Prologue..
Two years ago...A seventeen-year-old Olivia Rae is half sitting and half lying on the floor in front of Alessandro Volcov, who is ten years older than her. He is the Mafia boss of the Russian outfit. He is looking at the young girl with a blank face. While her terrified gaze is trained on her bleeding father, George Rae, and her stepmother Catherine Rae with shock."Please, leave my husband. We beg you to take her as payment for the trouble my husband caused you. Please, Boss, leave my husband. Please" Catherine Rae begged Alessandro with tears in her eyes. She is on her knees in front of Alessandro, while George is bleeding from various injuries on his body. Alessandro tortured him and would have killed him for his betrayal. That's when his cunning wife came up with an evil plan to barter her stepdaughter for her husband's life.Olivia is the daughter of George with his first wife. He loves his daughter, but clearly not more than his life. When he decided to help Victor, he was convinced by the money Victor offered him. But he should have known that it's not easy to overthrow Alessandro.Czar, who is the underboss of the Russian outfit is looking at his boss with a hint of surprise. He was not expecting his boss to even consider this outrageous offer. Alessandro always liked mature women, and he never forced a woman against her will. He never forced Mia Vitiello, whom he wanted to marry. He never touched Mia, because he knew that she was not ready. So he gave her space and never pushed himself on her.'Miss Vitiello doesn't seem too keen on this marriage proposal' Czar remembered mentioning it in front of his boss.Alessandro laughed at Czar's comment.'I knew Mia almost all her life. Unlike every other man out there, I will give her safety and fidelity in our marriage. No one marries for love in our world. Finding Love is pure luck ' he replied.Czar is shocked by those words.'You don't love her?' he asked Alessandro.Alessandro shook his head.'I thought I did when she kissed me when she was drunk. But the past couple of years made me realize that I don't feel the same sparks for her that Nero feels for Chloe. I wanted to tell Nero and his father about this. But it doesn't matter anyway. Now this is purely convenient for me. We have known each other for so long, that it would be easy for us to get used to each other ' he explained.Czar nodded his head, understanding the logic of why his boss wanted to go through with this marriage.Now Czar can relate as to why Alessandro was not going out of his way to spend time with Mia. He is not in love with her in the first place. He visits her whenever he goes to NY, and that is it. He is snapped out of his head when his boss's voice penetrated the old memories."I accept your offer. From this day forth, this girl belongs to me. If you or anyone else from your family tries anything to harm my property, then you know the repercussions" Alessandro declared before leaving the room. Czar closely followed after him, leaving the Rae family alone.Olivia is terrified. He called her his property. She heard all kinds of bad things about Alessandro Volcov. He is ruthless, cold, and unforgiving. Recently he killed so many people mercilessly. These are the people who betrayed him. Her father is one among them."Dad?" she whispered with the pain of betrayal. Her stepmother never liked to her to begin with. She always gave everything to her own daughter and made Olivia's life miserable. But her dad? He is supposed to love her. He gave birth to her after all. He is not supposed to sell her to a ruthless man who is a known monster.George couldn't meet his daughter's gaze. He doesn't want to die here. Alessandro almost killed him. The pain is unbearable, and he doesn't want to die here. If he doesn't receive medical attention soon. He would die. He is worried that his limbs might not work like usual. Alessandro smashed both of his kneecaps and four of his fingers are missing."I am sorry Livi" he whispered.Olivia is heartbroken. She used to love when he calls her by the nickname her mother gave her. But now, the same nickname is sounding like a joke when he used it."Sorry? You are selling me to a ruthless man to save yourself?" she asked hoarsely. Her throat is feeling raw from all the crying.When Catherine saw the conflict on her husband's face, she sneered. She always wanted to get rid of Olivia. Now when she got a chance to do so, she is not letting it slip from her fingers. George earned millions in his employment with the Russian Mafia. She want all the riches to belong to her and her daughter."Now, let's go before he changes his mind and kills you," she told and helped her husband out of Alessandro's house with difficulty."No, Dad, please don't leave me" Olivia begged and tried to run after them, but Alesso's men stopped her. She was ushered into a room which is right beside their Boss's room. Olivia cried, begged, and did everything, but everyone ignored her.The next day, she became Alessandro's assistant and accompanied him to Reed and Mia's wedding. Alessandro all but ignored her through the entire ceremony. She noticed that He was different when he was with them. He is not cold like he is with everyone else. After the wedding, when they were going back to Russia, he gave her an unexpected offer, why wouldn't he? He was happy with the wedding."I am really happy today. You behaved well. I am pleased. Ask me for anything within reason, and I would grant you that wish. Anything but your freedom " he offered her.The only thing he wanted from him is her freedom. But she knows that he would never let her go. So she asked for the next best thing for which she worked hard in her life."Can I go back and finish my education?" she requested softly. She barely speaks with him. She is terrified of him. She doesn't want to push him. To her amazement, he agreed."Alright, you have five years. Finish high school, and then college. After that, you will come back to me. If you try anything to escape or sabotage this understanding between us, then you would see a side of me that you wouldn't like" he warned her.She nodded her head vigorously. She is not as stupid as her father. She knows that she would die if she cross him. She lost hope that she might not get to study again."Czar, arrange someone to drop her back in her hometown. Make sure to warn George and his wife to take good care of my property" Alessandro instructed his underboss.One year and nine months ago...."Olivia, you lazy bitch. Come down here in this instance" Olivia woke up to the screeching of her step mother, Catherine. This is the way her step mother wakes her up every morning. Olivia, lazily sat up on her bed. She could still hear her step mothers voice from downstairs. But she ignored the screaming. There was a time when the used to be scared of her step mother. But not anymore. She used to think that her step mother is the biggest monster in her life. But her opinion changed after she was sold to Alessandro. Now, he is her biggest fear and the cause of her nightmares.She quickly finished her morning routine and got ready for school before going downstairs. Her fathers house in this small town is a three storey building with five bedrooms. The house is lavishly decorated and there are maids to do everything. But Catherine insists that Olivia should do everything in the kitchen. Like cooking breakfast and making dinner apart from doing her own
Czar found Alessandro alone in his office after they dropped Olivia near her school. He wanted to ask about something that he wanted to do for over a month now. "Boss, can I ask you something?" he asked. Alessandro looked at his underboss with a knowing look in his eyes. They both are more friends now than a boss and his employee. Their dynamics shifted when Victor took the outfit under his control. "It's about Livi, isn't it?" he guessed. Czar nodded. He noticed that his boss calls that girl 'Livi' , which is strange. For some reason he is feeling as if his boss is fond of that girl."You know she would ask for something that would take her away from you. Then why did you agree to spare her father's life for her only to send her back after a month?" he inquired curiously. Alessandro stood up from his chair and turned to look outside the window behind his desk. "If you think that I spared George's life for his daughter, then you are wrong. George knows about some of the dealings
Six months ago..."Why do you insist upon them coming to this party? You know how these freshmen will get drunk and how fast the situation could get out of control? And let's not forget about Susanne. If something has to happen to Olivia, my cousin would kill me. We can see that your brother is in love with Hera. Why do you want to risk her safety?" Carlos complained.Kyle snorted sarcastically."Then make sure to keep Olivia safe. But I want Hera to get drunk out of her mind and reveal her true motives behind trapping my brother. She cannot be as good as she is pretending to be. She is the daughter of the infamous Fredrick. No person who carries his genes can be that good " he replied unfazed by the Russian's displeasure. Carlos frowned. He genuinely liked Hera and Olivia. But for some reason, Kyle is hell bent on finding faults in Hera and destroying her relationship with his brother.'Looks like I have to do something to distract Kyle. Justin came to the party as well and Susanne
The next morning, Olivia woke up to a very bad head ache. Her muscles are protesting with even a small movement. "Ah..." she groaned with pain with her eyes still closed. The softness kissing her body is the first thing she registered. Slowly she started to realise that her bed in the dorm room is not this soft. That led to confusion before her mind caught up with the events of the previous night. She remembered going to that party and drinking that fruit punch. And then she doesn't remember anything. Her eyes flew open when she started noticing that a very hard masculine body is pressing against hers. As soon as her eyes opened, she saw none other than Alessandro. His eyes are closed and his breathing is even. A blanket is covering their lower bodies, leaving their upper bodies exposed. Her eyes widened with horror when she gathered what this means. 'No' she thought and tried hard not to break down then and there. Her virginity is something which only belongs to her. It is someth
Alesso felt something stir inside him. He became numb to everything around him from the moment Victor outsmarted him and his own men back stabbed him. His friends gave him a little solace, but the numbness refused to leave at all. He feels vacant from inside out. He stopped feeling anything at all. Nothing fazes him these days. But today, Livi's outburst made him feel amused, and he didn't try to control his laughter when he realised why she is so angry. Usually she is always so quiet. She barely talks to him and always refuses to even look at him properly. But today, her eyes are blazing with anger under a layer of fear. She misunderstood the situation from that morning and he didn't assure that nothing happened. He did not think about how she would take this. But now, looking at her feisty attitude with her claws drawn out, she looks cute. A thrill ran down his body looking at her all riled up like this. 'Well, this quiet kitten has hidden claws ' he thought with amusement. "Livi
Five months and three weeks ago....Olivia completely recovered from the side effects of the drug that she drank by mistake. She did not understand if her muscle aches are because of the drug or because of what happened between her and Alessandro. Now, her muscle aches eased, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't recollect what exactly happened that night and why Alessandro broke his promise. 'You were so out of sorts and rubbing yourself all over my cousin, it's a wonder that he decided to jump in the river rather than allow you to embarrass yourself in the worst possible way ' she remembered Carlos's words. "If that man tried so hard to stop me from going s*x crazy because of that drug, why did he decide to break his promise?" she muttered to herself. Then, she remembered what Carlos said about how badly she was shivering.'He instructed a maid to help you out of your wet clothes and left. But then, you started shivering and the doctor couldn't come. It was my cousin who
Five months ago...."Hera, please don't cry. I am sure he will regain his memories soon" Olivia is trying to console her best friend who is breaking apart right in front of her eyes. But Hera is in too much pain for anyone to console her.Matteo met with an accident three weeks ago, and he lost his memories. He forgot Hera. "He is in that condition because of me. If he didn't try to save me, he wouldn't have met with that accident and he would have been fine now. I deserve this and more" Hera cursed herself and cried with pain. Hera moved in with Olivia into the college dorms. She moved in a week ago. Olivia never saw Hera in such a miserable condition before. In all the years that they have been friends with each other, nothing could bring this much of pain to Hera like Matteo did. 'He is a Mafia man Hera. I don't know how to tell this to you. I am not sure if I should feel relieved or worried about Matteo's memory loss. Why did you fall for someone like him? They are not good peop
"I need your help" These are not the words that Alesso was expecting to hear when he was informed by his guards that Livi is here. But he is not surprised. He can guess what help she needs from him. Livi is young, innocent and loyal to a core. She will stick to the people she loves through thick and thin. That is one of the qualities he likes about her. He knows how rare it is to find loyal people these days. Hera is lucky to have a friend like Livi."Is it? Hmm, what do I get in return?" he asked, trying to assess how far Livi would go to help the only person she cares about in this world. Olivia was expecting this question. And she came prepared with what she wants to offer. She knows help from mafia men would not come freely. They would definitely expect something in return. But she is neither rich nor has many things she could offer him that he lack. There is only one thing she is thinking that he might be interested in."I know I belong to you. But you gave me five years to liv