The curtains opened up, showing fifteen girls who walked onto the stage. Their white dresses flowed, and their silver masks sparkled, but they looked visibly terrified.

The crowd went wild with applause, whistling, and cheering.

Leo felt a hot anger brewing inside him, but he kept a blank face to keep his cover.

Alpha walked up to the first girl. "This one," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch. "She’s fourteen, from Poland. Really good for training."

Turning to the audience, Alpha called out, "Who’s ready to start the bidding?"

A hand shot up right away. "One hundred thousand dollars."

"One twenty," another voice chimed in.

"One fifty," came a third bid.

The numbers shot up fast.

Leo watched in disgust, waiting for his chance.

Reyes raised his hand, saying, "Two hundred thousand."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Alpha grinned. "Mr. Chen at two hundred. Anyone else?"

The room went quiet.

"Sold! To Mr. Chen for two hundred thousand dollars!"

The crowd cheered as one of the "guards" took the girl off the stage.

Alpha moved over to the second girl.

"This one. She’s fifteen and from Romania. Perfect for—"

He moved from one girl to the next, overseeing the bidding.

Leo placed a bid, ’buying’ a dark-haired operative named Sofia.

Another man in a pricey suit grabbed two girls.

The prices just kept going up.

Three hundred thousand.

Four hundred thousand.

For one girl, a blonde operative called Grace, the bids shot up to half a million.

The crowd was buzzing: excited, eager, and competing with each other.

Alpha smiled, happy that the night was turning out even better than he’d hoped.

Thirteen girls had been sold, leaving just two, set aside for the politicians.

Alpha raised his hand and said, "These final two aren’t for sale tonight. They’re... saved for some very special clients."

Disappointed murmurs filled the room, but no one argued.

Everyone there knew the unspoken rules.

Alpha looked at Maksim. "A really successful night."

Maksim nodded. "For sure."

They shook hands while the audience broke into applause.

*****

Aylin watched everything go down.

Every bid. Every sale. Every nasty comment.

Liam was capturing it all, different angles, high quality.

The audio was crystal clear.

Azalea was putting together proof, tagging each bidder and every deal.

This was far more than just an auction.

It was a crime ring.

Caught on tape.

With seventy-three people involved.

All about to get locked up.

Aylin pulled up her final program, the one she had been working on for months.

The digital trap.

Every file. Every deal. Every victim.

All ready to go live.

She glanced over at Azalea. "You good?"

Azalea nodded. "Good."

Liam added, "Good to go."

Aylin’s fingers hovered over the keyboard.

On screen, Alpha was taking a bow.

The auction had wrapped up.

The girls were "sold."

The criminals were celebrating.

Everything was going perfectly.

Aylin typed one simple message.

To Zayden.

"Now."

And hit send.

*****

Aylin was sitting in the center seat, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

Azalea was on her left, also typing while keeping an eye on things.

Liam was to her right, handling the technical operations.

All three were glued to the main screen, watching Alpha Dark set up a camera on stage.

The camera was top-notch, professional quality, aimed straight at the thirteen "sold" girls.

Maksim, next to Alpha with a laptop, said, "—The dark web stream is ready. We’ve got five thousand viewers waiting."

Alpha adjusted the camera. "Awesome. With international bidding, prices will go even higher. We could pull in another ten million tonight."

He turned to the folks in the auction hall. "Alright, everyone, we’re going live to our international network. Bidders from across the globe can snag items from our remaining inventory."

Polite applause came from the masked crowd.

Seventy-three wealthy monsters, knowing and guilty, filled the room.

Aylin felt a chill go down her spine.

"They’re streaming this," she whispered.

Liam was already on it. His screen showed lines of code. "I can see the dark web URL. It’s all encrypted and layered, but I can crack it."

"How long will that take?" Azalea asked.

"Forty-five seconds. Maybe less."

On the main monitor, Alpha hit a button on the camera. "We go live in sixty seconds. Maksim, confirm the connection."

Maksim checked his laptop. "Connection’s stable. Encryption is solid. We’re good."

Alpha grinned behind his golden mask. "Perfect."

Liam’s fingers were a blur. "Thirty seconds until I’m in."

Aylin fired up her program, the digital trap.

She had spent months working on this. Every file, every crime, every victim—it was all there.

The whole setup of Alpha Dark was logged, organized, tagged, and ready to go.

It had the names of every politician he bribed, pictures of every girl he trafficked, and videos from every auction for the last seven years.

There were bank details, money trails, shipment records, and murder contracts.

Everything.

"Twenty seconds," Liam called out.

Azalea was routing the broadcast, not just the dark web, but every major outlet.

Every big news channel, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Fox, and MSNBC, was getting it.

Every law enforcement agency, FBI, Interpol, CIA, MI6, Europol, and Homeland Security, was part of this.

Every government server in all NATO countries would be targeted.

The entire world was about to see.

"Ten seconds," Liam said.

On screen, Alpha was addressing the camera. "We go live in five... four... three..."

Aylin’s finger was poised over the Enter key.

"Two... one..."

Alpha: "We are live."

The camera light turned green.

Liam: "I’m in. Now!"

With determination, Aylin slammed the Enter key.

*****

On the dark web, there were five thousand viewers ready and waiting to bid on kids.

The screen showed the auction stage with thirteen girls in white dresses and silver masks.

Alpha Dark kicked things off. "Welcome to everyone tuning in from around the world. As you can see—"

They had no idea... it was already too late.

Out of nowhere, the screen flickered.