Elizabeth’s POV
Stifling a yawn, I head downstairs, running my eyes quickly, over the numerous doors in the hallway.I wonder which room belongs to Ethan. The one next to mine?Wait, why am I even concerned? Shaking sense back into my head, I hop down the stairs.The maids are up already. Wow.I presume most of them don’t know who I am since I got here very late last night. However, the kinds of looks I’m receiving right now are making me think otherwise.I think they’ve all been informed about me. Ignoring the gazes, I help myself into the kitchen—it’s easy to locate, it doesn't even have a door.“Good morning, Lizzy.” Moana smiles politely as soon as I walk in.I hear her giving instructions to the cook and I return her smile with a sweet one. “Morning, Moana.”I’m glad she isn’t referring to me as ‘ma’am’. Nice.“Let me help you with that.” She collects the tray from my hand and moves to drop it in the sink.“Did you sleep well, Lizzy?” She pulls back to read my face.“You bet, I did.” I’m grinning from ear to ear.I really did enjoy my sleep. The bed’s soft and smooth…I see her mouth move again but I don’t hear what she’s saying ‘cause something else catches my attention. A sound.My ears perk up to be sure I heard what I think I just heard, and I hear it, again.Damn.“Is someone leaving?” I ask curiously, pulling my forehead into a frown.It’s the sound of a car revving…Please, God, let it not be what I’m thinking.“Oh, that’s Mr. Ethan—”Immediately I hear the name ‘Ethan’, I don’t wait to hear Moana finish her sentence. My heart skips a bit and I rush out of the kitchen.It’s exactly what I think it is.How can someone be so wicked and self-centred? He’s going to leave me all by myself, in this huge house—with strangers. Damn!I rush outside through the front door and stand in the driveway. My chest heaves uncontrollably from shortage of breath and I fold my arms across my chest.I tap my foot on the ground agitatedly, waiting as the black Maybach draws nearer and nearer.I see the confused expression on the chauffeur’s face through the windscreen, and I smirk at him.‘Soon enough, you’ll know what’s up.’Slowly, he let the car stop a few inches in front of me.I look away from him and plant my gaze on the pervert sitting in the back seat. He’s looking directly at me with a smug grin on his face. I glare at him.‘You wait till I slap that stupid look off your face, stupid pervert.’While exchanging complicated looks with Ethan, a troop of unfamiliar bodyguards suddenly highlight from nowhere and begin marching fiercely towards me. Damn.Of course, they’re coming to hurt me for disrupting their boss’ movement.I plant my gaze on one among them, the one in front who seems like the leader. He’s the one that threw me into the trunk last night—I recognize him. Stupid.But he, unlike the rest charging at me, changes direction. He steps close to the car and holds open the backseat’s door.Terrified, I look away from the oncoming battalion and throw a glance at Ethan. Shrugging his overcoat, he steps out of the car, rather leisurely. Like he can’t be bothered by anything whatsoever.I must add, he looks super cute. His hair clings to his face, hanging low over his ears.“Don’t lay a finger on her.” He warns sternly.The bodyguards stop in their tracks, a few inches from me, as soon as they hear his order.To say I’m shocked is an understatement. I literally don’t expect him to stop them.I thought he'd be so angry and tell them to beat me or lock me up in a dark room, somewhere—you know—without food or water. Like it’s done in novels and movies.But…“Leave us.” I hear his magnetic, pleasant voice again and get drifted away from my thoughts.The bodyguards bob their heads politely at him and return to their various posts. Even the chauffeur steps out of the vehicle and walks a distance away from us.And now, I’m left all alone with the pervert.Smirking, he leans his frail body against the car. “Good morning, damsel.” He throws me a sideways smile.“And where do you think you’re going?”Wait, what? Did that just come from me? Damn, I don’t mean for it to come out so bluntly. But since it’s out of my mouth already…“Out, to—”“You’re not going anywhere!” I shift my weight from my right leg to the other one, a stern glare plastered on my face.“You think you can kidnap me, lock me up in this stupid big house, and run away?—impossible!”Damn, my voice’ so loud. This man will throw me out for sure. I squeal inwardly.However… Surprisingly, Ethan simply chuckles, “I’m not running away, Spitfire. I’m going to work. I would have loved to take you along with me but you aren’t dressed up. You haven’t even had your bath yet.” He smiles sweetly at me.Is this a prank or something? Why is he smiling? Plus, who wants to go to work with him?“What do you do for a living?” I get tempted to ask.He chuckles, “I’m a businessman.”Hmm, liar. “That’s exactly what they say.”I watch his eyebrows draw together. “Who’s THEY?”“Thieves. Armed robbers, people who run illegal businesses, men who peddle drugs… they refer to themselves as ‘businessmen’.” I snap at him, making quotes gestures in the air.Ethan draws his head back and runs his eyes over my face for a few seconds before he bursts into laughter.What’s so funny?After catching his breath, “do you think I’m one of those men?” he inquires.Elizabeth’s POVNarrowing my eyes, I study his face keenly. “It’s hard to tell.” It’s indeed hard to tell. He looks cute, like a modest man—but he also has this regal side to him… this look of an extremely dangerous man. I don’t know what to think or believe. His mouth widens in a smile and he takes a peek at the gold Versace wrist watch strapped on his wrist. “We’ll continue this conversation when I get back, I’m running late for work.” He spins around on his heels. “No.” I respond adamantly. He pauses in his steps and twists the upper part of his body to look at me. “No, what?” “No, you’re not going anywhere.” A corner of his mouth lifts in a smirk. “Okay then.”As if he changed his mind, he turns and then walks around the car front and gets in the driver’s seat. What’s he doing?He starts the car and revs it. What in heaven’s name is he trying to do? My brows furrow as I stare at him through the windscreen, and he returns my look with a smirk on his face. Does that smirk
Elizabeth’s POV My stomach growls. I chuckle, rubbing my hand on my tummy. “I know, baby.”I step back into my—the—room and close the door behind me. I head into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and soak myself in the bath for about fifteen minutes. I then walk into the room, dry my body, sit before the dresser and rub cream all over. After I’m done, I walk into the closet and choose a set of comfy Burberry sweatshirts and joggers. I smile to myself in the mirror and head downstairs. The aroma coming from the dining table fills my lungs as soon as I reach the foot of the staircase. My stomach growls in response to the enticing invite and I shuffle my feet into the dining area. The dining table is long—the longest I’ve seen in my over twenty years on earth. Is this a common room or something? Or a palace? Damn.Right above the long dining table is a stunning crystal chandelier. I ogle at it—it’s so mesmerizing. The moment I tear my gaze away from it, my eyes land on the breakfast o
Elizabeth’s POV I’m not concerned about my safety here, I want to get out. Dammit!“You shouldn’t worry about your safety here.” Alexa adds, with a note of pride. “The men are also top tiers. You should come see them sometime when they train.” She blushes and resumes walking.Damn. There’s no way for me to escape from this hell.“But how come… are we in a jungle?” I drag my feet after her.She giggles. “It’s an estate. A veryyyyy big one. And Mr. Ethan owns the estate.” She lays emphasis on ‘very’.It must indeed be verryyyy big. After showing me around a little while longer, Alexa leads me back into the house.“Oh! Meet AI.” She grins, gesturing at a lovely looking robot.What in hell?! It’s so lovely. How come I haven’t come in contact with it since I got here?“Hello!” I wave my hand in the robot’s face.Immediately, I feel a red horizontal line project from my head to my feet, as if scanning me.Then, I hear a beep. “Stranger. Alert.” Wait, what? Did the robot just say that? Wow
Elizabeth’s POVI bite on my bottom lip, immediately hating myself for snapping at her. Alexa’s friendly, but I have to do what I have to do. That man can’t just kidnap me and expect things to be alright. Never.Since I only want to do some retouching, there’s no harm in it. Right?“I’ll get the paints.” Alexa speaks, breaking my chain of thoughts. “Good! I love that.” I grin at her.Alexa turns to head downstairs to go do as she’s instructed, but my next words make her stop in her tracks, abruptly.“You’ll be getting fifteen buckets, each of wine and black paints.“ I watched her turn around and stare blankly at me, question marks written all over her face.“You heard me right. Those two colors will make everywhere spicy.” I giggle. “Hum, I don’t think that’s a good idea ma’am. Mr. Ethan wouldn’t like that at all.”I’m irritated again. “And who the hell are you to tell me what he’ll like or not?” Alexa looks down at her feet, biting on the corner of her lips. My heart throbs. I kn
Ethan’s POV“Sir, isn’t it a bit too early today?” Arthur asks with widened eyes. He’s obviously shocked that I’m leaving the office at this time. I take a peek at the Rolex wristwatch strapped around my wrist, it’s a quarter to eight.My mouth presses into a thin line. “What’s too early about this time?” Come to think of it, I’m always overworking. The first to get to work, and the last to leave—me.I own this office, as well as many others in the state. I’m the boss but I work my butt off tirelessly—even more than my employees—everyday. Why? Something must be done about this. As I step out of the elevator with Arthur right behind me, an image of that girl’s face flashes through my eyes for the umpteenth time today. I shake my head, chuckling. While in the conference room, her face kept popping out of nowhere. Even while I was working in my office. To be candid, I think she’s the reason I’m going home early right now. I want, badly, to see her face. The way she looks with that
Ethan’s POVHell, who had the audacity to ruin my hallway in this manner?“I did.” I turn around in fury and see Spitfire standing behind me.I almost can’t believe my ears. Hell! “With whose permission?” My breath rages.***Elizabeth’s POVAfter taking a thorough bath, scrubbing all the paint off my hair and body, I dress up and head downstairs for dinner. When I pass through the hallway, I can’t help but grin at the mess I’ve made. But somewhere in my heart, I feel anxious, and nervous. When I sit down at the dining table and start to eat, I hear the sound of a car driving in—his car. My heart skips a bit and I immediately lose appetite, forgetting how hungry I was a second ago. A wave of panic rushes within me, causing my hands to tremble. Thinking about it, I haven’t thought things through. I don’t know what his reaction will be once he sets eyes on the walls…‘What if he feeds me to the dogs?’‘What if he murders me?’'What if he plucks out my eyes and feeds them to the dog
Elizabeth’s POVThis isn’t the reaction I was expecting. Not this response. Not this reaction. Not anything that’s happening right now!“Thank you for adding warmth to the house.” He grins. “You see, we’re really fit for each other.”“Before you came into my life, the house felt cold and empty. Now, look what you’ve done—added warmth and life to it.” I dig my fingernails into my palms, my heart beating hard with mixed feelings. I absolutely don’t know what to do or say right now. What’s this, really? What’s happeningI watch as his gaze wanders around the hallway again, satisfaction written boldly on his face. “Did you hire someone, or did the guards help you with it?” He asks lovingly.I’m completely tongue tied. “She did it all by herself. I didn’t know you’d like it sir. I almost stopped her from doing it, thinking it would upset you. But the look on your face right now says otherwise.”I glance beside me and see Alexa. I have no idea when she got here. Ethan laughs deeply at A
Elizabeth’s POV But my heart, that stupid thing, makes me take slow steps forward. “Ethan?” I call out silently, stretching my neck as I look around.But there’s no trace of him at all. I call out his name again, yet no response. I’m fascinated by his room's interior decor. Surprisingly, I find that a part of me is excited to be in his room. Yuck. My brain tells me to leave right now, but I take two steps forward instead. I begin to take in every detail of his room. The walls are grey and black. What’s it that he has with grey? His bed is huge—way bigger than mine. His walk-in closet is presently wide open. Inhaling deeply, I take precise steps and walk in. It’s also really huge inside. Very spacious, and the clothes in here are never ending.Business suits, tuxedos, plain shirts, tees, ties… they hang in an unending row without creases. Then, free pants, jean trousers, joggers; they are all well arranged like those in luxury stores.His shoes are so many, ranging from slip-