A white ceiling grasped the vision of the brown orbs crowned with thick, long and black eyelashes. The heaviness was worth the weight of thousands of pounds and the vintage lighting of the room seemed to be the most classic thing ever. The vividly memorable and unfamiliar architecture of the roof awakened the brain cells of a 26-year-old woman lying on the most spongy and comfortable bed, but in the grandeur of the expensive surroundings, it was more freezing than her usual settings. Amid the time of summer, it was odd to be experiencing the touch of winter, but there was something warm near her to console from the chills of coldness. Blinking her eyes a few times to bid goodbye to the drowsiness of her mind, the petite girl could finally acknowledge the indifferent surroundings. So foreign from her usual mornings!

Aria Miller gripped the white sheets covering her delicately and turned her head to the right. A wave of shock travelled through her body upon the vision that filled her eyes. There was a man beside her. Covered in the same blanket, sleeping and *****! Her eyes stretched beyond the limit of sockets and she dipped her vision under the sheets, only to find a fully ***** view of herself.

‘Shit!’ She cursed, fearing the worst possibility.

Aria turned her brown orbs at the male again. In contrast to the tornado inside her heart, he was sleeping very peacefully like an angel descended directly from heaven. His fine features were hard not to be noticed, especially his lower lip which had a lip ring pierced. She was stuck staring at him unconsciously, forgetting the mess inside her brain for a couple of while. With his remarkable features, she paid attention to every minute detail on his face including the small pinpoint mole under his lower lip. His pitch-black hair was long enough to cover his fair skin of forehead and his sharp jawline which was sharper than a knife enhanced his beauty like the Greek god, Eros. It was not a lie that he looked seductive enough to trap a drunk woman in his fishnet.

‘Oh wait!’ Aria’s mind grasped the seriousness of the situation. Her memory cells forced their activity but all she could remember was having drinks with her friend from work, Hazel Grey. She burned more calories but her brain couldn’t go beyond the point of her neverending babbling about their fatty boss.

The girl looked at her surroundings, feeling struck by the gigantic and expensive power it held. This space of one room was far more than enough to accommodate half of her house but skimming through the useless materials of decoration had warned her that the man beside her was not a common one at all. She expanded her vision and behind the silky clothes of the curtains, the ***** female could see the lights of early morning.

‘What time is it?’ She started being anxious. The whole night had gone like a puzzle and she was sure that her father must be waiting and boiling in anger at home. She dreaded the problematic scene waiting for her, knowing that she would have to face it no matter what.

Aria decided to leave this place immediately without any delay as she pushed the cover off her ***** body while taking care that it still warmed the stranger beside her. She pushed herself to sit but halted after seeing a red drop on the white bedsheet. Her eyes darted at her private part, some dried red spots covering her inner thigh panged the reality inside her brain again.

‘Fuck!’ The petite woman cursed as she realized the status of her virginity, but with the terrible family circumstances, she didn’t have much time to sit and think over this. She needed to hurry home, not wanting to mess up the situation than it already had.

Aria Miller picked up her scattered clothes off the floor, wearing them in a haphazard and untidy manner as she walked to the table near the couch to pick up the familiar electronic device. She picked up her old mobile screen which displayed the time six in the early morning and trust me, she was regretting her decision more than anything else in her life. She shouldn't have gone out for so-called 'only one drink' which mystically turned into a total gamble.

In the hazy brain of alcohol, the vivid flashes of a dominant body pressed over her thin figure illuminated her vision. That stranger who had taken away her virginity in a mysterious way felt adducting in that short unclear piece of memory. The loud moans, sweaty bodies and steamy breaths had clouded her brain in an unfaithful way. The girl who had seemed to be enjoying the erotic moment was none other than herself and it was hard to believe that it was not a dream but an undeniable reality. What a disaster!

The girl looked back at the bed. Seeing that eye-catching male human, she wondered what filter his eyes held. With his everything-so-perfect features and pumped-up toned body, were his eyes as captivating as she imagined? Eyes are often the perfect portrait of a person, she wanted to discover it unconsciously.

Shaking off her thoughts, Aria grabbed her phone but her movements stopped on seeing a fascinating black leather box on the same table where her mobile was. In the devil of curiosity, she picked it up and unlocked it, only to find a few expensive and high-quality cigars arranged in it with a small lighter. She ran her fingers over it, feeling the rolled bundles of dried tobacco across her epidermis.

This woman was never a person to be drinking high and binging up with some weeds or cigarettes but in this hopeless condition, she felt it more like a need to inhale the drug to alleviate her frustration for a bit. With the throbbing head from the effect of alcohol from the previous night, Aria grabbed one of the cigars and held it in between her lips. She took the black metallic lighter in her hand, clicking the golden dragon-shaped cap to light up the flame. Throwing the leather box of cigars back to its original position, she walked towards the main door while burning the other end of the tobacco. The sizzling sound of the rolled bundle of the addicting drug rang in her ears and the smoke filled her lungs with a satisfactory smile plastering her face. Aria looked at the man on the bed for one last time and puffed out the smoke through her mouth. Sighing her head at this unexpected one-night stand, she unlocked the door and walked out of the place.

Walking out of the front gate of Mayfair Hotel, Aria appreciated the taxi that stood in front of her. She held the cigar between her index and middle finger and looked at the big building of one of the most expensive hotels in the city. She puffed out a wholesome smoke from her mouth and crushed the cigar under the heel of her sandal.

‘I hope we never face each other,’ she whispered to herself, understanding the power of the stranger man with the reasoning of his expensive stuff, this gigantic hotel and the mysterious way of her ending up in this hotel from the Euphoria nightclub. He was a red flag for sure.

Aria sat inside the taxi and informed the driver about the location. She could already see three missed calls from her father and ten from Hazel. Leaning back in the seat, the girl dialled out the number of her friend and closed her eyes as she waited for the call to be picked up.

“JESUS! You finally called after ages.”

“Hazel…” Aria whispered out at the expected response from the other side.

“God Aria, do you even know how worried I was? You just vanished in thin air out of nowhere!” Hazel Grey complained giving the girl with one night stand the idea that she didn't have any clue of what happened.

“Sorry, I don’t remember much. Do you have my purse by the way?” Aria Miller licked her lips as she asked.

“Yeah, it's with me but Aria, are you okay? I couldn’t reach you despite calling a lot of times last night.”

“I am fine. Sorry to leave you like that and can you please bring my purse to the office directly?” The lady in the taxi retorted, being straight and cold despite a warm gesture from her drink buddy, as usual as always.

With so many negative impacts and experiences in her life, Aria Miller had become aloof and unapproachable to others. No matter the number of people passed in her life, she always decorated the boundaries where nobody could step in.

“Okay, I will and Aria… I am sorry to hear about your father. I didn't know that you were going through so-”

“I must have misspoke something gibberish under the influence last night, please don’t take it seriously Hazel.” Aria stiffened, realizing that she had uttered some unhealthy words about her life to her colleague which wasn't supposed to.

Alcohol is dangerous. It can make you do the things you would never ever commit with your conscious brain.

“But-”

“Hazel, I will see you there in the office directly. Bye.” She cut off the other girl and ended the conversation on short notice without dipping further into the topic.

Aria let out a loud sigh and looked out of the window. With every passing building, she could see her fear getting closer. Her eyes were imaging a figure of a shabby person sitting on the couch in the scattered mess and an empty bottle of alcohol in his hand waiting to be broken. Her skin had started crawling under the thick material, her heart being anxious for the fear of life. The blood pumped furiously across her body and that's when Aria acknowledged the cold metal against her palm.

She opened her brown eyes and looked at the comforting thing, noticing the beautiful lighter of that man in her hand. She brought it closer to her eyes and studied its rich features, especially the dragon's golden cap which gave a magnificent aura. She turned that black piece around, finding an elegant carving on the bottom. There were some words written, probably the name of that stranger.

“Dante!” Her lips spoke out, without realizing a hurricane waiting for her.

With heart palpitating crazily against the ribcage, a lady in her mid-twenties stepped into her house with very faint steps. Despite the early awakening of the sun, it was exceptionally dark inside the four walls. With all of the curtains still sealed and no use of electricity, it corresponded more like a burglar's cottage than her. The redolence of alcohol and cigarette communed substantially stronger as she walked in further, an unclear hazy shadow of a dreadful man taking the yield of her eyesight from a few meters away.

"Back home so early, sweetheart?"

The slurry-threatening statement triggered her hands to tremble and Aria Miller coerced her feet to walk despite their tremendous weight. As she approximated the distance, the red-shot eyes of her father fixated on her were enlightened. She could tell that he was extremely fierce like a canine who had his prey slipped under his paws.

The middle-aged man was located by the wall of the window with a nearly vacant bottle of liquor in his hand. The entire living space was a total mess embellished with some empty alcohol bottles and the remainder of cigarettes. All the well-arranged articles in the front room were either smashed or lying muted on the floor, but it wasn't something unacceptable to her. After all these years of accommodating along with him, his behaviour had evolved so predictably.

Replying nothing to the mocking terms, Aria Miller bent to the floor to clean the clutter. The piercing gaze of her father was still frightening and it felt like numerous arrows were pointed at her to slash her flesh. The afraid lass started compiling the mess around, ready to bear the land of the bottle in her father's hand aimed at her head. This day was going to be a nightmare, she was sure of it.

"Like mother, like daughter!"

The bitter choice of words earned Aria to look at her father for the first time. The displeased look in his eyes was giving chills down her spine. From the short recollection of memories, she knew that her father loved her mother a lot but, what he just said didn't seem so healthy. It looked like it held a deep hurtful meaning behind that.

'What did he mean by that?' She wondered.

Looking at his hostile eyes, Aria still found it tough to accept his unloving figure. The delightful memories of a loving and caring father were the past now. The most angelic human had turned into the God of hell after the death of his wife. A father who used to spoil her a lot had started hurting her, both physically and mentally. With the appearance of a cold shoulder at first, he was promoted to the alcoholic and abusive guardian over the years. He neglected her cries, ignored her presence in his life and if he ever talked, only hurtful words left his mouth.

Many times Aria thought that Joseph Miller, her father, just couldn't bear the loss of his missis he loved tremendously but hearing his mutterings under the influence of alcohol, she sometimes couldn't understand what was going on in his brain.

The girl battled inside to gather enough courage to reply to the furious father but Joseph suddenly smashed the beer bottle on the floor. She flinched hard at the unpredictable juncture, stumbling back a bit as she landed on her buttock from the crouched position.

Aria hyperventilated with the adrenaline rise and watched her father walk up to his room, slamming it close with a loud thud. The lass kept her eyes locked on the wooden frame, a little taken aback by the unexpectedly unforeseen behaviour of the man who would have hurt her with the leather belt of his pants. Why was he so indifferent from his usual self? Aria wondered.

Diverting her attention to the timepiece hanging off the wall, she decided to speed up her cleaning labour as she didn't want to be late for her office. Not when her boss was a cranky and picky person.

Aria entered the management section of her company and walked straight towards her assigned table without exchanging greetings with any of her associates. She didn't bother to even pass them a glance or forward a simple gesticulation of welcome but grabbed the thick bundles of papers kept on her desk. Having three years working at the same place with such an indifferent attitude, the team workers had given up their efforts to put up with her aloof and cold character.

As the girl reviewed through the thick bundles of documents, her work got interrupted by a familiar bag that blocked her vision. Touching the familiar old leather, Aria looked at her side.

"Wanna grab a coffee?" Hazel beamed at her with a heightened state of energy.

Aria seized her bag and kept it aside in one corner of the desk while she looked back into the details of the writings. She shook her head lightly with a frown of focus on her face, mumbling an inaudible thank you about her bag.

Hazel's smile dropped. After long hours of talking last night, she thought they were close enough to at least share some polite and friendly words. Not something more but at least a smile! The disappointed girl straightened up her back, a little stiff as she was so unsure of what to say additionally.

Before Miss Grey could figure out her words, a hand flung around her neck and she looked at her side, finding Kevin Clark smiling at her handsomely.

"Some people don't know how to be grateful, Hazel. Why are you wasting your energy on unworthy people?" Kevin remarked with a wicked smirk forming on his face. His words were particularly thorny to pick on the silent girl.

Among everyone in the office, Aria was one of the best people to know how to piss off people. She was rude, and selfish and would always greedily be setting her eyes on a promotion. This was her identity. At least as per the people's perspective. Despite the intensity of their utterances, Aria never failed to ignore the people around her and always went back to her work to piss off the populace more.

As usual, the hours passed by with people joking, helping each other, and moving from here and there as they did their jobs. On the contrary, Aria Miller managed to keep the same position despite the needles running around the time.

The day passed by and the sun started to fade out of the sky, telling people that the time to go home was coming. Aria looked up at the small clock clicking on her table, sighing as she realized that it was only an hour from today's departure. The refuge for everyone was a suffocating place for her, especially when her father was around with smoking tobacco in his hand. It was a place where she couldn't seek freedom, let alone relax for mental and physical peace.

When her eyes were focused on the PowerPoint on the screen, a paper appeared in front of her eyes. Looking around, she saw the clerk distributing the same to other people as well. Her colleagues were already so dense in the discussion about this new matter.

Aria perked her ears in the surroundings, trying to eavesdrop on their words. She scanned through the front page while paying attention to her office workers chatting.

The topic revolved around someone buying almost more than half of the shares of their corporation and being the workers, they needed to sign these papers relating to change in governing power. Funny how it happened without any prior notice or maybe, they weren't notified about this yet. After all, they were just mere workers like thousands of others. But thinking on the other side, it wasn't like their company was in crisis. Why would such a big deal come out of nowhere?

Aria turned to the second page as she tried to read through the big pile of paper.

Nicolas Russo! He was the new owner of their company.

"Sign at the bottom of every page, people. Hurry up, you gotta submit it in two minutes!" Their bald boss declared, declaring his authority over his workers. He was too strict with his principles, ready to punish people with the penalties so often.

The workers scattered to their desks again, signing the papers without reading them even once. Aria followed her coworkers and started signing the thick sheets one by one.

Suddenly, the silent surroundings brought out some high-intensity whispers and Aria looked around to skim through her surroundings. Her eyes caught a high authority man standing near the front desk with almost half a dozen men from different departments tagging him along as he talked to their department head.

A tall man with a fine dark blue suit, he stood out dashingly with his hairstyle styled like a model and a short boxed beard marking his masculine features. With such a high dominance, he must be someone important. Probably Nicolas Russo? Not sure.

All of a sudden, his dark intimidating gaze struck her vision and the sudden interaction put a hold on her consciousness. She blinked her eyelids and a flash of expression crossed her visual cortex. She squinted her eyes to confirm but that uncertain man turned his figure as he walked away.

Did he just smile?

Aria Miller strolled down the road to her house as her hand held two hefty bags of groceries. She was supposed to get this done on the last day as the house was already running out of supplies. With her father who had paralyzed himself from his responsibilities, the girl without a mother had been running the house since she was a teen. It had almost been more than ten years and with experience, she was a lot more exemplary compared to her past self.

While other kids were busy whining about their desires, Aria had spent her whole childhood in the shadow of collecting dollars to put the food on the table. She had built a good life for herself, getting accepted into a well-known company and a stable job despite the hurdles but there wasn't someone to praise or have her back. She was wandering lonely on the road of infinity, questioning the purpose of life multiple times.

The cool breeze hit her face and a small smile crept on her face at the wonderful and peaceful atmosphere. How much she wished to walk like this for eternity but a load of household duties were waiting for her proudly.

Aria took the last left turn to reach the ally of her house. A scowl composed her face when she watched three shining black cars standing in the narrow lane of her house. For once, she thought they were the guests of Smith, her neighbours but as she neared the distance between her house, the two bulky men standing at the gate of her house twisted her brain.

Both of the men were wearing a similar plain black suit, looking dangerously disastrous with their stoned expressions and popping muscles.

"Who are you guys? What are you doing in front of my house?" Aria asked as she peaked at the main door, finding one more person there, in identical threads.

The one with the moustache looked down at her like he was going to eat her up. Aria gripped the bags in her hand tightly, getting frightened of the threatening situation. But the next moment, a thought crossed her mind.

Did her father borrow money again? Were these people the goons who had come after him? Lord! Her father was going to be the reason for her death one day.

Cursing, the girl walked towards the front door and passed across the man standing there to enter her house. A large crowd of similar men blocked her way into her tiny house. Just how many of them were there? She was irritated.

Seeing her presence, the black-suited fellas made a way for her to pass through. Aria's heart started palpitating as her tiny figure walked through the bulky tall men. She was terrified, supposing the crisis her father had fetched for her. Her head was already aching at the thought of one more mountain of struggle forming for her. The economic shock from the previous loan was still yet to be overcome and for God's grace, her father was already ready with another one.

Aria Miller was expecting her father to be bitten by some aged evil-looking man asking for his money and her father would be accepting the attacks like the rice spoons of the meal. The moment the girl finally passed through, her eyes widened a little when she saw her father grinning like a maniac while running his hand over a big pile of banknotes. This was the first time she had seen this much amount of cash, just what the hell her father was doing?

"Dad! What is all this?" Aria asked in a higher tone. This fatal involvement was not something she wanted to deal with, nor did she want her father to be stuck with it.

Joseph diverted his eyes at his daughter, smiling cynically like a mental patient.

"This is all mine!" He exclaimed, a laugh erupting through his mouth.

Aria was taken aback by this elated state of her father in discrepancy to his energyless and dull sculpture. Was he doing drugs now? She was worried. The girl took a few steps towards her father but the appearance of a man halted her in her tracks.

Someone sitting on the opposite couch from her father had stood up from his place to grab her attention. A long memory flashbacked in her mind as she stared at him with her wide big eyes. The man in front of her looking dangerously handsome in the charcoal grey suit with his glistening sharp features was looking at her intensely. The eyes she wanted to see were the perfect piece of onyx black pearls, hellishly matching the intensity of his beauty. Her eyes were locked with his, and she watched him lick the lip ring. Yeah, he was the same guy she had lost her virginity to.

"Nice to see you again, Bella!"

Aria's eyes widened. The bags in her hands dropped on the floor like her heart scattering the blood filled in it. She could sense the upcoming storm but she could do nothing to stop it from hitting her. Just a few hours were enough for this unknown man to track her down. He was pretty hazardous, wasn't he?

Her heart started beating non-rhythmically but she couldn't blink away her locked gaze with his intimidating stares. His figure was domineering over her tiny soul, how was she supposed to fight against this barrier?

"Dante!" She whispered, walking back a little while looking at his monumental configuration, especially that metal ring pierced on his lower lip that he licked every other second.

The name carved on the bottom of the lighter was flashing in front of her eyes, wondering the purpose of his presence here. Weren't such one-night stands a memory to let go of? Then why was this man here?

The distance between them started shortening as that male walked towards her. With his each, Aria backed off two steps until her back hit the cold surface. There wasn't any space to escape anymore

His masculine hand slammed against the surface beside her and the lass's breath hitched. She glanced at the little exposure of the tattoo that was disclosed with the lift of his sleeve. She was trapped under his big musculature with no way out.

"La Bella 'mbriana," He uttered thickly, grabbing Aria's attention. She locked her gaze with his pitch-black orbs again.

The girl didn't understand the meaning of his words, confused with the reason for calling her by a weird name. Did he not know her name? That would be impossible, right?

"We are married now!" He grinned.

"What?" Her eyes widened. What the heck did he mean by that?

The dominant man in front of her chuckled, sliding his long fingers over the side of her face as the girl flinched. He smiled widely at her reaction and walked back to the couch and seated like a king.

Aria's heart started shaking at the realization of the situation, she was surely in a very deep pit. She averted her eyes back to her father who seemed to be so busy smelling the fresh notes of dollars. He wasn't even a little bit serious about the situation, let alone any emotion he felt for his daughter. Did he just sell his daughter for the sake of money? Her eyes started filling with tears at the thought.

"Blame yourself, Bella. He is just a man sick for money." His voice attracted her engagement again and Aria watched him toss a bundle of paper at her.

The document landed on the floor and the girl dropped at the base to take hold of those pieces of paper. Her father's name appeared on the front page of the paper and she attempted reading the statements only to find a loan of 40 million dollars in the name of Joseph Miller, with his signature and thumbprint on each paper. The period of five years was given for settlement and no way in hell anyone could tackle it, especially people like her. It was obviously a scam.

But wait, they hadn't used the money yet. If they returned it without utilizing even a single entity, it would be fine, right? Aria looked at the big suitcase in her father's hands and looked back at the papers again.

A boldly mentioned name crossed her eyes again, leaving her all baffled. Nicolas Russo! What was his name doing here?

Aria looked at the man in the grey suit confusedly. He was elegantly sipping through the familiar cigar, leaving the smoke in the air so skillfully. His black eyes collected on her again and his mouth rounded up' like he had hit some realization.

"This one too," he threw another bundle of papers at her while enacting a wink.

What was this about again? The girl wondered as she took hold of another set of papers. Shockingly, it was the copy of documents she had signed a couple of hours ago. Worriedly, Aria scanned through the documents as fast as she could. Finally landing on page number 24, she saw the entitlement of matrimony. Her sign was hurtfully visible there and she read the name of the spouse she was married to.

Dante Demore!

"YOU TRICKED ME!" Aria exacerbated in anger as she got up from the floor and marched towards the culprit.

The black-suited men were just ready to take action to keep their master protected but Dante signalled them to stay put at their places.

The angry lady with tears in her eyes approached to hold the criminal's collar with one hand and punch the other in his face but much faster in reflex, the man on the couch threw his cigar and held the attacking hand, jerking it to land her on his lap. He wrapped his hands around her effortlessly despite her violent struggles to free herself.

"I will call the police!" Aria uttered as she tried to free her hand. The tattoo of an eagle's face on the back of one of his hands caught her focus as her tears started spilling through the lacrimals.

"Bella, you are so predictable. Alex!" Dante called out and a person stood in front of her in the police uniform. His livery stated the position of commissioner and it terrified the girl more. Was there no way out? Her struggles died down as she aimlessly looked at the tattooed arms gripping her hands. This was not a dream, was it?

"Let's go home. Married couples should stay together. Am I right, Aria?" His voice vibrated in her ears.