Chapter 3

Nova's POV

Two Weeks Later

It had been two weeks since I'd left my old life behind, and I was slowly starting to feel stronger. Working as a bartender in Las Vegas was a far cry from my old life, but it was a fresh start.

Max, the man I met in front of my house that unfortunate day took me in. After explaining my problem to him he let me stay and we ended up moving out of that house together. Just to get closer to his workplace in Las Vegas.

Max appeared at my side. "Nova darling, I need your help," he said.

"What's up?" I asked, following him as he nodded towards the VIP section.

"One of the girls is having some trouble with a customer," he said. "I need you to go and calm things down."

I nodded, making my way over to the VIP section. Since the day I met Max my self-esteem actually improved, I wouldn't say 100% but I was finally able to speak up for myself and also confront people. Normally, I would just apologise for everything even though I wasn't at fault.

As I approached, I could hear the raised voices. A lady was standing with her arms crossed, glaring at a tall, muscular man who was looming over her.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I asked, stepping forward.

The man turned to me, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets."This bitch is trying to rip me off," he screamed, fisting his hands like he was ready to punch something.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we take a step back and talk about this ok?"

But the man was having none of it. He took a step closer to me, "Mind your fucking business!"

"Look, I'm just trying to help," I said. "But if you're not willing to calm down and talk about this like a civilised person, then you should leave."

The man's face turned red with rage, and for a moment, I thought he was going to hit me. Just as the man's fist was about to connect with my face, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, holding it in a tight grip.

"Don't you dare," a deep, commanding voice growled.

The man struggled, but his arm was held tightly.

I looked up to see a very tall, broad-shouldered man standing between me and my attacker. The man who had attacked me glared at my rescuer, but he seemed to think better of continuing the fight. With a snarl, he turned and stalked away.

My rescuer turned to me. "Are you okay?" he asked, staring at me.

I nodded, still feeling a bit shaken. "Y-yes," I stuttered. "Thank you."

But the man didn't say anything after that, neither did let go of my arm. He just stood in front of me, staring at me like I was a long-lost friend.

I was starting to feel uncomfortable so I cleared my throat, “Excuse sir. I'm fine now, you can let go of me.” I said aloud and he seemed to snap out of his gaze.

As we walked away from the VIP section to the bar my rescuer turned to me and said, "I'm so sorry for staring at you like that. I'm Levi.”

We walked to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. "I was supposed to get married today, but I received the biggest betrayal ever,” he said, shaking his head. "My fiancée ditched me. Can you believe it?"

I chuckled, "What if it happened for the best? Who knows what would have happened if you married her then she ended up cheating and divorcing you? Leaving you with nothing but your load drenched in the rain and no shelter above your head?”I said, breathing heavily as fresh memories of that night replayed in my mind.

“I've learnt things the hard way, I once trusted a man and he took everything away from me. I'm still trying to pick up the pieces and when I'm done he won't know what hit him.”

“How do you plan on doing it?” Levi asked.

I smirked, “by doing what they thought I'd never do. I'll start my own business and become extremely successful. Successful enough for them to see me everywhere they go and I'm going to make sure they all regret the day they took me for granted.”

“But that's enough info about me. What happened to your runaway bride?" I asked.

Levi shrugged. "I don't know. She just left, with no note and no calls. And now I'm in a bit of a bind."

"Why's that?" I asked, curious.

Levi's tone dropped. "Well, I have something important I might lose if I don't get married tonight."

I laughed.

Levi nodded, his expression serious. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. And I need a wife tonight."

I raised an eyebrow, "So you came here searching for one? What makes you think you'll find a wife here? A decent one.”

Levi grinned. "I couldn't find one outside the bar, they all thought I was crazy. I don't care about what they do for a living or where they are from. But if you insist on a decent girl, then I've found one.”

He stared at me for a minute, the corner of his lip curving upward.

I laughed, feeling a bit tipsy from the whiskey. “Levi, your flirting skills are terrible. You know that?"

Levi nodded, his grin still plastered on his face. "I know. But will you help me? Will you be my wife for tonight?"

“Sorry, but I'm not into guys.”

THE NEXT MORNING

The continuous ringing of my phone woke me up. I searched for my phone while rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Hello?" I mumbled.

"Nova. Please I need you at the bar now," Max's voice trembled over the line and it was almost like I could hear him shivering.

I sat up, panic clawing up my chest. "Max, what's going on?"

"Just get here please," Max said, and the line went dead.

As I washed up, my brain kept repeating what Max said, especially the tone he gave off. I tried to push every negative thought in my mind as I took a cab to the bar. But when I arrived I was met with a scene of utter devastation.

Everything was in shambles.

Furnitures destroyed, bottles smashed, and debris scattered everywhere. There was even a part of the bar that looked like it was on fire.

Most of our staff were standing in the middle of the chaos, I rushed over to see what took their attention and I saw them consoling a man. His face was soo pale that I thought it was a sitting corpse.

It took me a while to realize it was Max.

“I-I don't…. I don't know how it happened," he said, shaking his head in his palm. He looked up to me and what I saw made my heart ache more.

"And to make matters worse, our insurance won't cover it. We're ruined."

My heart sank, I had to find a way to get the bar back on its feet. He has worked hard for years just to keep this place running and just recently we started making profits. There has to be a way we could revive all we've lost.

And then I remembered the bank account that Jace and I had shared. It was a joint account, and I knew that there was a lot of money left in it. He wouldn't be able to use it till he gets my consent and so far I've not gotten any notification from the bank.

I've been saving that money for any form of emergency but now I could use that to help Max, the same way he helped me.

I pulled out my phone and dialled the bank's number, my heart racing with hope. After numerous rings I finally got through to a representative

"I'm sorry, ma'am. The account has been drained. There's nothing left."