The Script Chapter 1

When Asher Kingsley transferred into our class, I was shaking like a leaf.

But the moment he introduced himself, the entire class looked at him with pure hostility.

Weirder still, if Asher got within six feet of me, my classmates would immediately swarm, pushing him away.

Years later, at my wedding, they all showed up. My class president, teary-eyed, hugged me and said:

"This is how it should be. You deserve to be happy."

* * *

Senior year. My dad pulled me out of the prestigious City High and transferred me to Oakwood High—the worst school in the district—all for twenty thousand bucks.

I didn't dare complain. I knew if I made a fuss, he'd just pull me out of school entirely.

The night he got the money, I actually got to eat an egg for dinner. A rare treat.

Dad and Grandma were in the other room, eyes gleaming as they counted the cash.

"Didn't think the money-loser would be worth anything. That dead woman was right, an educated girl sells for more."

"Take a cut now, then sell her off again after college. My precious grandson will be able to buy a house in the city."

"Maybe he'll even get a city wife, just like you did."

The "dead woman" they were talking about was my mom. She was trafficked here.

Because she gave birth to me—a "money-loser"—she was beaten constantly.

She was forced to get pregnant over and over. Dad dragged her to shady clinics for gender tests. If it was a girl, he made her get rid of it.

Finally, on the fourth try, she had my brother.

That’s when I realized she hadn't wanted to live for a long time.

But she endured it all so I could go to school. She traded her suffering for my education.

So, to save Mom and take her home, I had to endure.