CHAPTER 116BRIANNA’S POVI woke up feeling like I was hit by a bus. Every part of my body ached and cramped, especially my head and neck.A breathy wince escaped my lips as I tried to wriggle on the bed but found it almost impossible. My heavy eyelids fluttered open only to be greeted by a blinding white light that hurt my eyes and made my vision blurry. I blinked several times before my vision slowly adjusted to the light.The beeping of the heart monitor and various medical monitors that displayed vital signs nearby, and the sterile smell of antiseptic mingled with the faint scent of fresh linen was enough to tell me I was in a hospital. But I couldn’t remember how I got here.I swallowed hard and my throat hurt from the impact. Everywhere hurt. Even my breathing hurt. I felt so weak I could assume I was paralyzed. I tried to lift my head to look around, but a sharp pain made a loud groan escape my mouth, and my head fell back onto the pillow. That was when I realized my neck was
CHAPTER 117BRIANNA’S POV“Brianna…” he came so close I could feel his painful breath on my face. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you…ever….I’ll even sacrifice my life for you if I have to. Please believe me….I beg you… I didn’t know my uncle would turn out like that. I didn’t know he would say such cruel things to you. If I knew, I wouldn’t have invited him. I swear…”“Please stop Sebastian…” I pleaded with a voice barely above a whisper.He was making me feel things worse than guilt and pain. And I swear if he continued I wasn’t sure I could handle it any longer.I wanted to look away to avoid his gaze. But remembering that sharp pain that made me groan loudly when I tried to lift my head earlier, I had to think again. Left with no other choice, I shut my eyes. I shut them so tightly they hurt. But I can manage the pain.“You shouldn’t have come. You shouldn’t be wasting your time here with me. Your uncle was right. People like me have no place in your life? I am nothing but a sex
CHAPTER 118 BRIANNA’S POV “No…no…Sebastian,” I muttered several times, finding it hard to believe what he just said. “You can’t cut any ties with anyone most especially your family member for my sake. I don’t want you ruining the relationship you have with him all because of me…” “Brianna listen…hey….” I wished I could shake my head at the moment. I wished I could shake his hand off my cheek. I wished I could cover my ears with my hands. I didn’t want to listen to anything else he had to say. He cut ties with his uncle, someone he said he had a lot of fun with growing up. The person who made those cute shirts with his face on them for him and single-handedly sponsored his 14th birthday and so much more. He had known his uncle for as long as he could remember but only knew me for not more than seven months. Who am I to make him kick him out in the middle of the night and cut all ties with him? His uncle already hated me and didn’t give a shit about me. Sebastian havi
CHAPTER 119BRIANNA’S POVMy lips fell open and my heart split in my chest. Three hundred and sixty-five days weren’t enough for me to get through the shock he just put me through. This was the shock of my life.I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. Or do both. I couldn’t believe he’ll propose to me in the state I was, all immobilized and crippled with bandages and plasters all over me. I couldn’t believe he’d propose after all my efforts to push him away and make him fall out of love with me. He was a strong and patient man for not giving up on me. For having kept up with all my bullshit over these months.That was why he called me his fiancée at the dinner table when he tried to defend me from his uncle. Did he plan on proposing to me yesterday at the dinner table…in front of his uncle? Oh my goodness! The thought of that made my head want to blow. Surely, he wanted to.My eyes flicked from the ring to his face which had a dreamy smile etched on it. His eyes screamed, “Please s
CHAPTER 120BRIANNA’S POVIt’s been more than two weeks since I returned from the hospital. Ever since I did, Sebastian has treated me like I was a golden egg.He gave strict orders to the maids never to let me do anything. They helped me bathe, and change my neck brace, bandages and clothes. They spoon-fed me, brushed my hair, and his guards even carried me to my room when I was too tired to use the crutches. Sebastian had to relocate me to one of the guestrooms downstairs so I wouldn’t have to deal with the difficulty of going upstairs.Though it’s been more than two weeks now, getting to a month, I was still learning to walk properly on the crutches. If anyone had told me I would be using crutches someday, I would have never believed them. I would have laughed and thought they were joking. But look at me. I whiffed out a dry laugh. How ironic.Sebastian has been doing his best. He handled the hospital bills which I knew was a huge sum even though he wouldn’t let me know. He was
CHAPTER 121BRIANNA’S POVWhat the maid said felt like a blow to the face. With Aunt Gigi around, it was so embarrassing I wished I had a shell I could retract into. Though Aunt Gigi pretended not to hear it and focused on her drink, I know she did. What did these maids see me as? A baby? A helpless invalid? It’s not like I had a severe stroke or was entirely paralyzed. Some parts of my body were still working fine.I know Sebastian gave the order, but at this moment, they couldn’t do that. Not with Aunt Gigi around. We needed privacy because we would be talking about a lot of things. Why didn’t the maids think of that before saying what they said?“That won’t be necessary,” I forced an awkward smile. “My aunt and I need some privacy. And my left hand is working just fine. I can manage with it. It’s just biscuits and juice. I don’t need a fork and knife. Okay?”“Are you sure Miss Brianna?” The other maid asked adamantly. “We were given strict orders by Alpha Sebastian. If he happens
CHAPTER 122BRIANNA’S POVPressing my lips together, I let out a heavy sigh and squeezed my eyes close for a moment. That was a part of my life I wanted to forget and never talk about. But if I wanted Aunt Gigi to understand how I ended up there. How Hermes and I’s relationship turned out then I needed to tell her everything. I just hope she’ll have the heart to bear it. I have known her to be soft-hearted and too emotional she can break down in the slightest of distress. Maybe even more emotional than me.“Are you okay?” She asked, giving me a questionable look. “Did something happen…”“The marriage with Hermes never worked out,” I revealed, leaving her frozen on the spot, her eyes popping and lips flying open in shock. “Hermes wasn’t the person we all believed him to be. He’s a monster…a psychopath. The devil incarnate…”Aunt Gigi stared at me with eyes that blinked rapidly, too surprised to say a word or even breath.My shoulders dropped and I closed my eyes tightly to hold back t
CHAPTER 123BRIANNA’S POV“You must understand. I can’t risk all that happening,” I shrugged and kept a bitter expression. I reacted the same way after Sebastian made that silly rule known to me while I was in the cell. Aunt Gigi snorted in bewilderment. She glanced and moved around uncomfortably in her seat.“We must involve the police in this. They must know that our young female Omegas are being exploited for prostitution and sold into slavery. This is a crime at its worst. We can’t let it keep happening.”“There was a time I thought of that. As much as I wanted to do it, I couldn’t and didn’t even know how to do it,” I confessed in despair, crushing the little hope she had. “Sebastian once mentioned the auction was traditional and held at high standards across all kingdoms. Whether or not they liked it, attendance was mandatory and they were to participate. What makes you think the police could kick against something all the Alpha kings are in full support of? The police are jus
CHAPTER 19“W…what do you mean she didn’t make it?...” My voice quivered as I tried to keep it steady. My breath was heavy, coming in short quick gasps that hurt my chest. “S…she’s dead, Lily,” the doctor hesitated before breaking the news with a heavy sigh. “She couldn’t be operated on due to lack of completion of the payment. Her body has been transferred to the morgue. I’m sorry. I did my best. I really did. You need to come now to identify her body and make necessary arrangements…” The weight of his revelation bore down heavily on me like a ton of rocks, crushing me to a pulp. I didn’t know for how long I stayed mute, feeling an acute sense of loss wash over me. My mother. My sweet mother…the only family I had left was gone. I won’t get to see her again. This was all my fault. If only I had gathered the payment and made it to the hospital in time, I could have saved her. She’ll still be breathing by now. Terrible regrets assailed me as hot painful tears burned their way down m
BRIANNA’S POV The pungent smell of drugs and antiseptics came streaming into my nose. Irritated, I grimaced, shaking my head to ward off the smell. My eyes forcefully slid open to find myself in an unfamiliar environment flooded with bright almost blinding lights with the walls painted white too. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was in a hospital, the beeping of the heart monitor and other medical machines I was hooked to the only sounds heard in the room. I groaned in discomfort, breathing out heavily as I tried to gently sit up on the bed. I felt so disoriented like I just woke up from a terrible coma. I tried to recall the events that led to me being here when the door suddenly pushed open and Sebastian stormed in. “Doctor! She’s awake,” he shouted, appearing relieved and overwhelmed with joy. He crouched in front of me, looking at me and touching me like I was made of glass. He was extremely concerned. “Are you okay?” He asked not waiting for me to answer before a
CHAPTER 152 SEBASTIAN’S POV Hermes started moving stealthily towards the car, forcing Brianna along with him, his eyes fixed on us without wavering. Brianna looked at us with a helpless gaze, silently pleading for us to help her. I felt really bad. My body burned with restlessness and the urge to do something. Anything. I can’t just stay back and watch Hermes take her away. I can’t afford to lose her again. I can’t bear living a minute of my life again without seeing her. I didn’t know if there was someone inside the SUV to drive them. I couldn’t see clearly. But Hermes was moving into the passenger’s seat with her. That meant someone was there or maybe he’ll climb into the driver’s seat after he got in. But whatever the case was, I didn’t want him to take her away again. I looked at Dylan in a silent, urgent plea. “We have to do something. We can’t just stay back and let him take her away again…” “I’m sorry Sebastian,” Dylan sighed in pessimism. “But there is nothing
CHAPTER 151 SEBASTIAN’S POV Dylan managed to gather all the association’s security troops in time. With an armoured truck, we burst in through the gates of his castle, taking the occupants mostly his guards by surprise. They didn’t expect us, especially by this time, at dusk. Dressed in bulletproof vests, we jumped down the trucks and shot several times in the air to frighten Hermes’s guards and force their surrender. The order from Dylan was to arrest, not to shoot. But I wanted to kill them all, most especially Hermes. Dylan knew I’d find it hard to adhere to his commands so he refused to give me a gun. Having arrived with five armoured trucks – three for the association’s troops and the other two for Hermes and his guards that will be arrested, we were almost thrice the number of Hermes’s guards. And the fact we came unexpectedly, they weren’t prepared at all. Looking around the place, I couldn’t see Hermes or Brianna. Where the hell was that bastard and where has he t
CHAPTER 150 BRIANNA’S POV I grimaced bitterly, looking away in irritation. “Let me go! I’m going nowhere with you…” But it fell on deaf ears as he started dragging me along with him to the castle’s exit as though I was some children’s toy. His grip was so tight I feared I might fracture my wrist if I tried to break free. “You killed her…” I swallowed with difficulty, tears falling out my eyes as the brutal scenario of how he killed his sister came rushing to my mind. “She was worried about you…she was only trying to help yet you murdered her in cold blood. You’re selfish! You have no heart! You’re a monster ….!! How can you murder your sister like that?!! You’ll never win me over… As long as I live, I’ll continue to hate you…” Exhaling loudly in frustration, he stopped and turned to me, the anger and rage in his eyes hot enough to burn me to ashes. I stopped talking and froze in fear, my breath fluttering in my chest. “Maybe it’s time I gagged that little hole of yours
CHAPTER 149 SEBASTIAN’S POV “What?....what is it?” I asked in desperate curiosity, eager to know the contents of the letter that left him in such a devastated state. “It’s from Hermes’s sister, Hera,” he uttered, rebuffed as he momentarily looked at the me and letter. “What did she say?” My curiosity peaked as I took a step closer to him. He looked into the letter. “She says that Hermes kidnapped a pregnant slave named Brianna Campbell and…” “That’s her!” I pointed out almost hysterically, interrupting him. “She is the one. Do you believe me now? Or are you going to doubt this one too?” I cocked a furious brow, a clear indication I was angry with his nonchalant attitude towards this matter. Even though this letter would help prove to Dylan and the rest of the committee that I wasn’t lying, I couldn’t fathom how it came to be. Why would Hera write and send it, implicating her brother? Hera and I weren’t very much acquitted. But merely seeing her was enough to tell an
CHAPTER 148BRIANNA’S POVPanic began to trickle in. “What…what’s the problem?” I asked her, my voice fragile and shaking “It’s always left unlocked since no one knows about it…I don’t know who could have locked it!” She exclaimed in frustration.My heart started thumping against my chest, the little hope I had crushing to pieces. Hermes was only a few distance behind us. If we don’t find a way to make it out any moment from now, he’ll definitely catch up with us. And I was already tired, hungry, and thirsty. I have held it for long. I didn’t know how much longer I could endure.“Come on,” she said as she took my wrist. “We can still make out before Hermes…”However, her words knotted in her throat the moment Hermes walked into the room.His eyes were dark and devilish, and his features hardened to a lethal frown as he glared at us. Tightly curled around his fingers was a pocket knife. He looked like he was ready to draw blood.I swallowed a lump that hurt my throat and thudded down
CHAPTER 147BRIANNA’S POV“What…?” The shock of what I heard threw me off balance to the extent that reality seemed to shatter. Did she just mention I was sold off to Hermes by a woman? Not just any woman but the one close to me? Close enough to be a relative?“What woman are you talking of?” Desperation and suspense clutched me as I walked to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.From the way she kept glancing around, struggling to recall, it was clear her memory was hazy. “Uhmm…. It’s been a long time so…I can’t really remember. The little I could see was she had curly shoulder-length hair and wore a floral dress…She looked like those types of women who’ll go the extra mile to look beautiful…I’m sorry but that’s all I can remember. I wish I could do better…”She didn’t finish talking when I left her shoulders and suddenly walked away from her. Shock siphoned blood from my body. I was too way to dazed even think or blink. Those descriptions matched Aunt Gigi’s perfectly. She had cur
CHAPTER 146SEBASTIAN’S POVMy face scrunched out of shape in rage as I scowled at him. I felt like throwing him a punch that would knock him back to his senses. Just how the flying fuck did he think I was lying over something this serious? The lives of my twin babies and the love of my life were on the line here, yet he’s telling me to seek therapy?!With all rage tearing me apart on the inside, I wanted to say something to him. Something that’ll cut through his scepticism and make him understand the gravity of the situation. Something harsh that’ll make him understand just how angry I am. But Khan, who was also in the office with us, stepped in to intervene, sensing the escalating tension.“My boss is telling the truth,” he said, keeping a calm demeanour as he explained. “The castle was attacked, and all my colleagues and the maids were killed. Not to mention my boss’s slave was taken hostage. They were all gunshot wounds, and with the way the operation was carried out, we’re convi