Ophelia's POVI woke up groaning softly, feeling something cold pressed against my cheek. My eyes fluttered open to find a man dressed in black sitting on the bed close to me."Your cheek looks swollen. I loved everything we had last night, but I never expected you to go this crazy," Callum said, tipping my chin up slightly."Sit up."My throat felt like it had swollen from the inside, and I couldn’t understand why I had gone to such painful lengths last night just to prove a pointless point.Callum helped me sit up, bringing a cup close to my mouth while my eyes darted back and forth between him and the cup."It's a soothing tea, Lia…" His tone was cold, lacking any emotion, and you might mistake it for anger.I tried to take the cup from him, but his hand grew hard on my already aching cheek, forcing my mouth open as he made me drink the tea. I struggled to speak, the liquid staining my lips."You are crazy…" I spat."We'll be going to San Francisco today."I held back the curse wor
Ophelia's POVGale and Callum's brother had gone with the other car, and we were now in a Bugatti sports car with Callum driving at a maddening speed, not caring if he got stopped by a road policeman. An earpod was in his ear as he chanted something in Italian I couldn't understand. From the start of the drive, his brow had been furrowed, not speaking to me and not even telling me where we were going. Maybe a hotel to lodge at, or his home—where he had kept me locked in five years ago. Or probably, he was trying to give me the reasons he had killed my fiancé, and his father, mother, and brother.Finally, the car screeched to a halt after entering into a large estate. Callum came down after he had said a couple more Italian words, pulling the earpods off immediately.“Come with me.”I took his hand after he had helped me out of the car, and he guided me down into the extravagant manor which stood before us.Women in maid attire gave short bows as we walked into the living room.“H-Hey,
Ophelia's POV Maybe the anger in me had burned away my nervousness. “Stay here, I will go in alone,” I said to Callum, who paused walking, leaned against the door, and dipped his hand into his pocket. His eyes were locked on me as I watched him light his cigar, giving me a nod before I left. I walked into the place I had known as home, which just wasn’t—if what Esther had said was the truth. If that was the truth, Father was nothing but a beast, and I grew scared of what he could do to Max. “You want to pull out? He told me what you did last night. If you try that shit again, Elise, I won’t hold back. I would strangle you to death.” Just as I walked into the living room, a scene greeted me. Elise was on the floor, bruises donning her face and lips, her dress in tatters, barely covering her body, as Father stood beside her with his fists clenched tight. “Father,” I said, looking away from Elise, who had turned to me with trembling lips and tears in her eyes. Her state made my hea
Ophelia's Pov “Fuck me for not killing you that day.” My eyes began blurring slowly, the feeling of nausea hitting me greatly. Father deserved more, but I just couldn't stand the sight, and I blacked out.---I yawned lazily, my eyes fluttering open to find myself in a dimly lit room, and I happened to realize where I was immediately after studying the room. Even in my dreams, I had known this place as the room I had stayed in five years ago. The room had been no different from the time I left—the walls were still creamy white with frames of feminine art designing one part of the walls.My body swayed lightly as I tried balancing myself on the floor, which was made of polished dark wood reflecting the light from the chandelier above.“Hey," Gale's voice greeted my ear as he came to assist me immediately. “Are you feeling all right now?" he asked, and I nodded slightly, even when I was barely close to ‘feeling alright.’“I just need a shower."“Uhh, there are no helps around, and Cal
Ophelia's POVThat was enough shit for the week. Today, I would behave like nothing had happened yesterday—like I hadn’t just learned that Klaus was a dickhead and Father was the biggest asshole in the universe, and Callum had been the high school friend I had once cherished but now close to what could be the start of a nightmare. Oh, the fact that Callum's father was a bigger asshole than my father wanting a rough life for his son. "Get those shit off your mind if you want to have a peaceful day, Ophelia." After I soaked in the bathtub, feeling a lot better, I moved to grab my towel. Through the glass walls, I saw Callum staring at me from where he sat on the bed, giving me a playful, smug smile. I rolled my eyes at him, pulling my towel tightly around my body.“I know you’ve seen me bare before, but I still hate it when you stare without my permission," I said as I walked out of the bathroom.“You’ve never permitted me before. Days ago, I had you on our bed in Sicily without permis
Ophelia's POV“Why did you lie to her?" Callum's brows were furrowed, caging me into a close corner of grandmother's room.“She must not know that I got married without telling her. It would break her. She had been wanting the type of guy grandfather was for me…” I trailed off. If grandmother had known about Klaus earlier, she would have been rooting for both of us to be in a relationship, but Klaus was just a serpent. “Let me go. It won't be fun when she catches us here.”"If she gets the wrong idea that you are not married and behaves like those pesty grandmothers, the man she would introduce to you would regret is being on earth.” I don't understand why he got angry with such little things. He left a peck on my forehead. “You should stay here for a while. Gale would come get you. Do not try what's in your mind… one good reminder: we are in San Francisco.” He said, and I rolled my eyes, not knowing why he was going between being sweet and suddenly stupid all of a sudden.“Fuck off…”
Ophelia's POV “Doesn’t this look too….” I bit my lips, staring at myself in the mirror, standing in one of Rina's dresses that stopped on my thighs—fancy thin straps and a V-neck that made me see how full my chest was for the first time. I mean, I had big boobs. If I had seen me on other women... fancy what you have. I loved them, and it felt even better when Cal had his han… I gasped out, trying to know where the remaining sentences flew out from. That wasn’t me, I could swear, but I could also feel my pants getting moist.“It’s perfect. This is not revealing. Got some beautiful stuff. Your Killer boy would go blind when you wear it and would be giving you his life when you ask for a plate of cookies.” We both chuckled and made our way out of the house, feeling glad that grandmother wasn't around to see her beans sprouting the wrong way. Rina looking like a hooker and I… I don't know. Grandmother would have a word for it.“Where are you heading to, Mrs. Ophelia?” My heart made a tum
Ophelia's POV Was I jealous? No, I am not. I am pained that he could cheat and I couldn't. Our eyes suddenly connected, and I could see shock and confusion written in his eyes. It felt like something had snapped within me that instant, and I was running away angrily from that place, praying I never did what came to my mind. And yes, I did it. I saw Viktor, the guy earlier, the one guy to prove Callum wrong that I could also do what he does. “Hey.” My heart began beating hard and wild, seeing Viktor sitting amidst the same kind of men as Callum. “Do you w…” He didn't give me the chance to complete my words and had pulled me close, having me fall on his lap, his hand coming around my waist. “What do you want, sweetheart?” “Care for a dance?” His palm on my lower back began itching downward. I never asked for this. “Just a dance, no touching.” Maybe if I had pulled away quickly, the bullet that sliced through the air so quickly wouldn't have hit him in the forehead. What I felt was b
The room was silent; the sound of birds chirping outside and Grandma’s slightly grown trees hitting the window was the only thing that could be heard. The windows were pulled closed because of how freezing the damn weather was. I was in a coat Rina and I had gotten sullenly on our way home from the hospital, no one ready to make a sound.“You know I wouldn’t give you something fake, right? I mean, I love to hate you too much to pull that shit. You need to talk—what do we do with it?” She spread her arms out dramatically, and I knew she was trying her best not to smoke around me after all the rules the doctor had stated before we left. I also wished I could smoke, but I’d be coughing like a fucking asthmatic patient.“Keep it, call Papa, or get… you know, get rid of it.” She whispered the last part, and I feared the first idea. My heart took the lead role in a hand group with her second idea, but a slight hitch—a feeling of disapproval—washed over me at hearing the last one.“What woul
“I need a reasonable explanation as to why you left.” He was standing right in front of me, my emotions a wreck, as I fought back the urge to run into his arms, hug the shit out of him, claim his lips, and ask him how he had been. To raise his shirt and check if his wound had worsened or healed… I can't believe my body reacted so hitched so badly, craving the closeness I could get, but I tried to control whatever feelings were brewing. Like his father had said before I left, this bond was forced, and yes, it is. It was never meant to be. Callum just needed someone to talk some sense into his head.“It’s clear, Cal. I left for good this time. We can’t just keep playing around with you thinking we can make something good out of a forced union.” His hand came to the door, holding it back, caging me. Why can’t he stop doing this to me? Why can’t he stop affecting me? Why can’t I think straight now?“Do you feel like we were just playing around? Our first fucking marriage you left, I knew
Callum's POV“Oh fuck," a low growl escaped my lips as I struggled to get a clear view of where I was… sun ray spilled into the room, so fucking eye-blinding. My throat felt like hot coals had been stuck down. “Fuck…” I cursed.The scent of a woman's perfume filled the room. “Ophelia," I called out with a raspy voice. Ophelia has a natural scent, not this choking ones from chemicals.“Cal…Cal!.” A feminine voice cut through the air, and I got pulled into a suffocating embrace where I lay. Pain slashed through my stomach, and the haze in my eyes lifted a bit. I could finally see the room I was in and noticed the other people gathered around the bed, but the face I wished for wasn't among them. Fear slashed through my soul as I pushed the feminine figure holding me like a crutch away. “Where the fuck is she?"Zaleo, Father, Gabriella, Helena, Tazio, and one of father's trusted doctors, Marco, were present."She doesn't want to see you, but I do. I have been with you for the past five da
Ophelia's POVI don’t know what came into me, I don’t know where this energy came from, but I had just stabbed that woman with a fork I was meant to use in eating my pasta, and now I was running into long corridors as they chased behind me, pulling room doors open to another room until I finally got to one with a slightly open steel door.“Don’t go in there, bitch!!!!”Too late, as I slammed the door shut behind me, locking it with the key also.My chest was beating fast as I slid to the ground, my body sweaty all over as the dizziness hit me once more. My eyes pulled shut, not bothering to check the room I had stumbled into, but I could smell the faint scent of cigarettes. Maybe just a little more deep breath, and I could jump down the window.“You are really biting off more than you can chew, missy…”My breath caught, and my eyes snapped open to find the mastermind standing close to the window, which spilled light into the room. I got back on my feet slowly.“Where do you think you’
**OPHELIA'S POV**“Make me." Like I had threatened, he picked me up roughly from the floor and brought us down the ship. Just outside stood a large building, even without being inside yet. I had this weird feeling already that none of the things inside would end up being good or in my favor. I hit his shoulders continuously hard. “Let me go,” tears slid down my eyes as he took us inside. Noises in an unclear language filled the air. He walked past the huge number of people, most of the men betting, and what I expected suddenly came into view. Women kneeling in skimpy clothes serving men. “Is this what you do to me?”“Yours would be worse if you don’t keep your mouth shut… Worst, I’d make you go to one of those men’s beds. Maybe that would bring down the silly ego of yours.” My eyes squeezed shut, emotions boiling in me.“Tovary vyglyadyat svezhimi.” A man stopped beside us… smiling at me, the scent of poor alcohol wafting from him, almost making me want to puke. My captor pushed past
Ophelia's PovI saw him, he was close. I remembered never wanting to hold him or get close to him, but now I craved to be with him. Tears trickled down my eyes as I held out my hand for him to take. But his next facial expression made my heart clenched tightly in its cage, my breath catching, and I felt myself suffocating. “You think I won't find you,” his voice spat thick venom.“I…I…” My tears wouldn’t let me explain that I didn’t run from him. I had intended to, but not this time, not this way.“Hey, hey!!!!” I felt my body trembling lightly, the room I stood in with Callum shaking crazily, like it was going to collapse with both of us in it. “Let’s get out of here.” My hand was still outstretched, but he didn’t take it…instead, he began moving backward. “Wake up, they are coming for us.” I gasped awake, coming face to face with Mare. My lips trembled crazily as I pushed my hand into my hair, getting onto a crouching height. I bent my head slightly between my legs, realizing it was
Ophelia's Pov The carriage suddenly pulled to a halt, and everyone gasped. The other ladies began moving backward, some hugging themselves already, but I was too weak to move. As the wagon door swung open, the sound of waves crashing through the shore greeted us... the moonlight penetrating in as harsh winds slapped across my face. Two men came to stand in front of the carriage door, talking to themselves in a language I did not understand. This was time to ask what the fuck I was doing here. “Hey, why the hell am I in here?" I asked, and both men’s gazes turned to meet mine, and I prayed they understood what I had just said. They better do. This wasn’t no joke; I got kidnapped, and I knew what was coming next, seeing the sand just outside… I was getting trafficked, and realization suddenly dawned on me. Was this Gabriella’s new way of helping me out?! But what with this tying me up and shit. “What you say, lady?” I didn’t know if I were to act polite, didn’t know if they were he
Callum's Pov“I don't know what happened….we went down to the basement just for cleaning an—” Leona trembled. The way she talked slowly, not getting to the point, irritated the shit out of me. I had asked my men to try tracking Ophelia, but she didn't wear the fucking ring.“Get straight to the fucking point. The last time I checked this place, I never saw a damn door leading outside." I was seething with rage. I was on the verge of insanity, my temper slowly sipping out of control….. I felt an unholy crave of blood if I didn't see Ophelia in the next hour. I promised to make this city red. I doubted she escaped. Fuck, she wouldn't do that. The cameras were checked to see any traces of her escaping, but nothing came in. It was cleared. That fucking incompetent asshole I had asked to watch her was playing with a kid, and now my fucking wife was missing. I had been keeping Gale for too long. Now I would do the unthinkable if I couldn't find my wife. He was down in the dungeon in father'
Ophelia's Pov“I would be going to Leona's today." Callum's hand curled around my waist, the scent of cedarwood wafting through him. Being the good wife, I had somewhat enjoyed styling his hair; he looked more pretty and manly with hair nearly brushed to the back.He caressed my cheek lightly and I felt heat rising to where he had touched. He was suddenly leaning in close, catching my bottom lips in his, and I froze, knowing we were doing this in front of Gale and Diana. He pulled away. “Before you leave to Leona's, I will be having my personal doctor come check on you.” He squinted his eyes. “You just look different this morning in a sick way.”The frown I tried faking for him kissing me in front of his employees was long gone. “What?!” I looked like the normal me when I glanced in the mirror this morning. I stared back at Diana, giving her a questioning look, and she stiffened, giving a sheepish smile before nodding.“I'll see you later.” A peck came to my earlobe, his scent envelop