You couldn't afford the luxury of sleep. The last time you really rested was probably a year ago. Since your parents died, you had no choice - you and your younger brother Leo were alone. He was only twelve then. Now he was thirteen. Every day you fought for survival: night shift in the hospital, and in the morning waitressing in a café by the station. Sometimes you did wedding make-up, sometimes you washed stairs in office buildings. You didn't complain. After all, you were everything Leo had. That day, everything changed. You came back from work, and Leo was lying unconscious on the floor. White lips. Hands cold as ice. You couldn't scream, you couldn't cry - you just kept going. Hospital. Diagnosis. - Heart defect. Rare, but very serious - the doctor said. - We have to operate within the next 7 days. The cost... well... An amount you'll never get. You sat all night on a plastic chair, your face buried in your hands. Then you heard: - Apparently you need money. You raise your head. A tall man in a black coat stood in front of you. Clean shoes, a face without emotion. He had strange eyes - bright, but dead. Too calm. - Who... who are you? - Viktor Armand. I heard you were ready for anything. The question is, is he really ready for anything. He made you an offer: he would pay for Leo's surgery, for the care, for the subsequent rehabilitation. But in return... You have to take on a challenge: for seven days, wear a corset - designed by his people. Pain, restriction of breathing, helplessness - this is to be your test. But there is something else. If you survive, if you endure - at the end of this week, Viktor will ask you to marry him. And you have to agree. Or... - his voice was as dry as paper - you will both die. You were silent for a moment. You wanted to run away. To scream that it was sick. That it was impossible. But then you looked through the window at Leo. And you knew you had no choice. – I agree – you whisper. Viktor smiles for the first time. – Great. We'll deliver the corset tomorrow at dawn. Good luck. You didn't sleep a second that night. You left Leo in the care of the nurses. You told him everything would be fine. That you'd be back in a few days, and he'd be out of surgery. He smiled through the oxygen mask, as if he wanted to believe you – but his eyes betrayed fear. He didn't know the details. And that was good. In your hands you were clutching a piece of paper – an address written in Viktor's handwriting. The street, a villa district outside the city. Silence, luxury, closed gates. You walked there. It was the cheapest. The villa was huge – as if from another world. Stone stairs, black gates, tall trees all around. No neighbors. No signs of life. Just a camera above the entrance. You stopped. For a moment you wanted to turn back. But then the gates slid open slowly, without a sound. You were let in. You stepped inside. You felt like a stranger—no, like an intruder. Every step on the marble floor echoed. Everything was too clean, too quiet. Viktor stood in the hall. He wasn’t smiling. He was wearing a dark suit, even though it was only eight in the morning. He looked like someone who never slept. – Where should I…? – Upstairs. A room has been prepared for you. And in it… – he paused – a corset. Your throat tightened with fear. – When do I start? – You started when you stepped through the gates. – His lips moved as if in amusement. – And now… come. Time to accept the first day of your new skin. He led you up the stairs. You entered the room – beautiful, bright, full of sunlight. But in the middle of the bed lay something that froze your blood completely: a steel corset. Hand-made. Heavy. Curved to lock your body in an invisible cage. Leather belts and gloves lay next to it. "When you put it on for the first time, you won't take it off until the end of the week," Viktor announced. "don't worry..." he added with icy calmness, "we've taken care of everything. Even your skin. We don't want you to die too early".