In the Billionaires' Web

EVANGELINE MILLER.

The ray of light slapped me in with a blinding whiteness, and I groaned at the burning feeling of the sun on my face. I finally fluttered my eyes open as I rolled off the bed. Crashing into the rather cold floor, I still had sleep in my eyes but not enough to keep me from noticing how different the ground felt.

I had a soft rug glued to the ground. Why, then, did I crash into cold tiles, and on top of that, Harper's bed was not within my reach? I stood up abruptly, studying my surroundings as I forced my eyes open.

A gasp escaped my throat as I realized I wasn't in my apartment. This place was anywhere but.

For starters, no clothes were lingering around, and I couldn't see Harper's underwear dangling by the door handle. It was the complete opposite of my apartment. The wall was stainless white with furnishings to match. Everything was white, including the bedsheet I had wrapped around my waist.

I gasped yet again, sounding like a pig this time.

I had a bed sheet wrapped around my waist!

I peeled the folded edge and took a peek. My clothes, underwear... everything was gone.

"OH. MY. GOODNESS." I muttered as I frantically began to search for my clothes. I paused, falling back into the king-sized bed. It felt like a foggy cloud over my brain, and the memories of yesterday had waned.

Every attempt to force myself into remembering met me with a splitting headache. It was as though I took a sprinting ball to the head.

Should I be worried?

Had I been kidnapped!?

"Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. No, no, no. What should I do? What should I do?" I muttered, still searching for something decent to wear before I made my way out of whatever... decent hell I had walked into. It would be an absolute disgrace to explain to the police how I got kidnapped with a blanket around my chest.

"Up and running, Princess?"

"Oh my god!" I screamed, completely startled by the voice that came from behind. I didn't wait for an explanation, and I dashed at the individual with different pillows and the torchiere lamp that sat on the trestle table next to me. My fingers clasped around the lump of the bedsheet to stop it from falling off as I moved.

"Don't move closer! Stop there!" I kept yelling as my eyes rummaged his bare skin, ranging from his wide shoulders and chocolate abs down to his waistline, where I caught a glimpse of his Philips plein underwear.

Harper would kill to see this. I tried not to go lower, but I did, and damn- this was out of context, but the bulge in his boxer wasn't little at all.

How did I end up with...him?!

No, who was he!?

"Just calm down, okay?! I'm not going to hurt you... don't you remember?" He quizzed, his forehead creased as he ran his hands through his hair. "Don't you remember?"

I lifted my face to his. I hadn't been able to hold eye contact. No one would in this situation.

He stood, backlighting the sun, which emphasized his supernal aura. If I weren't terrified out of my mind, I would have taken more time to drool over him.

I was in a room, basically naked, with a man I had no prior memory of. This definitely topped my list of unlucky events.

My mind was blank, and his presence didn't stir any emotions or recollection. I hit my head repeatedly with my hands, and I heard the stranger sigh before sauntering toward me.

"Stop right there!" I yelled, panting. "First, where are my clothes?"

His pace slowed but didn't stop, a mischievous grin sitting on his face and an electrifying excitement in his ocean eyes. The closer he walked, the more of his features came into play. This man had been sculpted by the finest of artists. My eyes fell to his thin, welcoming lips, watching them part slightly.

I think I remembered those lips— fuck.

"What? You don't remember me ripping them off?" His thick eyebrows arched as he blinked slowly, eyeing me. His tongue trailed his bottom lips.

I crashed into a wardrobe I hadn't noticed behind me, and now there wasn't another place to hide. And for some reason, I didn't feel the need to. I liked what this stranger smelled like.

I nodded slowly, and he neared till he was close enough to feel my uneven breath on his face. His grin broke into a small chuckle. My heart began the beat tumultuously like a band of drums had an ongoing ceremony inside of it.

"You...were all over me yesterday at the Club Aqua," He breathed slowly into my ears, and I got a little dizzy from having such husky deepness permeate my ears. "You even begged me to touch you."

My stomach flipped.

"C-club Aqua?" I muttered quietly.

Oh shit, Harper!

#

*EIGHT HOURS EARLIER*

"I swear, Harper, if I ruin my life because of you, you'll move back to Busan and work at In-hee's convenience store!" I retorted tiredly as she pulled me out of the cab. I got out reluctantly, pulling the tip of the black, shiny dress she'd picked for me. It could pass for a blouse.

I looked like a walking warning sign.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, wrapping her hands around me.

"Look at the brighter side of things! This is Club Aqua, the newest club in New York! Everyone is talking about it. You know I need this trip to feed my followers." She pouted and groaned in response. "And God forbid I work at my sister's store. Do you know she gives me the expired kimbap and says I'd survive it? Pure evil, I tell you."

Her smile swallows her beady eyes as always, causing me to chuckle. She knew she had me.

Basically, Harper did social media. Well, aside from working at a joint cosmetics store and boutique, her life centered around deafening I*******m notifications and Twitter reposts. On the contrary, I only had a F******k account that was now banned for calling out a misogynistic comment.

"Just one hour. You tour the place, and we go back home. I have to resume work early today. The grim reaper is coming around."

Mercury, my boss. She was the grim reaper. G

—Grumpy and ever so evil.

"Sure, let's just go in!" She chimed, pulling me into the club, where we were soon met by blasting metallic music.

The sight was nothing to write home about. Half-naked teenagers, youth lost in the rather distasteful music.

I glanced at my dress. I wasn't exactly 'not naked,' either. I hated it instantly. The roaring crowd and booming speakers sounded like they came from inside my head.

Apparently, I was the only one who hated it; my best friend didn't.

"Isn't this fucking lit!" Harper yelled happily, fading away into the crowd and reappearing minutes later.

So much for Club Aqua. It was just another recycled, glorified nonsense. And Harper had disappeared again.

"Do you want to do shots!?" She screeched from behind, and I felt my soul slip out the window. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." She flashed me her one-sided grin, which meant she DID mean to startle me.

"Nope. I'm good. We have 45 minutes and 24 seconds left." I responded at the top of my voice. The music seemed to eat up my words.

She frowned, her nose wrinkled whenever she did. "I knew it, you chicken! Twenty-Six and the shots you've taken aren't enough to fill a bottle. Lame!" She playfully stuck her pierced tongue out.

"Oh, Harper." I groaned, rubbing my forehead.

We both knew what she was plotting. Harper had a way of wrapping me around her fingers. A shot or two won't hurt anyone, and maybe I'd see the place a little differently.

"Harper Seo-Jin Choi! I will now proceed to take shots!" I made my fake determined face, and we both giggled and walked to the club's bar.

What I didn't expect was when my intended three shots graduated into six. Harper's probably doubled my number, but my alcohol tolerance was nothing compared to hers.

"See...the room is spinning!" I pointed to the ceiling, "It's like a lollercoaster!"

"Hmmm," Harper's hands coated my cheeks, and she fondled them. Her nose and cheeks had a tinted shade of red, "You're so drunk, Evangeline!" Her words were beginning to slur, and she looked as though she was half asleep.

I patted her back. "No, I'm not drunk. You areeee!" I singsonged, touching her nose with my index finger.

"No, you are!"

"No, you are!"

The argument between two obviously drunk friends died into silence when Harper began to laugh so heartily, I didn't know why, but I joined in till my throat began to hurt.

"Fine! If I'm the drunk one, I dare you to get that guy's phone number! If you're the drunk one, you will not get that guy's phone number," Harper's baby voice was the strongest indicator of her drunkness.

I looked in the direction where she pointed but couldn't make out the face of the person, just that he was in a suit. I was beginning to see people in twos and fours.

"Fine! I don't wanna be the drunk one! I'd gogettit! Phone number, awayyyy!" I kicked my shoe off and staggered toward the guy she pointed to.

I heard Harper cheer from behind. "Letsgettitt! "

And that was the first necessary step I needed to ruin my life.