Must serve him!

"What's your name?" asked a heavyset woman with exaggerated makeup who was called 'Mami'.

Adine Carika Batari remained silent. She didn't recognize the person before her. But why was the woman before her so rude?

"Are you mute?" the big, strong hand gripped Adine's pointed chin. Stinging and hurting, her adrenaline surged until her chest pounded. Tears were all she could muster for the moment.

Cigarette smoke blew into her face, making her choke and cough. The large room with the crystal chandelier above her was stuffy. She wanted to go home, but she had nowhere to go.

Adine did not understand why she was even in this place—a large, luxurious mansion filled with beautiful women in revealing and sexy dresses.

"Laudya!" The woman shouted angrily, slapping Adine roughly on the chin.

"Is this woman you brought mute!" The plump woman shouted in annoyance, looking especially at Adine's face, which was still crying and puffy.

"Mommy, maybe she's still scared," Laudya replied.

"Laudya, why did you bring me here? Who are they?" Ara tugged at Laudya's wrist as she sobbed.

Laudya leaned towards Adine. They were face to face now. Laudya's palms pressed against Adine's shoulders.

"You need a place to live and a job, right?" Laudya said quietly, reassuringly. "You just have to follow what Mama Amel tells you to do."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Adine asked innocently as she looked around.

She saw two sexy women standing at the edge of the stairs, watching her, both whispering to each other.

Adine's heart beat wildly. Her premonition told her that she was in a place that even society despised.

"Prepare her for Lord Dominik, the foreigner who paid me well!" The high voice from the plump woman's thick lips made her jump.

"What?" Adine rounded her almond eyes perfectly. She hoped her ears had misheard.

"Take it easy," Laudya said. "Tell me your name; Mama Amel wants to know."

"Adine...Carika Batari," Adine replied, stammering.

"What a beautiful name," the woman called Mami Amel said as she blew her cigarette smoke into the air.

"Remove the bruise from her smooth cheek," Mami Amel ordered Laudya. "Tomorrow night, she must be ready and go to the agreed hotel!"

Adine's eyes widened again. Maybe she didn't quite understand what Mami Amel was saying, but she had a bad feeling.

"Wait! What does that mean? I have to go to the hotel!" Adine shook the body of Laudya, who rolled her eyes lazily.

"Did Laudya not explain anything to you?" Mami Amel pushed the butt of her finished cigarette into the ashtray on the table to her left.

Adine just shook her head as she stared at Laudya with a look of disbelief.

"So you tricked me, Laudya!" Adine exclaimed angrily as she shook the body of the woman with the fiery red lipstick. "You sold me out!"

"Hey! Women shouldn't be so innocent!" Amel's mother shouted. "It's a good thing Laudya brought you here instead of letting a predatory man swallow you up for nothing!"

"No! I'm not that kind of girl!" Adine began to sob hysterically.

She never thought her fate would be so bad. After being abandoned by her husband, she had to be sold by a stranger.

Her slender body collapsed to the ground. She cried hysterically. She lamented her fate, remembering all the humiliations her husband and half-sister had inflicted on her.

Laudya looked at her with pity. She couldn't bear that the poor woman, whom she found alone in the compound, seemed to be tormented by her current situation.

Then she went over to Adine, bent down and squeezed the poor woman's shoulder.

"This is urgent, Adine!" Laudya said. "You need everything to meet your needs. You need food and shelter."

Adine looked at Laudya sadly. She needed a place to live and a job, but that didn't mean she wanted to go through with it.

"Laudya, if he's not willing to accept this golden offer, just throw him out on the street!" Mami Amel got up and left them in the living room. Cigarette smoke still hung in the room.

"I'll take you to your room." Laudya helped Adine up.

They went up to the second floor, which would be one of Adine's rooms. This luxurious house looked more like a boarding house for girls than a brothel. However, there were at most ten people in the house.

Several women dressed in sexy clothes stared at them. Some of them looked at Adine with cynical, contemptuous, and even pitiful looks.

Moments later, they reached one of the rooms at the far end of the second floor. Laudya opened the door.

A light purple colour with makeshift furniture dominated the room. The bed stood in the right corner. It was attached to the side of the wall.

"Well, this is your room. Sleep well. Tomorrow, you have to serve Mr. Dominik," Laudya said, looking pitifully at Adine.

Meanwhile, Adine shook her head violently and sobbed again. She felt as if she couldn't open her mouth. She had never even had contact with another man than Rico - her husband.

"I beg you, Adine, this is the way of destiny. If you can serve Lord Dominik well, your life will change," Laudya coaxed. "If Lord Dominik is really old, at least your life will be secure."

Adine did not stop sobbing. Nor was she able to speak. She was still in pain when she remembered her husband having intercourse with her half-sister.

"Get some sleep; I'll help you get ready tomorrow," Lauda said as she rose from the edge of the bed. Adine pulled Laudya's wrist; she didn't recognize anyone there. Laudya looked at Adine and understood.

"Don't worry, if you need anything, I'm on the first floor," Lauda said with a smile. Adine's hand started to let go of Laudya and left her.

After staring at Laudya's back, lost behind the door, Adine reached into her dress pocket. She pulled out a small maroon drawstring bag and took something from its contents. 

Again, she could not hold back the tears that spilt out. Her sobs grew louder.

"I love you, Rico," she murmured.

She tried to control herself. After she calmed down, she put the photo back into the drawstring bag.

Then she put it in the top drawer of the small nightstand next to her bed. Then she lay down without changing her clothes.

The next night.

"Look at you!" Laudya looked half-hysterically at Adine, who was sitting in front of the dressing table. She turned the woman's swivel chair around and looked at her intently.

"I didn't choose you for Mr. Dominik!" Laudya stared with both eyes. She had not expected Adine's face to be so stunning despite the flawless makeup.

Small, pointed nose, pointed chin with high cheekbones. Round eyeballs with long lashes. Sensual thin lips with pink lipstick.

Laudya quickly covered the bruise on Adine's cheek. Her flawless yellow skin was even more exposed when she wore a black off-the-shoulder slit dress.

"Please smile," Lauda said as she lifted Adine's pointed chin. "You have the aura of a queen!"

Adine smiled, though weakly. Laudya didn't know how she felt tonight. Her heart was beating wildly.

"Are you ready?" A voice from behind the door accompanied the knocking. The voice of Amel's mother reminded her of the task at hand. "Mr. Dominik's bodyguards are waiting downstairs!"

Adine's face was sad again. Tonight, she had to serve someone she didn't know.

"Let's go downstairs!" said Laudya and helped Adine to her feet.

When they reached the stairs, all eyes were on them. Several pairs of eyes stared at her in amazement. But Adine had no desire to stare at them. She continued walking, staring straight ahead.

"Waahh, my future prima donna," said Amel's mommy, standing in the doorway, smiling so broadly that her uneven white teeth were visible.

"Mommy, she has the aura of a queen," Laudya replied.

Two tall, burly men in formal dress walked toward them.

"We better get going!" one of the men said sternly.

Adine looked at Laudya and Mami Amel as the two men led them to a dark blue Roll-Royce Wraith.

Nadine sat in the passenger seat, alone with her feelings. She clutched her ladder tightly.

Then she turned and stared blankly out the side window.

God, I'm sorry,' Adine thought.

The luxury car drove through the streets of the capital to one of the five-star hotels Dominik had booked.

Adine's long legs began to walk gracefully up the steps of the lobby. Past the reception desk and down the right corridor to the elevator with one of Dominik's bodyguards.

The elevator chimed, and the colour red lit up on the seventh floor. With trembling and weak legs, Adine pushed her way through.

"This way, Miss." Bodyguard Dominik's voice made her gasp.

Adine followed the man's long strides down the left corridor. Now, they both stopped in front of room number 710.

Adine's heartbeat quickened as the bodyguard opened the door for her.

Her dark eyes immediately captured the dimly lit room. Her feet began to move slowly. Once inside, the bodyguard immediately closed the door.

Adine gasped and looked back. The bodyguard's figure disappeared behind the door. She turned her eyes back to her surroundings.

The sofa was furnished with a marble table and an ornamental lamp hanging above it. Adine stared at it in awe.

"I've been waiting for you!" A man's deep baritone voice made Adine gasp.

She looked around to find the source of the voice. Just to her right, the silhouette of a man emerged from a room.

Adine narrowed her eyes. Her heart was shaking. The figure came closer.

The dim light from one of the lamps in the room further revealed the man's form.

The woman's deep irises captured his muscular body. The broad chest with the fine hair around it managed to make Adine shiver.

The man was only partially wrapped in a knee-length white towel. A flat, boxy stomach disturbed her feminine desires.

Adine turned her face away reflexively. She had never seen the body of a man other than Rico - her ex-husband.

"Why do you look away?" Adine felt a sting as a firm hand pulled her chin roughly.

Once again, Adine nearly lost her heart. As it turned out, Dominik, who she had imagined to be an old and doddering man, turned out to be such a charming person.

The tall man made Adine look up to see his handsome face up close.

In fact, it was the first time in a long time that Adine had felt so comfortable looking at the face of a man other than Rico.

"Are you deaf and dumb?" The eagle eyes with caramel irises frowned. As if sniffing the sweet scent of Adine's face.

"You are Mr. Dominik?" Adine stammered, struggling to swallow her saliva. But she only saw a corner of the man's sensual lips pulled back.

"Quickly remove your clothes!" the order made Adine's life seem to fade away.