Chapter 1

The monotonous beeping after the call disconnected sounded especially sharp in the wrecked private room.

Eloise Kane was pinned beneath me, with her face pressed into the ruins of a coffee table. Blood from her forehead mixed with the stench of alcohol, trickling down her strikingly cold features and staining the carpet beneath her.

For the first time, the arrogance had vanished from her unruly eyes, replaced by raw disbelief and unmistakable panic.

"Drake Becker, have you lost your damn mind? Do you even know what you're saying?" she screamed, thrashing wildly.

However, as a man, I naturally had the advantage in strength.

Besides, the bodyguards behind me had already surged forward. They forced her head back down into the bloodstained shards of glass without hesitation.

Several dull cracking sounds followed.

Eloise let out a muffled groan of pain.

Micah Campbell, the male escort, had shrunk into the corner of the couch. His face was ghost-white, and he was shaking so badly that he couldn't even manage a coherent plea for mercy.

I looked down at Eloise from above.

Then, I used the toe of my leather shoe to tip her chin up, forcing her to look me in the eye.

As I stared at the face now twisted by overwhelming fear, my thoughts drifted back to the night I first met her three years ago.

…

Three years earlier, in the most secretive and brutal underground boxing arena in Kensington, Eloise fought inside the octagonal cage like a tireless lioness. She threw a vicious hook that landed square on her opponent's nose and shattered it instantly.

Blood splattered across her tank top.

Without even catching her breath, she stepped on the fallen fighter's chest and flashed the audience a wild, defiant smirk.

At that moment, she was dazzling enough to draw everyone's attention.

However, what caught my eye wasn't her athletic body, nor was it her cold, beautiful face.

When I pressed the red button beside me, the entire arena erupted.

In the underground boxing world, that button meant only one thing—no matter how high anyone else bid, I would raise it without limit until I won ownership of the fighter.

In the end, I spent an astronomical ten million dollars to buy Eloise's contract.

When the bodyguards brought the bloodied Eloise before me, she didn't even bother looking at me.

She casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and sized me up with unconcealed contempt and ridicule.

"You want to keep me as your little pet?" Eloise asked with a cold, disdainful laugh.

"Fine. But I have conditions.

"First, I want the best penthouse apartment downtown with the best view in the city. Second, I want ten thousand dollars a month in spending money—not a single cent less. Third, and most importantly, you will not interfere with my personal life or who I choose to see.

"I might be willing to sell my body, but I will never sell my life. And I will never, ever sell my freedom."

Laughter rippled through the surrounding crowd of wealthy spectators.

Everyone thought I had lost my mind spending ten million dollars just to bring home an impossible queen I would have to serve and indulge.

Faced with her outrageous demands and blatant audacity, I didn't so much as frown.

I walked over to her calmly. Ignoring the heavy scent of blood clinging to her body, I slowly raised my hand and stopped over the left side of her chest.

"I accept every condition," I said calmly, pulling my hand back. "But you must maintain a healthy routine and take care of your body."

Eloise froze for a moment before letting out a mocking snort.

She had obviously mistaken my words for the possessive obsession of a wealthy man infatuated with her body.

The disdain in her eyes only deepened.