Kidnapped by a billionaire CEO, twenty-three-year-old Innocentia Malcolm had no choice but to pretend to be Liam's fiancée and spend a week with him in his family villa. She thought she was safe since he had promised there would be no act of intimacy between them, unless it was part of the show to convince his family. However, everything changed on their last night together when Liam let go of his tightly controlled lust for Innocentia, and they shared a night of passion. After this incident, Innocentia believed her life would never be the same. She had no idea how right she was until she was involved in a car accident facilitated by a woman who wanted Liam for herself. As a result of the accident, Innocentia lost her memory and did not remember anything from her past. She then discovered she was carrying a baby. Now Innocentia has to raise a child without knowing her baby daddy, or find who the father is.
Chapter 1 Innocentia in wonderland
Innocentia walked through the dimly lit alleys, her fiery red hair windblown, her cheeks red from the cold, and her smile a glorious sight.
She had no idea of the danger she was in until the man following her started closing in on her, and she began to hear footsteps behind her, pushing her into a panic.
Innocentia quickened her steps in panic, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She had been passing this place for the past five years, and the only case of mugging she had encountered had happened to someone else.
As she ran faster, the footsteps drew closer, and suddenly everything went quiet-no sound, no movement.
Innocentia wondered if it had been her own illusion. She let out a singsong laugh, imagining how her friend Audrey would react when she tells her about her little display. Her best friend and roommate would probably tease her about it forever.
Just as she thought she was safe, a figure clothed in black appeared behind her. Before Innocentia could turn to look at the person, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her skull, and then darkness enveloped her.
TWO HOURS LATER
Innocentia opened her eyes to the sharp light penetrating her eyelids. Her head buzzed with sounds, and her vision was fuzzy around the edges.
She sat up on the soft, large bed, wondering where she was. The place looked foreign to her, feeling like a dream, except the pounding headache was all too real.
The room was so big it could contain her entire house on Park Avenue. The bed was large and fluffy, making her feel like she was sitting on a cloud. The elegance of the place made Innocentia stare with awe, but she couldn't fully appreciate it due to the dilemma she was in.
When Innocentia finally realized the implications of what was happening, she almost let out a scream but covered her mouth with her hand. She had been kidnapped.
She looked down at her body, wondering if she had been sexually molested, but the clothes she was wearing were the same as the night before.
She let out a slight sigh of relief, knowing she hadn't been molested. She wondered what this person wanted with her, as she hardly had any money to her name.
Her parents were in Idaho, her mother running a local restaurant and her father being the county sheriff. The money they earned was hardly enough to send her to school in New York.
If the person who kidnapped her could afford this kind of place, then he probably didn't want her money. Or had she been mistaken for someone else?
Many thoughts ran through Innocentia's head. Maybe she had been sold to a brothel, as the place was too big to be a house.
However it was, she had to find a way to escape. She didn't know why she was there or who brought her there, but she had to leave. X would already be worried about her.
Another thought occurred to her-she didn't have her phone. The situation was getting more and more dire by the minute. She needed to escape.
Getting down from the bed, Innocentia wondered how a bed could be that high, thinking with disgust about the luxury that rich people indulged in.
As her feet hit the floor, her head pounded with dizziness. Shaking on her feet, she closed her eyes and focused until the dizziness reduced. She looked at the glass wall and wondered what she had gotten herself into.
In soft, silent steps, she tiptoed to the door and opened it lightly, expecting it to make a sound like her own back home. But it made no sound, and she thanked her luck once again.
Innocentia was about to open the door wide and step out when she noticed two suited bodyguards standing by the door. She gently closed the door back with shaking fingers.
She was done for. She decided to try the window. She climbed onto the windowsill to peep out and see how far it was from the ground.
She had just raised one knee on top when a voice sounded directly behind her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless, of course, you want to end your life," the voice, hard and chilling, made Innocentia lose her balance, tipping over.
But a hand wrapped around her waist, and as Innocentia stared down the skyscraper, her whole life flashed before her eyes. Her heart was in her throat before the hand lifted her off the windowsill and dropped her on her feet.
Innocentia's world spun out of control, dizziness crashing through her, but she held onto the windowsill for support. The midriff that had been held a while ago burned with heat.
The presence behind her seemed to emanate heat as well, and shudders went through her. Her hand shook with fear as she closed her eyes and took deep breaths before turning around to face her captor.
Innocentia's eyes collided with a sea of arctic blue, feeling as if she would become frozen if she stared too long.
Her eyes traveled from his eyes, fringed with long crescent black lashes that would have been described as girlish, save for his strong jawline, the cleft in his chin, the generous red lips set in a forbidden line, and an aristocratic nose.
As Innocentia stared at the man who looked as if he had just stepped out of a magazine, he stared back, and her heartbeat froze with terror.
She looked into his eyes and collapsed at his feet for the second time that day.
Liam Hemsworth looked at the fragile little thing lying on the floor at his feet. She had stared at him as if she had just seen her biggest nightmare, then lost consciousness right in front of him.
Liam picked her up, and she weighed next to nothing. He wondered if she ate at all. He placed her on the bed and sat beside her, staring at her elegant cheekbones, her red fiery hair that he believed must have been dyed to that color-no girl had that natural color.
Her bow-shaped glossy lips, long lashes, dainty nose, and cute ears made Liam wonder why Mason had chosen this kind of girl.
He needed a girl who would be tough enough to face his family. He would have returned her to the streets, but it was too late to find someone else. He just prayed she wouldn't break under his family's pressure and that she would be content with the money he would give her.
These thoughts ran through Liam's head as Innocentia's eyelashes fluttered open, and she stared at him in awe.
"Why am I here? What do you want with me?" she questioned in a surprisingly strong voice, despite the ordeal she had been through.
"I want you to act as my fiancée for the coming week, and I assure you, you will be handsomely rewarded," Liam said, while Innocentia stared at him with open-mouthed shock at what he had just said.