Prologue

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ONCE UPON A TIME, a teacher surprised us with a pop quiz.

I was seventeen.

It was my last month of school.

The test comprised of a single question.

What is the worst thing that happened to you, and how did you survive it?

When the class sneered at the seemingly random query, our teacher smiled, and said, “You think this is a stupid question, but really, it’s the most important one you’ll ever answer. Why? Because the worst thing to ever happen to you probably hasn’t found you yet. You’re young. You’re fanciful. You’re naïve. But to know that your life will have battles, arms you for the trials ahead. And the answer that you write on this silly piece of paper will be there, in the back of your mind, keeping you company while you face it.”

I groaned with my classmates.

I joked with my friends.

But I did the work required.

I thought long and hard and scribbled:

The worst thing to happen to me? When Max got drunk and abandoned me at the bonfire party last year. In the middle of nowhere with intoxicated teens everywhere, I was lost and lonely. A guy tried to feel me up. He pushed me against a tree, and the fire glowed behind him while he touched places he shouldn’t.

How did I survive it? By being brave and kneeing the bastard in the balls. By being proactive and arranging a ride home with a friend’s older sister. By being unforgiving and dumping Max. By being wise and never forgetting the boy who tried to take what wasn’t his to take.

The teacher didn’t require us to sign our names.

We handed in our confessions anonymously.

She was right, that teacher.

We were young.

We were fanciful.

I was naïve.

Naïve to think a childish party with raging hormones and reckless drinking would be the worst thing to ever happen to me.

Now, four years later, I had a different answer to scribble down.

An answer I wished I knew how to survive.

The worst thing to ever happen to me? Being stolen, sold, and gifted. Being delivered to a man who isn’t just a man, but a monster. Being told I now belong to him.

How did I survive it?

I guess I’ll have to fight and find out...