Chapter 2
Stonebridge Hollow hands down the most out-of-the-way village at the edge of Greenridge State.
Mountains on all sides, only one dirt road out. If you wanted cell service, you had to stand under that old bent tree at the village entrance and hope for two bars.
I spent eight years here from the day I was born.
I climbed trees for bird eggs, went fishing in the river, shot out the village chief's window with my slingshot, and had Julian's chickens running wild all over the place.
There wasn't a single soul in Stonebridge Hollow I didn't know, and not a single spot I hadn't caused trouble in.
When I was eight, my dad got transferred, and we moved to the county seat.
For the next fourteen years, I never came back.
I never thought I'd come back like this.
Sold back by my ex-boyfriend for 1000 dollars.
Hilarious.
That was really funny.
The haggling outside was still going strong.
Kevin wasn't ready to give up. "Come on, man, if you're serious about buying her, at least give me a straight price. 1600 dollars."
"1160 dollars," the rough voice shot back.
"1500 dollars."
"1160, final offer. Keep dragging it out and I'm walking."
Kevin went quiet for a few seconds.
I could practically picture him gritting his teeth.
"Fine. 1160 dollars," he finally said.
Deal done.
1160 dollars.
The price for a top university student.
Wouldn't even cover a new phone.
I made a mental note.
Kevin, you better watched out.
They started gossiping. I pricked up my ears and didn't miss a word.
Kevin said this was his sixth "business deal."
The first five girls he'd sold to remote villages in Highland, Valoria, and Westbrook.
The priciest one went for 4000 dollars, she was a grad student.
Kevin said, sounding like he was teaching a class. "The key to this business is patience.
"Rent a place near campus, keep yourself looking clean, add them on WhatsApp. Three or four months is about right, don't rush it. You gotta make them trust you."
He paused. "Oh, and don't use too much of the drugs. Last time, one almost didn't wake up, and I ended up shelling out a bunch for her hospital bills."
My nails dug into my palms.
He was talking about other girls.
The other five.
He sounded like he was discussing the price of cabbages and potatoes.
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
But I couldn't move.
Not yet.
Kevin kept talking. "My car's parked outside. Send me the money within three days and I'm outta here. Watch her closely, she might act up for the first couple days, but after that she'll calm down. That's how it always goes."
"Don't worry," the rough voice replied. "She can't run. There's only one road out of the village, and there are two dogs keeping watch."
Kevin chuckled. "Alright, I'm gonna go get some rest. Drove eight hours, wiped out."
A patter of footsteps.
The door creaked shut.
It was quiet.
I slowly, little by little, opened my eyes.
The room was small, maybe ten square meters.
Mud walls, a wooden door, a single bed, and a cabinet with chipped paint.
The window was covered with a sheet of plastic, letting in a dull, grayish light.
Classic Stonebridge Hollow house layout.
I grew up in houses like this, I could draw the floor plan with my eyes closed.
Front room when you walk in, kitchen on the left, bedroom on the right, and the pigsty out back.
Yes.
The pigsty.
Right now, I was less than ten meters away from the pigs.
What a joke.
I sat up, the back of my head throbbing, the blood already dried into a crust.
No time to fuss over my injury.
Right now, my mind was on something else.
That rough voice haggling with Kevin had to be Jack Strong.
He was Julian's son.
When I was a kid, I called him "Jack." He was nine years older than me.
He'd always been lazy and greedy, still living off his dad well into his twenties. Not a single girl from any of the nearby villages wanted to marry him.
Looks like nothing's changed, he is still single.
Thirty-five or thirty-six, and still a bachelor.
Single so long he had to buy himself a wife.
But he had no idea who he'd bought or who my grandpa was.
Thinking about it, I couldn't help but smirk.
My grandpa, Frank Rivers.
Former village party branch secretary of Stonebridge Hollow.
He ran the place for thirty years.
Back in the day, he was a scout, saw real combat, and after he got out, he came back and took over as chief. Six foot one, all muscle, and even in his sixties, he could knock out a cow with one punch.
That's not an exaggeration.
It's the truth. I saw it with my own eyes.
He had a temper and a voice that could shake the mountains. Hearing his name made people tremble for miles around.
They called him "The Reaper of Stonebridge Hollow."
He was tough on everyone, but never on me.
I was his only granddaughter.
Then there was my dad David Rivers.
The first guy from Stonebridge Hollow to ever make it to college.
Now he's the deputy chief of the county police department.
Right now, he had no idea his daughter had been sold for 1160 dollars.
Once he finds out Kevin's gonna wish he'd never been born.