The Last Navine

Chapter 5

The underground auction house was hidden beneath a fancy hotel in the east district of Heartless City. It was the kind of secret place where rich people came to do dirty things they would never admit in public.

The huge room had rows of expensive velvet chairs and sparkling crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. But no amount of luxury could hide the truth. This was a marketplace for human lives.

At the center of the room stood a raised platform under bright spotlights. Inside a golden cage on that stage was Christine Navine.

She looked small and broken. They had dressed her in tiny scraps of cloth that barely covered her body. Under the harsh lights, she might as well have been completely naked. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself as she tried to hide, but there was no escape from all the eyes watching her.

An angry red rope burn marked her neck, still bleeding in some places. She was only sixteen years old. She should have been in school, laughing with friends, and worrying about normal things like homework and crushes. Instead, she sat curled up in the cage like an animal, shaking with fear as she stared at the crowd of hungry monsters waiting to buy her.

The auctioneer stepped onto the platform with a wide smile on his thin face. He wore a fancy tuxedo and held a microphone in one hand and a horse whip in the other.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he shouted, his voice booming through the room. “Our final item tonight is very special! A rare treasure we’ve been saving just for our most valued guests!”

He pointed the whip at the cage.

“As you can all see, she is young, fresh, and untouched,” he said, his smile growing wider. “But what makes her truly special is this!”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a silver necklace with a small locket. The chain was broken.

“This little thing drove my men crazy when they tried to take it from her,” he laughed. “She fought like a wild cat! We had to rip it off her neck by force. She nearly strangled herself trying to keep it.”

He opened the locket, and a small photograph fell out. With a quick flick, he projected the image onto a large screen behind him.

The photo showed two children, about eight years old — a boy and a girl — smiling happily at what looked like a birthday party. The boy had his arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“Isn’t that sweet?” the auctioneer said in a mocking voice. “She fought so hard to keep this photo. She would rather die than let it go. So tell me, little one…”

He walked over to the cage and crouched down, bringing his face close to the bars. His eyes were full of sick excitement.

“Now that you’re about to become someone’s personal sex slave — their little toy to use however they want — are you still thinking about that boy in the picture? Are you still dreaming that your childhood hero will come and save you?”

 

The underground auction house was hidden beneath a fancy hotel in the east district of Heartless City. Inside the golden cage on the brightly lit stage, Christine Navine’s body shook as tears ran down her face.

“He’s not my sweetheart,” she said through her tears. “He’s my brother.”

The crowd booed loudly.

“Boooooo!”

“What a waste!”

“Just her brother? How boring!”

The auctioneer stood up with a disappointed look on his face. “Ah, just her brother. Well, that’s not worth remembering, is it? Brothers are a dime a dozen. They grow up, forget about their little sisters, and move on with their lives—”

“My brother is a good person,” Christine interrupted, her voice suddenly strong. She lifted her head and stared at the crowd with burning eyes. “He’s worth a thousand of any of you. You’re all trash. Every single one of you.”

The room went silent for a moment, then exploded with angry shouts.

“DID SHE JUST CALL US TRASH?”

“THE LITTLE BITCH HAS SPIRIT!”

“I LIKE WHEN THEY FIGHT!”

“Five million!” someone shouted from the crowd.

“Ten million!” another voice called out.

“Fifteen million! I’ll break that spirit myself!”

Greedy excitement flashed in the auctioneer’s eyes. “Now we’re talking! Do I hear twenty million?”

“Twenty million!”

“Twenty-five million!”

“Thirty!”

The bids climbed higher and higher as the crowd grew more excited. They loved the idea of breaking a girl who dared to fight back.

Christine’s bravery quickly turned back into terror. She pressed herself against the back of the cage, trying to make herself as small as possible.

---

High above the auction floor, in a private luxury suite with one-way glass walls, two people watched everything unfold.

The suite was designed to make guests feel like royalty while they watched human beings get sold like animals. A stunning woman sat on the couch, sipping wine lazily. Her name was Lillian Reed, cousin of Elara Quin. She had a cold, perfect beauty that made people uncomfortable.

“What a fool,” Lillian said with a smirk. “That little girl just signed her own death warrant. By talking back like that, she’ll be tortured to death. They’ll make an example of her.”

Sitting across from her was an older man in his sixties with steel-gray hair and a face that looked like it was carved from stone. He wore an expensive suit and carried himself like someone who was used to being obeyed. He was George Reed, the patriarch of the Reed Family.

“Indeed,” George nodded slowly. “Though I must say, the girl has more spine than I expected. Most would be begging by now.”

Lillian took another sip of wine. “It won’t matter. Spine or not, she’ll be broken before the night is over. That’s what happens to people who don’t know their place.”

The patriarch leaned back in his chair. “Elara should have been here herself, don’t you think? This is her revenge after all.”

Lillian laughed softly. “The Navine brat isn’t worthy of Elara’s personal attention. This is just cleanup work — loose ends that needed to be tied up. Besides, Elara has much more important things to deal with right now.”

“Ah yes,” George said knowingly. “Her plans with the War God.”

“Exactly.” Lillian pulled out her phone. “Speaking of which, when will the aunt reveal where the brother is hiding?”

“My son has been questioning her for hours,” the patriarch replied. “I heard you even let Marcus sew a tracking device into the aunt’s body. That was clever. We should expect results soon.”

Lillian smirked. “That woman hid for so long, protecting those children. And now she’s been betrayed by the very man she once loved. Truly not worth it.”

She tapped on her phone a few times and opened the tracking app. “Let me check on our poor, suffering aunt. Let’s see where this pitiful woman is right now…”

Lillian frowned and tapped the screen again. Her frown grew deeper.

“That’s… odd,” she said slowly.

“What is it?” the patriarch asked.

Lillian stood up and walked to the window, staring down at the auction floor while still looking at her phone. For the first time, her perfect face showed real confusion.