From Revenge to Lust

Her heart raced.

Something felt off.

The house was quiet-too quiet.

The scent hit her first-perfume that wasn't hers, like the watery smell of the ocean beating on the seashore.

A blouse and bra lay discarded on the armrest, lacy with red embroidery. She couldn't believe her eyes.

In fact, she was stunned, gazing at the offending piece of clothing, wondering what on earth it was doing there. And what exactly was going on?

Why was there a blouse and bra that didn't belong to her on the sofa she bought with her own money?

Why was it in her fiancé's house in the first place?

Indignation burned through her as her mind immediately fit the pieces together. She resolved to put a face to the mystery woman.

Her breath quickened as she marched up the stairs towards her room.

The peace in the still air was shattered by the laughter echoing from her bedroom. The laughter was a mix of voices.

The warm, ebony tang of her man's voice-and another voice, foreign.

Another voice-female.

Arica imagined a shirtless woman in the same room with her fiancé.

His eyes feasting on her titties, probably salivating over them. "Your boobs are too small," he had once complained to her.

Another peal of laughter erupted between them again and Arica saw red. Heck, her man wasn't even that funny.

Were they laughing at her? At her foolishness?

Foolishness to travel to New York and do long distance with him for two years?

Did she really think he'd remain faithful to her all these years?

Was she foolish when she said yes to his marriage proposal he made over video call, over Skype?

Thoughts like these ran berserk through her mind as her heart and mind failed her.

She paused outside her bedroom door, dread inking into her very being.

That was when she heard it.

A smack of flesh on flesh.

A feminine, disgusting giggle.

A husky voice saying, "You love my ass too much, Bryan."

Shaky breath.

Trembling fingers.

A sudden migraine.

Vision hazy with tears.

After spending two years building her mother's company in New York and being newly engaged, she had expected to come back to Italy running into the loving arms of her fiancé-not this. Never this.

With trembling fingers, she touched her room door, and it gave way a little. She managed to choke back a bitter chuckle. They didn't even bother locking the door. Her own bedroom!

He didn't know she was coming back today. She wanted it to be a surprise for him, but the tables turned and she ended up being the one rendered speechless.

Three days ago, he'd begged for her to come back. She could still recall his voice as clear as day.

"Babe, you've achieved so much success in growing your mom's conglomerate. Come back to me. Come back so we can get married as soon as possible, so we can start creating mini-me's."

A pouty face. Puppy eyes.

Eyes and lips that she once loved-but now another woman was licking up, and who knows for how long?

She breathed in and peeped inside.

Her man was on their supposed matrimonial bed, affectionately stroking the silk hair of someone else-that wasn't her!

He was saying something, and Arica strained her ears to hear.

"Oh, she wouldn't know what hit her. When we get married, I'll work my way to the top of her company, transfer and launder enough funds to carry us for a lifetime, and then we'll both elope to wherever you want, my love. Build a new life and a business there."

A cold numbness spread through her veins as if her body couldn't decide between fight and flight.

She couldn't believe that someone she cherished with her life could say this. He was her teenage sweetheart-they had been together for the past nine years.

All those years he showered her with love and care, and yet it was the same person who said this.

"I hate her so much, you know," the woman said. The voice sounded familiar. "I hate that I was always bland and insignificant next to her. Whatever I did, she got the credit, you know?"

It was her ex-assistant, Amaris. "Walked over me like I was the scum of the earth. It's her turn now."

"She deserves it," he affirmed.

Arica's chest tightened as she looked down at her engagement ring glittering on her ring finger.

She recalled how he'd proposed to her via video call and had the engagement ring flown down the next day to her.

It was the most romantic thing in the world. Or so she thought.

But Amaris wasn't done talking. "Let's arrange for her mother's death, then destroy her company. It will truly shatter her."

His reply shocked her to the marrow. "I agree with you. But it will be after our wedding, then our plan of actions will suffice."

"Can't believe she fell for your charms though," Amaris quipped. "It all feels too good to be true."

"Oh baby," Bryan chuckled. "I've been scheming for five years for this."

A wave of nausea whipped through her, rising to her throat. What exactly had she done to him to warrant him saying all these hurtful things?

Each forced breath was harder than the last as she tried to calm herself down.

Anger coursed through every fiber of her being as she tore the ring off her finger and stuck it on top of the cake she bought for him.

She kept it with the flowers on the ground. When he came out, he'd see it and know she was done with him.

All the tears she was holding back silently streamed down her face.

How could the love of her life lie tangled in another's arms and talk about destroying her life and all she'd built like it was the most normal thing in the world?

As she was about to retract, her foot mistakenly kicked the door open. The two abruptly sat up, eyes widened like deer caught in the headlights of a car.

Her eyes flitted from the sweaty bare chest of her fiancé to Amaris' bare body, partly covered by the duvet. Amaris' shocked face broke into a smile-and then a smirk.

Arica's hands clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms.

He didn't look guilty, or even sorry.

He only stared at her like she was a cockroach he would step on for interrupting them.

There and then, all the emotions she'd tried to suffocate boiled and bubbled to the surface.

She found herself screeching, voice cracking with tears, "How could you, Bryan?!"

She flung the cake at them. "How could you?!"

ARICA

Three Years Later

Arica felt a hand gently squeeze her ass, and she flipped her eyes open.

For a moment, her vision blurred, then cleared, but she still couldn't make out her surroundings because the room was dark.

Her ass was gently squeezed again, followed by a deep breath on her neck. When she turned her head to see the gorgeous sleeping form of a man beside her, all the memories from last night came rushing back.

His smartwatch made a light beep. 7:00 a.m. It was a reminder that he shouldn't wake up and find her still there, and that thought kicked her alcohol-drugged limbs into motion.

She quickly swiped everything of his that looked expensive-watch, bracelet, chain, clothes, phone, heck, even his diamond engagement ring-and put them in her black bag.

Taking one last apologetic look at his sleeping form, she silently slipped out of the hotel room, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.

She knew he was one of the top moguls in Italy's competitive business world, and stealing from him would come with dire consequences. She hoped to never see him again.

In fact, when she reached the first set of stairs in the exclusive hotel, she started running.

---

She kicked off her shoes with the speed of light, knowing she had just a few minutes to shower and leave for her 9:00 a.m. job.

Three times she had arrived late and was given serious queries. They wouldn't forgive her tardiness a fourth time.

She knew immediately that something was wrong when she pulled at the doorknob and the door gave way instantly. She remembered locking it before going for her night hunt.

Moreover, she didn't hear the excited barks of her dog, which was usual whenever she came back. And then, her lights were off. She never left the lights off when going out.

"Arica."

A sinister voice purred from within.

Shit.

Her stomach sank. How did he know where she lived?

He was a loan shark she'd been owing over $5,000. She shuddered in fear when she saw the gun aimed at her skull from a distance.

"That's right. You should be scared."

His laugh was sickly and eerie, echoing off the walls of her apartment in a distorted way.

"I have your money here," she said, her lips quivering and her entire body shivering in fear.

She held up the bag of stolen items. His eyes wickedly glinted in the dark, gun aimed squarely at her forehead.

"It even contains a diamond ring," she managed to stutter.

"Toss it over." He beckoned with the gun.

She threw it over, and he snapped it up with his left hand. He smiled at her on seeing the contents of the bag, but it wasn't reassuring-more like a wolf sneering at its prey.

"Good. Very good." He gave a slow purr, making the hair on her skin rise. He tapped her head with the gun as he slicked out of her apartment. "Thank your stars. Your luck saved you today."

---

Arica's heart thudded in her chest as she knocked on her boss's office door.

She was 30 minutes late, and a query had been sent to her desk. Her head dropped as she walked into the office.

"Good morning, ma. You sent for me."

Her boss gave her a condescending once-over, then rudely tossed her an envelope.

Tears formed in her eyes as she read the contents of the envelope.

"Ma, please, you can't fire me."

"I just did," her boss chuckled. "You've come late four times in a row, despite our queries. It's against our policy to retain you any longer."

"Ma, please." Tears were pouring down her face now. "I'll do anything. Anything at all, but please don't fire me."

Her boss looked up at her pitifully. She didn't expect to see a 28-year-old crying over such a low-income job.

She sighed. "Get an executive director of Elysian Bank to sign this document, and you'll keep your job. It's Lily's assignment, but I've decided to give it to you."

Arica took the documents gratefully.

"When is my deadline?"

"Today by midnight."

Her mouth fell open. Her boss continued regardless.

"You have an appointment with one of them at Elysian Towers by 10:00 a.m."

Arica briefly glanced at her watch. It was 9:38 a.m.

"Okay, ma. Bye."

---

Arica stared up at Elysian Towers, a tug of sadness and anger pulling at her heart.

The last time she was here, she had signed over her mom's business to the Elysian brothers.

It was the day she lost her business, her mom, her six-figure funds, and her dignity.

Her watch beeped 9:55 a.m., and she started running so she could meet up with the appointment. Her job-and, consequently, her life-depended on it.

Wham – one moment her feet were planted on the floor, and the next she was splat on the ground, her documents flying all around her.

Worse still, the person who bumped into her was rude.

"You fucking bitch! Are the eyes on your head faulty?"

Arica looked up, dazed, her breath knocked out of her.

"Oh my fucking God!" The bitch laughed as Arica struggled to stand. "The almighty bitchy Arica dressed in the clothes of a peasant!"

Arica ignored her, scurrying to pack the documents. She had a deadline to meet. The bitch held her back when she tried to sprint away, and that's when Arica lost her cool.

"Get your hands off me, you bitch!"

When she turned around to see her attacker, shock rippled through her body.

"Amaris." Her voice fell.

Amaris flashed a triumphant smile.

"I almost didn't recognize you there, Arica. You look so scrawny."

Arica caught the flash of diamond on her ring finger.

"You're married?"

"Not yet. Engaged to the love of my life." Amaris wagged the ring finger in her face.

Arica's breath hitched.

"Bryan?"

"Oh, please. Not that loser you dumped. I caught a bigger fish," she giggled.

Arica's watch beeped.

"Look, I've got to go-"

"All right," Amaris sniggered, eyeing her shabby attire.

---

Arica deeply inhaled and prayed a silent prayer before knocking on the door.

A gruff voice told her to come in. She entered.

"You are late," the man at the desk said, not looking up from his laptop.

Arica felt her world spin as she recognized the sharp jawline and muscular body smugly fitted into the three-piece suit.

He finally looked up at her, bothered by her silence, and at that moment, her world tipped-and everything went dark.

ELIANO: SECOND SON OF THE ELYSIAN LEGACY

:

Eliano woke up with a start, a headache splitting right through his skull that very second.

"Aah. Fuck," he cursed as he reached across to the bedside table where he was sure he had kept his phone last night in order to call his bodyguard.

To his dismay, it wasn't there. Neither was his smartwatch, his wallet, his clothes, nor the pretty woman he'd banged last night.

It finally dawned on him that he had been robbed-by the same woman.

He threw a towel around his body and stormed to the door.

He met his bodyguards outside, having a light banter amongst themselves.

"How could you let the woman I came in with leave with all my personal belongings without informing me?!"

They looked at him, bewildered.

"Boss, we did not see her leave."

"We went downstairs shortly to get breakfast. She must have left then."

"Get me all the information you can about that woman," he fumed. "Then get me some clothes and a phone."

She has some guts, he thought. Stealing my wallet and credit cards, thinking she can get away with it. Fuck. Even my engagement ring. The hell...

That reminded him of the meeting he was to have with his fiancée that morning-a meeting he wasn't looking forward to.

Eager to find him a leadership position in the Elysian Corporation, his ruthless elder brothers had arranged the death of the CEO of Elysian Bank.

The process of reinstating a new CEO took over three years, and due to his past history of drug addiction, he had to prove to the board of directors and stakeholders that he could handle the responsibility.

A good way to show that was to get married and raise a family-and his brothers picked a suitable bride for him.

Her name was Amaris Bordini, and she was from a reputable family.

He and Amaris had some kind of past history.

Three years back, she had brazenly come to the Elysian brothers offering them 40 percent of shares from her uncle's company-one of their biggest rivals in the business scene-with the condition that they would utterly destroy somebody.

It was a deal that he and his brothers readily accepted.

But it earned her respect from the Elysian brothers. She was the first woman to manipulate the brothers into doing something-even though it came with a good plus.

The only problem was that he didn't like her, neither did he give a shit about her.

And that was why he spent his nights out with any woman willing to give him a wild ride.

He heaved a sigh as he used his e-card to unlock his office door. He was startled to see a woman sitting in his chair by his desk, swiveling around while humming to herself.

He cursed inwardly. Amaris Bordini.

"Hey babe," she beamed upon seeing him. Her chirpy voice was like noise to his ears.

"Get out from my chair this instant!" he barked, his voice like thunder.

She giggled. "I will. No need to get so feisty." She swung her legs over and catwalked toward him.

"What are you doing in my office? This is not where we arranged to meet."

She placed her palms on his chest and drew in closer. "I've missed you. You've been ghosting me all week."

His expression was one of utter disgust. He snorted, flinging her hands away from his chest.

"Well, I'm here now. Why did you ask us to meet?"

"Can't you see?" she winked, spinning around for him.

That was when he noticed her short gown that showed off her thighs, with a dangerously low V-neck that exposed her cleavage.

If it were other women, he would have appreciated the show-off for what it was, but instead of feeling aroused, he felt even more disgusted.

"Security!" he yelled.

"Fine, fine. I'll take my leave," she sounded disappointed as she picked up her bag. "Very soon, we'll get married and you'll have to get used to my presence."

He shook his head as she left, wondering what on earth he was getting himself into.

As he sank into his chair, his phone chimed. It was a text from his bodyguard.

"Her name is Arica Velasquez.

She's a salesperson for Knights Group. Three years ago, she signed over ownership rights of her business to the Elysian Corporation."

Arica Velasquez.

The woman Amaris had asked them to destroy. They had murdered her mom and attacked her business until it went bankrupt, leaving her no choice but to sign ownership rights over to the Elysian Corporation just to keep it afloat.

Once she did that, they immediately fired her from her M.D. position and barred her access to all her funds under the suspicion of fraud.

He didn't even recognize her that night. She was the one that came onto him, absolutely drunk and flashing her generous cleavage in his face.

Equally drunk as well, they both stumbled into his hotel room and started clawing at each other's clothes.

Stealing all his belongings and his 12-carat diamond engagement ring-was it some sort of revenge?

"Get me her house address," he texted back.

He checked his calendar and saw that it was free for that day-except for an appointment with a salesperson from Knights Group by 10 a.m.

The same Knights Group. Well...

It was by 10:15 a.m. that the salesperson entered his office.

"You're late," he said without looking up from his laptop.

There was an eerie silence from the other end, and he looked up to investigate.

For a moment, a woman was standing in front of him, and the next, she wasn't.

"Fuck," he cursed loudly as he stood up to see that she had collapsed on his marble floor.

He quickly rushed over to check her pulse points.

He heaved a sigh of relief on realizing her pulse was normal-but nothing prepared him for the shock of seeing her face.

"Arica Velasquez," he muttered.