Chapter 1 Chapter 1 A Beast of a Father

The heat in Seaville was unbearable.

After class, Denise Montgomery went straight home. Her father, Arthur Montgomery, walked up to her holding a glass of orange juice.

"It's scorching outside. Have some orange juice-Vivian saved it for you. We all had some," Arthur said casually.

Denise looked at the juice, suspicion flickering in her eyes. Her dad usually avoided her, and her stepmother never hid her dislike. Why the sudden kindness?

But she didn't overthink it. Maybe he finally grew a conscience. And... she was really thirsty. She took the glass and gulped it down.

Something felt off almost right away.

Her head started spinning, and the room seemed to morph into a bunch of blurry Arthurs waving at her.

"What... what did you put in that drink?" Denise's voice trembled as a wave of realization hit her-she'd been tricked!

Vivian Thornton stepped forward, her tone sharp but calm. "Let's not beat around the bush. Your dad's trying to win over a major client. It's time you did something for this family."

"What are you saying?" Denise's eyes widened in shock.

No matter how terrible they had treated her and her brother, she had never imagined they'd go this far.

"Denise," Arthur said without shame, "Mr. Donovan promised the ET deal-if you spend one night with him."

Denise's face went pale as she staggered back. Her own father? Selling her out like this?

She turned to run, desperate to get out. But her legs gave way. The drug had kicked in.

Night settled over Seaville.

Denise woke up in a luxurious presidential suite. Her wrists were bound behind her, her feet tied together. She was wearing something sheer, completely inappropriate-and completely not of her choosing.

She could feel a strange heat building in her body, like there was a fire burning from the inside out. Her face flushed red. She wasn't naive-whatever they gave her must have been some kind of aphrodisiac.

Damn it. Arthur really had no bottom line!

The room was empty. Denise fought to sit up. Luckily, she was flexible. She bent forward, using her teeth to work at the rope around her ankles. Arthur clearly hadn't expected her to wake up this soon.

Once her feet were free, she managed to rub her wrists against the edge of the coffee table until the knot finally gave way.

She rushed to the door, reaching for the handle-then froze.

Outside, voices.

"Mr. Donovan, I've literally handed over my own daughter to you. I do hope you'll give the ET contract some serious thought," Arthur's oily voice said.

"Yeah yeah, got it. You can leave now," came the impatient response from Anthony.

Denise felt like her chest was about to burst. Her father-no, this monster-was trading her like a bargaining chip. And for what? A deal. Just a deal.