"One fifty." I heard someone shout. "One sixty." Another said immediately. "Two hundred." "Five hundred thousand dollars." It was Drego. He'd finally placed his bid. "Five hundred thousand dollars, going once, going twice, sold." Cesar announced and everybody clapped. "What was that?" Drego barked. "What?" I blinked, my smile slowly dissipating. "Why did you agree to stand up there? And looking like this for that matter." I frowned. "Like what?" "Did you enjoy the fact that men were bidding on you like some prost-" My palms flew and landed on Drego's face before I could understand what I was doing. "You don't get to judge how I decide to look. Who the hell do you think you are to judge me? I did what I did for charity. You're my boss, don't cross any lines." I turned around to leave. "Wait. Nichole I'm sorry." He said more calmly. I looked at him again. "Because I told you that I was in love with you doesn't make it okay for you to get involved in my personal life and decisions." "It's not like-" "Don't worry. The day I quit was the first day getting over you. You don't have to worry about that crazy talk. I'm over you. And I'll leave your company the second you find my replacement and you won't have to see me anymore." "Nichole please listen-" "Drego, you're up." Reid came outside. His expression changed. It was no surprise. The tension between Drego and I was palpable. "Is everything okay?" Reid asked. "Yeah." I replied. "We are done here."
Drego's hands stilled at once after shaking the entire time Avril was speaking in her derogatory and disparaging tone. For the first time since their conversation, he wasn't scared of the consequences of the thoughts that had been cooking in his head. As his hands stilled, the aim of his gun became clear.
Her heart.
There was no better place the gun should face while he pulls the trigger.
"You don't have the balls to shoot me." Avril laughed hysterically.
In her white nightwear dress and her hair pouring down to her back, long lashes and red lips, her demeanor was a contrast to her looks. While Avril looked beautiful and angelic, the very reason Drego had loved her, still loved her like his life depended on it, the words that left her mouth were pure evil. Every alphabet had hatred etched in them. Every sound echoed with loathing...
Drego knew that if she'd been in possession of the gun instead of him, she'd have pulled the trigger a long time ago.
So why couldn't he? Someone had to die today. It was either him, or her. They both couldn't leave the house alive. The choice was pretty clear. But he hesitated.
"Did you ever love me?" Drego sounded pathetic. Even he knew how stupid he must sound asking a question like that in their current situation.
Avril's devilish demeanor changed at once. Like a transfiguration, she became the girl Drego had fallen in love with. Calm and cool. So beautiful she looked like kindness itself. But now he knew better than to trust this side of her. Behind the calm and cool was a calculative bitch who simply wanted everything he owned. Everything except the one thing he wished she wanted.
"I did." Avril answered. She took a few steps towards Drego but he shook the gun, reminding her that he still had the upper hand.
Drego believed he'd concealed his emotions perfectly. That his mask had no crack whatsoever. But Avril knew him. She'd studied him for months before she approached him. Just like she couldn't deceive him now, he couldn't deceive her at all.
Avril burst out laughing. Once again, her expression had changed.
"You believed that?" He did. Not because she had convinced him with her acting, that held nothing on him now. He wanted to believe she loved him because he was the fool who still loved her. Who still wanted her. Who, even at this juncture, was attracted to her still.
"Why didn't you just ask me for the money? I would have given it to you."
Avril squeezed. Her sigh was loud, and there was no mistaking the anger in there too.
She looked to the side, ignoring the gun Drego had been pointing at her for the last ten twenty minutes as he stood in front of her. Raising her hand to her head, she ruffled her perfectly combed hair, leaving it in a state of disorder. Avril bit her lips so hard she almost drew blood.
"Ask? You?" She almost barked. "The great Drego Ricardo, son of the powerful Glen and Eloisa Ricardo, the man who is known for being ruthless and untrusting, the billionaire that no one could contend with..." Avril released a scorned laughter. "How was I supposed to ask you? Oh mighty Drego, please give me your wealth." She said in a sweet angelic voice, "Like that?"
"The first time I met you, you didn't even look twice at me. The first time you looked at me, you paid me zero attention. I was supposed to ask? Don't be ridiculous."
"Did you not know that I loved you?"
"I did. I felt the love. I knew how sincere it was. I just didn't want it. Don't you get it. I never loved you even though I could see the sincerity of your heart."
"Do you really not love me? Did you really not feel anything for me for the two years we've been married?"
"You're a pathetic man who is nothing without the mirage he's created out there in the world that he is a deadly beast that is not to be trifled with." Avril said viciously, "Excuse my mistake, you're no man. Just a small boy who still cries in his sleep when he dreams of his mommy and daddy's accident. You're so weak that you can't even give your parents the justice they-"
Bang! Avril smiled, her body weakening as she felt life draining out of her. She touched her stomach, and then presented the evidence of her pain in front of her eyes. Blood. The sound of the gun shot should have told her exactly what had happened, but for some reason, she needed extra evidence.
Avril looked at Drego who's eyes had started to leak with tears. Just seconds after he shot her he was already regretting doing it.
Drego rushed to her as she fell to the ground, her blood pooling very quickly around her. Some part of her white dress was now the color red and somehow, with her skin pale and her body lying on the ground weak and almost lifeless, she looked as enchanting as the first day Drego had set his eyes on her.
Avril didn't know this, but he'd given her many looks that night. She was the prettiest woman at the party and it had been love at first sight.
"Avril... Avril..." Drego shook her almost lifeless body, crying. "You did good." Avril whispered. "Now I'll never be your weakness."
Realization hit him at once. The pain tripled and his heart grew heavier. His tears flowed like an unending stream, and his soul begged for release.
He'd never felt pain like this but once. The day he was told his parents were gone.
"Why did you do this? Why?" Drego cried.
Avril raised her frail hand to his face, touching his cheeks, she smiled weakly, "because I love you. And because I deserve this."
"I'm sorry." Drego cried. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
"Shh. I should be apologizing. Because of me, your life was ruined. You lost your parents because I was greedy and wanted your money. I am so sorry, my Drego. Please, don't blame yourself. Be happy."
Avril closed her eyes, one final breath of air, and she never took another one.
They don't know I'm a girl. They all look at me and see a boy. A prince. Their kind purchase humans like me for their lustful desires. And, when they stormed into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervened to protect her. I made them take me too. The plan was to escape with my sister whenever we found a chance. How was I to know our prison would be the most fortified place in their kingdom? I was supposed to be on the sidelines. The one they had no real use for. The one they never meant to buy. But then, the most important person in their savage land-their ruthless beast king-took an interest in the "pretty little prince." How do we survive in this brutal kingdom, where everyone hates our kind and shows us no mercy? And how does someone, with a secret like mine, become a lust slave? . AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is a dark romance-dark, mature content. Highly rated 18+ Expect triggers, expect hardcore. If you're a seasoned reader of this genre, looking for something different, prepared to go in blindly not knowing what to expect at every turn, but eager to know more anyway, then dive in! . From the author of the international bestselling book: "The Alpha King's Hated Slave."
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
On their wedding night, Rogelio wrapped his fingers around Marian's neck and spat at her, "Congratulations! From now on, you live in hell!" The reason for his wrath was that he believed she was responsible for the death of his elder brother. So, he married her but refused to touch her, determined to make her suffer for the rest of her pitiful life! However, due to an unforeseen accident, Marian was forced to sleep with Rogelio in order to save him, and she ended up getting pregnant. Concealing her pregnancy, Marian lived cautiously under Rogelio's watchful eyes. He hated her and relentlessly humiliated her, yet he would never allow anyone else to lay a finger on her— "Mr. Bailey, your wife got into a fight with someone!" Rogelio secretly took action, eliminating that person completely. "Sir, your wife claimed that all of your family's wealth belongs to her!" Rogelio quietly transferred all the shares to her. Unaware of all this, Marian only wanted to escape, but Rogelio pulled her into his warm embrace, whispering, "Mrs. Bailey, where do you intend to go with our unborn child?"
After three years of loveless marriage, Kira was slapped with divorce papers. She has shown him her unrequited love throughout her entire marriage with him, but he decided to turn blind eyes all because of his lover. Distraught and heartbroken, Kira choose to sign the divorce papers with bitter heart. But then and there, she promised herself that when she's back, he will come crawling to her, but she will make him pay for hurting her. Join Kira as she transform to a wealthy heiress and soared as the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar empire, a remarkable healer and make her ex-husband pay!
"I heard you're going to marry Marcelo. Is this perhaps your revenge against me? It's very laughable, Renee. That man can barely function." Her foster family, her cheating ex, everyone thought Renee was going to live in pure hell after getting married to a disabled and cruel man. She didn't know if anything good would ever come out of it after all, she had always thought it would be hard for anyone to love her but this cruel man with dark secrets is never going to grant her a divorce because she makes him forget how to breathe.