Lyra is a kind and beautiful lady whom daily; went through a lot in the wicked hands of her step mother and step brother. She finally found the courage to run away to her freedom, but also found herself running from some dubious men. Unfortunately, she was caught and was sold out to a cold, ruthless billionaire; Arthur Kane. Arthur Kane wasn't someone anyone wanted to come across; let alone, live with. But this is also the man who holds the key to so many secrets Lyra had no knowledge about. Would Lyra ensure her stay with him or cowardly run, again? Let's find out.
Chapter 1 A Cruel Fate
Lyra's Pov
My feet thumped so hard on the twigs as I ran as fast as I could, swinging my arms back and forth and looking back at intervals in fear.
My heart was beating loudly and pumping more blood in as I tried my best to increase my pace each time I felt those men were getting closer.
"Help me!" I screamed out, hoping anyone would hear me out and help, but it felt like it was just
me alone with those men coming after me.
The fear that they would catch me overshadowed the fear of running in the woods by this time. I swatted leaves that were right in my face as I ran, and snapped several twigs with my feet.
I turned my head to look back again and didn't see any of them behind me again.
As I turned to look forward, I tripped on a hard rock and fell flat on my face, also injuring my
elbow which grazed against the hard rock.
"Ouch!" I winced in pain and tried to get up, but as soon as I did, and raised my head, I noticed the men were closing in.
I turned to the back to try to run, but a few more men had also gotten there.
They had surrounded me.
"Please I'm not the person you're looking for." I pleaded, rubbing my palms together desperately.
"Don't think you can fool us, Kelly." The leader snorted.
My heart was beating so fast in fear of what they were going to do to me.
To think that it was both my step-mother and step-brother's actions that led me to the woods
made me feel devastated. I wished my father never met Eunice.
"Do it." I heard the man who seemed like the leader, instruct someone who was at my back.
"Do what?" I asked, with my eyes almost popping out in anxiety.
Before I could turn to look back, I felt something hard hit the back of my head and a loud
piercing sound followed after.
I fell to the floor, dizzy and the last thing my eyes caught was the rough sandals the leader wore
before everything went blank.
~
My mind was back, but I wasn't ready to open my eyes yet. The fear of where exactly I was and
what they would do to me was heavy in my heart.
But why does it always have to be me going through the pain and fear? Ever since my mother
died, it began to seem like my good luck charm had left me.
My father remarried after a year, but it happened that she already had a child who was 2 years
older than I was, and he still loved her. Of all the days and nights that they had tortured and
maltreated me, tonight was the worst.
They gave me a traumatic experience. Peter had tried to rape me and while I managed to
escape, and hid somewhere close to the house, it happened that my stepmother was there
making calls.
The words she said over the phone were still ringing in my ears.
"I'm so happy I got rid of Richard years ago. As for his daughter, Lyra, she's still going to be with
me for years and I will ensure she goes through the worst hell."
A gasp for breath escaped my mouth as I felt water splash on my face, which jolted me out of
my thoughts.
My eyelids fluttered open and a man stood before me with other men sitting around a bonfire.
How come they weren't uncomfortable staying in the woods by this time?
"Turns out you aren't the one we were looking for." The leader said, with a husky voice and
stuck his cigarette in between his lips and sucked in some smoke, then puffed it out.
Relief washed through me as I heard those words. Now, I only waited for them to untie me.
"But... you are a better catch than the other one who escaped, which means more money for
us."
"What! What do you mean?" I asked, looking so puzzled.
The other men laughed at me, and fear filled my heart as I wondered what they meant.
"Since you really want to have an idea of what's going on, I'll tell you." The leader said and bent
down, tracing his finger from my ear lobe to my chin.
I turned my face to the other side, disgusted by his touch and feeling even more anxious about
what was going on here.
"We are going to sell you off to one of the big billionaires in the city." The leader revealed it to
me.
My eyes widened in shock, almost like they would pop out if I stared
too hard.
"What! Sell me off? Please don't do this to me. Please." I pleaded earnestly with tears streaming
down my eyes.
"Oh, my. What a cry baby." The leader uttered as he placed his right hand on his chest like he
was sympathizing with me, but he made a mockery face.
"Please! I'm begging you! Don't do this!" I cried out.
But all my pleas fell on deaf ears.
Then his phone rang and he answered the call while staring at me.
"Yes. Yes, your package is ready. Alright, we'll be there."
After he hung up, he turned away from me.
"Boys, loosen the ropes and take her to the highway. He is waiting." The leader instructed the
others.
"No! No! I said let me go!" I yelled struggling to set myself free from their grip as they loosened
the ropes tied around my hands.
But nothing I did could get them to release their grip on me. They dragged me when I proved
too stubborn, making my feet graze against the harsh ground until we got to the highway.
There, a car was waiting.
It was a stunning, one of a kind Bugatti La Voiture Noire with a midnight black finish, 24-inch
forged aluminum wheels, and its interior looking at it from here, was literally dripping with luxury.
But then, the window at the back seat, winding down, caught my attention. The first sight, the
window winding down slowly revealed, was his eyes.
His eyes were a piercing Arctic blue color. As his eyes met mine, I felt a shiver run down my
spine and the chill felt too tense not to make me feel anxious.
He had a well chiseled nose that stood prominent on his face, and his lips were light pink, but his overall rigid-looking face sent a signal that he wasn't the regular kind of man I had seen in
my entire life.
Although he was strikingly handsome, his aura was highly intimidating and caused my heart to
beat loud in anxiety.
He took his eyes off me and mine drifted to the other abductor who was with the man who sat at the front seat of the car.
"She's special. We can only release her for $250,000." I heard the man saying.
Then the other men who were around me chuckled.
"Hopefully she will last the night; Arthur Kane is our cruelest buyer." One of them said, not
minding the fact that I was here.
It felt as if a hard rock dropped in my heart and made it sink. I was captured by these strange
men, only to be sold to their cruelest buyer?
I looked back at him and realized his tinted glass had closed up back.
Fear gripped me so much that my lower lip trembled.
What was going to become of me in the next few hours?