Chapter 1
The day I signed the divorce papers without a penny to my name, everyone in Nortonford waited to make fun of me.
My husband, David Grant, cheated on me, and his pregnant mistress, Lily Evans, moved right into my house.
Everyone thought I'd be crying and begging for mercy.
"Poor thing. Three years of marriage, and she's treated worse than a stray dog," one commented.
"Word is, her dad's company went bankrupt. Now she's got no one left," another added.
I smiled, slipped off my wedding ring, and dropped it into my champagne glass.
David sneered and reached for my hair. "Don't get on your high horse. You couldn't even sell yourself on the streets."
But before his hand could touch me, a deafening crash broke out.
Three bulletproof Maybachs smashed through the floor-to-ceiling windows and came to a stop right in the middle of the hall.
Twenty bodyguards in black filed in, their guns trained on David.
Everyone in the room dropped to their knees in fear.
The man who walked in was Victor Sterling, the head of the Sterling Consortium, the one who made every soul on Iron Avenue tremble.
His cold gaze swept over David.
"How dare you touch my prey?" he asked.
*****
David's knees went weak.
He crashed onto the luxury marble floor, his knees smacking down with a heavy thud.
"M-Mr. Sterling?" David stammered, shaking all over. "It's a misunderstanding, I swear." he desperately bowed his head towards the floor.
Lily had been gently caressing her slightly rounded belly, but now she kept retreating in terror.
Her high heel twisted, and she landed on her backside right on the floor.
The onlookers, all socialites, didn't even dare to breathe, their heads lowered.
Victor ignored the two on the floor.
He leisurely adjusted his cufflinks, his slender fingers moving with ease, without so much as a sideways glance at David.
"Break a few of his bones. Teach him a lesson," Victor ordered casually.
Two burly bodyguards in black stepped forward and kicked David so hard that he went sprawling across the floor.
"No, Isabelle. Please, help me." David's face turned ghostly pale from the pain as he wailed, crawling toward me.
"Didn't you just say I was worse than a stray dog?" I shot back at him.
"No, I'm the stray dog." David grovelled on the floor, barking like a dog, all his dignity gone.
I looked away, feeling utterly disgusted.
"Take care of it," Victor said indifferently.
Lily hugged her stomach and screamed, "Let him go. You can't do this. It's illegal."
A bodyguard gave her a hard slap.
Lily shut up instantly, clutching her face and shivering in fear.
"Isabelle Locke," Victor said.
His words hung in the air, heavy with a deadly pressure.
"Let's go," he went on, turning toward the door.
I followed him and walked out of the hotel, my back straightening.
A bodyguard opened the door to the bulletproof Maybach.
I slid into the back seat, and Victor followed right after me.
The door slammed shut with a heavy thud, shutting out all the noise from the outside world.
"Thank you," I said, breaking the silence in the car.
Suddenly, Victor whipped around and clamped his hand around my neck.
His fingers squeezed so hard that it felt like he might snap my throat.
"Thank me?" he sneered. "You think I showed up today to save you?"
I was forced to tilt my head back, but not a single sound escaped my throat.
Victor added, "Three years ago, you left me stranded in the slum of Eastborough, all for that loser David.
"You waved your father's check in my face, acting like you were some queen tossing charity to the peasants.
"You said I was nothing but low-class trash, and I'd never be worthy of you.
"Now, that loser threw you out?"
His words were laced with vicious mockery.
I tried to pry his hand off my neck.
"Let go," I said through gritted teeth.
"Let go?" Victor didn't loosen his grip. Instead, he slammed me hard against the car window. "Isabelle, you're a penniless whore with nothing to your name now.
"Your bankrupt father is still stuck in the ICU, barely hanging on with a ventilator.
"One word from me, and they'll yank the plug without a second thought."
I froze, blood rushing to my head.
"I dare you!" I yelled in anger, aiming a slap at his face.
Victor easily caught my wrist and pinned it behind my back.
"Why wouldn't I dare?" he said, leaning in. "I'll make you pay everything you owe me with interest.
"From now on, you're mine to command.
"I want you to watch as you spiral down into hell."
The car suddenly screeched to a halt.
Victor let go of me, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his fingers in disgust.
"Toss her in the basement," he ordered the bodyguard up front.
The car door was yanked open with a rough jerk.
Two burly bodyguards dressed in black dragged me out of the car.
This was a secluded estate on Silver Isle, its towering iron gates radiating a chilling, cold aura.
I was dragged across the grounds and thrown into a dark, damp basement.
The clang of the iron gate locking echoed through the space.
I landed hard on the cold concrete floor, my elbow scraping raw against the surface.
Victor stood outside the iron gate, looking down at me.
"Tomorrow morning at six, you'll be scrubbing every toilet in this estate," he said. "If you can't finish, they'll pull the plug on your father's ventilator."
He turned and walked away, the sound of his leather shoes on the stone path fading into the distance.
I leaned against the wall, biting down on my lip until it bled.
I couldn't tell him the truth about what happened three years ago.
That secret would die with me.