Vengeance

Chapter 17

Ava's POV

Ryan asked me for a dance. The moment our hands touched, I felt sparks all over my body. He led us to the center of the hall and I could feel all eyes on us. He placed my other hand on his shoulder and gently placed his on my waist. We staring into each others eyes and in that moment, nothing else mattered. Dancing with him felt so natural, it was just perfect. His cologne, on the other hand, was driving me crazy. 

Gosh, he smells so good!

"Aren't you too young to be getting married?" He voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked away, feeling a little upset. 

"Yes, that I am." 

"You don't seem happy about it either." He pointed out. 

I looked at him again and remained silent.
He swirled me around and then pulled me, making my back bump into his hard chest. My heart started racing as he leaned into my neck and whispered in my ear.
"Don't marry him." 

I shivered as his cool breathe hit my bare skin. 

He turned me around and pulled me back into his chest firmly. But this time, we were facing each other. His hand was gripping my waist, keeping me pressed into his chest. We were closer than ever. Once again, I was lost in those silver-grey eyes. His cool minty breathe and the closeness of his lips were making my heart race erratically.
His eyes left mine and were now on my lips and mine on his.
"He doesn't deserve you." He whispered.

"Yes, he doesn't." 

"Then why are you marrying him?"
I looked into his eyes again. 

If only you knew what I have been through. I wish I could tell you everything. But you are his business partner. I cannot risk letting you know why I have to marry Arthur.

I gave him a sad smile and looked away.
I regretted doing that the second my eyes met Arthur's. He looked furious. He started walking towards us and I quickly stepped away from Ryan. He looked confused but stiffened as soon as Arthur reached us.

Arthur pulled me to his side and held my back with a tight grip.
"Mr. King, I apologize for being quite busy attending our guests. We didn't get a chance for formal introductions. I'm Arthur Hunt, future boss of Hunt empire." He extended his hand towards Ryan. 

Ryan nodded and shook hands firmly. 
"Ryan King. But you seem to know that already." He said in his intimidating voice.

"Yes of course, our new business partner. Father seem rather impressed by you." Arthur said with clenched teeth and fake smile.
Ryan's eyes were on me, which didn't go unnoticed. Arthur turned towards me.

"I see you've met my fiancée, Ava." 

He is giving that You-are-truly-fucked look. Run for your life, Ava! You are so dead once this is over.

"Isn't she just beautiful? My fiancée?"
Arthur turned back towards Ryan, who was seemed calm and silent but his fists were balled and jaws were clenched. 

"Your Fiancée? I apologize but, I didn't see any ring on her. Who would miss a chance to dance with such a beautiful young lady with no ring to claim her taken?" Ryan smirked at him. 

Arthur was beyond mad. He was having difficulty controlling his rage.
"Well, she is. And now if you'd excuse us, I would like to talk to her privately." Arthur gave me a scary look and started pulling me away. 

I looked back, Ryan's eyes narrowed as I gave him a scared look.

Arthur had a painful grip on my upper arm and was pulling me through the corridors upstairs.
"Arthur, you are hurting me!" I hissed in pain. 

"Stop, leave my arm!" I tried removing his fingers from my arm but they didn't budge. 

We entered his room and he threw me on his bed. I lost my balance, my heels caused my ankle to twist and sprain before falling on the bed. I cried in pain as he pulled me up by my hair. He brought my face closer to his. The tears from eyes had started flowing down my cheeks.
"This is how close you were to that motherfucker, right?" His eyes were filled with pure rage. He pulled on my her again making me scream. 

"How dare you dance with someone else in front of whole world, when I had just announced you to be mine? How fucking dare you?!!" He shouted. 

I started crying even more.

"I warned you. Do not make a fool of me in front of others. Did I not?"
I kept weeping. He pulled on my hair more painfully when I didn't answer. 

I screamed, "Fuck you, Arthur." 

"What the fuck did you just say?!" 

"I said. Fuck. You." I spat on his face.
He was beyond shocked. His hands left my hair. Backing away from the bed, he slowly wiped his face and then started laughing like a mad man. 

Fucking psycho!

He suddenly stopped and before I could even blink his hand landed my left cheek. He slapped me with so much force that I felt warm blood oozing out of the side of my lower lip. My cheek was stinging. 

He gripped my throat and made me stand up. I cried in pain as pain shot from my sprained ankle.
"You shouldn't have said that, you bitch!" He squeezed my throat further, cutting my air supply. I writhed and struggled to loosen his grip but failed miserably.
My vision blurred and I started seeing black spots.
Just then, he let go of my neck by throwing me on the wall behind him. My back banged against it. The pain from the impact of my back hitting the wall was combined with that from my sprained ankle. I gasped for oxygen as I slid down on the floor.
He walked towards me and grabbed my hair again.
"You need to be punished."
My heart started racing in fear.

What is he gonna do to me now?

Arthur pulled me by my hair and dragged the 'screaming' me into his bathroom near his bathtub. It was filled with water since the servants are always ordered to keep them ready. I looked up at him to see an evil glint in his eyes.
I was instantly reminded of the incident when he had tried to drown me in the pool at the age of 12. 

"No, no, no. Arthur, please don't do this."
He laughed evilly. 

"Oh I will. With immense pleasure." 

"You're sick!" 

In answer, he just grabbed my head and pushed it into the bathtub. I struggled in the water trying to press against his hand but he didn't budge. He pulled me out again, making me gasp for oxygen. But before I could recover he pushed me in the water again. I tried to kick him and scratch his hands with my fingers. He pulled me out again. 

I screamed, "Hel-" 

But before I could finish calling for help, he pushed me in the water again. This time, the water went in my lungs. I started coughing into it. My vision started fading, until everything went black.