CHAPTER 5

Aneesa’s pov

I stared at him with wide eyes expecting the worst from him. What was he doing here? Why was I here?

“Oh dear,” he checked. “It’s really dark in here. Wanted to make a dramatic reveal but it’s coming out creepy.”

He walked towards me as I gulped and whimpered away from him.

I had already had a bad time with his nephew. I didn’t want to be on his bad side as well.

He got close to me then switched on the light switch as the room lit up.

It blinded me for a minute before I winced at the brightness of the room.

I looked around. I was amazed by how big the room was. In the dark, it felt small, but now it was big.

“So, do we have a deal?” he asked.

I looked at him, then scoffed. “Over my dead body. I’d rather poke my eyes out with a cast iron that has been melted and stab myself in the heart a thousand times than be your bride.”

He sighed, waving me away like I was just yapping without making any point.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“And what makes you think that you know me to that extent?”

“Because you don’t jump after hearing that the hounds would be after you. That means you care about your life.”

He made a solid point.

“I just came out from a divorce with your nephew. Now I have to deal with you, his uncle. And why? Why do I have to be with you? Tell me one good reason why.”

He shrugged. “The first reason is very obvious. Julian doesn’t know how good you are. You are something of an enigma, if I can say so myself. You’re not bad, not good either, but you’re in between. You have potential. I’ve watched you for multiple years. The three years that I’ve watched you, I’ve seen you bring his company from grass to grace. I’ve been envious of what you’ve been able to do, but you see, Julian doesn’t respect your decisions. He doesn’t see you as a woman of substance. I, on the other hand… I see you for what you truly are. I see you as the next person who is going to bring out the greatness of my company, of my empire.”

I scoffed. “So this is your big speech to stand here and win me over? You’ve already given my mother enough money to build an estate. I’m pretty sure all you need to do is snap your fingers and those two goons that brought me in here will be torturing me to make me agree with you.”

He scoffed and walked into the middle of the room.

“Please, I’m not a fan of torture, except when needed.”

The last word had me gulping as I looked at him from head to toe. He didn’t look great. He looked a bit sick.

“What happened to you?” I asked. “I haven’t seen you in a very long time.”

He shrugged. “I kept my distance.”

“Why?”

He smiled, revealing perfect pearly teeth before he pointed at me. “Because of you.”

“Why me?”

“I know Julian. And I knew that it would be only a matter of time before he would fuck up allowing me the chance to step up.”

“Please, no matter the amounts that you paid my mother, I can assure you that I will personally give you back that money. I will work for it.”

He tilted his head to the side a bit, then burst out in laughter before pointing at me. “You’re very funny. Very, very funny. I like that about you. But here’s the problem with your logic. You want to work for me, but you haven’t known how much your mother took from me. In fact, you did say earlier that I’ve given your mother enough money to build an estate. No, I gave enough money to build an entire company. That’s how much you are worth. Actually, you’re worth more than the company, but I’m only trying to make you see how important you are to me. I’m giving you a deal of a lifetime here.”

“And what is that deal?” I asked.

“It’s very simple. Work for me, be with me. Everything you did for Julian, I want it all.”

“I’m done working for your family. And if you use me for another one, two, three years and you dump me aside for another distant relative showing up and paying my mother to use me again… when will it end? When will everybody learn I am a human being? I can’t keep being treated that way.”

He closed the distance between us in three strides, then towered over me. I gulped, taking one step back to notice that I was against a wall.

He then placed a hand up, leaning closer to me. I got a whiff of his expensive cologne choking me as he stood there, staring into my eyes.

It was like he wanted to read my soul. I had to be careful. This man looked more dangerous when compared to Julian.

If julian was evil, this man was the definition of the word evil. No. He was the devil himself.

“You have no choice, Aneesa. You will work for me, or I will make you work. Do we have a deal?”

I gulped hard again. It wasn’t like going against this man was going to do anything good for me. I had no choice. I had been sold out.

On a normal day, this would be seen as trafficking. But I was being passed around amongst family members. What did I have to lose? I had lost my self-respect. I had lost my worth. And now I was here, about to lose everything that I had built for myself, which at this point is nothing.

“You still haven’t told me why you want to do this,” I said.

He smiled. “Come with me.”

Then he walked to the door, opening it and gesturing for me to walk with him.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I won’t bite,” he threw out like that was supposed to make me feel better.

Then he walked out, leaving me alone in the room. I looked around, took in deep breaths, then walked towards the door.