"I feel so sore all over…"
Aria muttered groggily as she rolled lazily across the bed. Her limbs felt heavy and strangely weak, as if she had spent the entire night running or fighting.
She opened her eyes halfway, intending to close them again and continue sleeping. However, the moment her gaze swept across the unfamiliar ceiling above her, her drowsiness vanished instantly.
This wasn't her room.
Her eyes snapped fully open.
Without wasting another second, Aria pushed herself up into a sitting position. Confusion and slight panic flickered across her beautiful face as she looked around the luxurious room.
She was in a hotel.
And she had absolutely no idea how she got here.
Just then, the memories of the previous night crashed into her.
She had drunk too much.
Way too much.
"Ding!"
The sharp notification sound from her phone broke her train of thought.
Now who the fuck is that again?
Aria frowned in annoyance as she grabbed the phone lying beside her pillow. She glanced at the caller ID and frowned even harder before reluctantly answering the call.
It was Eve.
Her adopted sister.
Her father had adopted Eve years ago so Aria wouldn't grow up lonely. Though they had grown up together like real sisters, Eve could be incredibly nosy and overly protective.
Aria pressed the phone to her ear with visible irritation.
"Yes? What's the problem this time, Eve?" she asked with a scoff, her voice still rough from sleep.
On the other side of the phone, Eve immediately snapped.
"Just where the hell are you, Aria?! Father has been asking about you since morning!"
Her tone carried both worry and frustration.
The moment Eve mentioned their father, Aria's eyes widened in shock and pure panic.
Father.
Their father was one of the most ruthless Mafia lords in the city. His name alone was enough to make powerful men tremble.
He loved his daughters deeply, but when it came to discipline and rules, he could be terrifyingly strict.
And if he was asking for Aria this early in the morning…
Then Aria already knew exactly why.
"I'm screwed…" she murmured under her breath, her heart suddenly racing.
Eve continued speaking urgently through the phone.
"Just make sure you get back here immediately. I told him you caught a cold last night and that you're resting in your room, but that lie won't hold him off for long. So get here as soon as possible before you drag me into trouble too!"
Before Aria could respond, the call ended abruptly.
"Eve!"
Aria stared at the disconnected screen and groaned.
Without wasting another moment, panic surged through her as she jumped out of bed, planning to rush into the bathroom, take a quick shower, and get dressed before leaving.
But the moment she passed the massive mirror in the room, her steps halted abruptly.
Her body froze.
Slowly… very slowly… she stepped backward toward the mirror.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
She was completely naked.
"...Huh?"
She hadn't even paid attention to her body when she woke up earlier. Now that she finally looked down at herself, shock rippled through her.
"How the fuck am I naked?"
Her eyes quickly scanned the floor.
Her dress, bra, panties.
All of them were scattered messily across the floor like discarded trash.
"What the actual fuck?!"
Her brows knitted together as confusion and dread crawled up her spine.
"What happened to me last night…?"
She stared at her reflection again.
That was when she noticed them.
Faint reddish marks scattered across her neck, shoulders, and chest.
Love bites.
Her back ached terribly, and there was a dull soreness between her legs that she hadn't noticed earlier.
Aria's eyes slowly widened.
"I had sex…?"
Her hands instinctively grabbed her head as she forced herself to remember.
And then the memories came crashing down.
Her body guard but more like a slave boy.
Her personal slave boy.
She had actually slept with him.
Images from last night replayed violently in her mind.
The grand ball, the moment she ridiculed him in front of everyone, the look in his eyes when he followed her to the hotel room afterward.
The way he confronted her for the first time, the anger, hatred and then the moment she stopped him from leaving.
The moment she grabbed his collar and pulled him down, her lips pressed against his as if that reckless kiss could somehow serve as an apology for all the humiliation she had caused him.
Aria squeezed her eyes shut.
"Oh my Goodness…"
The rest of the memory flooded in.
The way he grabbed her, bent her over the bed with barely restrained fury, the way he took her like a man finally releasing years of pent-up anger and resentment.
Just thinking about it made her legs ache again.
"Fuck! How could you, Aria?!" she whispered harshly to herself.
He was no longer the son of a powerful Mafia family.
Her father had destroyed his entire family.
Every single one of them.
The only reason he was still alive was because Aria had begged her father to spare him.
And what had she done afterward?
She kept him as her personal slave.
Even worse…
To keep her father from suspecting anything, she had treated him harshly for years.
Public humiliation, cold orders, cruel words.
All to convince everyone who knew she loved him that he meant nothing to her now.
"He hates you, Aria," she muttered bitterly. "And now you slept with him."
Where is he though? She thought as her eyes darted around the room again but there was no sign of him anywhere.
"He actually left me here after we had sex?"
Aria swallowed hard.
"Fuck…"
Father must never find out about this.
If he did…
He would kill him without hesitation.
"Ding!"
Her phone rang again.
Aria glanced at the screen.
Eve.
Again.
"There's no fucking time to take a bath!"
She quickly grabbed her scattered clothes from the floor and hurriedly put them on, tied her red curly hair into a bun. Within minutes, she was dressed though messily.
Moments later, she rushed out of the hotel room.
Putting on only one heel on her foot while holding the other in one hand as if that was her bag.
°°°°°°
Later that morning.
Aria sat stiffly at the long dining table, her mind miles away.
"And how are you feeling now, Aria?"
A cold voice suddenly echoed from the far end of the table.
The sound sent a wave of shock and dread down her spine.
Aria snapped out of her thoughts immediately.
Her father.
Mr. David Witt.
The powerful Mafia lord sat at the head of the table, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His sharp eyes were focused on his meal as he calmly sliced through his steak.
"You haven't even changed from your outfit last night," he continued in a calm yet intimidating tone. "That must mean you're truly sick."
He raised his glass of wine casually.
"You're not even eating. Is the meal not to your liking today? That's your favorite breakfast."
Aria quickly cleared her throat.
"I'll eat, Father," she said quickly, forcing a calm expression. "I was just… thinking about something."
To avoid his piercing gaze, she turned toward Eve, who was seated beside her.
Eve, unlike Aria, was happily devouring her food like nothing in the world concerned her.
Aria leaned slightly toward her.
"Have you seen my slave boy?" she asked quietly.
Eve paused mid-bite.
"Huh?"
She raised a brow in confusion.
"I thought you sent him on an errand or something," Eve replied casually. "Otherwise he'd normally be standing behind your chair like always."
Her eyes wandered around the living room thoughtfully.
"So where the hell did he run off to?"
Fuck! Must you speak loudly?!
Before their father could utter another word, Aria quickly chimed in, her voice a little too fast as she tried to sound casual.
"Oh yeah… I remember now," she said hurriedly, forcing a small smile onto her face. "I sent him out to do some shopping for me today. He should be back soon."
She prayed inwardly that the excuse would be enough.
Across the table, Eve glanced at her briefly, raising a suspicious eyebrow but saying nothing.
Mr. Wilson continued cutting into his steak calmly, his sharp eyes briefly flickering toward Aria before returning to his plate.
"Oh, good," he replied indifferently after swallowing a bite of food. "He better shop for good outfits."
Aria blinked in confusion.
"Why?"
He never worried about whatever they're doing, except it's something that benefits him.
Mr. Wilson lifted his glass of wine and took a slow sip before answering, his tone completely casual.
"Because you'll be meeting someone soon," he said."He'll be arriving in about a month."
Aria slowly frowned.
"And who exactly is that, Father?" she asked, raising an eyebrow curiously as she leaned back slightly in her chair.
There was a moment of silence.
Then Mr. Wilson placed his wine glass back on the table and calmly dropped the bomb.
"Your future husband."