Chapter 1 The Arrangement

"Melanie Scott, twenty-one years old, graduated with honors from Chanvale University. A virgin who has no sexual experience, and is very healthy..."

The man sitting opposite Melanie Scott closed the file after reading it out loud. He frowned and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Melanie, who looked so innocent and beautiful, tightened her grip on the hemline of her dress and responded anxiously, "Yes, I'm sure. I need the money badly."

"How much money do you need?"

Melanie was stunned for a moment. With her head lowered, she muttered, "Ten... Ten million dollars."

The man's frown deepened. "At most, it should take you a month to get pregnant. You'll carry the baby to full term, so that will be a total of ten months. This must remain a secret. So, you are not allowed to leave here or contact anyone. Can you do it?"

Melanie took a deep breath. Her knuckles were turning white as she said in a trembling voice, "Yes, I... I can, but on one condition."

"Shoot," said the man, folding his arms.

"After I sign this agreement, you have to transfer ten million dollars to my bank account as soon as I get pregnant. I need the money urgently."

Ugh! What a greedy young woman!

A trace of contempt flashed through the man's eyes. "No problem. Get ready. Your sugar daddy will be here at eight o'clock tonight. Remember, this is not child's play. Your sugar daddy is a no-nonsense man. You'd better get pregnant within a month. Otherwise, you can say goodbye to the ten million dollars."

Evening came quickly. The clock had almost chimed eight.

After she took a bath and got changed, Melanie was sent to a room in the villa. It was so dark that she feared she had gotten blind.

The room was extremely quiet. The only sound she could hear was the ticking of a clock on the wall.

Several minutes passed as Melanie stood alone in the pitch-black room. Suddenly, the door swung open and a man came in. Melanie couldn't see his figure, let alone his face. She was about to wrap her arms around her naked body when the man grabbed her and threw her onto the bed.

"Ten million dollars? What a greedy woman you are!"

The man's cold sneer broke the silence in the room. Melanie felt like she had just been punched in her chest.

Holding her chest, she shut her eyes tightly and bit her lower lip until a sharper pain shot to her brain. Her voice trembled as she said, "Get on with it, will you? Stop talking nonsense!"

The man snorted with disdain. The next second, he pounced on her cruelly.

He was so rough that as soon as he went into her, her entire body tensed up and then began to vibrate.

Tears slipped down the corners of her eyes. She shut them tightly and bit her lower lip hard just to brave the pain that was tearing through her.

This was all for her family. As long as she survived tonight, she would save Scott Group and her father wouldn't have to go to jail just because he couldn't pay his debt.

Driven by her ambition, Melanie wrapped her arms around the man's neck as her brain numbed the pain. She pressed her soft red lips against his and seduced him innocently, "Harder, stallion. Fuck me harder."

The man grunted and whispered in her ear, "You asked for it. Don't regret it later."

Following that, Melanie went to the brink of death several times. He pounded her so hard that her body soon went limp. By the time he was done with her, she couldn't lift a finger or even breathe without feeling sore all over.

The next morning, Melanie was awoken by a warm sunlight on her face. She opened her eyes and found that she was all alone in the room. She was still trying to keep awake when a maid pushed the door open and said in a cold voice, "He'll have sex with you every night until you get pregnant. If you aren't with a child in a month, you have to pack up and leave."

Clasping her hands tightly, Melanie prayed that she would fall pregnant before the ultimatum.

The rough sex continued for six more nights. On each occasion, Melanie felt she was better off dead. The man was a beast!

Thankfully, she was confirmed pregnant about a month later.

"The sum of ten million has been transferred to your account. From now on, you shouldn't stress yourself at all. You don't have to worry about a thing. Just eat and sleep well."

Mixed feelings surged inside Melanie when she heard that. After fighting back tears of joy and pain, she grabbed the maid's hand and said, "I want to call my dad to ask if he's safe now. I also want to know if he received the ten million. Please help me. I promise not to reveal anything to him. Cross my heart... Please, help me."

Perhaps the middle-aged maid's heart was touched by Melanie's pitiful look. With her phone in hand, she asked, "What exactly do you want to say? I can only text him for you. But this will be the first and last time!"

Nine months later, a heavily pregnant Melanie lay on the bed in the villa. She was sweating profusely with her legs open wide.

Shrill cries echoed in the room. The female doctor who had on a pair of gloves and a mask stood in front of her and urged, "I can see the baby's head! Push harder, push!"

With all the strength she could muster, Melanie gritted her teeth hard and pushed like never before.

The baby slipped out of her. And the next second, a piercing cry was heard.

The doctor quickly wrapped the baby up and put it into an incubator. Then, she ordered someone who was standing in the shadows, "Take the baby out right now."

In a pool of her own blood, Melanie tilted her head and said amidst tears, "Please let me have a look at my child."

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. The baby was out the door before she knew it.

Melanie had no idea whether the child was a boy or a girl.

Outside the villa, there was a black limited-edition Maybach parked in the driveway.

The man sitting in the backseat stared at the crying baby who was still covered in blood and amniotic fluid. His face slowly contorted in a frown.

"Congratulations, Mr. Collins. The baby looks just like you!"

"Shut up!" the man said curtly. "How can you already tell that we look alike? Drive to the hospital now!"

"Yes, sir," the driver responded, starting the ignition.

Back in the villa, Melanie stumbled to her feet with her hand clutching her belly. She looked out of the window, only to find a black shiny car driving away.

The day after Melanie gave birth, she rushed home even though she was still in pain and was very weak.

Melanie had been racking her brain throughout the ride. Now that she was standing at the door, she still couldn't come up with a good excuse as to why she disappeared for ten whole months. She took a deep breath and reached out to press the doorbell, only to find that the door was ajar.

She pushed it gently and walked in. However, there was no one in the living room.

Was there no one at home? Even if her father went to work, her stepmother, Ximena Scott usually stayed at home with her daughter, Elliana Crowell. Where could they have gone leaving the door ajar?

Melanie was about to go upstairs when she saw two familiar figures walk past the corridor of the second floor.

"Damn girl!" The man slapped the woman's butt and squeezed hard. Even though the lady chuckled, she slapped his chest and said with a pout, "Stop it. When are you gonna put a ring on my finger? Still missing Melanie, huh? No one has heard a thing from her in ten months."

"I have already moved on. How can I miss that thing? I only dated her because she came from this reputable family. I wouldn't have looked at her twice if I had met you first. Compared to you, she's so boring." The man licked his lips. Afterward, he leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "Especially in bed, she knows nothing while you drive me crazy always."

"Aww, darling! You drive me crazy too," the woman said coquettishly, jumping into his arms. "My pussy is still sore because of how you fucked me last night."

As she stood at the foot of the stairs, the color of Melanie's face was drained in the blink of an eye. Her eyes sparked with resentment as she stared up at the duo who couldn't take their hands off each other.

The lustful man was none other than her boyfriend, Neville Phillips.

She was away for just ten months, but Neville didn't waste time in moving on to her stepmother's daughter, Elliana.

These two were backstabbing scums.