4

Zara's POV

By the time I woke up, I was in the middle of nowhere. I was surrounded by nothing, but trees and thick bushes.

I guess they must have brought me to the forest.

They had my hands tied with a rope, but my legs were free. They slowly approached me with a knife in their hand

"Please, spare my life" I went on my knees and pleaded with them.

"And why should we do that? We have already been paid in full to end your life" One of them looked at me and laughed.

"I know, please spare me. I promise you that I will go far away from here, my stepmom will never find out you spared me. Please, I beg of you" I began to shed tears.

My hands were sweating, and my heart was racing against itself.

They looked at each other before they laughed.

"Fine, we will let you go. But, on one condition. You'll let us have our way with you. You look so pretty" one of them said, as came close to me.

He rubbed his palm against my face, seductively and I spat on him.

"Are you crazy? Didn't my stepmom tell you guys I am pregnant? Why would you want to make my life even worse?" I became angry.

"How dare you?" He thundered and gave me a resounding slap across my face

I fell to the ground immediately. My jaw hurt so much, I just knew that my cheeks had become swollen.

He didn't stop there, as he took off his belt and began to hit me with it.

By this time I was so weak that I began to beg for mercy.

"Please stop!" I cried out, but he didn't listen.

His actions soon came to a halt, when we all heard gunshots in the air.

The two men looked around, wondering where to run for safety.

I was too weak to even get up from the floor, not to talk more about running.

So I quietly just accepted my defeat like that.

A man dressed in a completely black attire began to make himself visible. It seemed as though he had been hiding behind a tree.

"Run!" The strange man told them, pointing the gun towards them.

They didn't even take a second to think about it, as they took to their heels.

"Don't touch me" I tried to speak when he approached me.

He put the gun in his pocket and lifted me.

It felt like the world was closing up on me, as I lost consciousness for the second time in one day.

"I'm glad you are awake" I heard a deep male voice speak, as I struggled to open my eyes.

"Who are you?" I rubbed my head vigorously, to ease the stubborn headache that I was having.

"I am Mr. Fred Benson." he introduced himself, and for some reason, I found his voice scary.

Maybe, it was just the dark aura that I felt when I was around him.

"What do you want with me? Why did you save me?" I asked him, going straight to the point, as I remembered how he chased those men away.

"What do you think I want from you?" He chuckled, and his laughter was more scary than his voice.

"Please.." I whimpered, not knowing exactly what I was begging for.

"I don't want anything from you. Because I saved your life doesn't necessarily mean that you have to do something for me" he spoke, and my heart felt a little bit at peace.

But, that doesn't change the fact that I found him weird.

"What were you doing in the forest with a gun?"I boldly asked him, as he snapped his head in my direction. Looking at me directly with his emerald green eyes. He took a short pause, to observe me, before he finally smiled to himself, and responded.

"I have an underground house there, and I also like to go hunting sometimes," he replied nonchalantly.

And after that, there was an odd moment of silence.

"You are beautiful" he complimented me, scanning my body with his eyes.

I tried to cover myself up with the duvet.

It was only then, I realized that I was in a well-furnished, modern room. We're we in his underground house?

" Don't worry, I won't do anything with you. At least, not without your consent" he chuckled, and there was something about this man that didn't settle well with me.

"So, it's true?" A lady in her middle ages barged into the room.

"Mum" he looked quite shocked to see her.

"You have finally found a wife. I am so happy for you son" she was excited.

"Wow, she is so beautiful. I knew you wouldn't pick anything less" the lady added.

"Mum, you are meant to be outside the country" he looked shocked.

But, not as shocked as I was.

"Yes, but I rushed back here immediately. I heard that you brought a woman to the house. I am so glad that your uncle won't be able to take what belongs to us after all. I have to go and start planning the wedding right now" his mum dashed out of the room, as soon as she came.

"Do you mind explaining what just happened?" I struggled to get up from the bed.

"My mum thinks that we are getting married soon," he replied.

"I know that, but why didn't you say anything to her? You should have cleared her misunderstanding" I cautioned him, and he gave me a frightening look.

"You could have also done the same, but you chose to remain silent. Didn't you?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I won't marry you" I became angry.

"I didn't ask you to marry me…yet" he lifted an eyebrow at me, and I became even more confused.

"What do you mean by yet?" I angrily got up from the bed.

"Two billion dollars. I'll pay you two billion dollars to be my wife for two years, a billion dollars for each year. After which, you can divorce me" he spoke, and my jaw dropped.

I have never seen or heard of such an amount of money before.

"I'd like you to think it through before you reject my offer. '' His voice was cold.

"I accept" I agreed immediately.

I could use that money to give my baby a better future and show my Stepsister and stepmom that I am no longer the girl they could mistreat.

"Good" he smiled at me and walked out of the room.

I don't care if people call me selfish, two billion dollars is a huge amount of money. And any girl would agree to marry because of it.