Chapter 3

A few days before the auction, they moved me. No longer was I the secret specimen in Aris's private lab. I was now an attraction. They transferred me to a large, open-topped "interactive display pool" in the institute's main lobby. It was shallow, leaving my upper body exposed to the air and the prying eyes of the wealthy donors and investors who milled around, cocktails in hand, laughing and talking loudly. I was a curiosity, a living statue in their decadent party.

Isabelle, of course, was in her element. She stood by the pool with a group of her friends, her laughter the loudest in the room.

"We should have a little fun," she suggested, her eyes sparkling with malice. "To liven things up for the investors before the big night."

Aris stood nearby, looking uncomfortable. He kept glancing at me, then looking away. "Isabelle, I don't think that's a good idea. The auction is in two days. The asset must not be damaged in any way."

He didn't even use my name anymore. I was just "the asset." My value as a product was his only concern.

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport, darling," she pouted, looping her arm through his. "Just a little harmless fun. It won't affect her 'value'."

One of Isabelle's friends, a beefy man with a flushed face, picked up a long metal rod used for cleaning the pool filters. "Let's see if it's slimy," he slurred, and poked the end of the rod toward my exposed side.

I flinched back, but there was nowhere to go. The metal tip, cold and hard, jabbed into my ribs. The pain was sharp, but the humiliation was worse. The crowd roared with laughter and excited cheers. They started taking turns, poking and prodding me with the rod, their faces alight with cruel amusement.

I tried to retreat to the bottom of the shallow pool, to hide, but the rod always found me. A sharp jab scraped along my tail, dislodging more scales. A bright red line appeared on the deep blue, blood blooming in the clear water. The initial anger and shame faded, replaced by a hollow, numb emptiness. I stopped moving, just floating there, enduring it.

"That's enough!" Aris's voice cut through the noise. He strode forward and snatched the rod from the man's hand.

For a wild, foolish moment, I thought he was defending me. But then he spoke again, his voice tight with anger. "Are you idiots? If her condition is compromised, her auction price will drop. I won't have you ruining my investment." His concern wasn't for my pain, but for my price tag.

Another man, older and dressed in an expensive suit, smirked. He looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my body with a slimy, possessive gaze. "She's a feisty one. I wonder what she's like to play with, you know?" He chuckled, a disgusting, wet sound.

The words hung in the air, thick and vile. I felt like I was drowning, not in water, but in their filth.

Isabelle laughed, her eyes glinting. She turned her bright, "innocent" face to Aris. "Well, darling? You would know. You spent weeks alone with her on that island. Tell us, what is she like to play with?" She asked it with a playful lilt, but it was a deliberate, vicious blow aimed at both of us.

The room fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Aris. I looked at him too, my heart pounding a slow, painful rhythm. There was a desperate, silent plea in my eyes. Say something. Deny it. Protect what we had.

He met my gaze for a fraction of a second. I saw his soul tremble. I saw the shame, the guilt, the self-loathing. But then, he broke. He squeezed his eyes shut and violently turned his head away, staring at the floor as if it held the secrets of the universe. A wall of stone seemed to rise inside him, blocking out my plea, blocking out his own conscience. His silence was his answer. It was his final betrayal.

A triumphant, victorious smile spread across Isabelle's face. She and her friends moved on, their laughter echoing in the large hall, leaving me alone in the center of the room, my body aching, my dignity in shreds, and my heart completely, utterly empty. The bright lights of the lobby felt cold and piercing, and the water was no longer a home, but a cage of ice.