Chapter One
Rain fell, dropping onto the ceiling of a building, and the room was filled with the sounds of the rain.
A lady sat on the bed, veiled with a red veil as though it was a wedding, and she sat fidgeting. Then the door to the room opened, and the cold breeze filtered in. A figure walked forward: a man, drenched in the rain.
He stood before the lady and then suddenly yanked her. She gasped, her mouth opened agape, and her eyes filled with tears, which she wasn't sure why.
"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, her voice brimming with fear.
"I'm your new master, or what do you think?" he said, his voice cold, and she wished it was not true.
She couldn't understand quite well what was happening to her. Because, at one point, she had been outside her castle, forgetting her dad's warning, and the next, she was haggled into a bed, waiting for a buyer.
She was still battling with her sorrowful thoughts when the man yanked her forward, closer to him that she could feel his breath on her face and she came back to her senses. She struggled to remove her hand, but the man's hand wouldn't budge.
He looked at her and smirked as he said, "You little temptress, who do you think you are? You are a breeder I bought to sire my child, and I'm your master, so you have no choice but to follow me!"
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A lady bolted straight up from her sleep, drenched in sweat. She looked up; the fan was on, and she sighed. She hugged her body as she remembered the details of the dream she just had, and chills covered her body.
"This dream again? Though in a different way… but the same man, with the same words? Who is he, and why do I feel like I'm that girl?" she pondered. She moved her hands to her eyes and grimaced as she touched water… or rather, tears.
"I cried?" she muttered, then looked around her room.
She mumbled as she stood up from her bed what she always affirmed to herself whenever she had the dream, "I'm not his—especially not a breeder. Who does he think he is?"
Rein hadn't just had the dream for the first time; she had had it so many times she had lost count. The only baffling thing was that the scene changed each time. Sometimes she might be on a street, at a war zone, or in a market but the man would always come to her, make her afraid, and say words that claimed her. And each time, she got incredibly annoyed that he claimed her as his possession.
As she was still coupled up in her worries, her brows knitting, her phone suddenly beeped. It was an alarm, and it startled her.
She picked up her phone, her eyes brightened, and she turned the alarm off with a smile.
"It's time," she said, rising from the bed.
Without wasting much time, she entered the bathroom and took a quick shower, after which she got dressed in the clothes she had picked out the night before. It was a blue floral dress paired with black heels. And to complement her blonde hair, a blue clip.
After a final glance in the mirror, she grabbed her bag, pulled out her phone, and dialed a number.
"Bestieee!" the voice on the other end squealed, and Rein winced, pulling the phone away from her ear at her best friend's excited scream.
"Peace," she groaned, returning the phone back.
"I'm sorry! What's popping?" Peace asked, with a well-controlled laugh.
"Nothing. Just calling to confirm the restaurant's ready for the birthday surprise… and the proposal," Rein said, her voice a little soft as she said those words.
"Yes! But Rein… are you really sure about this? That man isn't exactly husband material. He's too controlling, and you know he's not trustworthy," Peace asked, her voice laced with concern. "Like, are you truly going to propose? You, the lady? Are you really going to propose? Because once you do… there's no going back."
It was because of her words of discouragement that Rein had been reluctant when asking, and Peace didn't fail her.
She replied calmly, her heart made firm, "I'm sure. I want to spend my life with him."
"Well, no one can talk you out of it," Peace said, sighing. Then she added, the answer to the question Rein really needed, though with a dull voice, "Everything's set up exactly the way you want. The only thing missing now is the birthday boy and his future wife."
"Thank you..." Rein said, smiling wide, and they both ended the call after there was nothing further to discuss.
Grabbing her car keys, Rein stepped out of her flat and drove off.
When she reached her destination, she walked up to the door and knocked but got no answer. Then she turned the handle and, to her surprise, it opened.
'Why wasn't it locked?' she mused inwardly but didn't focus too much on it and entered.
"Babe?" she called out softly, her voice echoing in the silent apartment. Still no response.
Assuming he might be asleep, she walked toward his room.
"I don't want to do this again!"
But a voice filtered into her head, and she froze in her steps. It was a lady's voice and her heart thundered.
Who was this lady, and what was she not willing to do?!
She looked around her, perhaps she had entered the wrong house and not her boyfriend's but the paint, the design, the aesthetic were his, except if his neighbor shared the exact same style. Deciding not to panic, curiosity fueled her steps as she walked closer to his room.
As she stood before the door, she made an awkward move first. She pressed her ear to the door and heard the lady's voice very clearly and her boyfriend's faintly.
"Why don't we stop this?" the unknown lady said. Her voice sounded so familiar that it made Rein's brows furrow and her temples ache.
"Stop what? You started it. You seduced me because you were jealous of your sister," her boyfriend snapped.
As she heard her boyfriend's words, her heart snapped and dropped in her chest, or so it felt. Cold sweat covered her, her lips parted slowly, and she felt the world almost collapse before her as her brain dwindled and rolled in different directions.
Perhaps she had heard wrongly. She hoped so. But then, she couldn't mistake her boyfriend's voice.
So, to confirm properly what the fuck was actually happening, she opened the door straight away and what she saw made her flabbergasted!
The sight before her was enough to make her, who was ready to give him a very interesting birthday gift, want to drop dead out of sheer disappointment and anguish.
Her supposed boyfriend, the one she had been discussing with her best friend, was nestled in the sheets with her stepsister—both stark naked!