Sentenced to Marriage

Chapter 13

Big mistake While Liam stared at the screen with fire in his eyes, I was becoming more and more terrified. Liam enjoyed Nicole’s writhe when she tried to cover the wall-size screen with her body and raised arm. I couldn’t blame him. She got what she deserved, and Liam got what he wanted. He obviously knew nothing about Aren Lan, and he didn’t care. I wish I could say something similar…

While Nicole stood in the line of fire on the stage, Aren walked to the side and talked to two of his people. A few seconds later, those two commanded the security team who led the press out of the ballroom and the other team who took care of the disturbed guests. Suddenly, Aren smirked, looking directly at the surveillance camera… I swallowed. He couldn’t know that we were watching him at that moment, could he?

“Liam… We need to get out of here… the show is over,” I said nervously, cleaning the first of the computers from any traces of hacking into their system. “Why? Do you think someone will catch us?” He shot me a lopsided smirk. “I’m serious, Liam!” I jerked the second laptop my way and closed the surveillance footage windows.

I destroyed any evidence that could link me with hacking during the engagement party and then turned off the computer. I did it in a rush. My heart pounded, and my whole body was shivering. I kept thinking if I had deleted everything I should. I prayed that I did. I had always been a perfectionist. I liked to act rationally and slowly, calculating my moves before making them. That was completely unlike anything I was doing at that moment. I was frantic. I packed the computers, and almost pushed Liam out of his seat, feeling a desperate need to get out of there immediately. “Go. Now!” I hissed, trying to make him realize that I was deadly serious.

I rushed him through the corridor and could breathe when I stepped outside the hotel. Liam’s chauffeur pulled over, and I was just about to get inside the car when I realized… I left without a purse.

“Shit… I need to go back there,” I said, clenching my teeth. A complete idiot! I couldn’t believe that I was able to make such an amateur mistake…

“Leave it! If there’s money you are worried about, I will pay you more,” Liam urged.

“Are you kidding me?! This is like leaving evidence! My phone and all my documents are in there, including my Grandmother’s! I cannot just leave it there!” I exclaimed, trembling from agitation and fear.

“Fine, we’ll wait for you a block from here. Try to go back and behave naturally.” Liam tried lecturing me with a smile.

I answered with a weird grimace, too nervous to think straight, not to mention “act naturally. ” As I swirled back through the revolving door, the feeling of suffocation hit me. The whole corridor became crowded with people walking out of the scandalous engagement party. I had

Ale mistake

noticed that the reporters were going back without their cameras, which obviously were confiscated. I swallowed hard as I observed it all happening.

I walked in tiny steps, almost leaning against the wall, trying to find a way to get back to the hotel’s café. The security guards were everywhere, and I felt like a criminal with a neon flashing sign over my head. Besides, it was easy to spot me since I was the only one walking further inside the hotel while everyone else was walking out. God, I seriously could use the invisibility cloak right now…

Finally, the hotel’s café was just around the corner. I sighed in relief when I managed to sneak in without anyone stopping me. There was no one inside except for me. I guessed that their working hours were over. I darted to the table where Liam and I had been sitting, but I

couldn’t find my purse anywhere. I looked at the chairs’ seats and then bent down to glance under the table.

“Is this what you are looking for?” a harsh, cold voice asked.

I straightened up violently and turned to face the man standing there. He looked like one of the guards. He was a bulky, bald-shaved guy, over six feet tall. He held my purse in his hand while scanning me with his cold gaze.

I gave him a stiff smile. “I was just looking for it. Can I have it back, please?” I did all I could to prevent my voice from shaking.

He chuckled but didn’t give me the purse. Instead, he pulled a jacket lapel with a microphone up to his mouth. “I got her,” he said, then automatically nodded his head, responding to the message he heard in his earpiece. I gulped and stepped back. I knew that I was already their prime suspect. I should never have come back for that purse! I should never have come to this hotel in the first place! Why had I ever agreed to this amazingly stupid revenge?! “Let’s go!” the security guard tossed, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the café. “Hey!” I yelled, struggling to free myself from his strong grip. “You don’t have the right to do ‘this to me!”

“Shut up or I will knock you out!” he roared. “Either way, you are coming with me!”

I gulped and let him drag me through the “employees only” door. The corridor was empty with no one to see this, no one to ask for help. I kept stumbling to keep up with that man’s pace, but he didn’t slow down but kept tightening his grip on my wrist. I told him that he was hurting me and that I could walk by myself, but he only reacted with laughter. I was on the verge of a panic attack. I was most confident sitting in front of my computer, but my body was too weak to fight against physical strength, and the way this man overpowered me felt horrifying. Soon I became consumed by the feeling of helplessness.

I wept softly, “Where are you taking me?”

“You’re going to meet my boss, and I suggest you act docile if you want to keep your life,” he growled.

Was he talking about Aren Lan? I bet he was, and it couldn’t mean anything good for me. The way this security guard was treating me was designed to frighten me, and he did a very good

Hey

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ake

job of that. But if Lan was the one who ordered this man to act this way towards me, that meant he was seriously pissed ofl.

I had a little knowledge about things that wealthy people were capable of. I knew that my ex boyfriend, Callan, was once accused of causing an accident while drunk driving and then running away from the scene of the accident. He had never admitted it, but deep inside i knew that he was guilty. Two days later, he suddenly went back to America for two weeks, and when he came back to Oxford, the charges had already been dropped. I was more than certain that this “problem” had been taken care of by his wealthy family. But if Callan’s family could easily make his case disappear, then who knows what Aren Lan was capable of? I was in his hotel, in his territory, where only his rules existed. All he had to do was to pay his employees to keep their mouths shut Oh, God… Did he want me dead?! Was this man taking me to one of those industrial rooms all covered with plastic foil to kill me and dispose of my body afterward?!

The security guard pushed me inside the elevator, then walked after me and pressed the last floor button. I stood in the corner in silence, leaning against the wall and rubbing my arms with my hands as if I was freezing. The level of my nervousness went beyond the limits I could bear. I wanted this to be over. I wanted to go home. The guard kept glancing at me and my cleavage with an obnoxious smirk, and I prayed that this elevator went faster. Being alone with this man was even more terrifying than acknowledging being detained by Aren.

“Move,” the guard hissed as the elevator reached the top floor.

My knees were weak, and I stumbled on my way out. The man clicked his tongue and grabbed me by the wrist again before dragging me into the corridor. I groaned painfully, but he didn’t even look at me. I heard him chuckle instead as if he enjoyed dragging me around. I hated this situation. I didn’t kill anyone. All I did was to help reveal the truth. That truth could also save Aren Lan from marrying a seriously messed-up woman. He should be thanking me! I didn’t deserve to be treated this way!

Suddenly, another man appeared in the corridor. He had a suit like that guard, but the one he was wearing didn’t resemble a uniform. It was an elegant, well-tailored grey suit. Judging by his slender body form, he definitely wasn’t a security guard, but he didn’t look like a hotel guest either. He had neatly combed brown hair and deep-set brown eyes that carried an intelligent gaze. His eyes were locked on me as he walked before stopping in front of us.

“That’s enough, Cliff,” he said curtly, glaring at the guard. “I will take care of Ms. Bell from here.”

The guard released my hand in an instant. Then he cleared his throat and bowed down to the man in the grey suit.

“Of course, Mr. Edmond,” came his nervous response. The man in the grey suit meaningfully reached out his hand and Cliff gave him my purse, before hurriedly walking away. Mr. Edmond narrowed his eyes, watching him go, and shifted his eyes on me as Cliff disappeared behind the door, leading to the staircase. “Ms. Bell, let me take you to your room, ” he said with a sly grin.

“M-my room?” I asked, confused.

“Yes.” He nodded, “Mr. Lan prepared a place for you to stay for a while.”

I gritted my teeth. “What if I don’t want to stay?”

Mr. Edmond chuckled. “I believe you don’t have a choice.” “But this is kidnapping! This is illegal imprisonment!” I snapped.

Mr. Edmond smiled at me, completely unfazed. “If you like to call it that way… Let me show you the way to your cell then.”

I clenched my teeth, but I was left without a choice. There was no escape from my situation. The good side was that I didn’t think that this person wanted to harm me, and truthfully, I’d rather deal with Mt. Edmond than with any other Cliff-likè guard. I followed him through the corridor and suddenly realized that we were on the floor where the most expensive apartment suites were. I counted only three doors in the entire corridor, and Mr. Edmond stopped in front of one of them.

“You’ll spend the night here, Ms. Bell,” he said as he pulled out a key card from his pocket and opened the door. I gazed at him hesitantly before stepping inside my elegant cell. I gasped as I entered the huge, spacious hall with a dark wooden floor, a white sofa, armchairs, and a coffee table standing on a fluffy carpet, but what struck me the most was the most astonishing view, beautifully exposed by the floor-to- ceiling windows. It certainly was the most impressive room I had ever been in. As I walked further, I found the bedroom with a huge canopy bed, and a bathroom with a shower and a jacuzzi. There was no sense in comparing this place, with all its luxury, to my Brooklyn apartment… “I hope you’ll find this place comfortable. A maid will bring you fresh clothes in the morning, “Mr. Edmond explained. “Have a good night, Ms. Bell.”

He flashed me a smug grin as he left the room and locked it from the outside. I walked to the king-size bed and collapsed. I had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow. I had no idea why Aren Lan wanted to keep me here or what he wanted from me. All I knew was that this was going to be the most nerve-racking night I had ever spent…