Jayden's pov"Why isn't he picking up?!" I muttered angrily, tossing my phone onto the seat next to me without a second thought as I sped toward one of the top hospitals in the city.Zayn had called earlier, telling me that my sister, Ariana, had been in a car accident and was now in the hospital. That was why I had left the club in such a hurry.When I arrived, I rushed inside and spotted Zayn sitting in the waiting room."Where is she? And why haven't you been answering my calls?" I snapped, my voice filled with urgency.He explained that in the rush to get to the hospital, he had left his phone in his car.But I didn’t really care about that anymore—what mattered was that I was here now."Where is she?" I asked him again. After Zayn told me which ward she was in, I rushed off, with him trailing behind."Oh my God!" My heart shattered at the sight in front of me as I stepped inside.Ariana lay completely still on the bed. Her once healthy, glowing skin had turned pale and bruised.
Jayden's povEven though the weight of Ariana being in the hospital bed was constantly on my mind, I forced myself to keep going. I could not afford to let everything else fall apart while waiting for her to wake up. So, I buried myself in work, catching up on the paperwork and official duties I had neglected. It was not easy, but I had no choice. I tried to focus as I was busy in my office, even though my thoughts kept drifting back to her.I was in the middle of a video call with my foreign dealer, finalising the details for Caesar’s shipment, when Zayn quietly stepped into the room. He did not interrupt, just sat across from me, waiting patiently for me to finish.After I ended the call, I leaned back in my chair, letting out a small breath. "Is everything set on our end for Caesar’s delivery?"He nodded, confirming everything was ready. “Yes, all the arrangements have been made. We are good to go.”I gave a slight nod, then paused for a second before asking him another question.
Mirabella's pov For the past few days, my life has been a blur of bright lights, blaring music, and a constant sway of my body against the pole. People often say that when you keep doing something you never wanted to, eventually, it stops bothering you. That’s exactly what happened to me. At Helena’s order, I was thrown into the role of a stripper, forced to make myself "useful" until Jay returned. But surprisingly, I didn’t hate it—at least not anymore. No one had touched me, no one had harassed me, and in these few days, I started to learn things about myself. Strange, confusing things about my body, about desire, and even about kinks I never knew existed. I was starting to enjoy it.The men—disgusting as they were—were kept at bay by the VVIP guards, especially when a few of them got too bold. But still, they could not keep their eyes off me. Money rained down on me like I was some sort of goddess they worshipped, claiming my moves drove them wild, made them horny, and even led
Author's povIn the VIP section of the club, Helena sat across from Caesar, who had a prostitute hanging onto him.Helena could not take her eyes off the girl, shooting angry looks her way, which Caesar kept noticing from time to time.She wished she could be in the girl’s place, feeling a strong desire for Caesar.Dressed in a black, skimpy gown, she crossed her legs, revealing her bare thighs.Caesar was well aware of her attraction, especially since she constantly tried to seduce him whenever she could, but she was not his type.He preferred petite, slim girls, and she was curvier than he liked.The atmosphere was interrupted when Mirabella’s father stormed up to them, still fuming over how he had been treated earlier."Was it in your order?" He said, facing Helen and ignoring Caesar."What order are you talking about?" Helen replied, confused by what he meant.Mirabella's father then explained what had happened at the VVIP section and how the bouncer had disgraced and threw him ou
Jayden's povToday was a good day. A few hours before Zayn called to tell me he had captured the person responsible for Ariana’s accident, he had given me the news that the hospital called—they said Ariana had woken up.Now, here I was, walking into a hidden, abandoned building on the outskirts of the city—the kind of place where people like the culprit are dealt with.Zayn was already there, waiting.The guy was chained to the wall.I had already made up my mind about his fate. It would not be as brutal as I originally planned, thanks to the excitement of seeing Ariana awake after so long. I was only here to find out why he caused the accident and if someone else had given the orders. If not, I would have ordered Zayn to carry out the punishment.“You said he’s one of her bosses, right?” I asked Zayn, taking off my glasses and slipping them into my pocket.He nodded in affirmation. "Okay. Let the interrogation begin," I ordered him.He nodded and dumped a bucket of water on the guy’
Jayden's povAriana's eyes immediately locked with mine as I entered the ward where she had been admitted and hospitalised. Her brow furrowed in surprise. "Jay?" she whispered, disbelief lacing her voice.She chuckled afterwards. "Who would have thought that the almighty Jay would actually visit his sister? I thought you didn’t want to be seen with me."If only she knew it was all for her own good."What’s stopping you from reaching out if I don’t?" I replied, moving toward the chair, and added, "I guess we are both to blame.""Besides, I was here the day they brought you in after the accident," I told her."I'm sorry for not coming sooner. I had some things to take care of at the office," I apologised."Why would I be mad about that? I'm used to you not being around," she chuckled.I sighed. If only she knew I could not imagine my life without her and how much it had tore me apart to see her lying on that same bed unconscious.Then, I asked her how she was feeling."You don't need
Mirabella's pov"You slut, do you really know what you are getting yourself into with this request?" Jay asked me while smirking as I pulled the skimpy gown over my body, my mind still spinning from what had just happened between us—the toe-curling sex.After the sex, I had told him what Lucy had advised me—the only way to escape this hell.***Flashback***"Didn't you say he ordered that no one touch you until he finally fucked you?" she had asked, her voice low as we spoke quietly in the hallway to our respective rooms after a long day of swinging our bodies on poles to satisfy the perverts' sexual desires.She was also a stripper, but in the VIP section.That day in the restroom, she had told me the brutal truth: the only way people like us ever got out was through the quarterly auctions, where we were sold to some rich pervert. It was a sick and twisted system, but it was the only ‘freedom’ people like us could hope for.Since then, we had become close, or at least as close as two
Jayden's povAs she left, my lips curled into a smirk. Her confidence was absurd, almost laughable, but honestly, there was something intriguing about it. "She really doesn't know what she's getting herself into." I smiled. Even though I understood her reason to be desperate to leave this place, I had decided to make her regret this decision once she was out of here to teach her a lesson because of her confidence.Despite being impressed by it, if she had that same confidence and determination, she might have moved on and left the life behind instead of waiting to beg for my help when she was running away. Who knows? She might not have ended up here at all if she had that same confidence."She thinks I'm doing this just because of her," I chuckled.She probably realised I enjoyed our time together and thought she could use that to her advantage. Sure, I did—there was definitely something about her that drew me to her. But did she think she had control over me? I chuckled under my br
Jayden's povIf there was one thing that still got under my skin, even after things had started to shift between Mirabella and me, it was how she still was not completely at ease around me. "What do you want to listen to?" I asked as I prepared to drive out of the mansion, my fingers drumming lightly on the steering wheel. She turned her head to me, eyes narrowed like I had asked a tricky question. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "Come on, don't overthink it. What genre do you like, dummy?" A small laugh escaped her lips as realisation dawned on her, and for a second, I felt the warmth of it. "Anything works, I guess," she shrugged. Her answer rubbed me the wrong way, and I could not hide the flicker of disappointment on my face. I still could not wrap my head around why she was still walking on eggshells around me. "Come on," I said with a short laugh, masking how I really felt. "How can you say that? You can’t be serious. Just name something. Any artiste or genre. Just name it
Mirabella's povIt turned out to be Jayden as he leaned casually against the doorframe."Relax, it's just me," he said, throwing his hands up in the air with that stupidly charming grin of his."I'm not here to steal anything from you or harm you."I rolled my eyes as a faint smile tugged at my lips."Oh really? Then why exactly are you sneaking into a girl's room uninvited? Pretty sure that's called trespassing, you know." I chuckled, my brows furrowing playfully.He shrugged, trailing his gaze down my body with a slow, deliberate stare that made my cheeks flush. "Well... just making sure things are in perfect ways."My breath caught in my throat as my mind raced to decipher what he meant by that. "Things like?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, the smile still lingering on my lips despite the heat creeping up my neck.His smirk deepened, and he took a step closer, his presence filling the room with an almost tangible intensity. "Things like making sure your appearance is p
Mirabella's pov The fear and foreboding that had hung over my time with Jayden seemed to fade with each passing day. Our silent meals in the dining room, which I always expected to end in having sex with him, which didn't, began to include small conversations. They were not much, just fragments, but enough to make me realise he could be something other than the cold and ruthless man I first knew. Evening walks through the mansion followed, requested in a surprisingly humble tone instead of his usual commanding bark whenever he did want to make me do things, and even shopping trips, where he bought me anything I desired. If someone had told me this shift would happen between us, I would have laughed in disbelief. Yet, here I was, growing oddly comfortable around him. This made me recall Eunice and Lucy’s observations, trying to follow their suggestions in the hope of bridging whatever strange gap lay between him and me. Standing in front of the mirror in my room, a faint smile cur
Jayden's pov"I’m lost, Ariana," I admitted, my voice uncharacteristically low."I’ve never felt like this before. Never. For the first time in my life, I want someone—not for control, not to conquer—but because I need her. And it’s messing me up." I ran a hand through my hair, my frustration bubbling to the surface. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for someone like me to admit this? To feel like I’m begging for scraps of attention? She’s all I think about, but I feel like I’m hitting a wall every time I try to get through to her. And it’s driving me insane." She stayed silent, her expression unreadable as I continued. "I know I don’t deserve her," I said, my voice dropping even lower. "Not after everything I’ve done. I could force her, sure—I’ve forced people into things before; we both know that. But this… It’s about her being the one thing in my life that is real." "I... I just want her to choose me. I want it to be real, Ariana. I want her to want me on her own. Not becau
Jayden's povI could not keep humiliating myself by confessing my feelings to Mirabella over and over again. Her constant doubt about my intentions and the way she avoided me were getting under my skin. It frustrated me to no end, tempting me to do things I did not want to resort to. I was not used to being denied what I wanted—no matter how far or difficult it was to reach. Sure, I was in love with her. But if I wanted to, I could force her to fall for me because the calm I had been wearing to wait for her acceptance could slip at any moment. Yet, before taking that route, I figured I should talk it out with Ariana first after confessing my love to Mirabella for the second time, since she was always pushing me to become a better version of myself.When I arrived at Ariana’s door and knocked, I was not sure if I was more amused or shocked when a guy opened it. He stood there like he owned the place, wearing nothing but a pair of black underpants that hung low on his hips. My eyes
Mirabella pov"Good morning, Mirabella," Jayden said.I froze, my gaze locking with his as my breath caught in my throat. This was exactly what I was avoiding, yet here I was, caught in his intense gaze. "Shit," I cursed inwardly, unsure whether to retreat back to my room or proceed with my original plan. My hesitation must have been obvious, but he seemed unfazed as his lips quirked into a faint smile. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, never breaking eye contact. "I see you are feeling better for you to walk from your room all the way down here. That’s… good to know." His casual tone contrasted with the tension simmering in the air. My chest tightened, berating myself for coming downstairs at all. "What was I even thinking?"Finally, I decided to end this humiliating encounter and spun on my heel, aiming to retreat to the safety of my room. I moved so quickly that I tripped over my own feet. My heart lurched as I braced for an embarrassing fall. But it never came as a hand gr
Mirabella's povA knock rattled my door, breaking the fragile bubble of sleep I had barely managed to slip into. I groaned, pulling the pillow over my head. My eyes cracked open, still weighed down with sleep, as Jayden’s words from last night echoed faintly in my mind: "It’s because I love you.”It sounded even more absurd now in the daylight, like a dream that had overstayed its welcome.I still could not figure out if I should laugh or panic. Love? Him? The same man who had terrorised me like it was a hobby? I quickly rubbed the sleep from my eyes, my heart racing with panic just as the knock came again, more insistent this time. I froze, thinking it was Jayden, here to finally unleash his wrath on me."Mirabella?” Eunice’s voice echoed from behind the door."Come in,” I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I stretched my arms above my head.The door creaked open, and she stepped in.As she walked towards me, her eyes scanned me from head to toe like I was a
Author's pov The moment Caesar stepped into his mansion, Lucy emerged from the side hallway near her room, her head slightly lowered.She moved quickly but cautiously, like a servant entering a lion’s den, and cleared her throat before she spoke, catching his attention."Welcome back, sir," she greeted, clasping her hands nervously in front of her. He barely glanced at her, his eyes fixed ahead. "What do you want?"She flinched but forced herself to remain steady. "I... I spoke with Mirabella earlier," she began, her voice holding a mix of caution and urgency. "She told me... she told me that Jayden confessed his love for her." He froze the moment he heard that. Slowly, he turned to face her, his brows lifting in surprise before a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, his eyes glinting with satisfaction."Say that again," he ordered her.She swallowed. "He told Mirabella he loves her," she repeated, her eyes darting to his face, watching for his reaction. "Apparently, it is t
Mirabella's povAll night long, even when Zayn came to pick me up from the hospital the following morning, my mind would not stop racing. I could not shake off the question: why was Jayden doing this? The suspense was eating me alive, making it impossible to relax. When I got home, I decided to call Lucy. "Wait, I thought you said he broke your phone," she said the moment she answered."Yes, but surprisingly, he got a new one for me yesterday." I informed her.She gasped. "He did?"I chuckled. "I was as shocked as you are.""Well, that’s really nice of him," she said. "Nice?" I scoffed. "It just proves he’s up to something—especially with that apology and his whole ‘sorry’ act. I’m so done waiting to figure it out; it’s driving me insane!" I snapped, the frustration clear in my voice. "He apologised?" she asked, sounding as shocked as I had expected. I went on to explain everything that had happened, starting with our little weird conversation in my room last night. She let out