Chapter 1 PLEASURE I THINK NOT

NORA'S POINT OF VIEW.

Asher Collins is poison...at least, everyone at Riverbroke High says he is. He's the son of my mother's employee, the guy who would inherit billions, no, trillions of dollars, as well as properties from his family of landowners and food conglomerates. I, on the other hand, was nothing but the daughter of the housekeeper. I was disposable; at least I heard that every damn day.

Asher was the only son of Catherine Everleigh and Stefan Maximillian Collins. he was their golden son. No, literally their golden boy. When I was twelve, I watched them fuss over him because a watermelon seedling had stuck to his jaw from his fall accident....it was a damn seed, but they treated it as if it were the entire world crumbling.

It was almost pathetic, but I chose to stomach it instead.

They owned me...us, and we never heard the end of it. His father pays my tuition fee as a sign of gratitude for my mother keeping her mouth shut about the child they shared together.

I was going to hell.; because i sinned with my stepbrother.

Riverbroke High was Asher's domain; his kingdom, and I was simply a peasant in that kingdom. The bastard has bullied me ever since I set foot in that darned place, along with his stupid girlfriend, Lydia. Oh, scratch that, fiancé. But instead of lashing out, I took it all on my chin, choosing instead to focus on the one reason I didn't crash out in front of everyone.

My mother.

Everyone says growing up invisible is easy.

They're nothing but liars.

Being invisible hurts in a way people never talk about.

It suffocates you, and it shrinks you until it teaches you to fold yourself into corners so quietly that even your own heartbeat feels too loud....too.....exposing.

I learned that from the moment I understood words and what it meant to be a resident inside the Collins mansion.

Where silence wasn't a choice.

It was a survival tactic.

My mother was the help, and she'd drilled it into me from the moment I could walk: stay small, stay quiet, stay unseen. A maid's daughter shouldn't be heard or seen. Make sure your presence isn't even noticed, especially not around the family that owns your roof, your meals, your future. And never around Asher Collins. Especially him. No one except my mother and I knew he was my stepbrother by blood, and my master by calling. One day, he would own the immense wealth amassed by the tenth generation before him, leaving all of us at his mercy, scrambling for any bit of his favor so that when he assumes his throne, we could get some semblance of grace.

The bastard was cocky, arrogant, and every bit of the spoilt rich boy you could imagine, and much worse. The second I attained puberty, my hips became something even my big clothes could barely hide; so his mother pulled me to the side, and drilled three rules into my soul, commanding me to mumble them every day.

Don't look at Master Asher.

Don't talk to Master Asher. And the most important one of all;

Don't fall for Master Asher.

But she didn't know; I'd broken two of those rules six months ago on my eighteenth birthday.... I'd fucked her son. We were both drunk, and it happened before either of us could blink inside his father's office when he'd caught me snooping. We were the only ones home, or so I had thought. I'd come out of my small room in the belly of the house to finally wander the halls forbidden to the maids when I'd found him perusing through some files, a bottle of wine on his right side.

His smirk was too tempting.....I didn't know when I downed three glasses, allowed him to take my shirt off, and take my virginity on the Persian rug. When it was over, he collapsed on me, leaving me to usher him off and escape before his father walked in to find his naked son drunk out of his mind on the floor.

I was the only one with any recollection of that night....yet even though I should be happy about that, it stung.

Six months later, Asher avoided me like a plague; he always did, but at least then he could insult me in the company of his rich friends from the day I enrolled in his elite school......but ever since then, he didn't even act as if I existed.

Reeling from that sting, I took a vow; nothing would connect me and the arrogant heir and me to the Collins fortune ever again. But staring at my phone, my heart pounding, my fingers clammy, I couldn't help but feel like a fucking clown..... I'd broken the vow.

The message ticked delivered, and just before I could click the button to delete it from his phone....it ticked blue. He's watched the video!

A couple of minutes ago, I wanted to feel something other than the embarrassing sting of Asher treating me like an insignificant speck of dust; even though it was what I wanted, along with the fact that the guy I've crushed on for the past two months didn't see me as anything other than a friend. So I decided to masturbate....while filming it.

I'd slipped into the tiny room my mom and I shared at the back of the house, my hands shaking as I locked the door behind me. It was the first time I'd ever done it, but it was exhilarating while it lasted. "Asher...please." I'd whispered under my breath as my fingers sped up against my swollen clit, the sound of my muffled moans, and wetness filled the air. But just before I could come, I heard a soft creak of the floorboards, almost as if someone stood right outside my room.

"W-who is it?" I croaked, my voice raspy from my pleasure; my hand still inside my panties as my eyes trained on the door handle, expecting it to twist even though I'd locked it. Nobody answered. So I turned off the recording and was just about to hit delete when all of a sudden, the floorboards creaked again, and my fingers slipped, hitting send to the first contact on my phone...Asher Collins.