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Arin looking down at me with a strange sadness. His eyes didn’t hold the usual flames of hatred, but an unexpected regret, maybe even pity.
He silently crouched next to me and held a cup of water in my trembling hands.
— Drink... — he whispered. His voice was soft, like the moan of a wounded soul.
The cold water touching my lips seemed to bring life back to my body. For a moment, I thought I saw the humanity hidden in his eyes. But that moment didn’t last long. Arin sighed heavily, turned away, and the door closed behind him with that same cold sound.
Darkness returned to its throne. Days went by... I was the prisoner of these seven giants, but that one sip of water and Arin's sad look sparked a small question in my heart: “Do they want to kill me, or do they just enjoy my suffering?”
My heart is too small to hold the weight of this world’s hatred. I only wanted to live. To see the sunrise, to run beneath the rain... But now, my greatest longing is the sea. I dream of sitting by the shore, watching the waves wash over my feet, hoping they might carry away the bloodstained scars on my soul. I want the salt of the ocean to mingle with my tears and drown me in a place where no one can ever hurt me again.
But the sea only exists in my dreams. Every time I open my eyes, the reality of this suffocating dampness and this lightless corner crawls back into my skin.
'Why me?' I whisper with lips so parched they've forgotten the taste of water. Even my voice sounds like it has already died.
These seven monster who hold me captive... are they even human? Or are they just shadows that feed on my suffering? Arin's gaze that day... for a fleeting second, I thought he had planted a seed of hope in my chest. But I realize now: hope is the cruelest weapon in hell. It gives you just enough strength to survive, only so they can break you all over again.
Mother, if you ever find me, please... don't look into my eyes. The girl you knew isn't there anymore. In her place, there is only the ash of burnt dreams and a coldness that never ends."
Nearly a week has bled away, and I am still decaying in this hollow silence. Seven days of shadows, seven centuries of agony.
I sit here, curled into a fragile ball in this damp corner, shivering not from the cold, but from the realization of my own existence. Mother... where are you? I would trade my last breath just to lean against you, to hear your voice call my name one more time. What did I do to deserve this? Whose path did I cross so wrongly that my life was turned into a living hell?
