Chapter 1

"Hank! You swore you would never put me in danger the day we got together! And now you want to throw me at the sharks in the tank?" I questioned Hank Smith as I listened to his demand.

Hank would not meet my eyes as he stammered, "Lilibeth, Winnie has asthma. She can't handle any shock. You work hard labor every day and have great stamina. Holding your breath for five minutes is nothing to you. Not to mention…"

He then lowered his voice as he continued. "If you make it back alive, Captain Levin said the reward is two hundred thousand dollars! That's a ton of cash for a cleaner like you. You can't even afford any decent makeup. Can't you just consider this as making some money for our future?"

A chill went down my spine.

Our future?

It was more likely he wanted to get me killed in a hurry so he could build one with Winnie Lynch.

I tossed the rag on the deck and moved my wrist. "And if I refuse?"

Winnie let out a gasp at this perfect moment. "Hank, why is Lilibeth being so petty? I only asked her for a small favor. I even gave her a chance to earn some money. Why is she blowing me off?"

Hank's face darkened as his gaze became brutal. "Lilibeth, why are you being so unreasonable? There are so many VIPs on board today. If you ruin their entertainment in front of everyone, my family will never approve of us being together again. If you refuse to switch with Winnie today, our relationship is done right here and now!"

A breakup?

I almost laughed.

In the past year, he would always threaten me with a breakup when Winnie was involved. He truly believed I was so in love with him that I could not live without him.

Winnie stood next to him, fanning the flames with a sugary voice. "Lilibeth, stop making Hank angry. He normally treats you so well and buys you clothes and purses. Just take my place in the shark tank this once and treat this as paying him back. Besides, you scrub and mop the deck all day, so you must have some very steady footing. There's no way you'll slip."

The trust-fund kids around us also joined in and started to make a scene.

"Yeah, that's right! Why is a cleaner acting so proud?"

"Get down there already. Don't ruin the show for all of us!"

I looked at all the well-dressed fools around me as I scoffed. If this were a year ago, I would have tied up every one of them and hung them from the mast to let them taste the sea breeze.

My name was Lilibeth Bell, the Pirate Queen who ruled over the Western Seas. I had slain more mob bosses and drug lords than I could count with my two hands. But one year ago, I made a wager with my eighteen brothers who revelled in bloodshed.

To make them live honest lives from now on and run the legitimate shipping company I had taken over properly, I made a bet with them. I would hide my identity and work on a luxury liner as a cleaner for one full year.

If I kept my identity hidden and endured everything without retaliating, then they would burn their pirate flags and all of them would earn proper licenses to become lawful sailors. If I lost the bet, then I would lead them back to the open seas and return to a life of fire and blood.

Now, only fifteen minutes remained before the time was up and I won that bet from a year ago.