Christina’s POV
The unbearable ache of a developing headache was the first thing my brain registered as soon as my eyes slid open, before being assaulted by the bright lights of the fancy chandeliers hanging above me. I squinted my eyes but this only intensified my headache, making me wince from the pain as I tried to adjust to the glaring lights. A few minutes passed before I opened them again. This time, the assault was less and I began to notice my environment.
I was lying on a flat surface with my legs dangling down the sides. I must have been in this position for quite some time because I could feel the ache in my thighs and my lower back from how flat they were pressing against the surface. But it was when I attempted to adjust my posture that I noticed my legs were bound and so were my hands, stretched taut above my head.
A frown marred my face and my brows furrowed in confusion. I turned my head to the side and noticed I was lying on the lid of a piano and it seemed my limbs were bound to the legs of the instrument. I glanced around the big room, but all I saw was a spiral staircase a fair distance away from me and a door close to the stairs.
I stared down at myself but my eyes immediately widened in horror and my heart slammed hard against my chest, my stomach curling in anxiety. I was naked! But not just that, I could see love bites on my skin, around my ribs and lower stomach from the awkward angle I’d looked down at my body.
“Oh God,”
What happened? Why was I strapped to a piano in an empty room? I wracked my brain for a reasonable answer but I vaguely recalled the familiar face of a man undressing me in a dark room while I was lying on a flat surface but I couldn’t tell if it was the piano, nor could I properly recall who the man was. But I know he touched me and the memories of the pain I felt the moment he penetrated me filled my head. I craned my neck just to look at my lower body again and truly, the stains of dried blood were there, between my legs. Fear coursed through me, my heart racing with angst at the reality that a stranger had taken my virginity, without my consent but my thoughts were disrupted by the creaking of a door. Instantly, my eyes darted in its direction to see two women standing by the door close to the stairs, both dressed in maid uniforms. One appeared to be in her late forties with her hair pulled back in a tight sleek bun, while the younger one who seemed to be more around my age had hers in a ponytail.
My heart that had been calm for the few minutes I was distracted, resumed palpitating wildly at the sight of these strangers and once again, I began wondering where I was, and who the stranger I’d remembered from last night was.
“Good morning, Ms. Bell,” the older woman greeted with a cheerful smile on her face as she approached me with the younger one beside her.
I blinked, at a loss for words. There was so much revolving in my head.
The women didn’t seem surprised to see me there, naked and that only heightened my anxiety. Wordlessly, they proceeded to untie me.
“H-Hi, please where am I and who are you?” I managed to ask, with my heart practically in my stomach from fright but I got no response. Their silence only scared me more.
“Where am I and what am I doing here?” I tried again but I was met with silence as they untied me.
As soon as I was free, I jumped down from the piano, ignoring the dull ache from my core and my quivering legs, and tried to run but the older woman grabbed me by the arm, holding me firmly.
“Let me go,” I screeched, struggling against her hold but it was to no avail.
The girl grabbed my other arm and they pulled me towards the door they’d emerged from.
*****
An hour later, I was standing before an oak door, dressed in a simple sundress and sandals with my auburn hair flowing down my shoulders. The two maids from earlier were standing beside me on each side. After forcefully taking me from the large empty room earlier on, they’d led me to a big extravagantly furnished room, and dolled me up after giving me a thorough bath. Thereafter, they led me to this door, where I was hoping to see whoever was in charge.
My heart was racing erratically with anxiety and my nerves were threatening to swallow me. The older maid tapped lightly on the door twice before turning the knob and it opened to a large modern office, lit with bright white light like the rest of the house. I didn’t have the time to ask who we were going to meet or to even gather my thoughts before I was pushed into the room and the door was closed behind me. The sound of it slamming shut had me jumping forward, and my heart dropped. I barely gathered myself before my eyes landed on the man seated behind the huge oak desk in the middle of the room, his piercing gray eyes staring intently at me.
Those cold eyes. I recognized them. From a month ago, and then last night. Suddenly, as though I was falling down memory lane, everything began to make sense.
Scott Reid. He’d been at my house last night, and he was the man from my first memory. I remember it all now.
The first time I’d laid eyes on the renowned CEO of the Ashton Reid Group of Companies was about a month ago when I’d stopped by my home to see my dad. He’d been on his knees profusely begging Scott that he’d repay the debt he owed but Scott had ruthlessly given him an ultimatum to pay up before his next visit. My dad had agreed and although I’d been shocked to hear my penniless father make such a promise, I had hidden beside our neighbor’s house so I wouldn’t be seen. I was already in so much debt all thanks to my father’s gambling and I didn’t need to be thrown to another of the loan sharks he was owing. But last night, I received a call from my dad to return home urgently. He’d sounded like he was on a death bed. Scared to lose my only family member, I closed early from the coffee shop where I worked in the evenings and headed home in a rush. But surprisingly, the man was in good shape. He asked me to have a glass of wine with him and he had something important to tell me. Again, I was surprised but I agreed, knowing it’d be months before we’d have another father-daughter bonding time due to my busy schedule and his irredeemable gambling curse.
We were having our second glass when Scott barged in on us. The last thing I recalled was his men pulling me out of the building while my father tried to pacify him.
“You!” I pointed an accusing finger at him, my face contorting with anger.
The realization that I’d fallen into the predatory arms of my kidnapper and had surrendered my body to him made my skin crawl with disgust.
“Step forward and take a seat,” he ordered in that clipped cold voice that somehow sent a fearful shiver down my spine while at the same time, fuelling my rage.
The slender woman dressed in a black business suit standing beside his desk suddenly caught my eyes and I glanced at her but her stoic expression met my furious one. I scoffed but made my way to the leather chair opposite his and took my seat, needing an explanation for his actions.
As soon as I was seated, the woman pushed an open document to me.
“The terms of our contract. Go through it,” Scott spoke, throwing me into a state of further confusion.
“W-what?”
“I believe you’re well educated, Christina,” he said my name in a smooth drawl that could have sent shivers down my spine, if not that I hated his guts.
Ignoring his snide remark, my eyes browsed the first page but the information on it had my eyes widening in shock.
“What?” It was stated that my father has given me up to be Scott Reid’s surrogate for a year, to cover his debt.
“As the contract states…”
“Oh spare me all that,” I yelled at him, my anger getting the best of me. “You're a lying piece of shit. Is this your plan to blackmail my father into paying his debt? You think he’d sell off his only child to you as your plaything?”
Ignoring me, he signaled to the woman I’d concluded must be his assistant, and she pushed a phone towards me but I wasn’t ready for what I saw.
It was a video of my dad signing the contract for me to be Scott Reid’s surrogate with a smile of joy and satisfaction on his face. My chest constricted with pain and betrayal, as bile rose in my throat and tears threatened to drop from my eyes.
“You see, Christina, you’re nothing more than another property for him to gamble with.”
I blinked back my tears as my eyes met with his cold ones. I was still trying to process what I’d just seen when his next words had the reality of the situation crashing into me.
“From today, I am your master.”
Christina’s POV“Breakfast will be served soon, Ms. Bell. Make yourself comfortable, and if you need me, use the telephone on the dresser. It has been programmed with a speed dial and the code is on the paper beside it,” The older maid who I’d come to know as Monica spoke before shutting the door of the bedroom behind me.As soon as Scott had broken the news of my father’s betrayal to me, he ordered the maids to bring me back to the room they prepared for me. I was still in shock, struggling to comprehend the reality of my crumbling life.Tears blurred my vision as my gaze danced around the well-furnished room with a queen sized bed dressed in white beddings sitting in the middle. The floor-to-ceiling windows displayed the city below, with the bright white lights complimenting the pristine white walls. On a normal day, I’d be intrigued and curiously touring the large bedroom, but I was like a lost soul in the midst of these luxuries.There was nothing I wanted more than to suddenly fi
Christina’s POVAt 6 pm, just as I’d heard the maids discussing, a knock sounded on my door, and I had no doubt they were here to buff and doll me up for Scott’s coming. But I had other plans of my own.“You may come in,”Surprisingly, it was only the young maid I’d seen around Monica that was there. She strolled into the room, bearing a stoic expression.“I’m here to prepare you for the young master’s arrival, ma’am,” she said in a tone stripped of all kindness, unlike Monica. It was the first time she’d be attending to me without the older maid giving her direct orders. Seeing how young she was, it calmed my nerves and made me believe I’d be able to communicate with her and get her to do my bidding as she must understand my predicament.“Umm… that won’t be necessary,” I spoke, wringing my fingers in my lap but her annoyed gaze instantly cut to mine and she made no move to hide her displeased expression.“I’m sorry, ma’am but I have orders to prepare you for the young master’s arriva
Scott’s POV.I wasn’t expecting what I met when I returned from work but it seemed the woman was back to her senses and had decided to do things the right way and it pleased me. I’d hate to force her to honor the contract but she was making it easy on me.She wiggled against my shoulder, rubbing her perky ass on my cheek and out of reflex, my palm landed on her ass, delivering a hard slap to it. An audible gasp escaped from her lips as I got to the top of the stairs and she stilled her movements but uttered no words. A smile of approval slipped onto my face. I was pleased with this docile side of her.I arrived at her bedroom and closed the door behind me before tossing her on the bed, while hovering over her with my eyes staring into hers. She stared at me with wide eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty, her lips parted and her legs spread out before me. Her long auburn hair was splayed on the white beddings of the mattress, her soft creamy skin calling to me to taste it. She loo
Christina’s POVThe soft rays of the morning sun streamed into the bedroom through the opened window, cascading over my exposed back and I began to rouse from my sleep.A low groan rumbled from my chest as I turned onto my back, my eyes slipping open to take in my environment. I must have slept well into the day because everywhere was lit with the sunlight and I had to squint my eyes to avoid its assault.I stretched my battered limbs on the bed and another groan fell from my lips. My body was annoyingly sore as though I’d engaged in a tiresome exercise the previous day but my night could as well be described with such terms. Thinking of it had me shuddering but then I felt my core quiver and my lower stomach curled tightly, a tingling sensation shooting up my spine as the memories of Scott’s assault flashed through my mind. Despite my resistance and my actions to keep him away for the night, he’d taken me and he didn't show any mercy while at it, but my body had betrayed me, much to
Christina’s POVLong after Adams left, his words were still ringing in my head.A smile of amusement swept across my face and I shook my head at the butler’s words. If he thought I meant anything to his master other than a sex toy, then he was so wrong. Scott could never see me as a respectful woman again. I was sold to him by his debtor to bear an heir to his empire for him. No man would develop feelings of love towards such a woman. The only emotions he could develop for me are those of pity but he was too pompous and high-handed to care about my well-being. As long as I was healthy enough to fulfil my father’s end of the contract, then that was all that mattered.Deciding to ignore his comment, I settled on my bed to eat the food Anna had brought because I was sure he was bluffing or acting out of line by assuming Scott would take me to a banquet as his plus one.Later that day, I was on my bed reading a psychological thriller novel I’d gotten from Scott’s home office when a knock
Christina’s POVI stood still, watching her strut away as my heart shattered to pieces. It felt like a cold bucket of water had just been dumped on me.She was Scott’s fiancee and I’d been sleeping with him but how could he do that to her? Why drag me into this mess? Was he that shameless?Asides from the reality that Scott had deceived me to get me in his bed, my heart hurt for a different reason that was entirely foreign to me. The truth that he wasn’t a bachelor and I was just his plaything crashed into me making my heart constrict painfully. Maybe I’d allowed myself to read too much meaning into Adams’ words that they got into my head.Memories of our evening before we arrived at the banquet flashed before my eyes. So his reaction to my appearance was all a facade? He didn’t mean any of the words he said because surely, he wouldn’t think twice about me when he had such a beautiful woman as his fiancée. Just as she said, I was merely his arm candy. Anger surged through me, burning
Christina’s POV It was almost ten minutes later when Scott finally descended from the stage and headed toward me with purposeful strides. All eyes were glued on us and I forced myself to smile bitterly while nursing my anger on the inside. Getting to me, he pulled out the empty chair beside me and took his seat, before gently taking my arm and placing it on his legs with his fingers laced to mine. Rage flooded my bloodstream as I remained quiet, faking a smile while wondering what the monster was up to. He’d successfully pushed me farther into a brighter and bigger spotlight than the one Jenny had started with. What was his aim in lying to a room full of people? To keep me from escaping? I was still seething with a clenched jaw when the woman beside me suddenly nudged my shoulder with hers and when I turned to acknowledge her, she had a polite smile on her face. “You’re a lucky woman, Christina,” her smile widened and I forced myself to return it, with my cheeks hurting from how wi
Scott’s POVAfter scolding her in the car on our way home from the banquet, I was sure Christina knew her place and wouldn’t question my actions and decision regarding her henceforth. That evening, I cleaned up, and went to her bedroom, dressed in my bathrobe as I’d just gotten of the shower.Between being the host of the banquet, and striking up business deals with possible investors, I was tired and craved the comfort of my bed. Yet, the thought of checking on the woman kept assailing my mind. As much as I wanted to put her in her place, I think I may have gone too far. I’d been tired and frustrated and the moment she began yelling at me and stepping out of line, I heaped my frustrations on her.I walked towards her room with the sole intention of checking on her but on opening the door, I saw she was seated on the bed, still dressed in the dinner dress that accentuates her curvy figure, hugging her like a second skin and leaving nothing to the imagination. I drew in a deep breath,