Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ novel Chapter 13

Big mistake While Liam stared at the screen with fire in his eyes, I was becoming more and more terrified. Liam enjoyed Nicole’s writhe when she tried to cover the wall-size screen with her body and raised arm. I couldn’t blame him. She got what she deserved, and Liam got what he wanted. He obviously knew nothing about Aren Lan, and he didn’t care. I wish I could say something similar…

While Nicole stood in the line of fire on the stage, Aren walked to the side and talked to two of his people. A few seconds later, those two commanded the security team who led the press out of the ballroom and the other team who took care of the disturbed guests. Suddenly, Aren smirked, looking directly at the surveillance camera… I swallowed. He couldn’t know that we were watching him at that moment, could he?

“Liam… We need to get out of here… the show is over,” I said nervously, cleaning the first of the computers from any traces of hacking into their system. “Why? Do you think someone will catch us?” He shot me a lopsided smirk. “I’m serious, Liam!” I jerked the second laptop my way and closed the surveillance footage windows.

I destroyed any evidence that could link me with hacking during the engagement party and then turned off the computer. I did it in a rush. My heart pounded, and my whole body was shivering. I kept thinking if I had deleted everything I should. I prayed that I did. I had always been a perfectionist. I liked to act rationally and slowly, calculating my moves before making them. That was completely unlike anything I was doing at that moment. I was frantic. I packed the computers, and almost pushed Liam out of his seat, feeling a desperate need to get out of there immediately. “Go. Now!” I hissed, trying to make him realize that I was deadly serious.

I rushed him through the corridor and could breathe when I stepped outside the hotel. Liam’s chauffeur pulled over, and I was just about to get inside the car when I realized… I left without a purse.

“Shit… I need to go back there,” I said, clenching my teeth. A complete idiot! I couldn’t believe that I was able to make such an amateur mistake…

“Leave it! If there’s money you are worried about, I will pay you more,” Liam urged.

“Are you kidding me?! This is like leaving evidence! My phone and all my documents are in there, including my Grandmother’s! I cannot just leave it there!” I exclaimed, trembling from agitation and fear.

“Fine, we’ll wait for you a block from here. Try to go back and behave naturally.” Liam tried lecturing me with a smile.

I answered with a weird grimace, too nervous to think straight, not to mention “act naturally. ” As I swirled back through the revolving door, the feeling of suffocation hit me. The whole corridor became crowded with people walking out of the scandalous engagement party. I had

Ale mistake

noticed that the reporters were going back without their cameras, which obviously were confiscated. I swallowed hard as I observed it all happening.

I walked in tiny steps, almost leaning against the wall, trying to find a way to get back to the hotel’s café. The security guards were everywhere, and I felt like a criminal with a neon flashing sign over my head. Besides, it was easy to spot me since I was the only one walking further inside the hotel while everyone else was walking out. God, I seriously could use the invisibility cloak right now…

Finally, the hotel’s café was just around the corner. I sighed in relief when I managed to sneak in without anyone stopping me. There was no one inside except for me. I guessed that their working hours were over. I darted to the table where Liam and I had been sitting, but I

couldn’t find my purse anywhere. I looked at the chairs’ seats and then bent down to glance under the table.

“Is this what you are looking for?” a harsh, cold voice asked.

I straightened up violently and turned to face the man standing there. He looked like one of the guards. He was a bulky, bald-shaved guy, over six feet tall. He held my purse in his hand while scanning me with his cold gaze.

I gave him a stiff smile. “I was just looking for it. Can I have it back, please?” I did all I could to prevent my voice from shaking.

He chuckled but didn’t give me the purse. Instead, he pulled a jacket lapel with a microphone up to his mouth. “I got her,” he said, then automatically nodded his head, responding to the message he heard in his earpiece. I gulped and stepped back. I knew that I was already their prime suspect. I should never have come back for that purse! I should never have come to this hotel in the first place! Why had I ever agreed to this amazingly stupid revenge?! “Let’s go!” the security guard tossed, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the café. “Hey!” I yelled, struggling to free myself from his strong grip. “You don’t have the right to do ‘this to me!”

“Shut up or I will knock you out!” he roared. “Either way, you are coming with me!”

I gulped and let him drag me through the “employees only” door. The corridor was empty with no one to see this, no one to ask for help. I kept stumbling to keep up with that man’s pace, but he didn’t slow down but kept tightening his grip on my wrist. I told him that he was hurting me and that I could walk by myself, but he only reacted with laughter. I was on the verge of a panic attack. I was most confident sitting in front of my computer, but my body was too weak to fight against physical strength, and the way this man overpowered me felt horrifying. Soon I became consumed by the feeling of helplessness.

I wept softly, “Where are you taking me?”

I had a little knowledge about things that wealthy people were capable of. I knew that my ex boyfriend, Callan, was once accused of causing an accident while drunk driving and then running away from the scene of the accident. He had never admitted it, but deep inside i knew that he was guilty. Two days later, he suddenly went back to America for two weeks, and when he came back to Oxford, the charges had already been dropped. I was more than certain that this “problem” had been taken care of by his wealthy family. But if Callan’s family could easily make his case disappear, then who knows what Aren Lan was capable of? I was in his hotel, in his territory, where only his rules existed. All he had to do was to pay his employees to keep their mouths shut Oh, God… Did he want me dead?! Was this man taking me to one of those industrial rooms all covered with plastic foil to kill me and dispose of my body afterward?!