Chapter 2

POV DEFNE

Returning home was like going straight to death row.

Each step became much heavier, the raw pain in my ribs a reminder of how Berat always delivered what he promised.

He wasn't just the man I once loved, now he was the monster my fingers and loneliness had nurtured.

As I entered the apartment, the smell of alcohol brought me back to reality immediately. Berat was sitting on the sofa, with a half-drunk bottle of whiskey and evil peeking into his eyes.

"Where's the money, Defne?"

"I haven't been paid the bonus yet, you know that I just started working in the company..." I tried to back off, looking for something to defend myself with because I knew what was coming, but he was faster.

In less than a minute, he was already upon me. His hands that had once caressed my hand with love, now closed over my arms with brutal hatred.

"I don't give a shit if you haven't been paid! He screamed, shaking my body hard. "You owe me that money, your stupid parents owe me that money. If you don't pay me I swear I'm going to break your face!

What happened next was a moment full of screams and pain. Berat had no mercy on me.

He threw me against the wall, beat me until my vision went black. And when he finally left, slamming the door and shouting that he would come back for the rest, I stood there on the ground as I trembled, the taste of blood having flooded my mouth.

I was completely alone.

My hands were shaking and I couldn't see very well, but I still reached for my bag. He had no one to ask for help, he had nothing to call. My parents had been missing by their will for a while, all my friends had moved away because of Berat, and then... I remembered the way my boss looked at me, I remembered how his fingers felt on my cheek.

"If there's anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to tell me... I only care about you."

It was crazy, he was my boss. But my fear of dying at the hands of Berat was greater than my pride. With my fingers stained with blood, I looked for the private number that he himself had saved on my phone only in case of emergency.

My phone rang once, twice until...

"Defne?" Adem's voice sounded very worried, surely he had been surprised that I called him since I never did.

"Sir... In addition..." My voice broke into a sob.

"Where are you?" he asked immediately. His tone changed from a simple curiosity to a much more decisive tone. "Defne, answer me right now... What happened?

"Help me please..."

I didn't have to tell him anything else. Ten minutes later, the sound of his car parking hard in front of my building broke the silence. He didn't send any chauffeur, he went upstairs himself. When she threw the door and saw me lying on the floor, her face, which always showed control, had been transformed into a cluster of fury.

He knelt beside me, his hands wrapped around my face so delicately that I could only cry harder.

"I know he did this to you." He didn't even have to ask me, he already knew. Perhaps I never knew how to disguise as well as I thought. "Berat will pay for it, I swear on my life."

He picked me up quickly and carefully, and got me out of that shitty place. He took me to his car, an extremely expensive luxury model, and drove to a private five-star hotel. His presence was the only thing that kept me sane.

He had a private doctor, whom he called confidentially, check on me and bandage each of his wounds. When we were alone again, he sat next to me on the bed. He had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, the sight of his strong forearms making me sigh.

"You won't be back with him, Defne. Never again." He looked me in the eye.

"I have nowhere to go, Adem... I have no money, not even a single penny, I have debts that suffocate me... He's got me cornered." I cried, covering my face with my hands.

The distance between them diminished, he pushed my hands away and forced me to look at him.

"I can solve all that. I can erase all your debts with a single call, I can give you the apartment you want, and the protection you need... That will never touch you again."

My heart stopped. It was the offer that any woman in my place would accept without thinking, but I knew that a man like him didn't give anything for free.

"What do you want in return?"

Adem leaned over, his face a few inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face and my whole body trembled.

"You have to be mine, Defne, mine alone."

"You are a married man..." I reminded him.

"I know... But my marriage isn't what it seems. "He responded without any trace of guilt." And you are my assistant, but this goes far beyond an employment contract. I will give you everything you want, I will protect you with everything I have, but in return you will give me your will. I want you to be able to take me to ecstasy, Defne. If you succeed, you'll never have to worry about anything again."

The devil had at last spoken the truth.

His gaze shone full of possession and a desire that was burning inside.

Right now I had only two options: return to the hell of Berat or lose myself in the sinful paradise of Adem Sahenk.

I looked at her lips with desire and although a huge shiver ran through my entire body, I told her.

"I do."

He smiled.

"Good choice, beautiful. Rest, tomorrow you will start a new life."