Chapter 5

[JANE]

I can't believe I gave in to her demands. Ugh! I didn't have a choice because my father would still pressure me on dating that arrogant, rude guy—Nicholas. Nicholas Terranova is a jerk. If you believe he is a decent and honorable man. Well, you're completely wrong. He's the worst person I've ever met, and I'd never want to be around him. He was the one who approached my father and requested if he could date and marry me in exchange for them investing in our business. To be honest, I'm happy with what we have now, but my father has a lot of goals, one of which is to expand our business to other countries.

Here in South Korea, we own the largest telecommunications firm. I couldn't believe my father would sell me for Nicholas' family's investment. 

"It's just a date," he explained, "and Nicholas' family is powerful, and he's a lovely guy." 

When I think of that, all I could do is roll my eyes. I'm not sure how I'm going to tell my father that I'm not interested in men.

Ever since I was in high school, I only liked girls. I turned down the guys who wanted to court me at the time, but I never told my family, even though my mother had a hint, but she never confronted me about it. She advised me to pursue whatever makes me happy because life is short. You never know what will happen in the coming days or years, and that's exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm not going to be tied to Nicholas. I can always fabricate excuses to my father just to get away from him, and I believe Khali Luciano can assist me in this.

Let's make a checklist, shall we?

1. She's a girl, I don’t like guys (check)

2. I don't know her family's background, but she appears to be wealthy, given that she owns a Lamborghini Huracan that costs more than $200,000. (check)

An average casino dealer could never afford such a vehicle. I am confident that she comes from a well-established family.

3. She's cute (check)

Okay, she's hot and attractive; certainly, she has kissable lips; and she smells good. Okay, she's ideal.

4. My dad knows her. She might be a possible investor, based on what she told my dad. This proves that she is more than a casino dealer. (check)

5. She is concerned about me. I'm not making any assumptions, but I have a feeling something is going on. Why would she lie to my dad to protect me? Right? (check)

For the next week, I'll be with her. I just don't like the idea of being her slave, but it's my only other alternative. Oh no! Did I just back out of the deal that she would be mine, and now I'm her slave? It's as if she got a reverse UNO card! It had to be the headache that drove me to do such a silly thing! Fucking stupid, Jane!

I face-palmed myself while lying on my bed.

"Oh my God! Why?!" I yelled my heart out, feeling disappointed with myself. Suddenly, I was startled when someone barged into my room. It's my best friend, Reese Posie.

"Oh my God, Jane! I was so worried about you! Where have you been?" she cried as she hugged me tightly. Oh, I forgot to tell her that I'm already at my house. Khali took me here to my place after that very unexpected and unpleasant morning. I find her haughty at times, but something is intriguing about her that I couldn't ignore. I'm not romantically attracted to her, and I'm not interested in her in any other manner. I believe what happened before was simply lust. Perhaps it's simply a hangover from last night's alcohol.

A guy had offered me a drink, and I thought it was just a Martini, but I felt ecstatic afterward. Everything seemed to be floating, and I could laugh at anything; everything seemed amusing to me. I had no idea what happened next. I had just awoken in that unfamiliar bed, and then, boom! Khali Luciano now owns me as a slave. I shouldn't have called off that deal. It's honestly a bad decision.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you that I'm already here, but don't worry, I'm fine. I just met this strange girl who happened to be a dealer at that casino, and now I'm not sure what I'm going to do!" I whined, my face hidden under a pillow.

"What do you mean? Hey, girl! Tell me what happened?" Reese pulled the pillow away from my face, leaving me staring at the ceiling.

"WAAAH! Reese! What am I going to do?" I sniffled when I felt the lump in my throat. I despise it whenever I make bad decisions.

"Jane, I wanted to help you, but I'm so confused right now. Mind explaining to me what's going on?" she asked, raising her brows and snapping her fingers at me.

I sat up and took a few moments to consider. I inhaled deeply, trying to decide where to begin.

"Okay, here's what happened. So, we went to the casino, right? And then, you left me on one of those slot machines, which by the way, I enjoyed playing, but that's not the point."

"Yeah? Go on," she said. I cleared my throat before continuing.

"So, this average-looking guy offered me a drink which I thought was safe because I thought he's someone who gives drinks to the players or something."

"Girl, what are you? You're not a 12-year old girl! Don't accept drinks from strangers!" Reese exclaimed.

"Yes, I am aware! I'm sorry. Okay? I honestly believed it was just an ordinary drink. Then I started feeling dizzy and euphoric. My memory was hazy, but I can recall some details, such as going to a table and playing a card game. I have no recollection of how I played it. I just placed my bets, and then I remember speaking with the dealer and making some deals with her. It was terrible that I don't remember what exactly I told her, and then I had no idea what happened after that. The last thing I remembered was waking up on a bed, and it turned out that one of the casino dealers had brought me there and—,“ I was cut off by Reese’s sudden gasps.

"Holy Moly! Did he rape you? Or what?! Oh my God! I’m sorry Jane!” I closed my eyes, not wanting to hear her speculations.

"Hey! Girl! Chill! Relax! Let me finish first. She didn't rape me, okay?" I tried to calm her down.

"She?!" She exclaimed again. I swear to God! Remind me, why is she my best friend?

"Yes, it's a she. Now, she's the dealer that I talked with, back in the casino yesterday, and she covered me up from my dad—“

"Oh! She's nice," she cut me off again, but I was trying my best not to roll my eyes at her. I just glared at her.

“Is she hot?" She asked.

"She's—uhm—so-so," I answered with a shrug.

"Girl, you never stutter when you are judging someone. That girl must be really hot!" She smirked at me, and I just sighed.

"Okay, she's hot. Let me finish first!” I raised my voice, and she laughed at me.

"Okay, Jeez! Go on," she said.

"So, it's crazy because I made a deal with her that if I win that round, she'll be mine, and if I lose, I'll pay her a million dollars," I halted when my best friend didn't respond exaggeratedly. I didn't anticipate anything, yet it's strange.

"Go on, I'm listening," she said.

"Okay? And then I won"

"She must be really hot," she muttered, not sounding surprised.

"I'm sorry, what?” I furrowed my brows.

"You won't be offering her a million dollars or even being yours if she's not hot," she remarked as she opened a bag of chips. "You're so picky! You even rejected the hottest volleyball player in our school back then!" she exclaimed. She was referring to Jasmine Catena, who was the captain of the volleyball team in high school.

"Jasmine is hot, yes, but I don't like her. I really didn't feel anything for her, okay?" I told the blonde who's now munching her chips.

"Okay, point taken. How hot is this dealer?" she asked, shoving some chips into her mouth again, which is a little distracting, especially the sound she makes when chomping them.

"She's hot, and I don't think she's just a casino dealer; she owns a luxurious car, and her apartment is exactly like those bachelor's pads you see in movies; it's expensive, and yes, she's hot," Reese snorted and laughed at me.

"Now, I know she's really that attractive because you said 'hot' many times, so what's the problem?" She asked.

"Well, it wasn't a good morning for both of us, especially for me because she said I humiliated her in front of those people in the casino, which I don't get because I won, and that means she's my girl now. Hello~ didn't she find me attractive? I'm Jane Terranova! What's embarrassing about that?!?" I yelled, but Reese just kept munching and looking up, thinking.

"Hmmm. Let's see. You beat her, right? That means you hurt her ego. Plus, if you were high that time, then you didn't look like a hot CEO,” she pointed at me, and I just blinked a few times.

"She wouldn't save me if I'm not attractive," I smirked confidently, then she took back her hand, curling her mouth as she rethinks what she had said.

"Touché, so what happened next?" She asked.

"I told her that I'll pay her whatever damage I caused her. She didn't want money, she wants me to be her slave."

"Oh my God! What?!" Reese gasped out, but then she took some chips again. How come this girl's eating in this kind of situation?

"Yup. Ugh! I shouldn't have backed out of the deal; now I have to stay with her for a week; on the bright side, I can find an excuse, not to date Nicholas, and then I'll come up with more excuses," I clasped my hands together. It's what I'd call a win-win situation.

"Okay, fair point," Reese responded, "but that means you're going to be her slave. What precisely does she want you to do? Is she going to have you clean her entire house? Are you going to be her maid? Oh my gosh! You don't even know how to wash your clothes!" Reese said, it’s rather insulting, but she’s right. However, I can find a way to learn.

"Hello~ there's an app called Youtube. I can search it there, and I don't think she needs me to do that for her. She appears to be self-sufficient, and everything in her room was organized. She also appears to be a perfectionist. Let's just see in the coming days," she gasped again but choked on her chips. How many times would she do that? I patted her on the back and handed her a bottle of mineral water from my nightstand. She downed it swiftly and exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. Oh my God! What if she wants you to be her sex slave!?" That made my eyes widen. How come I didn’t see that coming?

"What?! Oh no! No! That's not going to happen! Never!" I refused to believe that.

"But what if?! What else would she want from you? She doesn't need your money; she doesn't need a maid. That means, she wants your body! Holy Moly!" She covered her mouth, and mine just twitched in annoyance and disgust. I can picture those women being tied and gagged while being fucked. Holy cow! NO!

“NO! If that's what she means of a slave, then no! Never!”