Amanda's Pov

Suddenly, the speakers creaked, which caught everyone's attention. The projector screen which was placed in the middle of the hall, got turned on automatically, my eyes encountered a breathtaking view. I gasped, in shame, in fear, and in humiliation

I took a step backward, as my heart raced. My eyes widened automatically, on encountering the pictures on the projector screen. The first two pictures on the slide, consisted of me and Aaron, we were locking lips with each other. There was a short 3 second video in the third slide, in which he was kissing me on my neck in the bedroom, moments before. I was pretty sure that someone witnessed our little makeout session, and also that someone recorded it. I didn't even have double thoughts regarding it. I was pretty sure that it was James. No one except him had the power to cause such nuisance.

The fourth slide had a caption 'Cause one was not enough', and a picture of me and James making out appeared on the screen. The other slides were followed with pictures in which we were locking lips, in which he was kissing me on my neck, on the top of my cleavage. I gasped, whilst looking at the pictures. Suddenly the slide show ended, a collage appeared on the screen.

It comprised of a comparative picture of me kissing Aaron on one side and James on the other side. A line on the bottom read 'Who does it better? Excluding Amanda of course, she's a pro when it comes to kissing.'

The clips were highly devastating. Kissing or making out with James was the biggest mistake of my life. If only I could, I would change it. Back then, I didn't realize who the real James was. I wish time machines existed in real life. I tilted my chin up, after gathering every ounce of the courage I had. I was ashamed, ashamed of myself, of the mistake I made earlier.

Not only Aaron, but I was unable to meet my eyes with anyone in the crowd. James succeeded in giving me the best birthday present ever. When, accidentally, my eyes locked with Aaron's, I quickly looked away. I started to walk away, away from him, from everyone. I could hear people whisper shitty things about me. My eyes were heavy, and my vision was blurred due to the formation of tears under my waterline. I tried hard to control, but I couldn't. 'Slut' 'gold-digger' and 'Whore' were the various words I was addressed with.

Suddenly, I was pulled back through my arm. I knew who it was from. I looked up, towards Aaron's direction. He placed his hands on the either side of my shoulder, looked around at people, his eyes filled with anger. He did the most unanticipated thing ever, in front of everyone.

He kissed the tear which rolled through my eyes, stroked away the wet portion from my cheeks through the back of his hands. He pushed me closer as he curled his hands around my waist. Without wasting another second, he kissed me. No, this wasn't one of those kisses which were filled with love. It had passion, and an answer which he was probably trying to give to the crowd.

He deepened the smooch, as he opened his mouth. After a while, he pulled away. Everyone around were aghast by his move. I took a deep breath, when he laced his fingers with mine. He faced the crowd along with me. "I don't care what you guys think about her. I don't care who she has locked lips with, in the past. I don't care what you care. All I care about is......her. I love her", I gasped as I faced him. Did he just say the words or was it an illusion?

"Yes, I love her. I love her very much. No one in this party gets the right to call my girl with those shitty names. One more curse word, and you won't even know how much I can ruin you. Only those people who're genuine enough to wish us luck, and not insult my girl can stay here and the rest may leave. I repeat, the rest may leave, if they want to", he continued as he turned around.

I watched him, my eyes watered. I didn't know what it was because of, the happiness of the confession, or the fear of James's another move. I looked at the time. It was yet 8:40pm, which meant that I had exact 5 minutes to leave the party. His hands were yet locked with mine. I looked at our intertwined fingers and sighed. I kissed his fingers, but kept quiet. He didn't speak either.

"I'll be back soon. I promise"

"Are you going out somewhere? I can take you!" he insisted as he inquired.

"No, I'm right here. I'll just check on Gina and Francis" I lied and walked away. Lies protect us for the time being, but always leave us in guilt. Aaron did everything in his favour to protect me, and now was my turn. I had to protect him, even though it meant surrendering self into some danger. I took slow steps towards the exit, making sure that Aaron didn't see me.

When I was near the parking area, I waited for James. Then, I realized, that I had forgot my phone in my bedroom. I looked around again, and started walking towards the entrance but I was pulled aback. Maybe, this was my biggest mistake ever. I should have carried a phone.

"Baby girl", James hugged me tightly like I was some long lost friend. I kept my hands loose, and obviously didn't hug him back. He moved his hands through my back, precisely towards the uncovered part. He was such a pervert. If only I could slaughter his penis. He continued the hug as he refused to move away. I pushed him back a several times, but my strength was less as compared to him.

I, with all my strength, pulled away, and broke our hug. James watched me, his eyes depicted horror. He pushed me through my back, towards his car. I tried shoving him away, but couldn't. He hauled the door of his car, and pushed me inside. I comforted myself, though it was very difficult to. He turned the keys in the hole, and took charge of the speed. "Easy", I shouted as my body hopped on the seat twice.

"No, baby girl, ever heard of the fact that 'one's car's speed indicates their heartbeats when they are with someone?'"

"No. I didn't hear it in my 22 years", I furrowed my brows as I looked through the window.

"Yeah, because it doesn't exists. I just made that up", I could sense from his tone that he was smiling. His words and actions were nothing but pain to my ears and eyes.

I kept silent for a while, and then finally popped the question which I was waiting to ask since a long time "What do you want to do with me?"

After facing him, I arched my brows and waited for an answer. He gave a cunning smile, before parting his lips, in order to speak. "You'll see that", he halted to the nearest corner of the road, and leaned closer to me. My heart almost plummeted on the car's seat, and then regained back its original position. I was scared, very scared but most importantly, I was unaware of what his next move would be. He could push his body closer to mine, to either kiss me or kill me.

I took a deep breath, swallowed as I dug myself closer in the seat. The door was locked, so I tried to turn the knob, but to my discontent I failed at my attempt as James kept his hands on mine. He roughly moved my hands away from the unlock button and threw my hands on my lap. I gasped, and closed my eyes. Aaron's smiling picture, in which both of his dimples were visible rotated in my mind. It soothed me, calmed me down.

On opening my eyes, I encountered James's view. I slowly pouted in irritation, in frustration. He quickly got back to his original position as he set his hands on the steering again. Okay, so he did all that drama to get my hands off the door? Such an idiot.

I sighed softly, and turned my attention towards the window again. Aaron's word kept on replaying in my mind. 'I love her', his words were honest. I wish I could relive that moment. I waited for it since so long, and when he finally confessed, I couldn't say it back to him. I knew that even if I went on hunt for the most perfect man throughout the universe, I wouldn't be able to find someone like Aaron, my Aaron. I also was aware of the fact that my dissipation in the party would probably turn him mad. It hurt, moving away from him hurt but I had no choice either.

Suddenly my body moved forward and I was knocked off from my thoughts when James pulled the brakes. He definitely didn't know what 'easy' meant. I frowned as I waited for him to unlock the door. When my curiosity hit no limits, I peeped through the window. A huge building, with a huge entrance was the only view my eyes could experience. I did really expect James to haunt me in some garbage, or some really shabby place.

"Come on baby girl", he propelled his hand in my direction. I clearly rejected it. He was being extremely sweet. But there's a famous proverb aka too much sweetness paves way for diabetes.

"I'm not here to celebrate the last few hours of my birthday with you. I'm in no mood for some kinky honeymoon with you either. You and I both know the purpose of me being here. Just kill me anyway", I said in one breadth and waited for his reaction which was quite casual.

He twisted my hand, as he drew me in his direction. He took the lead and jerked me closer to him as I followed the lead. I had no option rather than tracing his steps. We walked till we entered the elevator. He pinched on the 37th floor of the building. Somewhere deep within, I wanted Aaron to save me, but keeping away the selfish part, I didn't want him to show up at this place. When the elevator reached the 37th floor, we exited it.

James's hand rested on my back. He gave a rough push whenever I ceased to move. I hated his guts so much. He quickly unlocked the room, which I assumed was his. I was more than shocked when I looked around the room. It was filled with pictures. Pictures of me and Aaron, of me with my friends, of me with him, every freaking picture consisted of me.

My mouth formed an 'o' when I turned my eyeballs around the place. It felt like he was following me from days and noting each and every move of mine. I rushed towards his bed and noticed that black lingerie was placed on it. My mind couldn't stop but give birth to negative thoughts. I turned around, and tried my best to avoid any eye contacts.

"Wh-why am I-I he-here?" I stammered out of fear. James gradually marched in my direction and placed his hands on my shoulders. His touch annoyed me. "And why are my pictures everywhere?" I swallowed in fear at his filthy expression.

He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, and threw it on the floor. He moved his hands through his torso "Sexy, isn't it?" he interrogated as he smirked. "You know I'm a good kisser, right?" his gaze travelled towards my lips.

"You know, you're like the empty jar of nutella. Nobody wants you. Except for some people who recycle the garbage", I scoffed as I diverted the topic.

"You don't know what this garbage is capable of, baby girl", he pulled me towards him through my back. His touch was rough. It was hurting me. I tried to withdraw myself but failed continuously. "Years down the line, I imagine us being a family. I imagine you crying at the funeral of your beloved. Oh, so sad. I feel bad already", he moved his right hand from my waist, to my breast. He stroked my cheeks with his nails, clearly intending to hurt me.

I watched him aggressively "Dare fuck with him. I'll chop off your penis. We had a deal, remember?"

"Yeah, that deal comes with certain terms and conditions which you have to agree to. One wrong move and your guy's life will end", he didn't release me, but instead tightened his grip over my body.

"What terms and conditions?" I questioned fiercely.

"Get these papers signed for me", he released me, and went towards the drawer and came back with some papers in his hands. "The papers includes his willingness to sell me his property, his house and his girl"

I punched him when he mentioned 'the girl', "I'm not a property for fuck sake. I won't just surrender myself to you, physically or mentally", he cupped my cheeks tightly, hurting me.

"I want to possess everything what he has. His house, his business and his girl, though I didn't mention the 'girl' in the papers but I want you, I promise I'll keep you happy. Come start with fucking me", his hands landed on my ass. He slowly squeezed it. I pushed him away, with all the strength I had.

I thought for a witty reply "Fine. You have to choose. It's either me or the property. I'm ready to surrender myself but you have to pick one thing".

"Let me give you an option baby girl"

"Don't call me that", I offended cutting him off.

"Fine, so let me continue, I'm ready to give you an option too. It's either his life or the duty I assigned to you", he went towards his laptop and turned it on "Don't try acting smart even for once", he turned on the cctv footage of my party and pointed his finger towards three men "They're my men. They've been assigned to kill your man. One wrong move of yours and you're done with his life"

"Fine, I agree", I breathed out "What do I have to do?" I finally questioned.

***********

Just one or more chapter & then the epilogue. I can always extend it but I don't want to add unnecessary elements like third person, misunderstanding and bla bla.

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