CHAPTER 2

When Jasmine got home, she met her adoptive parents, Timothy and Gloria Lane, sitting on the couch in their living room, engaged in what seemed to be a serious conversation.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, so they wouldn’t notice she’d been crying. “Good evening, Father. Mother,” she greeted in a small voice, drawing their attention to her.

Timothy responded with a curt nod while Gloria’s lips pressed into a thin, disapproving line as she eyed her.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” She demanded. “Have you suddenly grown wings to think you can now do whatever you want?”

Jasmine's brows furrowed, and she quickly pulled out her phone to check if she had a missed call.

Sure enough, a notification of five missed calls stared back at her and her eyes widened.

She had been so caught up in the aftermath of Jason’s betrayal that she hadn’t noticed her phone was on silent mode.

“I’m sorry mom,” she mumbled apologetically. “I didn’t mean to ignore your calls. My phone was—”

Gloria raised a hand to silence her. “Your flimsy excuses aren’t needed. Just take a seat. We have something to discuss with you.”

Jasmine, whose curiousity was now piqued, wasted no time in complying to Gloria’s instruction.

Timothy and Gloria exchanged a look that she couldn’t decipher before they both turned back to her.

“We have a task for you,” Timothy finally began, his expression stoic and his posture rigid. “And in exchange, we’ll give you the information you need about your real parents.”

Jasmine’s eyes grew wide at the offer.

She had been pleading with them to give her the information about her birth parents ever since she found out she was adopted, but they had refused.

Why the sudden change of mind?

A flicker of skepticism rose within her, but she did her best to hide it.

“W-what would you like me to do?” She asked cautiously.

“We’ve been having a bit of difficulty with convincing an investor of ours,” Gloria explained with a sullen expression. “All we need you to do is to seduce him into agreeing to our demands.”

“Yes,” Timothy added, clearing his throat. “That’s our only option right now. If you succeed, you’ll get to know all about your true parentage. Do you agree with this?”

Jasmine's stomach churned at the absurdity of their request, and her first instinct was to refuse, but Timothy’s words replayed in her head.

‘You’ll get to know all about your true parentage.’

This made her hesitate and chew on her bottom lip as she considered her options.

Finding her birth parents was something she wanted more than anything in the world.

She yearned to ask them why they abandoned her and never came back.

“It’s just one night, right?” She convinced herself before returning her attention to Gloria and Timothy.

“I’ll do it,” she agreed, determination flickering in her eyes.

Gloria’s lips stretched into a satisfied smile. “I’m happy you made the right decision. After all, it’s the least you can do to thank us for all we’ve done for you.”

“Indeed,” Timothy concurred before giving out instructions to Jasmine.

“You’ll meet Samuel Wilson at the Ash Seasons Hotel. Meanwhile, I’ll be going on a business trip in a few hours, so my wife will give you the rest of the details. Don’t mess this up.”

His tone held a hint of warning as he gave Jasmine one more pointed look before rising from his seat and walking out of the living room.

There was a brief silence in the room as Gloria emptied her glass of champagne.

When she was done, she glanced at Jasmine with thinly veiled contempt.

“I’ll send you the details via text. Ensure to make Mr. Wilson’s experience very worthwhile.”

With that, she got up from her seat, and strutted away, leaving Jasmine to battle with her thoughts.

>>>>>>>>>

Jasmine tightly clutched the strap of her handbag as she walked down the narrow hallway of the hotel she was meant to meet Samuel Wilson at.

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears with each step she took towards his room.

ROOM 98. The golden plated number stared back at her the moment she reached the door.

The thought of seeing his old face made her skin crawl, so she took out a silk hair tie from her bag and tied it around her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to calm down before reaching for the doorknob.

Gloria had told her to enter without knocking, so she pressed down on the knob, and her sweaty palms fumbled with it as she pushed it open.

The blindfold around her eyes made it impossible for her to see anything as she cautiously made her way into the room.

Yet she could sense that he was there.

She lingered very close to the entrance, unsure of what to do next.

For a second nothing happened, but then she jumped in surprise when the door suddenly slammed shut behind her.

Before she could regain her composure, a husky, rich timbre voice slurred in her ear. “I can’t believe I get to see you again after such a long time, princess.

Her breathing instantly quickened as the intensity of the voice sent a tingling sensation down her spine.

It sounded like nothing she had expected, and she began to wonder if she had entered the wrong room.

Her thoughts got distracted when the man’s fingers slowly trailed across her features as though memorizing them. “You’re even more beautiful than I remember.”

The longing in his voice made her stiffen and her hands instantly reached to the back of her head to untie her blindfold, so she could see his face.

But his hands enclosed around hers, stopping her midway.

She sucked in a deep breath at the sparks that erupted on her skin from that single touch.

“Leave it on,” he rasped, guiding her hands back to her sides. “I like it.”

Her mouth parted, but before she could respond, he pulled her closer by her waist, and trailed his lips up her collarbone, drawing a breathy moan from her.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed this,” he murmured as he gently sucked on the sensitive spot below her ear and soothed it with a flick of his tongue.

The action made Jasmine’s toes curl, and her fingers subconsciously fisted his shirt to support herself from falling.

She found herself tilting her head to grant him better access to her neck and he groaned, tightening his grip on her waist.

“Fuck. You taste better than I remember.”

As he said this, he scooped her up in his arms and Jasmine let out a surprised yelp as she was plopped onto a soft mattress after a few seconds.

She felt him hover above her and a wave of desire ignited within her as he trailed a finger from her temple, to her chin, to her neck, her collarbone before stopping at the swell of her breasts.

Her mind screamed at her to stop him…to demand answers as to why he seemed to know her.

But as she moved to stop him, he grabbed both of her hands and pinned them above her head.

“Relax, princess,” he whispered, nibbling at her earlobe. “Let me take care of you.”

And that was all it took for Jasmine to surrender to his touch.

>>>>

The next morning, Jasmine was awakened by the sound of her phone buzzing insistently.

She blinked a few times to get adjusted to her surroundings, and it took her a few seconds to remember where she was.

Her eyes darted to the man sleeping beside her, and she subconsciously bit her lip.

At some point during their encounter, her blindfold had fallen off, allowing her to get a good look at his face.

With his dark tousled hair, piercing blue eyes and chiseled features, he was breathtakingly handsome.

Her thighs clenched involuntarily as she was reminded of how intense, yet gentle he had been with her.

And before she could linger in the memory, her phone rang again.

She quickly slipped out of bed, and fished it out of her bag.

Then glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was Gloria calling, and her stomach dropped as she shakily swiped to answer.

“Hello—”

“You good for nothing slut!” Gloria’s voice boomed through the receiver. “Get home in ten minutes, or so help me God!”