LOGINAdrianna thought freedom was finally within reach… until betrayal ripped it away. Framed for a sin she didn’t commit, she’s sold like property to the cruelest Alpha King alive. Broken and hopeless, she’s ready to give up—until fate reunites her with the last person she ever expected: Eric, the mysterious fighter who once saved her life. But Eric isn’t just a loyal right-hand man anymore. He’s her only chance at survival… and the man willing to risk everything—his profession, his honor, his life, his crown—for her. Their escape sparks a deadly manhunt, their names smeared as murderers, their love tested by secrets darker than either of them imagined. When Eric discovers he is the lost heir to a powerful kingdom, their forbidden bond faces its greatest trial: betrayal from within. Enemies circle. Family turns against them. And with a kingdom at stake, one brother’s jealousy could destroy everything Eric and Adrianna have fought for—including their unborn child.
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ADRIANNA’S POV The night was long. I had slept like never before. I turned to the other side of my bed, groaning a little as my heavy eyelids fluttered open only to see the face of a man I had never seen before directly facing me, our warm breaths clashing and noses almost touching. My breath caught as I instantly became wide awake and jumped out of bed. Realizing I was naked, I quickly grabbed the duvet to cover myself. The man was also naked. I gasped intensely, more shocked than ever. Who the hell was this man? And how did he get into my bed? Realizing what was happening, he woke up, yawning in satisfaction as he did. The moment his eyes met mine, they shimmered with affection that irked me to the bones. “You’re up early, sunshine,” he said, smiling sweetly at me like I was his newlywed bride. I scowled at him as if to kill him with my eyes, rage filling me. This man was out of his senses! Why was he calling me his sunshine? “Who are you and how did you get into my bed?!” I ripped the words angrily from my throat. I couldn’t remember a thing from last night. I felt like I had woken up from a terrible coma. Every memory I had of yesterday was vague. But whoever this man was, I needed him out of my bed, my room and the castle immediately. If Hermes finds out about this then I’m done for. He’ll punish me beyond anything I can imagine. He had threatened to castrate any male who dared look at me with desire not to talk of one that… I squeezed my eyes close and shuddered with disgust at the thought of what this stranger could have done to me over the night. Today, my tenure as Hermes’s sex slave was coming to an end. I’ll finally be free of him and his manipulations and abuse. Today, I’ll finally get the life I never had back. On an important day like this, the last thing I wanted was to do anything that could put my freedom in jeopardy. “You’re quick to act, sunshine,” the strange man said casually, sitting up to recline against the pillow, not even minding he was naked or the weight of the situation. “You wanted this. You asked for it so don’t play dumb. We both enjoyed ourselves last night and I bet you still want more. Now get back in bed, let's go another round.” He motioned to me to get back in bed, a mischievous smile curving his lips. Clutching hard onto the duvet wrapped around my body, I stared at him with eyes about to fall out from shock. I can’t believe this. Just how did this happen? Hermes is going to kill me. At this point, I was convinced this stranger was high on something. Panic like never before welled up in my chest as I thought of what to do to get this man out of my room and castle before Hermes suspected anything. It was obvious he wasn’t willing to leave anytime soon. Unable to come up with an idea, I grabbed the pillow and started hitting him with it, tears of fear, shame, guilt and panic prickling the corners of my eyes. “You shameless bastard! How dare come into my room and take advantage of me….why did you do this? Get out of my room right this instant. You’re going to put me in trouble…” Just then the door of my room flew open and I froze in fear on seeing Hermes march in with his sister, Hera and two guards. At that moment I knew I was done for. “There!” His sister pointed at me accusingly, her tone filled with so much contempt and bitterness. “I knew I was hearing disturbing moans from last night.” Hermes snarled, his face a glowering mask of anger as his eyes drilled into me. Sheer fright crept into me. The only thing I could do now was plead for mercy and beg him to hear me out. I rushed to kneel before him. “My Lord, please…It’s not what you think…I don’t know this man…I don’t even know how he got into my room…please you have to believe me on this…” I pleaded like my life depended on it, tears streaming down my cheeks. “You shameless slut!” he spat at me with a furiously disgusting expression on his face. “The evidence is clear,” he cast the strange man on the bed a devilish glare before returning his gaze to me. “After all I have done for you. After picking you from the dumpster you’ve lived all your life, this is how you repay me…” “No…” I cried out, shaking my head in agony. He should know better than to call me a slut. He took my virginity. He was the only man I had ever been with. And he knew it too well. Being locked up in this castle for what seemed like ages, the last thing I’d do is to sleep with another man knowing the kind of devil Hermes was. Besides his guards, who he warned never to find desire in my body, he was the only man I had seen in the past six months. “You were nothing but a lowlife thief with a father who couldn’t even wait a second to get rid of you,” he continued sternly. “I did you a huge favour by giving you something called a life. A lot of girls will give anything to be in your position yet you betray me like this?!” He flared like a blazing fire, causing me to flinch in fright. My heart clenched painfully in my chest as he recalled my ugly past. A past I never wanted to remember for as long as I lived. He gave me a life. A life of being nothing but his sex slave. Is that a life? Even though he was an Alpha king, no girl would ever want a life such as the one I’m living now. I couldn’t wait for my tenure to end so I could be free of it all. My knees hurt as moved closer to him, hoping to beg some more for something I was innocent of. I have been punished enough by him. I couldn’t afford to be punished again. My already battered body can't withstand any more of it. “Hermes please I know nothing about this….” Before I could finish, he pushed me aside and made his way towards the bed as I crashed on the floor with a loud thud, sobs racking my throat. “You!” He directed at the stranger on the bed with a menacing voice that seemed to stab the air. “You’re done for! Guards! Take him to the torture room. Show him what we do to guys who can’t keep their dicks in check,” he smirked evilly. “No…wait…what’s happening…” the stranger muttered, clueless and confused as the heavily built guards effortlessly jacked him from the bed, gagged and tied him up. Before he was dragged out of the room, I noticed his gaze kept flicking to Hera’s as if expecting her to say something on his behalf. But she didn’t spare him a glance. At that moment I knew something was up. Anger surged through me as I managed to gather myself up. “You!” I threw at her as I approached her. “You did this…how could you do this kind of thing to me?... What have I done to deserve this much hatred from you…?” Her lips twitched with a wicked smile – an indication she knew what I was talking about as she sneered at me. I didn’t know how she managed this pull this off, but I knew she did it. No other person could have set me up like this. I raised my hand to strike her in the face, but Hermes held my wrist from behind to stop me. He flung me back so violently I crashed into the bedpost with a bang, the duvet I used in covering myself falling off as pain seared through my bare body from the collision impact. “How dare you try to strike my sister?” He shouted. “Have you no fear, no shame, even after what you just did?” “Can’t you see Hermes?” I supported my right elbow to ease the stinging pain, an ocean of tears accumulating in my eyes and flooding down my face. “She did this…she set me up…I don’t know that man…I don’t know how I ended up in bed with him.” “I know you have a history of theft but never knew you also had an excellent one in telling lies too. You’re delusional blaming other people for your mess,” he replied coldly, with no atom of empathy. “Just know you have cost yourself your freedom... “No…” my ears slammed in shock on hearing that. That can’t be true. I have waited an eternity to finally leave this shit hole of a castle. He can’t deprive me of my freedom after all these torturous months I have served him. “You said you’ll let me go after six months… that six months ended today. You promised…I can’t stay here anymore…I’m done keeping up with you two’s bullshit!” He whiffed out a scornful laugh and squatted in front of me. He observed me for a while before sighing and shaking his head in pity. “Oh little flower, how naïve and stupid of you to think I’ll set you free after paying such a huge amount to acquire you. I don’t work that way. You’re mine until I decide otherwise. And with what you just did, I’ll just have to punish you severely for it.” He tried to caress my cheek but I quickly whipped my head to the side to prevent him. “You lying bastard!” I muttered spitefully under my breath. “I hate you more than anything…” The next thing I knew, he violently grabbed me by the cheeks, his fingers digging into my skin as he brought my face so close to his I could feel his breath. “You have no right to talk back at me and you don’t get to hate me. Ever! You understand!!” I squeezed my eyes close and nodded desperately, anything to be free of this pain. To free of him. “Good, Little flower,” he whispered in my ear and kissed my forehead before shoving my face away like it was filth. I was yet to recover from the pain in my cheeks when suddenly, he yanked me by the hair and started pulling me towards the door. “No…You’re hurting me…” I cried out as painful tears burned my eyes and corroded my cheeks, trying to beat off his grip. But it was of no use. He won’t budge. His grip was so tight I feared my hair might rip out from its scalp if he continued resisting. “Let me go…please you’re hurting me… Where are you taking me?” “You wanted to get out of this castle,” he smiled darkly. “Well, I have just the perfect place for you.”Chapter 120Adrianna’s PovMy heart jolted and I felt the rest of my body stiffen in shock at the mention of that name. I turned quietly to Eric. “It’s… It’s my father.”“Are you sure you can do this?” Eric asked, worry threading through his voice as he cradled my face, his thumb tracing slow, calming circles against my skin.We stood in the main hall of the castle, the massive entrance door the only thing separating me and the man whose hatred shaped my entire childhood, the man who sold me off to Hermes without a second thought. Five long years had passed. And to be honest, if he hadn’t come here himself, I would have lived the rest of my life without ever bothering to seek him out.“If you like we can have the guards throw him out if he refuses to leave,” he suggested, and from the way he said it, it was clear he was in support of that notion.“No…” I muttered, shaking my head. “It’s fine. I can face him. I have nothing to be afraid of now.”“That’s my girl,” he smiled softly in su
Chapter 109Adrianna’s Pov3 years later…Despite the tragedies, Eric’s coronation was a success, followed shortly by our wedding. His parents’ funeral was held together on the same day, and they were laid to rest alongside each other at the castle graveyard. It took time and a considerable measure of strength for Eric to come to terms with what his mother had done and forgive her.Thanks to my quick thinking and immediate action that night, Edmund was able to stay alive long enough for the ambulance to arrive. Having killed his mother in the course of protecting me, he was charged with voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to fifteen years in prison with a possible parole option after serving part of the sentence. During his incarceration, he was transferred to a psychiatric facility where he received mandatory psychological evaluations and participated in addiction recovery treatment after having a history of drug and substance abuse.Eric and I visit him sometimes. Even after everyt
Chapter 107Adrianna’s POVThe man hiding beside the door was one of the castle guards. I had seen him many times with Eric. Eric mentioned once he was the guard his mother assigned to him privately. That meant he was to go with Eric wherever he went even to places no one else was allowed.Even though I did my best not to look at him to avoid outing his presence to Edmund, I couldn’t hide how baffled I was, my brows knitting like one trying to solve a riddle no one had given her a clue to.Eric was attending a late-night emergency meeting with the royal council. Being his private guard, this guard here was supposed to go with him. If he didn’t, that meant something could be terribly wrong. I tried not to overthink it. Maybe Eric ordered him not to come along or he might have returned from the meeting.If he had returned, then where was he? If he was seeing this somewhere from the shadows, then why was he allowing it to carry on? Was he waiting for some cue to step in or maybe he sent
Chapter 106Adrianna’s POVEdmund stared down at the strips, his brows furrowing as he carefully assessed them. Then, he looked at me.“So you’re pregnant,” he didn’t hide the anger, disgust and jealousy in his tone as he said those words. “For him.”He hesitated after saying that, just staring at me with his lips twitching like he had acid in his mouth. I didn’t know what was going through his mind but whatever it was, I prayed he wouldn’t harm my baby.Suddenly, he tossed the strips away. They landed at the doorway, and continued packing. “That won’t matter because we’re leaving this place. You and me together. If I can’t take the kingship position from him, at least I get to take you and your unborn child from him. That will surely break him.”“Mmmph…” I squirmed restlessly on the floor, trying to speak and move my body, but the cloth tied around my mouth and wrists restricted me. Only shaky, muffled sounds escaped me.My eyes were wide and wet as I looked at him—pleading, begging,
Chapter 105Adrianna’s POVSomething churned in my stomach, disrupting my sleep as I turned uneasily on the bed. Suddenly, bile shot up to my throat. I jolted awake and rushed out of bed to the bathroom to throw up.After I finished, rinsed my mouth, and washed my face, I silently stared at my reflection on the plain mirror before me. My cheeks looked a little puffier than usual, my eyes were tired with dark circles forming underneath them like someone deprived of sleep, and I couldn’t help but notice my breasts felt tender, slightly fuller, and heavier to the touch, my nipples straining subtly against the fabric of my clothes.Pregnancy wasn’t a passing thought anymore, nor would it be an easy feat. Within the last two days, I have taken three pregnancy tests, and all showed double lines, telling me I’m going to be a mother in a few months. I would have taken another just to confirm, but I couldn’t force myself to take any more water this night.I let out a weary sigh and trudged out
CHAPTER 104EDMUND’S POVEven though I hated to admit it, Adrianna was innocent and didn’t deserve even a fraction of the harsh treatment we were subjecting her to. The only reason I was tormenting her was because I wanted to get to Eric through her. And also because I wanted to get a taste of what she was hiding under her skirt. She looked too sweet, too tempting, too desirable to ignore.Away from that, I wondered what she ever did to my mother in this short period she’d been here for her to want her dead. I hadn’t seen them talk, let alone sit in the same place since she came.“What are you even talking about?” My mother retorted irritably but I didn’t wait for her to land as I grabbed her elbow.“Tell me, where are you keeping the antidote?” I demanded. It was taking everything in me to stay on my feet and talk. I needed something to relieve me of this pain.“What antidote?” She grimaced in pain as she struggled to break free, acting clueless as always.I exhaled sharply, nostrils






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