AUSTIN'S POVI got out of bed and the first thing I did was look for Adrian but he was nowhere to be found in the room. I remembered everything that happened between us and the fact that I literally forced him into it so I wasn't angry at him at all. If there was someone I hated for the situation, it would be those fuckers that kidnapped me and brought me to that place. I put on my clothes and walked out of the room to check if he was in his room but to my surprise, he wasn't there either and when I was just about to call him, I saw the woman that brought us to the room last night. "Ma'am, did you see that guy?" I asked her directly. She looked at me for a moment before she smiled "You mean your friend?" She asked back and I rolled my eyes. "Not my friend. The guy I came with last night." I hated to call him my friend after what he did to my family and seeing someone call him my friend annoyed me to the core. The woman frowned "If he isn't your friend. Is he your boyfriend then?
AUSTIN'S POV "You should probably check your pocket very well or something. Wait, did those kidnappers take your phone?" The head of maids asked worriedly but I shook my head. I didn't think they would do such a thing. They looked rich enough to me and they weren't people who would take others phones. All they wanted was my money, they weren't even bothered about my background or anything else. "I should check where I spent the night maybe it would be there. Get someone to prepare another car for me, I need to change these clothes." I ordered before leaving for my room. Later, I went back to the inn where I saw my phone on the bed and we went from there to pick up my car before we returned home. On the way, I placed a call to Adrian, informing him that we needed to meet later in the evening and he agreed without questions. "Would you like to eat now?" One of the maids asked and I shook my head. Even though I was trying to pretend like I was alright, I knew I wasn't and food was
AUSTIN'S POV I jolted up from my seat and looked at him. When I saw him standing up, ready to leave, I was very happy as that was what I wanted him to do but hearing that gunshot, my heart jumped and the first thing I did was drag him back. "Austin! I know you're in there!" I suddenly heard a voice and I frowned. Was that my Austin or was it someone else bearing Austin?"Did you hear that?" Adrian asked and I nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think it's my Austin. How would I know people who use guns?" I asked Adrian coldly. How could he ask me that? It seemed he really wanted me to die!He shook his head "No matter what, you need to hide right now. We can't say if it's you or not." He advised, holding my hand but I threw his hand away and pushed him out of my way. "It can't be me!" I yelled at him. All my life, I had been living quietly with only two aims and that was to avenge my father's death on Adrian and to make my mother happy again. So, how on earth would I have gotten involved
AUSTIN'S POVI had no idea who was dragging me but I knew I had to follow the person. I found it hard to open my eyes as the fear in my heart was so huge, it was blinding. "Run! Run faster, Austin!" I heard a familiar voice in front of me and my face scrunched up. Adrian? I quickly opened my eyes and that was when I saw that we were in a room and he was already running in a direction "Will you continue waiting there until they break down the door and get to you? Are you really okay with dying here?" He asked me angrily as he glared at me. I was confused, I had no idea what was going on but before I could think about anything more, I heard the door cracking and I knew right then that the door would soon be broken. I quickly composed myself and ran toward Adrian "Where are we going?" I asked him quietly. "While I was here earlier, I tried looking for where I could escape from and that was when I found out about the underground building here. We just need to push away this thing a
AUSTIN'S POV Adrian pushed me away and held his lips "What was that?" He asked angrily. The look on his face was as if he was ready to give me a hard punch in the face. I smirked and pulled back, truth be told, I had no idea why I kissed him either and I knew I still had to think about the reason later but right then, there was something I needed to do. "I kissed you. Didn't you want it too? Why did you respond to the kiss if you didn't want it?" I asked him and he snorted. "You think I want you?" He asked with a mocking voice and I raised my brows. "Yes, You do," I replied arrogantly. "You wish. The first time we had something, it was you who instigated it. You forced me to your bed, Austin. The second time? You forced me again and you think I want you? Why would I?!" He yelled aggressively. I stared at his face for a few seconds and an evil smile appeared on my face "Let's see you pretend again after this." I provoked as I grabbed his collar and pulled him in. I looked at h
AUSTIN'S POV I couldn't believe my ears even when he was done saying the rubbish he just said. I looked at him without saying a single word for a while and I started laughing. "Wait, are you planning to become a comedian? What was that?" I asked, still laughing. "I don't know if you've forgotten or not but you and I are not friends and we never will. So, stop this silly prank and close that door before those men get here." I urged him desperately while also making sure he never found out the desperation in me. I was scared, so scared out of my wit but more than that, I needed to make him close the door because I knew the gunmen might have heard him when he shouted earlier and they might be on their way to us already. "What? Comedian? Let's see if you're right or wrong." He said as he took a few steps out of the room. "Hello! Austin Brad is here!!! Austin Brad is here!!!" He started shouting without stopping and my heart nearly stopped. I ran toward him but he held the knives out
AUSTIN'S POV "Is he the friend you talked about?" One of the policemen asked. "Yes. He is. He was the one in danger. Those jerks wanted to kill him." Adrian explained to them. "Oh! But... I sent you a message that we arrested the gunmen about ten minutes ago, why didn't you come out since then and why were you holding a knife?" One of the policemen asked again and my eyes twitched. "Yes... I thought One of them might be lurking around so I wanted to protect my friend." He replied and the policemen all nodded their heads. "That was brave of you." They said and walked toward me. "Are you alright? Hope you weren't injured?" A man walked over and asked. I looked at all of them as if I was watching a movie. It was hard for me to believe what was going on, it was so hard to believe that I had been tricked by Adrian and he had used my weakness against me just like that!I made my way toward him and stood in front of him "Tell me what I'm thinking right now is not correct. Tell me it's
ADRIAN'S POV Nothing had been more complicated than what I did today before in my life and I had no idea how that would affect my relationship with Austin from then on. I knew he hated me more after what I did but for forced me to. After he called me and asked us to meet at the Cafe, I told my friends and they were all excited for me, thinking he wanted to ask me out and finally ask me to explain what happened back then so we could clear the air and be together but not only did he not want to hear anything, he even humiliated me and made me feel like trash. When I ran away, I wanted to escape alone but I lost my mind the moment I realized he was in danger and the only thing on my mind was how to get him out which was why I opened the door, dragged him in and closed it back. I led him into the underground building to help him escape only to find out that he already knew I liked him and he was going to continue using that against me, playing me like I was a toy.If I wanted to win h
ADRIAN'S POV I froze for a moment. His words made my body shake violently. "You... Do you like someone? Who is it?" I raised my head to look at his face but displeasure formed on my face the next moment when I saw that Austin had already closed his eyes and his breathing was steady as if he already fell asleep. I raised my hand and gently touched his face. After everything he went through today, I knew his body must have felt very fatigued, and he needed rest. I somehow felt guilty for making him so worried that he had to drive down to my place so late at night and even make out with me despite his exhaustion.Maybe that was why he didn't do the deed...I gently shifted my body away from his and covered him up. Resting my chin on my hands, I stared at his face for a very long time until my eyes turned heavy, and I started dozing off. I moved closer to him, rested my hand on his chest, and slept off, too. The snowy weather caused a chill on my body, and I wondered why Austin wanted
ADRIAN'S POV I stared at the call, unable to decide whether to answer it or not. My fingers were trembling, and my thoughts were messy. "Adrian, are you inside?" My mum's voice broke my thoughts, and I quickly dropped the phone in bed. My eyes lingered on the phone for a few seconds, but with a sigh, I decided to ignore the call. Maybe he only called to officially tell me about his relationship with Cynthia? I wasn't ready to hear about that at the moment. I wasn't strong enough to endure that either. I rushed out of the room and saw my mother waiting for me at the door. "Mum," I called. She took my hand and led the way, "I waited for you for so long and decided to come call you when I didn't see you," She explained. Nodding my head, I revealed a smile, "I took too long in the bathroom. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Mum," I apologized and followed her downstairs. I ate peacefully with my mum, pushing back the stressful thoughts and chatting with her for a while. My stepf
ADRIAN'S POV "Do you want to give up then?" Jason asked, staring at me. What choice did I have? "I will," I softly replied, suppressing the immense pain in my heart. I walked toward the door and opened it. It took all my will to not let my tears fall. The pain was almost unbearable, and everything seemed like a dream. Maybe taking it as a dream was the only thing that still kept me so strong...Opening the door, my misty eyes widened for a moment as I set my eyes on Austin, who was in front of the door. His expression was cold, and his anger was evident. He must have heard everything I said to Jason. "Do you really think I have feelings for Cynthia?" His tone was harsh as he questioned. My eyes flickered, and I turned away, not daring to look into his eyes as that could push me to tears, "It doesn't matter. Just like you said, we are only just friends. What right do I have to question your choice? Whether you are in love with Cynthia or not, it's none of my business," I replied,
ADRIAN'S POV Austin was shocked. He immediately tried to struggle free, but I held him tight. Pinning his hands on the wall, I pressed my lips on his. He struggled for a moment, probably not intending to give in so easily. However, it was only a moment. He soon parted his lips voluntarily and responded to the kiss actively. My hands slowly moved down from his hand, resting on his chest, my heart racing faster. It was as if all the emotions I had tried to suppress for the past few days could no longer be suppressed, and my chest was heaving hard, too. Our eyes met, and the desires in our eyes were not to be undermined. "You can't fall for her. You mustn't fall for her, Austin," I implored, staring deep into his eyes. Austin froze for a moment and smiled warmly, his arms wrapped around my neck, and he pulled closer to me until his lips were just a few inches away from my ear. "What? Aren't we just friends? Why can't I fall for her?" His voice was low and seductive, and it made my
ADRIAN'S POV "No, she was shocked and fainted," Jason replied again and I frowned. Why was he the one answering my questions when he wasn't the one being asked? Tsk!"She's fine already but we wanted her to rest more before going home," Austin seemed to have noticed my suffering as he suddenly butted in and stood up. "Do you want to see her?" I stood up too and walked toward the entrance, "Of course. I have to see the lady who is so special to you that you even wanted to exchange your life for hers," I teased and rolled my eyes. Austin shook his head and chuckled but didn't say a word to reply to me. He looked at Jason, who was still sitting, "Can you watch him? I will be back soon," Jason nodded with a smile, "I will," I let out a deep breath and opened the door. The presence of Jason made me feel uncomfortable. Not only was he handsome, but he also knew how to use guns; he was indeed a worthy opponent!"Ah, John called to ask about you. He sounded very worried. You should give
ADRIAN'S POV While I was about to hit the ground, a hand suddenly grabbed me and pulled me to my feet. "Don't fall; you will get injured," The familiar, sweet, and comforting voice entered my ears, freezing my thoughts. My eyes shifted, and I looked at the figure who was standing beside me. My lips parted and I took in a deep breath. "I must be in a dream right now," I mumbled inwardly. "Why would you do that? Why would you do something so dangerous without even asking for my help?!" "I might be useless to you but I can still take down a few men. Why on earth would you go and rescue someone without thinking about yourself? Is she that important to you?!" "Look at you, right there. You are wrapped up like a mummy, do you think I can survive this? Do you think I can survive it if anything happens to you?! Why, Austin!? Why?!" "You know what? I would rather die than have you leave me in this world. For your information, if anything should happen to you, I will die with you and when
ADRIAN'S POV "We've picked the four shoes. Can we just leave now? I need to rest my head," I lamented to Kun, who was still excitedly looking around. I couldn't believe a guy would love shopping so much!"No, Adrian. There's a shoe I saw on a Chinese celebrity, and I feel like it will look very good on you; we need to get that." He proposed and I frowned. "A shoe you saw on a Chinese celebrity? Why should I be the one to wear that?" Kun stopped and cocked his head to the side, a smug smile on his face as he stared at me, "Do you still remember that Chinese drama we watched together a few months ago? BEING A HERO?" A smirk formed on his annoying face. "The young male lead was the one who wore the shoes. Do you want it now?" Hearing that, the corner of my eyes lifted and I gently nodded. "I..." I stopped and shrugged. "Let's look for it then. That guy seems to be an awesome fashionable person," I added with a smile and walked ahead of him. The male lead of the drama caught my atte
ADRIAN'S POV "You should get four different sets of birthday clothes, okay?" Kun said as he dragged me around in the boutique. He already picked more than ten different trousers and shirts, different sets of clothes that he forced me to test. I was tired but at the same time, I didn't want to return home as his disturbance was helping me deal with my inner turmoil. While he was making things difficult for me by not giving me a moment of peace, I was able to stop thinking about Austin, and for the first time in a while, I was even able to smile. "Do you think this is better or is this better?" Kun asked, he had two different colors of shirt in his hands. I looked at the two and sighed. "I wouldn't know. I'm tired already. Can't we just pick one and leave?" I asked, slapping my forehead as I glared at him. "I'm feeling hungry too," That was the truth; I had lost my appetite before now as I was busy thinking about Austin, but after the tedious shopping, I felt like I needed somethin
AUSTIN'S POV Sensing the looming danger in my life and the lives of everyone around me, I decided to take a preventive measure against any sneak attack from any of the enemies. I had installed a tracker on every of my worker's apps and linked it to the companies' computers. Thanks to that, it would be easier to track Cynthia and rescue her. Standing up, I rushed out of the company and made my way back home. Even if I happened to find out what was happening to Cynthia, I still couldn't save her with my bare hands, so I decided to prepare some things from home. I had just driven into my compound when my phone started ringing. It rang for the first time, ignored as I had to park my car but it started ringing for the second time. I brought out my phone from my bag and checked the screen only to see that it was a new number I had never seen before. I felt suspicious; with the things happening, it would be no surprise if it was a call from the kidnappers, and that was more reason for