Chapter 1 Prologue

• Emi.
• As always, ever since I started this job, I would come home late. That's what happens when you have multiple part"time jobs. But if I wanted to finish my last year of university and get my degree in graphic design, I had to work twice as hard. It was clear to me that my mother wouldn't provide any financial assistance. On the contrary, if I wanted to keep living at home, I had to pay for my own stay, my own food, even the electricity and water I used."
• So, ever since I finished high school, I moved into a small studio apartment on my own. At first, my mother was happy about it " one less mouth to feed..."
• As if she had ever fed me before. Since I turned twelve, I had to find a way to feed myself, clothe myself... everything.
• I hadn't even reached my street when a strange feeling made me turn around. I had the sensation that I was being followed.
• Although my neighborhood was a poor neighborhood in Chicago, it wasn't one that usually had high crime rates. But nowadays, that didn't guarantee that some idiot wouldn't try to rob you or something worse. That's why I was grateful that my father taught me Wing Chun, one of those martial arts techniques that involves delivering a variety of close"range strikes."
• The first person to test it out was a classmate in middle school who tried to take advantage of me while we were studying in the library. It seemed I wasn't the first one he had tried it with, but after a certain kick to a delicate area of his body, he stopped trying.
• I continued walking, much more alert to the noises and movements in the dark street at that hour. But contrary to what I expected, nothing else happened.
• I arrived home without any trouble, but that's where my real problems began. Right next to the door of my studio, in the hallway that led to the other apartments, including mine, was the person I had been avoiding since I left home. The reason was obvious " every time they showed up, it was to demand money from me or ask for favors that I didn't want to do."
• "What time is this to come home? A decent woman wouldn't be walking the streets at this hour," she scolded me as soon as she saw me.
• "Hello, mother. If your son or you actually worked instead of living off my father's money, you would know that there are people who work at this hour," I replied. I didn't expect my mother's reaction, I only felt the pain when she slapped my cheek, causing me to turn my face slightly.
• "Don't ever mention him again! ... It's your fault that he died. You were the one who left me alone and prevented your brother from growing up with a father to guide him and keep him out of trouble," that's what truly hurt me. I had long accepted that my mother didn't love me, that I was just a constant reminder of what was, a mere accident. But for her to blame me for what my brother had become, that was something I couldn't accept. She was the only one responsible for that good"for"nothing turning out the way he did.
• " "Don't use me, mother, to cover up your mistakes. My brother is so egocentric, despotic, and tyrannical, all thanks to you." " This time I saw how she raised her hand again, ready to hit me, but this time I stopped her, grabbing her forearm before she could strike me. "Well, what have you come for? Money or a favor? What trouble has that useless one gotten into now?" " I said, letting go of her hand."
• I moved far enough away to be out of reach of another one of her blows. I saw the anger in my mother's eyes, confirming that she had come to see me for one of those two reasons.
• I waited for one of her famous hurtful remarks, but biting her lips, she smiled. That scared me because it meant that I wasn't going to like what she was about to ask me.
• "You've always considered yourself the smartest of all of us, perhaps that will serve you well in the future, but for now, just be satisfied knowing that you're doing it to save your brother's life... Take her away!" she shouted. I didn't understand what she was talking about, but I was about to find out when several men dressed in suits and white shirts surrounded me, some even coming out of my studio.
• I wanted to scream and prepare to defend myself, but they held me back, and I saw one of them pull out what I could see was a syringe.
• "What are you doing? Mother, what is this about?" I shouted as they forcibly extended my arm, holding it between them.
• "You are the payment for your brother's life. Play your cards right, and this could be more of an advantage than an inconvenience, right? The truth is, that's no longer my concern..." The hatred and pain I felt for the person who gave me life mixed with the fear of what they were going to do to me, sharpening my survival instinct. Strength I didn't think I had surged within me. With two quick key movements from Win Chun, I freed myself and, in two strides, started running down the stairs as they chased after me. I heard them roaring furiously behind me. Meanwhile, my mother screamed like a madwoman:
• "Get her!"
• "Damn you, mother! This is your limit. If I survive this, I swear I'll get revenge. I swear it on my father," I told myself.
• Once on the street, I thought I had lost them, but then I came across two limousines and several men surrounding me. A man in an executive suit stepped out of one of the limousines, but he wasn't a CEO or a businessman. It was clear that he was the boss, as everyone looked at him with respect. I had no doubt he belonged to the mafia. Being of Italian origin, we learn from a young age in the neighborhoods of Chicago who we should avoid and why.
• "Well, darling, what are you going to do? Are you going to fight them all?" the man said, smiling. He found my situation amusing.
• "If necessary, I don't think it's going to be so easy for you to catch me," I challenged him. At this point, I didn't care anymore. Dying fighting was better than losing my freedom and becoming a plaything for a vicious pig.
• "Get her! Don't let her escape. She's a valuable commodity," the boss said.
• And so it was that one by one the damn mafiosos approached. I knew I had little chance, their fighting skills revealed to me that they were professionals at this, with years of training compared to me, and surely many of them had been fighting since birth. But I couldn't give up, or I wouldn't forgive myself for surrendering without a fight.
• The fight was fierce, I managed to free myself from a couple of them, but their numbers were superior, and some of them were better than me in martial arts. When they finally had me firmly restrained, the boss approached me, gripping my chin tightly as I tried to resist, and said:
• "You're a true tigress, I think I'm going to get a good amount for you," he said as I tried to catch my breath after the fight, but I didn't have time. A pain shot through my arm, I knew he had injected me with something, soon everything became blurry, and just before I fell into a deep darkness, I could hear the boss say:
• "Take her to be examined, if she's a virgin, we have a diamond in the rough, it will be worth millions. Her mother doesn't know what she's lost, that son of hers isn't worth as much, someday he'll end up dead." In my unconsciousness, I was glad that at least someone appreciated me for something, even if it was just for being a virgin whore at twenty"four years old, that's what my life had come down to. It's pathetic."
• That's how my nightmare began... or not? The future is very uncertain, and destiny has everything carefully planned, both mine and my buyer's, although neither he nor I know it. That's why destiny is capricious.