Nova stood as the doors that led to her new room were opened. Inside the room was a beautiful space: dark curtains that complemented the beige walls and a queen-sized bed at the far end.
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She walked in with her luggage in hand and dropped it at the center of the room as her eyes took in the place. She liked how calming it felt.
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This was her home now. Her life now. All thanks to her father, a man she trusted with her whole life.
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She still found it funny that she had been sold; her whole life had now been put in the hands of another person.
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The sound of someone knocking at the door dragged her out of her thoughts.
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“Come in.”
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Maxwell entered the room, a subtle smile on his face. He closed the door and leaned on it, not making any other attempts to go further. He did not want to make the situation any more awkward than it already was.
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“Good evening, Nova. How are you liking your room?”
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“It’s fine. It’s not like I have a choice. Right?”
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“If you don’t like the room, I could tell Mrs Joy to prepare another room for you.”
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“The room is not the problem, sir…”
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“I’ve told you to stop referring to me as ‘sir’.” He interrupted her. “You can call me Maxwell.”
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Nova took a deep breath; her heart was heavy, and she wanted to voice her frustration.
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“Look, Maxwell, I don’t have a problem with the room; it’s fine. I just thought you would have given me a little more time to prepare myself.”
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“You do know that your parents’ house was used as collateral to the bank for your father’s debts, right?” Maxwell said, putting his hands into the pockets of his tennis shorts.
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“I do,” she responded, anger rising in her chest.
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“So, I was only looking out for you.”
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“I didn’t ask you to look out for me Maxwell. In fact, I didn’t ask for any of this.” Her voice was gradually increasing in volume.
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The smile on Maxwell’s face dropped instantly. “That’s not very thankful of you, Ms. Rose.”
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“I don’t get it. What exactly am I supposed to be thankful for?”
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Before he could say anything, she continued.
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“That my own father sold me off like I was a slave at auction, or that the main reason why I’m here is because you consider me a baby machine.”
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She walked to the center of the room where her box stood, staring at him with blazing eyes.
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Maxwell pushed himself off the wall, taking two steps towards her. “Did I not agree to marry you, Nova?”
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“Only because you’d rather have me as a toy than let me work and pay you your money.”
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“Do you have any idea how much your father owes me?” He asked, his voice a little too low for her liking.
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“Still didn’t mean that you had to collect a whole human being as payment,” her words fought back.
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“I am not a bad person, Nova.”
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“And I am not a commodity to be bought.”
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“I actually did your father a favor by accepting you.”
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“What does that even mean?”
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In the heat of the argument, Maxwell had walked all the way to the center of the room. They were standing close to each other.
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“It means that he had absolutely nothing left to his name, except his family. And if he was willing to use you as payment, that should tell you the kind of man he was.”
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Nova winced and dropped her head. It hurt her heart to hear her father being spoken of in that manner.
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“Look at me.”
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She hesitated, then looked up at him.
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“If he could offer you to me as payment, that means he could offer you to any other person. And the people he did business with are not nice people.”
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A cold feeling went down her back as he said that because it had happened before. Only this time she wasn’t given; she was taken. And she was a lot younger then.
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It was dinnertime, and she was seated at the table, eating with her parents when two men came into their house.
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One of them grabbed her by the arm, and before leaving with her, he said to her father, “Boss said you can have her back when you bring his money.”
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She remembered screaming and pleading for her mom to save her, and her mom, in turn, was pleading with her father to do something, to not let those men take her daughter away.
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Nova saw the fear in her father’s eyes, and it only intensified the fear in her heart. She kept screaming and kicking, but it made no difference. They took her.
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They brought her to a man who had a crazy obsession with dolls. She was kept in a giant dollhouse for his amusement.
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He loved to play dress-up with her. He would put her in pink doll costumes and brush her hair several times a day until her hair started to fall out.
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She cried every day. She cried from the way he would sometimes touch her inappropriately during dress-up. She cried when he brushed her hair. She cried when he would tell her to sit on his lap.
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She was thankful for the day her father came with the money and took her home.
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It was an awful experience and she cried for days afterwards. She started to hate the color pink and wouldn’t let anyone touch her hair. And that stuck with her the older she got.
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The sound of Maxwell’s voice calling out her name snapped her back to reality. She looked at him. He was paying close attention to her face, as though he were watching that memory of hers play out.
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He stretched out his hand and put it on her face, a warm look in his eyes. “I would never hurt you, Nova. I promise. I know you don’t trust me yet, but you can believe me.”
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In her heart, she knew he was speaking the truth, and so she nodded her head to assure him that she believed what he said.
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It was necessary for her to put some faith in him; she was going to be his wife after all.
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and then Add to home screen.