Chapter 2 You're not the woman!

The leader immediately loomed over her naked body. She tried to resist, but she was helpless against the strength of the men. Her voice was almost hoarse from shouting, especially when they tried to force her legs apart.

"Please! Have mercy!" She shouted the word 'mercy' several times, but it fell on deaf ears.

Then she felt something strike her stomach. Before she lost consciousness, she called out the name of the young man who was the reason why she was in that place. His name was the last thing she yelled before everything went dark.

Meanwhile, Alaric and one of his staff members couldn't immediately get down from the speedboat due to the heavy rain.

"You go ahead, and I'll take care of the boat," he instructed the man.

"Are you sure, boss?" the man asked, double-checking.

"Yeah, go!" he urged him again.

Once Alaric had tied the speedboat, he quickly left the area. He had quite a distance to cover because they had disembarked far from there, the only suitable place due to the low tide in front of the resorts. He suddenly stopped when he heard a scream and scanned his surroundings. However, the scream did not repeat, so he continued walking.

"Please! Have mercy!"

This time, the scream was louder, and he couldn't afford to make a mistake; it was a woman's voice. He was only a few steps away from where the scream came from. When suddenly there was a flash of lightning and a light shone on the men who were gathered together.

"F*ck!"

Another lightning flash revealed a woman who was undressed and being fought over by several men. Without wasting a moment, he ran toward them. He delivered swift kicks and punches to the four men, catching them off guard. Lightning flashed again, and the men scattered in all directions and suddenly they ran away. He wanted to chase after them, but he needed to attend to the woman first.

"Sh*t!" he cursed as he examined her appearance. Covered in sand, her body was exposed, including her private parts. He quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around the unconscious woman's body. Without hesitation, he lifted her and almost ran the distance to reach the resorts. She needed immediate first aid since there were still no signs of her waking up. The other staff on duty at that late hour looked at him with curiosity, wondering who the woman he was carrying could be.

He brought the woman to his room and gently laid her on the large bed. He paused as he looked at her face. "Oh, God! She is the woman from earlier, f*ck!" He blamed himself because if he had accepted her earlier, she wouldn't be in this situation. She wouldn't have suffered such violence. He felt guilty for his heartlessness. He wasn't like this before, but because of the deception by the first woman he ever loved, he harbored anger towards women.

Alaric couldn't help but gaze at her entire body, her body covered in sand and her private parts exposed. It stirred a peculiar warmth within him, making him want to scold himself for lusting after a woman in such a situation. But he couldn't help but look at her long legs. He wasn't usually affected by naked women, but the woman lying on his soft bed was affecting him differently. So, he hurriedly left the room and made a call.

"Come to my room and bring something a woman can wear."

He also called a staff member.

"Go to the beach, near the rocks, and find that woman's luggage. Bring it up here."

"Yes, Boss."

Alaric lifted the woman and brought her into the bathroom. He submerged her body in warm water and applied shower gel. He worked quickly, and just as he was finishing cleaning her body, she suddenly regained consciousness. She became hysterical, screaming and thrashing.

"Please, have mercy, don't! No!" she cried out loudly.

He felt a pang of pity for the woman and hugged her tightly.

"Shhh, you're safe now," he reassured her. He wanted to let her know that she was safe from those people who had tried to take advantage of her.

Zephy felt a sense of security in that voice and immediately embraced her savior.

"Please help me," she sobbed.

Automatically, Alaric raised his hand to stroke her hair. He was a woman hater, but he wasn't that heartless to leave her alone.

"Shhh, don't cry," he comforted her. It was the first time he'd ever done such a thing, except for the woman he had once loved deeply, who now belonged to someone else.

When the woman had calmed down, he slowly moved her away from his body.

"Y-you?" Zephy stuttered, realizing who her savior was. She didn't know which part of her face to cover first. Her face turned red as she quickly averted her gaze. She couldn't meet the eyes with their light green gaze fixed on her.

"Follow me, and your wound will be treated," Alaric said to the woman who was looking down. He quickly left the bathroom because his body was heating up.

But nearly ten minutes had passed, and the woman still hadn't come out. This reignited his annoyance, and he shouted:

"Hey, woman, come out! Or else I will come inside, and you will never want to see what I'll do to you, woman!"

Zephy immediately grabbed the bathrobe hanging inside. She was sure it belonged to the guy. She didn't care if he got angry. She had no other choice to cover her naked body. It was better than being kicked out again.

"F*CK!" Alaric cursed when she emerged. His desire, which had been simmering since earlier, flared up once more.

When suddenly, the doorbell rang, diverting his attention from what was in front of him, and his gaze shifted towards the door.

"Stay here!" he said firmly and hurriedly went outside.

"Sir, here are the clothes, and by the way, the luggage from the beach is downstairs," his staff outside the door informed him.

"Tell them to bring it here," he answered.

"Yes, Sir," the staff replied.

Once he entered the room, he handed the clothes to the woman.

"Use this to make yourself comfortable."

Meanwhile, Zephy couldn't move right away because the man was still standing in front of her. Perhaps he noticed, so he quickly turned away. However, there were some hushed whispers, just careless whispers, but they still reached her ears.

"You're still shy! I've seen everything!" he whispered.

She chose to ignore his comments and focused on something else. After all, the man was right; he had seen her entire body.

"Come here, and I'll apply some medicine to your wounds," he said a few moments later.

She had no choice but to follow his orders. She was worried that he might get annoyed again and kick her out of the resort. As she approached him, she was mesmerized by his handsomeness, especially his eyes fixed on her lips while applying the medicine.

"Staring at me is a big sin, and there's a high price to pay for it!" he exclaimed.

She swallowed hard upon hearing that, quickly adjusted her sitting position, and looked in a different direction.

After he finished, he moved a bit away from the woman and asked her questions. He wanted to know the truth about why she was at their resort.

"Why are you here? I mean, you know this is a private resort. Why are you here? What do you want?" he asked one after another.

With nothing to hide, Zephy finally said, "I want you to marry me."

"What did you say?" His calm voice heightened. Just because he was taking care of her didn't mean she could just say the word 'marriage' to him. What a jerk!

"That's what's stated in the last will and testament, Mr. Montgomery. You have to marry me so that everything I inherit doesn't go to charity." She kept her head down, possibly afraid of his booming voice, which seemed to echo like thunder and lightning.

"F*ck! What the hell! I'm not crazy enough to marry you! And for your information, 'marriage' is not in my vocabulary! I don't care if any woman talks about marriage; I don't give a damn. No woman has been born yet whom I would marry, especially not you!" He stood up, seething with anger.

"P-please, you're my only hope. I'm willing to give you anything in return, just marry me. After I claim my inheritance, we can file for a divorce," she begged him.

"There's no divorce in New York, and I said NO! You're not the woman I'd give my name to, NEVER! By the way, your luggage is in the adjacent room, and you can leave tomorrow," he answered coldly as he walked away from his own room.

Zephy sat weakly on the carpet, feeling sorry for herself. If she couldn't convince Alaric, she wouldn't get her inheritance. She let out a heavy sigh and stood up, walking towards the room that the young man had indicated.

As the door closed behind Alaric, he couldn't help but glance back at the closed door. He hadn't entirely left the room, just concealed himself. For some unknown reason, he felt a sense of regret wash over him.

"Oh, jerk! Bastard!" he scolded himself. Why was he feeling like this? Frustrated, he hurried to the bar and poured himself a drink.

Meanwhile, in the room Zephy occupied, she paced back and forth, unable to find peace. His words echoed repeatedly in her mind like a broken record. Because of those words, she lost hope of getting her inheritance. She wondered why the late Ondine Lark had set such a condition. What does this have to do with the Montgomery family?