Chapter 1 A Wild Night

"Ouch..." mumbled Mariana Barrett.

Waking up by the blinding sunlight, Mariana opened her eyes with a splitting headache, only to find herself in a strange room.

When she saw the clothes scattered all over the floor, her eyes widened immediately.

She propped herself up with one hand, trying desperately to recall what had happened last night.

Unfortunately, she had been knocked unconscious, so she couldn't remember a thing.

Right now, she was completely naked. A faint, burning sensation spread across her body, setting her nerves on edge.

Even the dullest person should know what had happened.

Mariana endured the pain and pulled the quilt tightly around herself.

There was a lingering smell of lust in the air.

***

Because she overheard her stepmother Noemi Perez scolding her mother for being a mistress, she accidentally pushed her stepbrother down from the balcony in a fit of pique.

Later, she was knocked unconscious by Noemi and Tia Barrett, her stepsister.

The next thing she knew, she was in this hotel.

Anger rising in her chest, Mariana jumped off the bed and quickly picked up her clothes. Suddenly, a watch fell off.

On the back of the chair beside her, there was a man's blazer.

Mariana angrily threw the watch against the wall, thinking, 'It was my first time, and now he thought a mere watch could make up for it?'

"Go to hell!" she muttered through gritted teeth.

She walked to the bathroom, where she saw her face black and blue in the mirror.

Her two eyes, all bruised and swollen, had turned purple. The once-beautiful shape of her almond eyes was barely visible, replaced by a pair of narrow slits.

Recalling how Noemi and Tia had violently beaten her up yesterday, Mariana felt both fear and resentment.

'Whoever was turned on after seeing this pathetic face must have been a beast!' she thought.

She then ruthlessly scrubbed herself multiple times. Only then did she leave the hotel, her slender legs trembling.

Ten minutes later, the door to the room next door opened, and a charming young lady walked out.

She walked to Mariana's room with a smug, self-important air. Then she took out a room card from her bag and opened the door.

Looking at the messy bed, she laughed maliciously.

With a forceful tug, she yanked the quilt off the bed, revealing the blood stain. She smirked, "She was indeed a virgin. So, Brendon and Mariana never got physical in the past two years. Great, once Brendon knows that she's no longer a virgin, he'll definitely dump her."

Tia was going to pull out her phone to take pictures as evidence for her mom when suddenly someone knocked on the door.

Startled, Tia walked to the door, her heart filled with guilt.

She looked through the peephole, asking, trying to sound assertive, "Who is it? What do you want?"

"I'm here on behalf of my boss to thank you for saving his life," the man outside respectfully replied.

Tia knitted her brows, feeling puzzled. After pondering for a while, she opened the door.

The man outside the door gestured to the two bodyguards in black behind him, and the two men immediately rushed in.

"Hey, what are you doing..." Tia was so scared that her face turned pale.

"Don't worry, Miss. We are only confirming that my boss did spend the night in this room." The man still maintained his polite attitude.

"Your boss?" Tia's eyes widened a little.

Just then, the two bodyguards walked out. One of them was holding a blazer, while the other, a watch.

The young man took the blazer and the watch over to have a closer look. He then respectfully gave Tia a business card.

"This is my boss' card. Congrats, my boss will help you fulfill any of your wishes."

"Who is your boss?" Tia hesitated but still reached out to take it.

"Mr. Bernard McFarland," the man enunciated the name clearly.

Tia was slack-jawed.