Prologue

"I think of how life takes unexpected twist and turns, sometimes through sheer happenstance, sometimes through calculated decisions. In the end, it can all be called fate, but to me, it is more a matter of faith."

-Emily Griffin-

***

“Do you think she has woken up?” One of the guy asked his friend.

“No, I don’t think so, we did inject quite a lot of tranquilizer earlier. She should still be asleep until we’ve arrived.” The other guy replied.

Karina who had been falling unconscious slowly opened her eyes, only to realized someone had covered them with a piece of fabric and shut her mouth with a piece of tape.

She began to panic and tried to move her hand but realized they were tied to. So were her legs. She was as good as a farm animal about to be brought to a slaughterhouse in that state.

“What’s happening to me!?” She wondered to herself. She tried to recall what happened before that moment, but even thinking was difficult as she began to lose her consciousness again. Whatever they injected to her body was quite powerful.

“You’re better than this, Karina. I know you can remember.” She told herself. Yes, finding out what happened would be a good start. She remembered she was on a vacation with her fiancee, Aaron at his family cottage somewhere in the forest.

They woke up that morning and she was still happy. They went fishing together and then cooked the fishes they caught for lunch before going swimming in the lake for hours. Then they got tired and decided to go back to the cottage.

They danced a little bit, he was playing salsa that evening then proceed to make dinner. They had a wonderful sex that night before bed and she fell asleep deeply. Then, what happened?

As she fought her will to remain awake, she heard the men talking again.

“This woman is quite a catch, don’t you think? Too bad she’s too stupid to read people. Oh, well, whatever, at least I know the boss would absolutely love her.”

“Yes, if she was not being brought to him, I would have kept her for myself.” She was horrified at the thought. Then she came to a realization, she was either getting kidnapped or being trafficked. How was that even possible?

“What do you think will happen to her later?” The man with a heavier voice asked his friend even though he himself probably knew the answer.

“Oh, who knows? It all depends on our boss. If everything goes well, then she can live a decent, comfortable life. If it doesn’t, well, you know our boss.” It was such an ambiguous answer for her. Who was the boss they were talking about and why was she brought to him?

Karina had always lived a good life. She had always been the good girl who never caused problem to anyone. Even though she was not born in a fortunate family, at least her parents were still together and present for her growing up. Until one day, a horrible accident took them away from her. She was only fourteen when that happened.

After the horrible incident, she was taken in by her grandparents, who raised her until she was eighteen. Then she moved out from their house to New Hampshire to live on her own. She met her boyfriend who later became her fiancé who worked at the same office as her and they were together until then.

Karina was not a bad person and everyone could agree on it. She had a genuinely kind heart and loved helping others. She was the epitome of a golden hearted beauty. As far as she knew, she never had any enemies in her entire lifetime.

Everyone always loved her, she hated conflict and always remained peaceful wherever she went. She thought she would remain that way forever, but Karina forgot just because you are kind to the world doesn’t mean the world would be kind to you as well.

 After a while, she could feel the car stop moving. She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Not long after that, the door was opened and a pair of arms brought her out and carried her.

They did not even bother to untie her or anything like that so she still had no idea who these people were and where she was at. She knew struggling in that position would be useless since she couldn’t even move her arms and legs.

If they knew she was awake, she couldn’t imagine what they would do. So she stayed still and waited until the circumstance was on her favor.

She could hear sounds of door opening, then the two men walked in and brought her to a room that smelt like dry cigar. It was definitely a man’s room. Karina began to feel scared as she thought of the worst possible thing that could happen to her.

“We brought her, boss.” They eventually stopped. She could feel the presence of another man nearby but she couldn’t tell who he was.

“Place her carefully on the bed and untie her.” He told them. They did as they were told and Karina could feel her back touching a comfortable cushion and her head was placed on what felt like the softest pillow ever. She could also feel the ropes that tied her hands and legs getting untied.

Last but not least, they removed the tape on her mouth and the fabric that covered her eyes. After they removed everything, she did not just wake up and attack them right away like in the movies. Truthfully, those were stupid moves considering she was no special agent.

After they were done, she heard the boss’ voice again.

“I want to be alone with her, the two of you can just leave.” He ordered. The two men nodded in unison and walked out of the room. After they were gone, the man spoke to her.

“You can stop pretending to be asleep now.” His voice was deep and husky and they were clearly directed at her. She slowly woke up and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar high ceiling.

There was a chandelier hanging right above the end of the bed. She touched the bed and felt a soft and comfortable sensation, was it silk? Yes, it was definitely silk. She slowly sat up and saw a stranger in front of her.

He was a tall man, probably around 6’2”, handsome, dark and everything you ever read in a fiction story for young women. Only this time, he existed in real life. He gently caressed his own beard and their eyes met for a few seconds.

Karina was a bit stunned by how handsome this man was she forgot she was being kidnapped, until her sense returned to her and she began to freak out.

“Who are you and what do you want to do with me?” She asked with caution. The man took a few steps closer to her and she took a few steps back from him.

“Calm down. I know it must be shocking for you to be here right now but I promise you, I’m not going to hurt you.” He promised. Still, the promise was futile, she was terrified of this man. He looked a bit scary despite being handsome and she wanted nothing to do with him.

“My name is Eden, Eden Black.” He introduced himself. Surely the name fit him. Karina had not had the chance to properly introduce herself when he continued.

“You don’t need to tell me about yourself, I already know everything about you, after all, there was no way I would have you here if you were merely a nameless stranger to me, Karina.” She was surprised because he knew his real name.

“Please, just let me go.” She pleaded. He leaned in closer to her until their faces were only a few inches away from each other. He slowly shook his head.

“I can’t do that, princess. You have been sold to me and I have bought you for a million dollars. You are mine now, Karina and you can never leave this place without my permission.”