Wanita Dambaan Sang Billionaire

“Is this actually me?” Anastasia said as she stared into the mirror. While her fingers moved slowly across her left cheek. Her skin felt so smooth and perfect under her touch. “So this is exactly where I had that ugly scar before.” This has been what she's being doing since she had a successful surgery. Whenever Anastasia wants to go out, she would stare at the mirror for long.

She kept caressing the spot, gentle and slow, like she was scared it might come back if she pressed it too hard. A soft giggle escaped her lips. “It just looks like I never had a scar there before. Like it was all a bad dream, that I was having for long.” she sighed.

For a moment, she smiled at the woman looking back at her. The new her.

Elegant.

Beautiful.

Strong.

But then something sharp hit inside her chest. She staggered back a step and grabbed the edge of the dresser to steady herself. That pain again. It had never left her, not even for one single day in the past year.

“Nathan Storm,” she whispered, and the name tasted like poison on her tongue. “That man who saw me as nothing but filth. That man that saw me as disaster.....”

Her heart started pounding hard. Memories came rushing in, one after another, until her eyes blurred with tears. She could hear his voice so clearly, like he was standing right behind her in this fancy hotel room.

“I can give you what no other man can. Let’s meet.”

That message alone had changed everything. Anastasia closed her eyes so tight. She remembered the day she first saw him properly at university. He had come as one of the sponsors on her graduation day. Their eyes locked for just a few seconds across the crowded hall, and her stomach had flipped like a silly schoolgirl. From that day, she carried him in her heart quietly. Secretly. A man like Nathan Storm noticing a girl like her? It felt impossible.

When his message came after her father died, she thought maybe, just maybe, he saw something in her too.

“I was so stupid,” she said out loud to the mirror. Her voice cracked. “I ran to him that night like a fool in love. Even when I knew it was probably all business. Even though I knew he needed my father's name to get to the top but I still went. Because I loved him.... Because I loved you Nathan..... God help me, I loved that cold bastard for years.”

She wiped her eyes roughly, but the tears kept coming.

That night. In his hotel. The way he touched her like she was the only woman in the world. For those few hours, she felt beautiful. Desired. Whole. The scar did not matter. Nothing mattered except his hands and his eyes on her.

Then morning came.

Anastasia straightened up and looked straight into her own eyes in the mirror. She forced herself to remember every cruel word.

“You remember what he said, don’t you, Anastasia?” she asked herself. “Say it out loud. Face it.”

She took a deep breath and spoke in a low, bitter voice, repeating his words as close as she could remember.

“‘Now I do not want to see you anywhere near me or my business. If I do, you will forget you ever had a half-flawless face, because I will see to it that your whole face is cut to pieces.’”

The words still cut deep. Anastasia slammed her hand on the dresser. “He called me ugly. After everything. After I gave him my body and my trust. He looked me dead in the eyes and threw me away like trash.”

Fresh tears rolled down her smooth cheeks. She did not wipe them this time. Let them fall. They were fuel now.

“My father had just died few months,” she said, her voice shaking with anger. “I was alone. Scared. The human wolves were already circling Vale  Empire, trying to tear apart everything my father built. And Nathan? He offered protection. One night. One contract. I signed it because I thought he cared even a little. But he used me. He used my love against me.”

She laughed, but there was no joy in it. It was a dark, broken sound.

“You really thought you could break me, Nathan? You thought throwing those words at me would finish me off?”

Anastasia stepped closer to the mirror. Her reflection stared back with fire in her eyes.

“My name is Anastasia Vale,” she said slowly, each word very heavy with purpose. “My father ruled his empire since he was young. He built it with his own hands, his own sweat, his own blood. He’s gone now, but I am still here. And I am my father’s daughter.”

She paused, fighting the sob that wanted to come out when she thought of her dad.

“I will not cower anymore because of how small and worthless I felt back then. No. Vale Empire will stand tall again. Taller than before. And you, Nathan Storm…”

Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper as she pointed at the mirror like she was pointing right at him.

“I will make sure I strip you of everything my father’s Empire has given you so far. You will cower and beg me, Nathan Storm..... You should watch and see, Nathan.”

Just then, her phone buzzed on the dresser. The screen lit up with a name that made her blood run cold.

Nathan Storm. 

One new message.