Chapter 40SEBASTIAN’S POVThe feel of the soft morning rays as they warmed my skin, along with the delicate melodies of the birds, and the rustling of the leaves to the gentle morning breeze from outside caressed my ears, waking me as my eyes flickered open.Stretching and stifling a yawn with the back of my hand, I turned, hoping to see Catherine. But I was greeted by a vacant pillow and space.Propping myself up to the leather headboard of the bed, a flutter of confusion brushed against my face. I knew for a fact I always woke up earlier than her. And I was a light sleeper. I would have known when she prepared and headed out. Last night was long. And so unexpected it made me sleep longer than usual. Blowing out a heavy breath, I momentarily squeezed my eyes shut as every bit and fragment of everything that happened that night replayed in my head. It wasn’t meant to happen. Even though we hadn’t had sex in weeks, I wasn’t prepared for it. But Catherine with her delicate state tha
Chapter 41BRIANNA’S POVLast night was torture. I practically rolled from one side of my bed to another, my mind twirling like a tornado over what Amelia had said about Sebastian having a spark for me. Could she be telling the truth? Did Sebastian have… feelings for me?No….no….no…no…noIt can’t be. He was just being kind, caring and generous. That’s all. Nothing else. Even though I’ve known him for not more than two months. That was long enough for me to know those three qualities were a big part of his nature. Amelia was just mistaking those qualities for something else. For something utterly impossible. If Hermes, his fellow Alpha King had no atom of feeling for me. And saw me as nothing more than an instrument for drawing his sexual satisfaction. What then could make me believe that Sebastian who was married had feelings for me? A married Alpha King can’t have feelings for another woman aside from his Luna. Especially for a slave he bought in an auction.Since Sebastian had give
Chapter 42BRIANNA’S POVI gulped and my lips parted slightly in shock on hearing Catherine’s last words. I knew I had told Sebastian to let me go. I had told him to just say the word and I’ll be out of his sight and castle forever. Mentally, I had prepared for it. But now that I was faced with it, I realized that I never thought of where to go. This wasn’t my kingdom. I didn’t even know my way around it.“But…but I don’t know where to go?” my voice grew small and brittle. “I don’t have any other place aside from this castle. I don’t even know my way around this kingdom.”“Oh, honey,” she taunted, her lips twisting into a grim, mocking smile. “I’m terribly sorry, but I have to admit that I don’t give a fuck about your next destination. That’s entirely your concern. Slums, sewers, the wilds or why not under a bridge? It’s all the same to me, you see? The only thing I do care about is this: after my dinner party tomorrow, I don’t want your presence polluting this castle. I have zero tol
Chapter 43SEBASTIAN’S POVThe night sizzled with the whispers of the cool breeze. Beneath a velvety sky adorned with stars, the moon’s gentle radiance bathed the lawn which was the venue for the dinner party.Dressed in a baby pink brocade suit and a matching bowtie, accompanied by a crisp white shirt, slacks, and polished black patent leather shoes, I stepped out feeling incredibly confident and amazed with what I was seeing before me. Catherine had outdone herself in picking such an eye-catching outfit for me. The lawn was transformed into an enchanting backdrop for the dinner party. It was crisp, well-manicured and smooth against the soles of one’s shoes. Twinkling fairy lights were used to adorn the trees and entire surroundings, adding a magical look to it.Surrounding the beautiful lawn were dinner tables draped in white linens. On these tables lay shimmering silverware and crystal glasses that glinted under the soft lighting. Fresh flowers adorned their centre, with their sw
Chapter 44SEBASTIAN’S POV“I’ve conducted a thorough examination, covering every possible diagnosis. I want you both to know that there is nothing medically wrong. Nothing is preventing you two from conceiving. Your fertility is intact. So you can go ahead and set aside any concern or fear you have,” the doctor's reassuring words that day echoed involuntarily in my head as I curled the bottle tight around my fingers, seething with mounting rage.Several months after our marriage, we found it difficult to conceive. No matter how much time we spend in bed. Or trying the absurd remedies and practices a friend had suggested or the one Catherine had seen online.I had thought something was wrong with one of us. I was plagued by thoughts of potential issues, whether it was my sperm count, Catherine’s egg viability, or even a hidden STI. But after we visited the doctor, he carried out his diagnosis and assured us nothing was wrong with either of us. That had calmed me. Ever since then, I ha
Chapter 45BRIANNA’S POV“Can…can I please come in?” His voice was fragile. Shaking. Hurt. And his creamy gaze, trying to avoid mine. This was his castle. He didn’t have to beg me to come inside. I just wished it wasn’t at a time like this. He could see the luggage I kept by the side of the bed and find out I was about to leave.In the past, I’d often been the one hesitant to meet his gaze, my nerves always getting the best of me. But now it was the other way round. It was obvious something was wrong. His anniversary party was still going on outside. And yet he came into the castle, wanting to come into my room unannounced.“Yes, you can,” I muttered as I made way for him, biting hard on my lower lip. Praying that he wouldn’t see the luggage.Sitting on the edge of the bed, he buried his face into his palms, raking his perfectly curled hair into a mess.Seizing that chance, I tried to slide the luggage beneath the bed, but his head shot up, catching me off guard and causing me to freez
Chapter 46BRIANNA’S POV“Brianna… Brianna?” Sebastian called out, his voice a sudden jolt that drove me back to reality.“Yes,” I breathed, regaining control. “Sorry about that.”He stared at me. A bit confused. Curious. As if to see through me. To know what I was feeling and thinking.I blinked more than usual to avoid his curious, exploring gaze. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I shouldn’t be sitting that close to him. The door wasn’t locked and Catherine could burst in at any moment with that horrified face of hers and confirm her suspicion on us.Moreover, I had a bus to catch, and as the night was growing late, time was slipping away. If I didn’t leave the castle within the next thirty minutes, I might miss it. On top of that, I hadn’t yet figured out how I was going to get the fare for the journey.I tried to stand. But he held me back to my greatest surprise.“Please stay with me,” I saw the heart-rending tenderness of his gaze. They were begging me. They were needy. But I
Chapter 47SEBASTIAN’S POVThat kiss was magical. Everything I longed for. I loved the way she seemed to melt like jelly whenever I was close to her. Loved the way her heart throbbed relentlessly against her perfect boobs, making them beat tenderly against the top of her flimsy gown. I loved her innocent tender eyes. Her soft lips. They were succulent and tasted so good I could bite into them all year long. Damn!! I love everything about her.At first, she was a bit reluctant when I kissed her, but then she unfolded to me like a butterfly, savouring the sensation of my lips on hers. Telling me she wanted it as badly as I did. But all of a sudden, she pulled away. She always did.Fuck! Fuck!! Fuck!!! Fuck!!!! Fuck!!!!!I clenched my fist, resisting the urge to smash them against the standing mirror in front of me. I was a step from going completely crazy that night with everything that was happening.I knew that what I did was wrong. I wasn’t supposed to kiss her on a night like this.
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