Ciara Summers stepped out of the prison just as the sky turned dusky. She had been granted a one-day bail, with her freedom hanging on the ticking clock. Clutching a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it, she boarded a bus parked at the prison gate. The ride took her through winding roads, and by the time she arrived at a secluded mansion halfway up a mountain, the day had surrendered to night.A silent doorman greeted her and guided her through the grand but shadowed halls, leading her to a dark bedroom. The moment she stepped inside, the heavy scent of blood hit her. Before she could adjust to the darkness, strong arms yanked her forward, pulling her into a tight embrace. A warm breath brushed against her ear. “So, you’re the last pleasure they sent for me... the call girl?”The words struck her hard. “Call... girl?” she whispered, tears welling up. Fear gripped her as her voice trembled. “Are you... dying?”“Yes. Any regrets taking this job?” The man’s voice was cold, his
Samuel didn’t bother looking at Ciara. “You heard me,” he said flatly.Ciara nervously played with the edges of her dirty clothes. In a quiet voice, she replied, “Sir, this joke isn’t funny.”Samuel scoffed, his voice sharp as he retorted, “Weren’t you planning to marry me from the start?”His gaze cut into Ciara like a blade, his eyes locking onto hers. Ciara shivered and turned away, but Samuel grabbed her chin, forcing her to face him.In that moment, Ciara noticed his features more clearly—the cool, sharp lines of his face. He was undeniably handsome, with rugged stubble along his jaw. His suit was impeccably tailored, exuding luxury.It was clear to Ciara that this man was someone of importance. She glanced down at herself—worn-out, moldy clothes, messy hair, and a dirty face. She hadn’t showered in days, and the smell clung to her. The idea of the two of them getting a marriage certificate seemed absurd.Lowering her eyes, Ciara muttered, “Sir, do you think just because I’ve bee
Samuel’s brows knitted together instantly. “What?” he barked, striding quickly into the bathroom.The room was empty, but his gaze landed on the wall, where a message was scrawled in blood: “Mr. Fury, regardless of our social gap, I’d never marry you. Goodbye.” The handwriting was precise and bold, reflecting the writer’s determined spirit.For a moment, Samuel stood there, dumbfounded. Could his research on her have been wrong?After a brief pause, he snapped out of it and issued a command. “Search the mountain!”He couldn’t let his mother’s final wish go unfulfilled.At the back of the mountain, Ciara clung to the thorny vines, carefully lowering herself down the steep slope. Her clothes were in tatters, but she managed to evade the Fury family’s search by hiding under a dense thicket until nightfall. Once darkness fully descended, she continued her escape, moving around the mountain until she found a way out.By dawn the next day, Ciara arrived at the Luscious Residence, her presen
Samuel had been searching for Ciara for a full month. Just when he began to think his investigation might have been too harsh, she appeared before him—serving as a waitress in the very room reserved exclusively for him. He had underestimated her. His eyes narrowed in disbelief as he realized she wasn't hiding; she was raising her stakes.“Director Fury, is something wrong?” The restaurant manager, who had been accompanying Samuel, could barely conceal his fear as he noticed the icy stare directed at him.“How long has she been working here?” Samuel's voice was dangerously low.The manager stammered, “A...A month.”A month? The same length of time since she had escaped from his family’s grasp. Samuel's blood boiled—she wasn’t running away, she was simply positioning herself to negotiate a higher price. Damn her!Ciara's eyes flickered with resentment as she met his gaze. It felt like a cruel twist of fate. Why did the world have to be so small?"I don’t know what you’re implying," she
Ciara never imagined she would see Samuel here, especially not like this. When she turned around, the shock on her face was unmistakable.Samuel leaned casually against the doorway, his expression unreadable, yet his tone was smooth as velvet. “You could’ve come to me if you needed help,” he said, his voice deceptively warm. “Why drag my mother into this?”Ciara was taken aback, her mind racing to catch up. Before she could form a reply, Samuel’s grip tightened around her arm, and without waiting for her consent, he began leading her out of the room.From behind, Mary’s voice echoed softly, filled with warmth. “Samuel, be good to Ciara. Make her happy.”Samuel only gave a brief nod as he shut the door behind them, his grip on Ciara’s arm unrelenting as they walked down the long hospital corridor. The moment they reached a secluded corner, his demeanor shifted. The kindness vanished, replaced by something far colder. Without warning, he shoved her against the wall, his hand coming up t
Ruby’s expression turned serious as she listened to Linda’s worries. “Calm down, Linda,” she said firmly. “You’ve done everything right so far. As long as you stick to the plan, Samuel won’t suspect a thing.”“But, Mom, what if he already knows?” Linda’s voice quivered. “He didn’t even bother to come. What if he’s planning something?”Ruby reached out, gripping Linda’s hand tightly. “You’re overthinking it, Linda. Samuel believes it was you that night because we made sure of it. Every detail matched—thanks to Ciara's letter.”Linda nodded slowly, trying to steady her nerves. “But what if I slip up? He’s bound to figure it out eventually.”“That’s why you must be cautious,” Ruby warned. “Remember every word from that letter. That night is your story now. Own it.”Linda swallowed hard, fear still lingering in her eyes. “But why would he marry me just because of that night?”“Samuel is a man of pride,” Ruby explained. “He can’t afford a scandal, especially with someone like you. And you
Samuel walked into the bathroom, turned on the cold shower, and let the icy water hit him. Ciara, meanwhile, was curled up on the bed in the second bedroom, hugging her legs and berating herself. Why hadn’t she reacted more strongly to his embrace?“Do you really want to marry into a wealthy family, Ciara Summers?” she thought. “You’re so shameless. Samuel was clearly repulsed. How could he be interested in someone just out of prison and pregnant?”Her restless night was filled with self-reproach. She woke up early the next morning and found the living room empty. She quickly wrote a note on a piece of paper with her strong, neat handwriting: “Please excuse me, Mr. Fury. I assumed you wouldn’t return, and I’m sorry for using your bathroom. I’ll pretend nothing happened, and I hope you will too.”After leaving the note, Ciara went to the hospital to visit Mary. She hadn’t seen the housekeeper that morning, realizing that Mary had made arrangements for her and Samuel to spend the night
Ciara stood frozen, feeling a surge of anger at Linda’s insult. She wanted to lash out, but the thought of harming her unborn child made her hesitate. Instead, she forced a smile and said, “Are you interested in discussing such matters?”Linda scoffed, her tone dripping with disdain. “I’m just worried about you catching diseases. You might ruin the atmosphere in my home.”“Then why invite me here and insist I stay for dinner? Seems like you’re quite interested in this kind of conversation,” Ciara replied coolly, her words stirring irritation among the Luscious family.Samuel’s gaze, sharp and cold, was fixed on Ciara. After a tense moment, he grabbed his keys, stood up, and walked out.“Darling Samuel, are you upset?” Linda called after him.“If you continue associating with people like this, I’ll reconsider our engagement and compensate you,” Samuel said coldly, not bothering to look back.“I understand, Darling Samuel. But it’s not worth it to be angry at this woman. Let me see you
Samuel arrived at the police station in his own car, following the cops. He was boiling with anger, but his anger was to Colt, and not the cops, because they were simply doing what they were asked to do.“What is the meaning of this?” Samuel asked the moment he got into the office he was invited into before. The head cop signaled to Samuel to sit down, and although Samuel sat, he was still upset. This was the second time in a couple of days that he was being invited to the hospital, and he was no longer finding it a joke.“Mr. Fury, we have a lot against you,” he told Samuel.“How do you mean?” Samuel asked, not bothering to mask his anger. “I was here the last time, and you asked me to go, so what is this about?” Samuel demanded gruffly.“Our interrogation the last time was inconclusive, and we informed you about this, so inviting you back here shouldn’t be strange, or even rile you up,” the head cop said, saying the last words with caution.“You do know who I am, right?” Samuel thr
Ciara waited for Samuel to return, but he seemed that was not happening any time soon. She had woken up much later after a disturbing dream, and had found the penthouse very empty. For the first time, Ciara found herself lonely in Samuel’s absence. Maybe it was because of the moment they shared together before she fell asleep, but she could not exactly tell.Then there was the deal with Rudge. Although he was yet to call her back, Ciara still did not want to take chances with him. This was her only opportunity to know about what happened, and contrary to Samuel’s belief, Ciara was certain that he truly had something to tell her. If there was anyone aside from the Luscious family who knew exactly why she went to prison, it would be an employee of theirs, especially the one that worked closely with Linda.All the years living with and knowing Linda Luscious, Ciara knew that she was full of shady and dirty things. There were always skeletons in her cupboard. So now that Rudge had called
So you two created a gang behind my back,” Samuel questioned Kingston after Quinton had left.He intentionally stayed in the study while Quinton sorted out her things and left. Samuel would not go back on his words; he had already fired her, and that was it. Right now, he was even angry with everyone. So while he was struggling to put things in place and make things work out for him, his own employee had been sabotaging every move by reporting to Ciara. Now he understood why he was always seeing her staring at him weirdly; she had been eavesdropping on him every minute and reporting back to Ciara, which was why she had been able to stay two steps ahead.Now he felt like a horrible fool.“What is it with Ciara that everyone just wants to protect her?” Samuel asked himself in frustration. From his mother to his own employee, who was even trying to recruit his driver into the league. For the life of him, Samuel could not understand the hold that Ciara Summers had on everyone else. His
Linda had locked herself up in the room ever since the scandal. She could not even bring herself to go anywhere as close as downstairs, because she did not even want to deal with curious stares from the employees. Not only had she been skipping meals, she had also been avoiding her parents, especially her mother, because she could not deal with any firm of judgments right now.In truth, the Luscious mansion had been somewhat gravely quiet ever since. Linda was a nervous wreck as she called Hayes. She had been calling him almost every ten minutes, but she could not bring herself to stop.“Anything else?” Linda asked the moment the call connected.“No, Linda. He has been in the main house for hours now. Maybe he has called it a day, and I think I should too,” Hayes said, sounding tired.“Don’t you dare move from there!” Linda barked. They had missed Samuel for days, unable to trail him, because he had gone to hide somewhere unknown, and Linda had quickly told Hayes where to find Samu
Samuel got into the main house and flopped on the couch, extremely tired. From what he could see outside, all his domestic staff were in good shape and doing their jobs well, so Samuel closed his eyes and tried to take in as much rest as possible. He did not want to think much about anything for now; he just wanted to rest. If he could stay here for a couple of hours, and even take a nap in the process, he would be relieved, but shutting his brain off completely was not something he could do, considering all that was going on at the moment. He would need to take extra caution dealing with Colt henceforth, but Samuel could not tell if Kingston was now strong enough to get back to work. He knew he should have called Doctor Pedro to ask about Kingston’s improvement, but he had been swamped with things. Anyway, now that he was here, he would ask him personally. Samuel opened his eyes and looked around, and everywhere seemed quiet. Samuel was now used to catching Quinton standing by the
Samuel drove home, his mind muddled up in thoughts. It was a card he played on Colt, and like a mirror, he saw right through Colt.More than ever before, and for the very first time, Samuel was certain that there was something amiss. Colt could not even answer the last question he asked him. Samuel thought of going to the penthouse, but he changed his mind last minute. He hadn’t been to the main house in days now, and since he was still in charge of the Fury house and wealth, he needed to go there and ensure that everything was okay.Changing directions now, his mind went back to Colt Luscious. Samuel knew what he hadn’t known for years now; he was also a victim of Colt and Ruby’s games, but he could not exactly put the points together. All along, he had been worrying so much about understanding what was going on in Ciara’s life and trying to piece together bits and pieces of the things he knew, and he had no idea that he might also need to piece them together. Now, Samuel was begin
Samuel and Colt stared at each other for the longest time, each refusing to break the ice, and equally refusing to be less deadly in their stares.“You are ungrateful,” Colt said angrily.“How so?” Samuel asked, refusing to back down.If it was before, he would allow Colt Luscious to guilt-trip him into feeling like he needed to set things right.“I did everything for you, Samuel Fury. I showed up for you when no one else would. I became your benefactor when there was no one to even help you. I aided you to get back the Fury name and wealth, and what did I get in return?” Colt said, his eyes spitting fire.“Say how I fucking betrayed you, Colt, and stop beating around the bush,” Samuel stated bluntly, almost cutting Colt off. Colt ground his teeth in annoyance, and was also surprised at Samuel’s disrespectful tone.“You got my daughter pregnant!” Colt barked.“Did I?” Samuel asked, looking at Colt square in the eyes challengingly. “How am I certain that your daughter was the one I ha
Samuel had been in many uncomfortable situations, ones that required deep and intense emotions, but he had never seen anything like this, and deep down, he knew that there was still more that Ciara was yet to tell him.As he stood above Ciara and watched her, her words just kept floating through his mind. And to think he had actually believed Linda when she said that Ciara had come into their home to steal. Now, things were beginning to click together, piece by piece. How on earth did someone go through all that? A woman for that matter? “Thank goodness I did not end up marrying Linda,” Samuel said quietly. When he had arrived at the venue and had walked up to the altar, and had looked at Linda in that dress, he had just known that he could not go through with the wedding. Even if it was some sort of an arrangement, and nothing based on love, he just couldn’t. Even though he had wanted to marry Linda to get to know what was really going on, he just couldn’t, and now, he was grateful
There was a deafening silence after Ciara said Linda Luscious.Samuel felt as though he was hearing differently. Yes, he knew that he suspected something was off, but he had no idea, and now, he was even more confused.“Linda Luscious?” Samuel asked, wanting to be certain he was hearing rightly.“You asked who Rudge was referring to when he said ‘she’, right?” Ciara asked.Now, they were both seated on Ciara’s bed, quietly. It was the first time they would be having a conversation in this manner. All the times they had a conversation, they had always been talking in high tones, and throwing unpleasant words to each other.“Was she the same person the previous time when Rudge had contacted you and struck a deal? Samuel asked calmly. He could not even bring himself to shout. In fact, he was even struggling to ask questions that were not silly, because while they talked and he listened to Ciara, he was still trying to clear out his confusion.“Yes,” Ciara answered soberly.“How on earth d