03

Chapter Three

Ava's POV

A jarring pain shot through my head as I jolted awake. and I had to close my eyes for a few seconds to get rid of the wave of dizziness that washed over me.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

I got a hint once I took off the blanket and noticed I was as naked as the day I was born.

No, this couldn't be happening.

My clothes lay in a heap on the floor on the other side of the bed. The other side of the bed rumpled as if someone had slept there too. It looked like I had been involved in a passionate encounter in the night, but that couldn't have happened. I came here to get something for Mom.

The realization shot through me.

Oh shit, Natalia's gift.

Oh no! I didn’t do what I was sent to do. Mom will kill me.

I looked at the desk where the gift was supposed to be, but it was empty.

“What... what happened?” I whispered to myself, trying to grasp what was happening. But everything after I came into the room was a blur.

My phone buzzed with a new message. My stomach dropped when I saw it was from Natalia.

My fingers trembled as I opened the message, my only thought:

Oh my God, what have I done?

The message on the screen contained an attachment. Tapping "open attachment," my heart somersaulted, nearly falling to my feet as I saw the worst picture I had ever been in.

It was me.

And a man. Wait.....I zoomed in closer. Oh my God! It's the man I met on the stairs yesterday.

We were naked. The lower parts of our bodies tucked under the sheets. My hair looked wild, as if I'd just been in an intense lovemaking session.

My mind swirled with thoughts. Just how did this happen? I couldn't remember anything after opening the door to this room. My mind was hazy, not bringing any memories to life no matter how hard I tried.

My phone vibrated in my hands, a new messaged. Opening it, I found this one to be a text. It read: "Meet me in the East garden immediately–Natalia."

I felt the fury coursing up my veins, my legs quickly moving towards the shower in the room.

The minute I walked out of the bathroom, I picked up a pair of men's clothes from the closet, tying them to fit around my small frame. This had to be the man's room in the mansion. Did he work here? Was he paid to do this?

Praying desperately that he should be with Natalia so that I could express my rage on them, I hurried outside.

Arriving outside, the chilly breeze hit me in the face, and I wrapped my arms around myself to get warmth.

The garden looked gloomy, just like me. The flowers hadn't bloomed this morning, and the entire place was dead silent.

Natalia was already waiting, standing by the fountain, her arms crossed, her face furious. But she had the slightest hint of a smirk on, very subtle.

Before I could even speak, her hand flew across my face with a sharp crack.

The slap echoed through the silent garden. I blinked, stunned. Why did she slap me? Before I could even say a word, she broke into a loud shout.

"You filthy, disgusting whore!" Natalia’s voice was sharp and furious. "How could you do this to me? To our family? You slept with my boyfriend!"

What? He's her boyfriend? Oh my God! No! My lips parted, but no words came out. I thought she orchestrated it. I wanted to defend myself, to explain that I didn’t know how it had happened.

But all I could manage was a pathetic, whispered, "I... I didn’t... I don’t remember—"

"Don’t remember?" she spat, her voice as cold as ice.

"Don’t give me that pathetic excuse, Ava! I trusted you. We trusted you!" Her voice broke, and she looked seconds away from tearing up. "You’re a disgrace. To me. To this family."

"I’m sorry," I croaked, my voice shaky. I was completely lost. So that was Liam. Did he do it on purpose? Then how did Natalia have pictures? Nothing made sense.

If it wasn't Natalia, then it had to be this Liam although I couldn't help but wonder what he aimed to accomplish. "I swear, I don’t know what happened. Please, Natalia... I would never–"

Before I could finish, another voice interrupted, colder than Natalia's, and filled with even greater disdain.

"You should be ashamed, Ava."

I turned, my heart rate spiking as I saw my mother walking toward us, her lips curved downward in a frown. For a second, I wondered, could it be her?

"You’ve always been a disappointment, a sorry excuse for a daughter. But this? Sleeping with your sister’s boyfriend? You’ve really outdone yourself this time. Bravo, whore!"

My lips parted in a bid to defend myself, but the words seemed to be stuck in my throat.

I wanted to tell them to stop whatever dirty game they were playing, but I couldn't. How could I fight back when I didn’t even know what had happened?

"I–" I began, but my mother cut me off with a wave of her hand.

"Enough!" she snapped, narrowing her eyes. "Don’t embarrass yourself any further. We already have a solution."

I froze, confusion washing over me. "A solution?"

Natalia stepped forward then, her lips spreading into a sly smirk. "It’s simple," she said. "You’re going to marry Liam."

I gasped, my eyes bulging. "What? No! I– How could I–"

"Oh, you will," my mother said with all nonchalance, as if she were telling me I must go to school.

"Unless, of course, you want these pictures leaked to the world. I’m sure the media would love to know how Ava Patel, the cruel daughter, slept with her sister’s fiancé. An addition to her numerous heinous acts."

My throat clogged, tears brimming at the edge of my eyes. "No," I whispered, shaking my head. "You can’t do this. I can’t marry him. He’s engaged to Natalia!"

Natalia let out a laugh. "Oh, sweet, naive Ava," she said, shaking her head. "Liam isn’t my fiancé anymore. Never was."

What? Just what is she saying?

"Didn’t you know? I’ve been engaged to Jim Dallas–the owner of Ditech–for weeks now. Liam is nothing but a filthy librarian. Did you really think I’d marry someone like him?"

My heart shattered. Everything made sense now. Liam and I had been played. hard.

As if on cue, I heard footsteps walking up from behind me.

I turned, and there he was–Liam, standing at the edge of the garden, his face as hard as stone. A contrast to the playful guy on the staircase last night.

He must have heard everything.

"So that’s what this is about," Liam said softly, his brows drawn together. "I was only a plaything for you."

Natalia crossed her arms, completely unbothered. "You served your purpose, Liam. Don’t act so surprised. You knew what this was."

Liam’s eyes shifted to me, and for a brief moment, I saw something pass there–regret, maybe. Or pity. "Miss Ava.. I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know any of this would happen. I was drugged as well."

Natalia let out a loud laugh. "Don't worry, you guys didn't do the nasty. Although the pictures say otherwise..."

My brain finally comprehended all that had happened. Liam and I had been drugged, but we never went to the same room. Some rooms in the mansion looked really similar. They must have manipulated it to look like we were in one.

Natalia smirked, stepping closer. "So, Ava, what will it be? Marry Liam and save what little dignity you have left, or let the world see just how low you’ve fallen?"

I fisted my hands as I turned to look at Liam. He stood there, his jaw set in a hard glare, his light blue eyes had gone a shade darker, almost black.

“Natalia,” he said, stepping towards her, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “One day, you’re going to regret every single thing you’ve done. Trust me, it’ll be sooner than you think.”

His words sent a shiver down my spine. I glanced at Natalia, noticing a flash of surprise on her face which she quickly masked with a smirk. But I could see something else–a hint of worry, as if Liam’s words had struck a nerve.

Then, she tossed her hair back, linking her arm with Mom’s. “Mom, I think we’ve made ourselves clear. Let’s go inside. I’m sure Ava will do the right thing, won’t she? And Liam too. He wouldn’t dare let poor, innocent Ava’s reputation fall to ruin.”

She turned on her heel, guiding my mother with her, leaving me and Liam standing there alone, their laughter fading as they disappeared back into the house.

Liam exhaled, running a hand through his hair. He turned to me and I could see his face still had some coldness to it. “Are you okay, Ava?”

I managed a nod, though my heart was pounding. “How can I be fine, Liam? What are we supposed to do? Can’t you just stop her? Can’t we get rid of those pictures somehow?”

He shook his head, his expression softening for a moment before hardening again. “No. Not right now. I’m just a poor librarian, Ava. I can’t match their resources…”

He kept quiet for a while, seemingly in thougt. Then he stepped closer to me and whispred.

“I do have an idea. A plan. I know you don’t want to do this. But right now, we have to play along. Let them believe they’ve got the upper hand. When they least expect it, we’ll strike.”

I stared up at him, gulping hard. He looked deadly, like he was talking about avenging more than this incident. But I knew I was just overthinking.

“What are you suggesting then, Liam?” I murmured, gulping.

He locked gazes with mine, his eyes holding a dark glint. "Marry me Ava! And together we'll avenge this.”