•CHAPTER ONE•

A wedding to undo..

Thump.. Thump.. Thump..

My heart pounded wildly as a crippling horror overwhelmed me like a cold flu. Trembling hands portrayed my shock and a headache from nowhere intensified the distress in me..

What is more nightmarish than having a shocking discovery exactly three days to your wedding?..

'Project Elysium relies on Adeline's DNA. Her rare gene is suitable for the creation of the apocalypse serum. All that remains is extracting her blood..'

Those lines in the letter I was holding echoed in my head like it had been read out to me..

I couldn't help being breathless..

"My arranged wedding is solely to satisfy the selfish intentions of my father in-law!!" I screamed inwardly in both horror and shock..

I knew my father in-law, Gerald Bills was a genetic engineer but... using my blood for the creation of an apocalypse serum?!!

"My life is at risk!" I mumbled breathlessly as the words he said to me a few weeks ago echoed in my head..

"My son, Xander, would be returning to California on the agreed wedding date and you'll be meeting him at the altar.."

I really thought I'd experienced the worst thing when my father betrothed me to a man I haven't even met before, but what is this realization compared to the betrothal?!..

"Adele?.." I heard a familiar voice say from the door and I quickly slipped the paper into my pockets, turning towards the door quickly.

As expected, Jemimah walked in. She was my betrothed fiance's younger sister and was used to shortening my name.

Was she aware of her father's plans too?...

"Hi Jemimah.."

"Dad informed me of your presence when I called" she said and with a forced smile, I nodded.

"Yeah. I came to give him the bill of expenses drafted by the event planner and since he wasn't home, he asked me to drop it in the letter box in his study room" I explained, trying my best not to show the hatred I'd now grown for their family in the last one minute.

"Oh, okay. I need to show you something" she said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the room.

"Your shoes got delivered already and you need to try them on" she said as we walked towards the ballroom located at the end of the lobby..

"Oh Adeline, all thanks to your curiosity to know what's written in the hundreds of letters in that box, else you wouldn't have known this!" A voice in me winced and I pressed my lips together.

"Dad had been so careless to arrange a wedding for me to marry a devil's son. This wedding mustn't be held!I can't lose my life to some deadly creation that's even dangerous to the world!" I thought.

"Zara heels as demanded.." Jemimah smiled as she pulled me to a seat in the room, unsealing the shoe box.

The shoe fitted me perfectly but I didn't like it a single bit, certainly because of my new discovery.

"You'll surely make a good bride Adele" she smiled, staring at the elegance of the shoes in my feet.

"Of course but definitely not to your brother or family," I replied within me.

"I need to get going now, I have to meet the fashion designer to wear my dress and confirm its fitting before the designs are being finalized" I said, getting up and pulling off the shoes.

"Oh dear, I would have loved to come with you but I haven't made dad's meal yet and you know the maids don't make his meals" she said and I nodded.

"It's fine, no qualms" my response contrasted with the 'I don't want your company, either' on my mind.

I left their house after forcing myself to give her a warm embrace and on getting to the parking lot, I wasted no time in driving out immediately.

My heart didn't for a second stop racing and I could feel my body shivering lightly at the dread the discovery gave..

How could Gerald be this cruel?!..

My best friend's call came in before I could dial her number and without hesitation, I swiped green..

"Babe?" I called in a questioning tone on hearing her sniffs.

"You aren't crying, are you?" I asked, driving with one hand like a pro.

"Frank is preparing to send me divorce papers" she said, crying out loud and I gasped immediately, forgetting my own problems for a minute.

"What? Why?" I questioned all at once.

For crying out loud, she got married just six months ago!

"He got pictures of my intimacy with a man" she said and I gasped again

"What?!"

"I was drugged I swear" she sobbed.

"When I got sane, I met myself naked but with no one around and when Frank came home, he showed me the pictures of all I senselessly did with the strange man. My marriage is about to be dissolved, Adeline. It was a set up!" she cried.

Her words sparked something within me at that instant..

"Pictures of her intimacy with a stranger could ruin her marriage?" I found myself saying in a whisper.

And immediately, an epiphany struck, causing my eyes to widen..

"I can literally sabotage my wedding too!" I gasped.

"Huh?.." I heard her voice but I wasn't even bothered by her words, all I was focused on was the idea in my mind..

"All I need to do is to fabricate similar evidence and find a way to send it to my so-called fiance who has never even bothered to communicate when I didn't, then this whole wedding is canceled.. " I thought.

Perfect!

"..after all, we haven't met nor grown feelings yet, all I did was to obey my dad by agreeing to the betrothal since I had no love life and because I wanted my marriage to improve my family's financial status." I thought again.

"Adeline, aren't you going to say anything" her words snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Oh.. uhn.. I'm sorry, I –" my stutter was interrupted by a sudden jolt that made my heart sink.

"Damn!" I cussed, throwing off my phone immediately without even ending the call.

I turned off the car engine and opened the car without hesitation, alighting quickly.

I'd been so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't notice myself driving out of my lane until I bumped into someone's car.

"Are you nuts!" a young guy cussed as he alighted from the black sedan car which I'd just bumped into..

I sighed, realizing the effect of the bumping. It was a glaring scratch on the car's pristine surface and the destruction of its full light bulb.

"I'm sorry, I was so distracted and –"

"So distracted that you stupidly moved out of your lane?" The tall guy interrupted and I rolled my eyes.

What the hell!

"I'm not stupid, okay?" I replied, scoffing at nature's decision to bless such an arrogant guy with such cuteness.

Other road users fixed their gazes on us and made me feel embarrassed.

"So what? You're dumb?!" he scoffed and I instantly got pissed.

"I just apologized, what more do you want huh? Stop raining insults like they are anthems!" I retorted, scowling at him and he scoffed again.

"Do you realize that you just ruined my car? Huh!" he yelled and I sighed.

"And I said sorry, what else should I do!" I raised my voice too. I wasn't a fan of arrogant men so his personality annoyed me.

"Pay for a new one" he replied quickly, almost interrupting.

I raised my brows.

"Buy you a new car?" I asked to be sure I hadn't heard him wrongly.

"You heard me," he replied with an unfriendly expression.

I scoffed for the third time. Was he insane?

"Where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money from? I'm even still paying my car's debt!" I said and he smirked.

"Does it look like I care? When you knew how weak your financial strength is, why didn't you drive like a normal person?" he bluntly spoke again.

"A mistake Mr. Arrogant, M I S T A K E!" I spelt.

"I can only afford to pay for its repair, I only damaged the front part, not the whole car, okay!" I added without any hint of soberness. He didn't deserve any bit of it after all.

"I demand for a new car, you can have this if you want" he said, pointing to his car.

I sighed frustratingly.

"I thought the number of mad people in the country had reduced already, why does he still exist?" I mumbled.

"I don't have such money" I said simply.

"Then sell off every valuables you have to pay" he raised his voice for the umpteenth time this evening..

"I can't sell my properties because of you," I said firmly.

"Then pay with a service, just do something!" he replied and I raised my brows immediately.

'A service?'

"Does he mean a nightstand?" I thought, remembering that men usually termed it that way.

Wait..

I gasped.

"Is this an opportunity from the heavens to get some pictures to sabotage my wedding?" I thought, widening my eyes even more.

Oh my..

"Do you do virgins 'cause I'm still one?" I jolted out of my thoughts and I saw his eyes widen.

His expression meant two things..

"Are you – " he scoffed. He didn't speak loudly nor yell this time.

"I'm talking about you working for me for a particular period of time" he said, clarifying his previous statement.

I bit my lip, mouthing an 'ohh'

"No Adele, you can't let this opportunity slide, you should use him for the scandal" a voice in me whispered.

I breathed..

"I can always satisfy your sexual desires. I'm fine with whatever number of rounds you demand for, that's the only service I can render"my lips moved before I could realize.

He stared at me speechlessly and feeling satisfied with his silence, I smirked.

"I'll take your silence as a Yes" I said, trying not to be ashamed.

Silence.

..and with that, I spoke again.

"Royal hotels, 8pm tonight. I'll be waiting at the reception"