Chapter 1

The gavel fell.

"Sold. For one million dollars."

The voice echoed in the opulent, hidden ballroom, a place where the rich bought human beings.

My family, the once-great Sinclairs of New Orleans, was bankrupt. My father and stepmother, desperate to save themselves, sold me.

Just hours ago, my fiancé, Liam Vanderbilt, the golden boy of Louisiana politics, had stood before me, his handsome face a mask of pity.

"Scarlett, it's over," he'd said, his voice smooth as poison. "A Vanderbilt cannot be associated with this kind of disgrace."

He broke our engagement. He left me to be swallowed by the ruin my family had created.

Now, I was here, on a stage, a piece of property.

And the man who bought me was Jax Devereaux.

My lifelong rival. The bad-boy heir to the only family in New Orleans richer than mine used to be. The man I had despised since we were children.

In my first life, this moment played out differently.

In that life, when Jax bid a million dollars, I spat at him. I screamed that I would rather die than be his charity case. I still believed Liam would save me.

I was a fool.

My rejection humiliated Jax. The auctioneer, smirking, moved to the next bidder. A man named Julian Croft.

Julian bought me. He was a monster who collected and broke "pure" things. He put a diamond choker around my neck, his personal brand, and my life became a living hell.

One night, Liam showed up at Julian's mansion for a party. I saw him across the room. Hope, stupid and stubborn, flared in my chest. One of his friends pointed at me. "Isn't that your ex? Are you going to help her?"

Liam laughed. A cold, dismissive sound.

"Help her? She's just high-class trash now. Fun to look at, but you wouldn't want to touch it."

That broke me.

Later, I learned the truth. Jax, after my rejection, had tried to raise more money to buy me back. He got involved with the mob. A deal went wrong. He was killed.

He died trying to save the woman who had publicly shamed him.

The weight of it all, the abuse from Julian, the betrayal from Liam, the truth about Jax… it was too much. I found a way to end it.

And then I woke up.

Back here. On this stage. The air thick with the scent of expensive perfume and moral decay.

The auctioneer' s voice boomed again. "Jax Devereaux bids one million dollars. Going once…"

This time, I didn't hesitate.

"I accept."

My voice was quiet but clear. It cut through the murmurs of the crowd.

The room went silent.

Jax, leaning against a marble pillar, straightened up. His usual arrogant smirk was gone, replaced by a look of pure shock. He had expected a fight, a scene, another public rejection.

He didn't get one.

He walked toward the stage, his long legs eating up the distance. He paid the auction master, then turned to me. He grabbed my arm, his grip firm but not painful.

He pulled me out of that gilded hell and into the New Orleans night.

He shoved me into his ridiculously expensive sports car and drove, fast and reckless, through the city streets. We ended up at his penthouse, a palace of glass and steel overlooking the Mississippi River.

He pushed me inside and slammed the door.

He stared at me, his dark eyes searching my face.

"So, the proud Scarlett Sinclair is willing to be a kept woman now?" His voice was laced with the old mockery, but it couldn't hide the confusion underneath.

In my first life, I would have slapped him for that.

This time, I stepped forward, stood on my toes, and kissed him.

It wasn't a soft kiss. It was hard, desperate. A kiss that said thank you, and I'm sorry, and please, don't let him get me.

Jax froze. For the first time in his life, he was utterly speechless.