Love and Conflict (Mpreg)✔️

Chapter 1

Liam stumbled slightly as he was shoved out of the van, his mouth falling open as he looked up and took in the sight of the obscenely enormous mansion in front of him. Expansive, beautifully maintained lawns lay on either side of the driveway he stood on, tall trees dotting the garden at neat intervals with the innumerable rows of neatly trimmed flowering bushes. In front of him, right at the end of the driveway stood a huge merrily tinkling fountain, a marble sculpture of a tall, cherub-faced woman holding an upturned, long necked pot at her hip, from which the jets of cool water gushed out.

The house itself was so vast that Liam couldn't see where it actually ended. It was all elegant cream walls, and gleaming wooden accents and sparkling panes of glass. A short, sweeping flight of steps led up to the front door that was broader than any Liam had ever seen, a gigantic, gilded brass door knocker at its centre.

He couldn't bring himself to focus on the awed, murmured discussion of the other purchases who stood around him, their hands bound at the wrist just like his.

A sharp order was barked behind them and Liam fell into step with his companions of the last two days - two days since he, along with them, had been bought.

Bought like he were a mere commodity to be used and disposed of at one's will.

Bought by the henchmen of the richest, most powerful, most feared, and yet most well-respected man in the country. Liam had heard that even those with the widest influence, government officials of the highest title, law enforcement officials, hell, even the president of the country, were all appropriately terrified of him. Nobody actually knew what he did for a living or how he was so rich, but people were vehemently loyal to him.

And yet, none that Liam knew had ever seen or met Zayn Malik. Well known for being an intensely private individual, Malik never made public appearances, not even for the charity events he regularly sponsored, the inaugurations of all the free hospitals, schools and orphanages he funded and had built, and definitely not for any of the lavish parties and weddings and social functions he was regularly invited to by the crème de la crème.

The majestic fronts doors opened with a soft groan as Liam and the rest of the boys came up to it and Liam held back his gasp just in time at the sight before him.

Marble, glass and dark, well polished wood, gleaming gold trimmings; grand, wide flights of stairs on either end of the unimaginably large room, the steps laid with a carpet in deep, royal purple; plush, incredibly expensive looking rugs and carpets, upholstery finer than anything Liam could have imagined; soft golden lighting and innumerable paintings and works of art that Liam was sure each cost a fortune.

It was unlike anything Liam had ever seen in his nineteen years, although given his rather less than modest upbringing and background, that wasn't a surprise. He stared around unabashedly with his mouth slightly open, not blinking even as he, along with the others, was herded through the room, their bare, dirty feet slapping softly against the floor, past sets of fine, comfortable looking sofas, elegant coffee tables each with a different flower arrangement on it, some with delicate, glass or crystal figurines.

Staff milled about busily and didn't pay them any heed, something for which Liam was thankful. He then found himself and the others being directed into another room, rather small when compared to the one he'd just come in from. It was a long, unfurnished room and he and the rest of the boys were ordered to stand with their backs against the wall.

One of the men, the one who'd driven them here from the slave market, came around untying their hands and softly told them to sit down if they wanted to.

Sinking to the floor gratefully, with his back pressed to the wall, Liam brought his knees up to his chest, rested his face on his arms, and wondered, for the first time since he was purchased, what was to become of him now.