Page 59 of Bought By Santa

I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m trying to keep an open heart.

I hope that, somehow, we can find a way to make this work—not just for the sake of the family legacy, but for ourselves.

July 30th

Tonight, Caspian told me about his family, the burden of being a Knight.

He introduced me to his family. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t for my owner’s dad to force his hand between my legs, wanting to feel my hymen for himself. I almost threw up when he did it right in front of Caspian’s mom, younger brothers, and… no, I won’t think about it.

Caspian assured me it won’t ever happen again.

We’re getting married tonight, in secret. Once I’m his, he says no one can ever touch me again.

I retch as I read that entry over and over, my stomach churning more and more violently every time my eyes pass over it. Christ, should I be happy Caspian didn’t do that to me when we had dinner with him only five days ago?

By now, the living room has become dark, but I’m too engrossed to get up and switch the light on. I grab my phone and use the flashlight app so I can continue reading.

August 5th

When Caspian told me about what it means to be the head of the Knight Mafia, he made it sound like a burden. But as he brutally murdered someone right in front of me for stealing some weapons, he was reveling in it. He looked… happy.

Oh, God, the horror didn’t stop there. He killed everyone; wiped out an entire family in a single night. And he dragged me along to witness it all.

November 17th

Caspian laid his hands on me tonight. It’s the first time he’s touched me out of malice.

It was my own fault!

He’s told me over and over that nothing is more important than the family business. I knew that, and yet I dared question him when he came home late.

I didn’t mean to make him angry, I was just so disappointed because I’d arranged for a special night for us. But… he’s right. I’m a stupid girl that needs to know my place.

The Knight family comes first, always. We women are expendable.

September 5th

Another miscarriage.

The disappointment is suffocating.

Caspian hardly looks at me now, his eyes always searching for something more, something I’m beginning to fear I cannot give.

I flip back to the previous entry, trying to figure out if it’s the same year. Something tells me it isn’t, especially since she hasn’t mentioned other miscarriages or pregnancies. As I look closer, I notice papers have been ripped out, only leaving stumps in the spine.

December 24th

It’s Christmas Eve, and instead of joy, there’s a silent demand hanging in the air.

Three children for success—they say.

My womb has become a battleground, and I am both the warrior and the territory fought over.

Again, papers are missing, so I don’t know if this is from the same year as the previous one about the miscarriage.

My heart clenches in sympathy, my trembling fingers running over the embossed initials on the cover as I close it. Sienna’s pain resonates with my own fears. I close my eyes, envisioning her—an elegant woman trapped in a golden cage, her body a vessel for the Knight legacy.

Her words echo in my mind, painting a vivid picture of life married into the Knight family—expectations as high and unyielding as the skyscrapers that dominate New York’s skyline.

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