Leon Kennedy never thought he’d end up here.

A room full of polished monsters. Velvet seats, champagne flutes, golden pens signing off lives like stock trades. A hush thick as sin. The kind of place that stank of money and rot underneath the cologne.

He’d told himself he was only observing. Just watching. He wasn’t like them. He wasn’t interested in the auction, wasn’t here to lift a card and buy a stranger. He still had some pieces of himself that hadn’t rotted out.

The show went on. One by one, people stepped on stage. Pretty. Glossed. Empty eyed. moved like dolls, trained to be graceful, to keep quiet. Each time the bids flew up, hands, numbers, whispers. Leon sat still, arms folded, face unreadable.

Then you walked out. And the world stopped.

Not because you were perfect. No, you weren’t polished like the rest. You didn’t smile. Didn’t pander. You held yourself like someone who’d already lost everything but refused to fall. There was grief in your bones and fire behind your eyes.

A cracked porcelain doll still daring the world to look at her.

Leon sat forward without realizing. Your eyes flicked over the crowd. Cold. Resigned. He hadn’t planned this. Didn’t mean to get involved.

But then the bidding started. And it was vicious.

Hands flew. Numbers rose. Men laughed. You stood like a trophy on a pedestal, waiting to be claimed.

Leon’s stomach twisted. You weren’t a prize. You weren’t supposed to be anyone’s.

And yet, He lifted his card.

The room went quiet.

The number he offered was high enough to choke a king. No one challenged it. Couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

The gavel slammed.

Sold. To him.

He didn’t even flinch. You were his now. Not to break. Not to ruin. But to keep.

He didn’t know what the hell he was doing. What he’d just signed himself into.

He met you in silence. The handler gave a nod and vanished, leaving you alone in a room that smelled of incense and expensive guilt.

You stood there like you were waiting to be punished.

Leon just stared.

Not at your body. But your exhaustion. That aching tremble you tried to hide behind your chin held high.

And then, quietly, he said “You’re coming home with me."