Chapter 7

Diva's point of view 

I sat on the edge of the bed, my body still, my hands trembling slightly as tears slipped endlessly down my cheeks.

I just couldn’t believe it.

I’d lost my virginity.

The thought alone cut deep...painful and unbearable.

But what hurt even more… was not knowing who had taken it from me.

“Diva, think!” I snapped at myself, my voice low but sharp in the silence.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing my mind to go back, to remember, to piece it together.

But it was blank.

Empty.

The only thing that surfaced… was the after party.

Then slowly, like fragments of a broken mirror; something began to form.

I saw myself… standing alone in a corner.

And then, a man.

His face, blurred. Unfamiliar. Not someone I recognized. Not anyone from Julius’s family.

He held a drink in his hand.

“Hi,” he had said.

Simple. Casual.

And then he offered it to me.

I took it.

I drank. Just a sip. And then, Dizziness.

The room spinning.

Darkness swallowing everything.

That was it.

That was where it ended.

My breath hitched.

“That drink…” I whispered, realization creeping in like a slow, suffocating shadow. “It was drugged.”

My fingers curled into the bedsheet.

But then…

A colder thought followed.

Could it be him?

The man who gave me the drink, was he the one who...

I froze.

“Oh fuck…” I muttered, shaking my head, trying to push the thought away.

What was I even thinking?

My eyes drifted around the room, landing back on the bed.

This room.

This very room.

This was where I woke up.

The bloodstains… still fresh in my memory.

Which meant—

Whoever did this…

Brought me here.

Laid me on this bed.

And slept with me.

My chest tightened.

“But how…” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“How is that even possible?”

Gosh!

The last time I checked, the Barons are fucking billionaires.

They’re feared in this city. They have top-notch security, and I remember seeing dozens of guards when I arrived.

So how could a stranger drug me, carry me here, and rape me without anyone noticing?

How did he get past the gates unseen?

Is that even possible?

There’s more to this than meets the eye.

Someone here; someone among the Barons, was behind this.

I need to find that person.

I swallowed hard and gazed at the bedsheet. The blood on it… was mine, proof of my virginity and I won’t let them erase it like it meant nothing. I’m going to keep it.

With that, I stood up from the bed. Pain throbbed between my legs, but I forced myself to move. I pulled off the bedsheet, folded it carefully, opened the wardrobe, and placed it at the bottom.

I’m leaving this house with this sheet when the contract is over.

Just then, what Julius said before leaving this room replayed in my head. He was gonna make me pay for it.

What was he even thinking?

Wasn't he supposed to help me find who was behind it rather than vowing to make me pay for it?

I closed the wardrobe and walked into the bathroom.

For a moment, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked… broken.

Then the memories came rushing back.

The good old days.

When my mother was healthy… when my father and brother were still alive.

We used to play together, talk together, and my dad always made sure we had everything we needed.

But everything changed the day death took him.

I wish he were alive. If he had been, I wouldn’t have signed that contract. I wouldn’t have lost my virginity like this. Goddamn it… I would be in college by now.

At that moment, I broke down in tears.

I cried for a while until it occurred to me that I wasn’t supposed to be seen crying.

Peradventure one of the Barons saw me this way, they would suspect something was wrong.

With that thought, I pulled myself together, got up, and examined my face. I applied a little cream, then stepped out of the bathroom. Immediately, the door opened and a maid walked in.

“Ma’am, madam wants you to come have breakfast with them,” she said.

“Madam?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Your mother-in-law,” she replied.

“That woman,” I muttered. 

She scared me, especially since she had already informed me she wanted to have a word with me.

“Alright,” I said, and she left.

I took a deep breath. Contract marriage is all about pretense, and right now, the real pretense was just beginning.

Slowly, I walked downstairs. When I reached the living room, I saw Julius standing at the door.

“Julius, I asked you a question,” his father’s voice boomed. “I don’t want to believe you both slept in different rooms,” he added.

Holy crap! What’s going on here? Hope this moment doesn’t get screwed up.

“Of course we did,” I cut in, trying hard to steady myself.

“You guys did?” Mr. Baron asked.

“Yes, Dad,” Julius said, smiling.

He quickly walked toward me and held my right hand.

“Or what would make you think that, after the wedding, this beautiful woman would stay in a separate room?”

His father stared at us. From the look on his face, I could tell he wasn’t fully convinced.

“Honey, there’s nothing to worry about,” his mother chimed in. “When I entered their room this morning, guess what I saw?”

Julius and I exchanged quick glances.

What did she see? Was she going to expose us? Was she going to say we didn’t sleep in the same room?

“And what’s that?” his father asked, facing her.

“I saw bloodstains on the bed,” she said, smiling. “That clearly means our son married a virgin!”

My heart skipped a beat.

His father turned to us.

“Come on over!” he gestured.

Julius held my hand as we strode to the dining room. He pulled out a chair for me to sit when his father asked.

“Julius, is that true?” his father asked, looking excited.

“Yes, Dad,” Julius nodded, smiling. I could tell he was forcing that smile.

“Lucky boy,” the man behind us muttered.

I guessed he was also a member of the Barons.

“You’re so lucky to marry a virgin,” his mother added.

Gosh! I couldn’t believe they were talking about the same virginity that had been stolen from me by a stranger.

"You where leaving..." The woman who was sitting right beside the man who'd said 'lucky boy' said. "Weren't real couples supposed to have their first breakfast together?" She added. 

Did she just said, 'real couples'?