One hits the wall, knocking a framed photo to the floor.
The glass shatters.
A perfect metaphor for my life.
I stand in the middle of my room, shaking with anger.
How can this be my life?
In thirty minutes, I’ll meet the man who will own me.
What are my options?
I could run.
The thought is quickly extinguished by reality.
Where would I go?
Father's reach extends throughout the city.
Beyond it too.
I have no money, no connections outside the family.
I could refuse.
Stand my ground and say no.
But I don’t even want to imagine the punishment my father would hand down.
I could fake illness.
Buy myself some time...
No.
Delaying the inevitable only prolongs the torture.
I have no way out of this.
I need to accept my fate and make the best of it.
My reflection stares back at me from the vanity mirror.
I see a young woman who in another world would be preparing to go to college, find a job, meet her husband on her own, and marry for love.
But I won’t have any of that because my life isn’t my own.
Is this all I'm worth?
A financial exchange?
A spy in Alessandro's bed?
Alessandro has a reputation for being as cruel and ruthless as my father.
He’ll probably treat me the same way, wearing me down until I’m nothing.
