Chapter 2

"That old bastard! I'm gonna kill him!" Basil raged.

"Please don't!" I frantically held him back, tears streaming down my face. "Don't throw your life away for a monster like him. It's not worth it."

"Don't worry, Annie." He finally relented, pulling me into a tight hug. "I'm going to protect you. I'll work and pay for your tuition, so you can get out of this dump and have a real future."

He worked day and night tirelessly. And I took on part-time jobs after school, just to ease his burden.

My best friend at school once asked me, "Are you in love with that bad boy? You're meant to go to an Ivy League school. You can't let someone like that hold you back."

But Basil was never an obstacle in my life. He was a candle, burning himself out just to light my path. I loved him, but I never said it out loud.

Or rather, he ran out of time before I could.

I had planned to confess my feelings on the day my college acceptance letter arrived. Right before that day came, Basil had beamed at me, bursting with excitement.

"Annie, I landed a valet job at a luxury hotel downtown. It pays over 4,000 dollars a month! I can finally put you through college."

But once he walked through those doors, he never came back out.

When I finally saw him again, it was just his mangled, unrecognizable body lying in the morgue. They claimed Basil had tried to steal from a guest, got caught, and died in a brawl.

I didn't buy it for a second.

Basil was the kind of guy who would starve for days before stealing a dime. Why would he jeopardize a hard-won job over theft?

After tracking down one of his co-workers, I finally dug up the truth.

Basil hadn't stolen anything. He had simply knocked on a room door at the wrong moment, interrupting a high-society mogul in bed with his mistress.

Annoyed that his mood was ruined, the man had his guards beat Basil to death.

I stared at the silver necklace Basil was still clutching tightly in his bruised, broken fist, my heart shattering into a million pieces.

That must have been the surprise he promised me. Even in his final moments, he never let go.

"Annie, I'll have a surprise for you next time we meet, to celebrate you getting into Harvard," he had told me. "You're amazing, kiddo."

I put on his last gift to me and tore up my college acceptance letter.

Instead of going to university, I applied for a job at that mogul's conglomerate, starting at the bottom as a night-shift janitor.

...

Inside the hotel suite, Calvin finished up and saw Harriet off.

When he walked back to me, he tossed a thick stack of bills on my face.

"Fix your face. You look disgusting like that," he scoffed.

"Alright," I whispered, keeping my eyes low.

My lack of reaction annoyed him even further. He yanked at his necktie and grunted, "Aren't you jealous?"

I bit my lip, smiling bitterly. "Do I even have the right to be?"

He nodded, satisfied with my answer, and patted his lap.

Reading the room, I walked over, sat on his lap, and nestled against him like a docile pet. His hands began wandering restlessly over my body.

"You know what I like most about you?" he murmured. "You actually know your place."

Tears glistened in my eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Please don't throw me away," I pleaded, making myself sound pitifully vulnerable. "I'll do whatever you want as long as I can stay by your side. I love you so much. I can't live without you."

His Adam's apple bobbed. Without another word, he violently ripped open my dress.

"Don't..." I whispered, my feeble protest acting nothing more than an aphrodisiac to him.

"Don't kill the vibe, Anna Lancaster," he growled, living for this power trip. "You know I love taking you right here."

By the time an hour had passed, my entire body was bruised and marked by him.

In the heat of passion, he murmured in my ear, "I can give you anything in the world, except my heart."

I closed my eyes, filled with nothing but bitter regret. "Why didn't I give myself to Basil sooner? I am dirty now. I am not worthy of him anymore."

Getting to where I was today had taken everything I had.

None of the mistresses around Calvin ever lasted more than a month. Yet I had managed to stay by his side for three whole years—a feat that stunned everyone in his inner circle.