CHAPTER 146 : No Escape. "I went back to uncle and did what father couldn't. Back then, he was the Mafia Don. Mother got promoted to the Queen's head maid so everything fell in place for your parents death!" He chuckled evilly like a bloodthirsty psycho. "Then uncle retired and made me the mafia Don because I earned it! I grew everything to this level! By feeding my rage, I got everything I wanted!. "Know thy enemy. Meeting you was all in the game. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses was the mission. You were, and still is, just a pawn in my game. The Queen I cornered and fell!" And he was right. Natalia was literally cornered! "And Arian? He did nothing! They're all innocent!" She yelled with teary cheeks. "He got involved with you. That was his sin! You're mine alone, Natalia. Your existence is completely and totally mine! At some point I failed to notice, my hatred turned into an obsession." Natalia shivered noticing the way the rage in his e
CHAPTER 147 : Eyes Of A Lover... "The Madame of the house is back from the hospital, young mistress." She answered in her enviable French accent. Selena nodded. Just then, Mom Rose walked into the mansion with a huge smile on her face, glued to Arian's side. In a bout of haste, the maids almost bumped into Selena while dragging several bags up the semicircular staircase. Without sparing her a glance, they bowed and mumbled apologies over their shoulders, flying two steps at a time. "...." "Welcome back, Madame Rose and young master Arian." Old butler Lee gave a slight bow and graciously relieved them of their coats. "How are you feeling?" Nanny warmly asked, her impassive aura lifting. Selena noticed and lowered her eyes. Obviously, no one dared say it. But they all silently blamed her for the current crisis happening in the family. "Peaceful." Mom Rose smiled, fondly tapping Arian's arm which her delicately gloved fingers wer
CHAPTER 148 : Obsession... ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "Did you find him? Has Jake made contact?'' She hastily asked. "I tried all our reach-out routines ma'am but I couldn't make contact. It seems like he doesn't want to make contact yet." Max briefly reported. "Keep trying!" Elva Thompson, the new royal stand-in ordered. Max nodded in understanding, gave a short royal salute and smartly walked out. "Remind me why, exactly....we need him?" Arian casually asked. "As you know that we can't just look through every country under limited time..." "Agreed." He concurred, not really emphasizing her point but his, which clearly stated that they were already wasting time by not moving into action!. "Jake is a top security agent on an international level. He has connections with various agencies worldwide. He can call in favours and..." "Okay, I get it." Arian swiftly made his way to the door. "While you're waitin
CHAPTER 149 : I'm Leaving... ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "Jon!" Bianca Wells grinned at the familiar barman, yelling above the insane club rock blasting through the club. Jon turned around with a pretty smile, recognizing her voice and waved to her. Bianca returned both. After attending to the person he was with, he stalked over to her. "Hey Bee!" "Hi. Where's Sam?" She casually glanced around. Jon's hair which was dyed pristine white sexily fluttered as he shook his head. "Not here. Big dawg didn't come to work today." He answered. Bianca's face slightly fell. Sam was her favourite barman. "You know what happened? He never misses his shifts." "I know, right? I'll head over first thing in the morning after work though. My guess is, it's got to do with that girl he hangs out with. It's obvious she's just playing him but dude's head over heels, sis. Tsk!" He sadly clicked his tongue which had a silver ring in the middle. Bia
CHAPTER 150 : So Incapable. ( In The Middle Of Nowhere. ) It must've been sometime during the night when Natalia's eyelids weakly fluttered open. As usual, the room was devilishly dark. The royal could barely keep her eyes open so she shut them back and focused on her sense of hearing instead. She didn't know how many hours she was out but she felt sore all over. Her body was stiff and she couldn't move a finger. She was even too weak to think. So before she knew it, she fell into unconsciousness again. By the time she vaguely became aware of her surrounding again, Natalia wasn't alone in the room!. Cold fear broke through her and panic consumed her entire being but she was too weak to show it. So, she feebly listened to the conversation instead. "....she's more useful to us alive than dead. At this rate, all our years of hardwork and precision will all go down the drain." A familiar voice spoke and Natalia silently cringed.
CHAPTER 151 : Straight To Hell! ( A few days later, still in the middle of Nowhere. ) "....Go back to that same master of yours and tell him to shove it up his evilly perverted ass because I'm NEVER gonna put that rag on me! ''I'm a Royal, not one of those cheap prostitutes he fools around with!" Natalia seethed, glaring at the assembly of maids in her prison room. The slutty dress, which was the cause of the early morning rivalry, innocently laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling. It was the usual quarrel they had every morning! Natalia hadn't seen Leonardo De' Luca since that ugly night and she was grateful. She'd wished and prayed to die countless times throughout her illness but by divine providence, she survived. Her father, mother and grandmother had occupied her dreams, giving her strength. Thoughts of Arian and Astheria gave her the will to survive. But her broken heart and virginity still remained the same. Since the
CHAPTER 152 : The Last Pure Blood. ( In The Middle Of Nowhere. ) Fear flickered in Natalia's eyes again ignoring her prideful anger, and her palms became sweaty. "But..." He continued on a more breezy tone. "I've had a stressful week and need to unwind. If you behave yourself and put on the dress you've been repeatedly tearing up..." Her heartbeat skipped. "...then I won't have to hurt someone you know just to get you to have a meal with me." "I...I said I don't want to." Her voice which was cautioned to be stable came out as a quiver instead. "Then someone dies. It's as simple as that. Make a fuss and someone else pays for it. That's the first rule. I told you I've been busy, didn't I? What's her name again?... Nicky?" He flatly wondered. "And I'll probably include the desperate boyfriend searching for her. Wasn't she a romantic? Picture two lovers dying together in an explosion or...." "Fine! I'll have brunch with you." She
CHAPTER 153 : Shoot me! ( In The Middle Of Nowhere. ) For manners and not knowing who exactly she was dealing with, Natalia stiffly nodded and looked away. "Why are you here?" Leonardo repeated but Harvey didn't let go of her hand for a single second. The poor man was spellbound, helplessly bewitched by her innocent, flawless beauty. He didn't even notice the murderous change in his cousin's aura! But Natalia felt it. She hastily tried to pull away but Harvey was unconsciously holding on too tightly. "Me flying over to Turkey, heard lil cousin's finally home, decided to crash by and say hallo." He muttered without taking his eyes off the contours of her delicate face. "Now, now. My dear Rosella! Roddy hasn't been giving you any trouble, or has he?'' On a normal day, Natalia would've laughed! Like what kind of nickname was that?? "Roddy too bossy! He'll tire you out easily with that attitude! But Harvey on the other hand, i
CHAPTER 185 : Final Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "What are you doing?!" She bulged her eyes and moved away. "What?" Arian sheepishly groaned. "Don't 'what' me! You know what I mean!" She stated, playing their usual nightly 'what' game.....which usually followed the same pattern. Arian seductively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "We have the rest of the night to ourselves." He deliciously bit his lips and swept down to capture hers.But Natalia stepped away. "I need to check if the twins have yanked their heads off already." She tried to escape but Arian blocked her. "You're just coming from the nursery." He sexily pouted and Natalia almost gave in. She shook her head to reject the temptation. "I think it's time for Adrian's milk." She tried again but Arian easily caught her. "Adrian's asleep and his milk isn't until midnight. So..." He kissed her and slowly
CHAPTER 184 : Epilogue (2). ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "By the way, where is Jake?" Elva curiously asked. "He had some work to do and promised to be here this evening." Naomi answered. Natalia had set up a special committee of her most trusted ministers to hold the Empire for a few days. Jake was among the members so he had a little delay. "I really admire you." Naomi continued, taking the attention away from herself. "Being an Empress, a wife, a mother, a philanthropist and also a role model, all in one package!" She dramatised. "It's no wonder you haven't changed much with three kids! On the contrary, it made you hotter. I'm just expecting my second child but I feel like a granny!" Nicky joked and fondly rubbed her huge baby bump. "No! You're not a granny. You're my mommy." Louisa raised her head and pouted.The girls giggled when Nicky blushed. "It's no wonder you don't miss Jeffrey whenever he goes away on b
CHAPTER 183 : Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "How was your night?" Arian kissed Natalia as Adrian rubbed baby drool all over his face. Natalia stretched lazily and closed her eyes. "Stressful." She pouted. "I know, right? This champ is quite a handful at night.'' He tickled Adrian who hung on his neck like King kong. "Da-da! Da-da!!" He squealed happily which echoed arouund the room. "As if you weren't a handful yourself." She scoffed and turned away, pulling the duvet closer around her. It made Natalia a little jealous that Adrian hadn't yet learnt to call her mama. In fact, Dada was the only word he knew! Arian noticed it and chuckled, pulling her back to face him. As usual, he was shirtless wearing only sweatpants. Some habits were just so hard to break! Not that Natalia was complaining though. It made her husband look uncontrollably sexy! Adrian grinned down at his mama in his diapers. Fa
CHAPTER 182 : The Seal Of Their Love. ( Astheria, Australia. ) Still sitting on the floor, Naomi slowly arranged her things inside a cardboard box. She shivered a bit because she was still wearing her clothes. But Naomi didn't care. There was more important things to be done than caring if she had gotten a cold by wearing her wet clothes for so long that it'd dried still on her. A knock sounded on the door. "Please go away. I'm a little busy." Her hoarse voice sounded. Naomi knew the visitor wasn't on an official business. If the Empress or the royal assistant needed her, they'ld have easily sent an email. And so far, they hadn't. Naomi couldn't blame them though. She felt embarrassed and hated her family's history. And after everything they had done to the Santianas, she couldn't bare to look at anyone anymore. After a while, the knock sounded again and this time, the person walked in without consent. Naomi didn't bother to l
CHAPTER 181 : Where's Naomi? ( Astheria, Somewhere in continent Australia. ) ( Hours Later. ) "She's not in danger but I still recommend a lot of rest. You can see her. Just make it as quick as possible." The aged doctor whispered and walked away. Elva Thompson and Jake Buniz nodded before walking into the Royal study. They found Natalia leaning on her desk, gently running her fingers over her grandmother's diary. Louis had kept it safe like he'd promised. "You should be resting. Doctor's orders." Elva let out a small frown in displeasure. "I'm fine." Natalia curtly said and stood up. The thick sweats she was wearing matched with her pale skin. She returned the diary to one of the drawers and faced them back. "Tell me. The casualty report?" She ordered. "We lost a good number of our men while the rest are being taken care of." Jake reported. "And Max?" Jake lowered his cold eyes in hes
CHAPTER 180 : The Battleground (3). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) The Mob boss snickered which sounded like something made in hell and back hugged Natalia, erotically pulling her closer. Arian fought the impulse to take a step and lunge at him! He was purposely riling him up to draw him into the sensors! "Tsk! Don't make her feel bad!" He clicked his tongue. "You were smart, my love. But sentimentality was all I needed to sneak into your lives.... And you gave it to me." He nuzzled her hair and possessively trailed kisses down her neck. Arian's insides cringed feeling his control slowly snap while Natalia's self hate increased each passing second. "Let her go!" Arian snarled, running out of patience and clenched his fists. "And you expect me to ask 'Or what?'." Leonardo cocked a cocky brow. "Look around you, fool! We ain't in some shitty movie. This is my turf! I run this freaking game!" He viciously barked. "What do you want?" A
CHAPTER 179 : The Battleground (2). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) Meanwhile, the automatic doors trapping Arian De' Argent in the hallway reopened after the lights had suddenly turned off and returned after five seconds. Arian turned to continue the search for his love but stopped when Naomi froze....and then fainted. He hastily caught her before she could crash land. "Hey, hey!" He called seeing her drowsy eyes. "What..." The French heir froze on his interrogation when he saw four darts pierced into her pretty brochette and a fifth one stuck on the skin of her neck. Naomi had thrown herself in front of Arian when she noticed the danger he was in without thinking. Arian pulled them out and tapped her lightly. "Hey, stay with me, okay?" The timid spy tried to nod but the snake venom was working tremendously fast, already at the second stage of the symptoms which was total paralysis. "Hey!" Arian yelled. "What?!" Max yelle
CHAPTER 178 : The battleground (1). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) "Who do you want to go first?" He casually, but deviously asked. The gunshots continued more fiercely and through the cameras, Natalia and the few in the room could see the gory battle going on. As observers seeing the whole battle ground, anyone could bet that Astheria had an upper hand! "The only game we'll be playing is the one you'll be losing." She seethed in confidence. Leonardo coldly smirked which gave her goosebumps for some reason before placing his hand on a screen which scanned his fingerprints. "Good evening, Master. How may I be of service?" The voice of an artificial intelligence echoed from thin air. "Ava, place the fortress on lockdown." He ordered. "As you wish, Master." A moment later, metal doors sprung up trapped everyone in. Those who were fighting outside couldn't get in and those who were in couldn't get out. Natalia's heart skipped a be
CHAPTER 177 : Let's Play A Game, Shall We?... ( In The Carribean.) "Something is wrong." Jake Buniz stated, pacing restlessly around the communication tent. The geniuses among the little battle squad was in the same tent, doing what they did best with the gadgets and devices in there. They were all dressed the same with silent and serious features. "She should've made contact by now." The Captain of the army continued. "Let's think more positively. It could be that Naomi hasn't yet located the Empress.... Even though it's not really a positive thought. However, you above everyone else knows how shady these Kelions are. There's still a few hours till midnight. We should give her a little more time." Max offered, more relaxed than his superior as as he typed away on a computer. "I trust my instincts. And right now, something doesn't feel right." Jake stopped behind him and leaned over with a hand on his chair and the other on the table.