Number Seventeen: Bought by Vale

Elise Hart didn't go to a business dinner. She was sold.

Number 17.

Cheap printer paper taped to my wrist, curling from sweat. Standing on a little wooden platform under ugly red lights while men in suits worth more than my rent checked their watches.

This wasn't the investors meeting Mark promised. This was an auction. And I was the thing being sold.

I screamed. I begged. No one even looked up.

Until he claimed me.

Damian Vale.

The name on every building in the city. Billionaire. Cold. Untouchable. He wasn't there to buy. He was there to take back what was his.

Now I wake up 73 floors above the city in his penthouse. Silk sheets. Clothes in my exact size. And three rules:

1. You don't leave without me.
2. You don't go into the west wing.
3. You don't ask why I bought you.

But the men from that night want me back. A man called Thorne is hunting me. And the man who bought me... might be the only one keeping me alive.

He says he's protecting me. He says he doesn't want me.

Then why did he stand outside my door all night?

A dark billionaire romance with forced proximity, possessive but protective hero, and a secret that will destroy us both.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This story contains depictions of a non-consensual auction/trafficking situation, kidnapping, and threats. No sexual assault. No explicit content in early chapters. Dark themes, possessive behavior, slow-burn tension. 18+ recommended.

TROPES:
Billionaire Romance • Dark Romance • Forced Proximity • Possessive Hero • Found Family • He Falls First • Age Gap • Grumpy x Sunshine • Dangerous Love

By Ndubuisi Dominion
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