♡ THE ABSURD PROPOSAL ♡
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNcTBN1tfv
♡ MARIAN ♡
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFy5nYeO54c
"I can help you," I announced, forcing my face into the straightest, most serious expression I could manage.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xnhYdRPGH
"You want to help me? How?"
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgFapp1xin
I could see a massive wave of confusion washing over him. He was probably wondering what the hell I was talking about right now. I knew the sudden outburst made absolutely no sense, but I was desperate. I would do anything to secure my life and make sure I wasn't dragged out of this room to my death.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGf9ICl2lfQ
"I can give birth to your child."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBB362Q4ZI
The withdrawal was immediate. The second those words left my mouth, his entire posture stiffened, and his eyebrows knitted tight in absolute bewilderment.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnmLl0zk2R
"Good Lord! I'm not going to fuck a minor for my own selfish needs," he declared, looking completely disgusted by what I had just suggested.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwrp9DuBcb
Suddenly, I was caught in a web of confusion of my own. Did this man seriously not hear me when I told him my age?
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PadPMaLKH
"I'm not a minor," I defended hotly, taking a step forward. "I'm twenty!"
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3K2XSeh0Tb
Instead of arguing, he simply turned on his heel and began walking away. Panic flared in my chest, and I immediately ran after him. "I said it the first day I got here! I told you I was twenty!"
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYbiGVKegL
He stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, he turned around to face me. His expression was stoic, but a dangerous, annoyed edge flickered beneath the surface.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmOioxBZJ3
"Did you get into the club with your ID, Marian?" The quiet calm in his deadly tone had me shivering on the spot. "Because if you had, you wouldn't have been captured, and you wouldn't be in this massive mess you're in right now."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3L3PhJxni
Well, at least he was talking to me. Usually, that man avoided me like a plague.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyAiMTwsCp
I fell silent, shifting my weight and nervously picking at my fingernails while I waited for him to finish his sentence. But the silence stretched, and my filter completely failed me.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmT3abEYVdP
"By the way, who said we were going to fuck? Sometimes I wonder if you're really as smart as you think you are," I muttered, shaking my head.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAqvu7zAFA
The exact millisecond that slipped out, a wave of regret crashed over me.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLUmflfMPG
My hand flew to my mouth, but it was already too late. The words had fallen, heavy and insulting, into the quiet space between us. Had I just manually moved the time of my death forward because I couldn't keep my mouth shut and my tongue pinned to the roof of my mouth?
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflrP0r33Fg
Why was he so quiet? Better still, why wasn't he reacting violently to being insulted by a captive?
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpG2tUwoYU3
"That's... that's not what I meant," I stuttered, quickly backpedaling as blood drained from my face. "I mean, you're... you're every girl's dream, obviously. But you're also a deadly person, so I wouldn't want to," I continued, trying to assert my point despite the pathetic fear creeping into my voice. "Maybe under normal circumstances, if we hadn't met this way or you weren't who you are, I would certainly jump at the chance."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5Ua7ya11F
My rapid rambling only revealed exactly how terrified I really was. Damien was visibly irritated now. His jaw was clenched and his eyes narrowed, but for some unknown reason, he still didn't strike back.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rbWgY3eSu
"Oh, genius. So, how?" he asked coldly. He didn't move any closer, simply assessing me from where he stood, as if he was reluctantly giving me the benefit of the doubt.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIiV3Lr9fl
I swallowed hard. I just needed something—anything—that could guarantee my safety and assure me that I wasn't going to die today.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4y7gab1XU1
"Surrogacy," I concluded, the word hanging in the air. "You are influential. Getting an egg donor won't be a problem for someone with your resources. I'll carry and help with the baby, and in exchange, you'll allow me to go to school. My life and my entire future are in jeopardy right now, you should honestly take pity on me."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALciJyTpFQ
I knew deep down he wasn't as completely heartless as his father.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G4sjdXZuZ
"I could..."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2OotaP4lJ
"Marian?" He called coldly, stopping my sentence dead in its tracks. "I'll kill you the next time you talk to me like that," he concluded, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument or negotiation.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrodTz0BVzx
My breath hitched in my throat. I bit my lower lip hard to stop myself from saying another word.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡus7St4o1vd
But I couldn't help it. The desperation was burning too hot inside me.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPTwK663he
"For God's sake, my birthday is just a little later than my peers, I turned twenty a week after I was brought here," I burst out. I knew I couldn't get what I wanted easily, so trying to find a compromise that benefited him was the only logical way out.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhmIBqPS6m
Apart from just being kept alive, I needed other things. I needed a secure future. I needed a contract that would get me out of this place as quickly as possible. I needed to study medicine, the career I had tried so incredibly hard to reach. I had even stayed back a whole year in school just because of a stupid project I failed in grade twelve. I wasn't about to lose everything just because my sister happened to fall in love with a man like him.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkMDHEjOQh
"You don't want to get involved with a girl anyway. And I need to take my finals. It's a win-win," I said firmly, trying my best to force a compromise. I was determined to survive this, no matter what the cost.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNlb4C5XI2
"If I ever need a surrogate, you won't even be the thousandth option, Marian," he said, his expression completely neutral and unbothered.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEbDPa4sgF
Damn. Did he really hate me that much?
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNfIAkNBFX
"Please don't kill me then," I whispered.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EwqO2C8rF
He raised a single dark eyebrow, his lips twitching with dark irritation.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJ5cvnuJ4s
"You told me to go get dressed right after your father came in here and put an ultimatum on my life. I'm not a chicken, Mr. Angelini. You shouldn't just think of slaughtering me like that."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLF9XNYkpMl
He never replied. He just stood there, letting me wallow in my own self-pity. Then, he turned his back on me, clearly done listening to anything I had to say.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhCEhCEMvR
Seeing him walk away made me completely desperate.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4i72KbO4c
"I'll haunt this house if you kill me." I yelled at his retreating back. "I'll show up everywhere, I'll urge everybody in this mansion to go hang themselves, I won't go down easy, and I definitely won't go down alone!"
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZQfIoivR5
He stopped. Slowly, he turned back around, a look of amusement playing on his face.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtmqT9nS2L
To me, this wasn't anywhere near funny.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoR9jGqaSY5
"I'm not killing you. Yet."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsx7TbnQDu
My eyes widened at his words. Slowly, my heaving chest began to settle. The hot blood that had rushed to my head in a panic was finally moving downward, and the massive headache disappeared as if a switch had been flipped.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVE1VH2Abf
"Then... why are you asking me to get dressed?" I asked, completely thrown off balance.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuRkwmpVXC
"To take you to the hospital," Damien replied smoothly, his eyes tracking my pale face. "Martini said you were not feeling well."
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWvIpEZhe7
Oh.
400Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oes9sHZBj
and then Add to home screen.