Chapter 3: Taken Home

ANGELA

After I had been sold for fifty million dollars, I fainted. When I awoke, I was shocked to see my head resting on someone's thigh.

My blue eyes fluttered open, and I recalled that Isabella had said I would be sold as a sex slave to a mafia boss. I felt scared, thinking I had already been taken against my will.

But then my eyes landed on him—my elder sister's boyfriend. How could this be?

Richard peered at me calmly, his eyes not shifting from mine, his thin lips pressed into a firm line, not bothering to explain anything to me.

I glanced down at myself, and thankfully I was still wearing my blue dress. But how had I ended up in a car with him?

How did I come to be in the same car as Richard Henshaw? Was he the man who had purchased me?

"Please, stop the car. Let me go home, please," I begged him, but the driver didn't bother to stop. It was as if my words fell on deaf ears.

*Am I a ghost? Was I killed?*

I pinched my legs, wincing at the sharp pain, and Richard quickly grasped my hands away from my legs.

"What are you doing, trying to hurt yourself, huh?" His voice came out hot, rough, and alluring.

"No," I whispered, trembling, not knowing how I had ended up in a car with him.

"Please, let me go home. Why are you the one taking me home? Where are we going?" I asked him, barely recognizing the road his driver was taking.

"You belong to me now, Princess. And you shouldn't think you can leave my sight or return to your parents," Richard said, and my jaw dropped.

"How? Were you the one who purchased me?" I asked him at last, trembling as I peered at his handsome, dark face.

"What does it look like to you, Princess? You were auctioned at the Dark Realm Auction House, and I purchased you. So you should be the one answering my questions, not the other way around. How did you end up there? The auction house doesn't sell illegal commodities. That only tells me you willingly went there to be sold." He grasped my hands, still bound together and untied them.

"No. I didn't want to be sold. I cannot agree to be sold to anyone, and you do not own me," I replied, looking at his face in defiance.

"I see," Richard muttered, looking away as the car took another turn.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, not bothering to look at my face as he pulled out a stick of cigarette, lit the end, and started smoking.

"You're Richard Henshaw. My elder sister's boyfriend," I replied, and he smiled.

"Apart from that, do you know what I do for a living?" he asked, his cold voice making my heart quiver.

"Um. No, I don't know. But Isabella said you're a mafia boss's son, and your father is Wesley Henshaw," I said, and he nodded.

"Good. Since you know who my father is, that means you already know me too. I bought you tonight, and I don't care to know how you ended up putting yourself up for sale, but I must warn you—even your parents can't take you away from me. They know the rules of the mafia in Top Hills City, and my father is the number one mafia boss in this city. So consider yourself warned, Little Princess. You are not to leave my house or try to escape. I will have you branded on your chest so you bear my name wherever you go," Richard said as he smoked his cigarette.

"No way. I don't want to be sold. I never wanted anything to do with you. Isabella misunderstood everything. She thought I was trying to steal you from her. Please, let me go home. My sister loves you. Don't brand me with your name. I cannot become your sex slave," I cried, trying to plead with Richard.

I felt a little relief that Richard was the one who'd bought me—didn't that mean I could still return home?

"Don't touch me!" Richard smacked my hands away as I reached for him, pleading, and he glared at me.

"Do you want me to fụck you here in my car? Do you want to experience your first time in this car, huh?" He glared at me, and I shuddered and gulped hard.

"No. I don't want it. I don't want you," I muttered, and he smiled.

"You will. Just not now." He reached to touch my strand of hair, but I raised my hand and smacked his away.

The car pulled to a stop, and I gazed out the tinted window.

"We have arrived home. Welcome to my abode, my princess," Richard said, extinguishing his cigarette.

"Don't call me that. My name is Angela Moraga, not a princess," I told him through clenched teeth, and he smiled.

"I know. And you don't have to correct me. Come out now." Richard got out of the car first, and I felt dread run down my spine.

I recalled that my phone was in my handbag, but that was still in Isabella's car. How would I reach my parents?

I knew my father's phone number and planned to call him, though my parents had traveled for a business trip to Los Angeles, and I didn't know how they would react to my absence from home.

Would they look for me? Would they come and get me away from Richard's grip?

How dare Richard Henshaw call me his property. I couldn't imagine sleeping with the same man my sister had been intimate with. I wanted nothing to do with him.

So many young women wanted Richard, but I wanted to further my education at Top Hills University, to study medicine and become a surgeon.

Tears welled up in my eyes as the driver got out of the car and came to open my back door.

Richard had already walked away, and I saw men in black bow and welcome him as he walked up to the front of his mansion.

*Was Richard the owner of this magnificent house?* I wondered, as the driver told me, "Come out, Miss. Don't think you can run away. Master Richard is being kind, bringing you here instead of taking you straight to the harem."

My brows furrowed, wondering what the man meant.

I recalled I wasn't the only one sold. Other young women had been sold too, and Richard had said the auction was legal, meaning all those young ladies had agreed to sell themselves.

Was that the truth?

What if they had been kidnapped and sold, like me?

I silently followed the man who led me into the luxurious white mansion.