Not as bad as he thought?
What is that supposed to mean?
I looked over at my father, who have a proud smile on his face.
“Of course not, he smiled.”
“ Come over here” the young man commanded.
I look at my father once again, and he gave me a tight smile.
I do not know who this man is, but he looks scary. He has a cold aura which screams run for your life!!! But I dare not move an inch if I want to avoid facing my father's wrath.
I glance over at the man once again to study his appearance.
He has hazel eyes, the proper masculine physique, a perfect face cut, with an impressive height of 6'2.
I don't know who he is, but I am certain he is not good for me.
“Is she not aware of the reason she is here?” He asked coldly.
“ Of course, she is.”
“If so, I would like to ramp up the deal tonight. I will have the money sent into your account, and she follows me home, right away.”
“Deal?
What deal? I finally voiced out.”
Father looked at me like he wants to murder me.
“What is going on?
What deal are they referring to?
Why won't I be going home?
I panic as I thought of these questions.
“ What deal, I asked again.”
“Did you not say she is aware earlier?” the young man asked, totally ignoring my question.
“Well, she is about to,” Father answered.
“Aware of what?” I try my luck again.
“That you have been sold off.” Michael who appear from nowhere answered, smiling arrogantly.
“Wait, what?
Did you say s- sold out?” I stuttered.
“Yes, princess, you heard me right, he mimics.”
Currently, I couldn't control the stream of tears that threatens to fall as I cry my eyes out.
Just when I thought I could go back to my normal life.
“Stop this melodrama, Lila, father shouted.
That man over there, Armani, is now your husband, and you will be respectful towards him. He now possesses full over you, so cut your trap and accept the reality to make things easier for us all.”
“Wow!” Armani muttered, completely taken surprised by my father's greed.
How can you do this to your daughter, I cried out?
“I know what is best for you, trust me, you can't get yourself a better man like Armani. He pats my back then say, consider yourself lucky.”
Armani, who seems to be getting bored with the whole thing, declares that it's time to take his leave,
He leads me into his car.
It is a brand-new Ferrari. Everything in here screams money, but that is the least of my concern right now.
He stopped the car in front of a penthouse.
This house is like a dream come true.
Mere looking at it from the outside, it looks like a castle. If my father sold me to this man, then I am not surprised that he is loaded. Throughout the drive, he did not utter a single word to me.
He left me to my misery. I already know this man is not good for me, but right now, I can only pray he is not worse than my father.
The moment he parked his car, he walked inside, totally ignoring me.
I followed closely behind him, seeing how I am left with no choice, and he introduces me to his workers as his wife.
“This is my wife, he said.
Jenny, he called out a woman who looks like she is in her mid-forties, have you cleaned the room I asked you to?
“Yes, sir, I did as I was told.”
“Good, take her into her room and attend to her needs. I will be in my office if you require me, he said and walk away without giving me a second look. What a nice introduction, I grumbled.
“Hi, the maid from earlier greeted.”
“Hello”
“I'm Jenny, I am responsible for cleaning and cooking. Do not hesitate to call me if you require anything. For now, let me show you your room.” She said with a big smile.
I followed her upstairs and damn, she was lying when she said had prepared the room.
Every damn thing in this room screams luxury!!!
Even though I grew up in a wealthy family, I can tell that our tastes differ, or maybe the richer, you get, the higher your standard.
“I will excuse you now.
Have a good night's rest, I will show you around tomorrow.” She said.
“Thank you, ma'am.”
“It is Jenny, dear, you can call me Jenny.”
“Good night Jenny.”
She took that as a cue to take her to leave, leaving me alone to myself and my heavy thoughts.
I cried my eyes out.
It was at this moment I know how lonely I am. How miserable my life has become. All along, I thought all I have to do is endure it all until I get married to the man I love, then, I will be free from all drama and I will stay away from my forsaken family. Who am I kidding? Jokes on me, I smiled bitterly.
I guess there is never an escape for me.
All night long, I couldn't close my eyes, I kept on thinking about what Michael said.
“You have been sold out.” It keeps on ringing in my head like a bell.
Sold?
All these things still look like a dream to me. No, it has to be a nightmare. Once I wake up, it will be all gone.
But who am I deceiving?
My whole life has been misery, all thanks to my mother's foolish mistake when she was younger.
Presently, I hate her more than anything in this world. Even much more than my pathetic father who sold me for money like my life, dreams, and future means nothing.
I mean, who am I to blame besides a woman who made the biggest mistake of her life by falling in love.
It will end someday, maybe not now but sooner.
I tried to calm my thoughts but my brain refuse to work in my way as it keeps on reminding me of the difficulties I am going to face ahead of me.
This will not be my end, I muttered to myself, that is if I survive this one.
Lila’s POVI was huddled up by the head of the bed, with Leo standing by the door when suddenly, he froze. From what I had observed from my obnoxious and mean husband, Armani, he was afraid of no one. So, what could his friend, Leo, be fearful of?My scared eyes watched him as a hawk as he retrieved his hand from the silver door handle, still staring at the door like it had an answer embedded in it.The next thing that happened went by so fast that it was hard to take note of it. One minute, Leo was standing by the door, his handsome features backing me, and the next, he dashed into the closet, closing the door quietly against himself.I could see what he was running away from when the door was pushed open, and Armani stepped in, looking as menacing as ever. He had worn a jacket over the dark outfit he had on a few hours ago when he was torturing me in the basement.Intense fear overpowered me again as he strolled further into the room, his eyes on the window at the far end and on the
Leo’s POVThe bar was silent the minute Armani stepped out, leaving me to my thoughts. I knew the right thing to do was to down my tequila and head over to my mansion. I had a lot of papers waiting for me in my office, and my cousin, Greg, was throwing a party that needed me in attendance.But for some reason, I couldn’t leave Armani’s mansion.My mind kept going back to Lila, wondering how she was doing. I had almost broken the glass to shards with my hands when Armani mentioned that the Donald clan had planned to get through to him through Lila.It felt strange to me because usually, I barely paid attention to Armani and his ways. We made the best pair ever, and it had worked for me over the years. While he was excessive in torture, I preferred slow and steady planning. The effect was always more brutal. But that didn’t mean I didn’t condone it when Armani inflicted torture on people.Although I find it boring, I still watch him, enjoying the thrill and relief it brings to his face.
Armani’s POVIf Leo wasn’t my friend, his head would have been hanging on a stake right at this minute. No one dared to walk into the torture room, especially after I gave strict others to be left alone with my wife. When it came to torturing Lila, I basked in the feeling – one that her father handed to me on a platter.“Your business is in the rest of the mansion, apart from here, Leo,” I sternly muttered, half-expecting him to take the cue and get the fuck out of the basement. Instead, he came closer with a muscle jutting in his chin, like he was displeased at what I was doing.Leo had always been the one with the most human feelings, but that didn’t mean he was nice. While I tended to react on the spot, Leo brooded over it each time someone crossed him. He preferred to map out his plans slowly, punishing the offender when he least expected.We were polar opposites, yet we worked so well together.“Your business doubles as mine, brother,” he said, chuckling. Giving Lila a once over,
Lila’s POVIt wasn’t my first time getting locked up in the torture room, yet I couldn’t stop the shivers from erupting through my spine. Nobody could ever get used to getting beat up almost every day because their father couldn’t keep his greed in check. Fuck James Brown!I could hear the footsteps of his men parade in the torture room, and I was scared that they would drag me to the center of the room again. I felt a sharp pain through my wrist where Armani had pulled me as if reminding me that it could happen at any minute again. Against myself, I wondered if Bella was doing okay. I hadn’t heard from her since the last time I was at her house, and with Armani threatening to do something bad to her if I stepped one toe out of line again, I couldn’t help but wonder if he actually went through with his plans. The torture room was located in the basement of the mansion, so sunlight barely came down there, but at least the only thing I could hear was Alexa’s voice each time someone
Armani’s POVThe silence that reverberated around the room irked me to the core, and it took everything within me not to smash something against the intruder’s head. My men knew how much I hated silence when I asked a question, and this stranger was just getting on my nerves. “Did you lose your tongue on the way here?” I bellowed, glaring daggers at him. I enjoyed watching him cower in fright, his head almost touching the ground. Usually, I would ask him to be thrown into the torture room until he was in enough pain to force him to talk. But with everything that had happened today, I surprisingly still had adrenaline pumping through me, mixed with a little boredom.This fucker here could entertain me today, especially since Leo rudely interrupted my sweet time with Lila. Sitting on the white couch, I snapped a finger to the housekeeper hanging around, and a glass of iced scotch was in my hand in a minute. I put the glass against my lips, taking my precious time to down its content.
Armani’s POV“It wouldn't look too good for me to come out covered in your blood, now would it be darling?” I asked, with a smirk plastered on my face as I tightened my grip around her wrist.“Armani!” The same voice from earlier called out violently from behind me as I heard hurried footsteps coming from behind as well.I clenched my jaw as I let go of her, glaring at Lila in front of me, watching another figure approach us from the dark. For some reason, I could tell whoever it was happened to be someone familiar from the sound of their voice in the dark.“You have to chill out man!” The familiar voice scowled coming into the light, and just when he did I realized who it was standing right in front of me.Leo!!!…“What do you want?” I asked, my voice coming across colder than intended. Leo quickly had his eyes on her behind me, avoiding my menacing gaze and then he walked past me as he had her pulled back up to her feet dragging her onto the car.Caring motherfucking Leo.I loathed