Chapter 8: Rogue Villa

***Six Days Ago***

The Rogue Villa occupied a property of about 4,200 to 5,600 square feet with an exotic garden and a massive heated swimming pool almost covering half the exterior of the luxurious building. The project was designed by an Italian architect, one of the top five most richest architects in the whole world. The villa had three floors, with one living room dominating the first floor, along with a fully equipped kitchen linked to the outside terrace. Two master suites along with two guest rooms, and a total of four luxurious bathrooms dominated the upper floors.

One of the master bedroom was designed to face the outside sea with a big balcony for an exotic view of the serene environment. Two additional windows were located at both the edges of the room to give way for more floral scent and ventilation.

A blonde guy laid on the soft mattress, face flat and buried into the white bed covers. He was not sleeping but rather ignoring the incoming calls coming through his cellphone.

An older woman unexpectedly barged into his room, yelling out his name “Nate! Nate!

He slowly turned over his whole body, now staring at the older woman.

“What did you do to Martha?” her face turned cloudy with anxiety and despair while he spontaneously dropped the staring to form a sudden sweet, yet irritating smile.

“She just had a piece from her own cake”. An innocent expression settled down on his face.

“What have you done to a nineteen year old, Nate? What happened to you? Did you know that she just tried to kill herself?” The woman dug into the eyes of her twenty six year old son, which held not even a hint of a remorse.

When did her precious sweet little boy turned into a monster? Why is he becoming worst than a self-centered bastard? The thoughts crossed through her mind as Nate stood up from his bed and moved closer to his mom. He took her hands into his, and softly rubbed the surface of her palms with his fingers, trying to get the whole of her attention on him.

“Mother, I know you are worried, but you need to trust your son on this one” he caught his mom’s eyes, still rubbing her palms and trying to exert his soft influence.

“That doesn't work on me anymore! I have developed an immunity to your mind games” She snapped out her hands and freed herself from the psycho, not willing to let him control her mind.

She feared him.

He was sick in the head.

He was turning into a stranger

A monster.

Knowing that he had lost, Nate quickly jumped back into his soft cushy bed and ignored his aging Mother, pretending to be feeling too tired and sleepy and as soon as he heard his door banged loudly, he knew she had left.

Later in the evening, the squad of five men had held a hot discussion by the swimming pool. The subject was a hot woman _ who would be the first to leave a mark of ownership on her, with evidences to prove that. It was not the first time they’d done that, but the situation was a little bit different as they turned out to be somehow caught up in a competition because four out of five members showed interest in her. And of course, one among the four with interest had already lost the game. But now… things were about to become impudent and brazen as the second squad leader himself secretly planned to maneuver the rules of the game to win her by all means. He felt attracted to her spellbinding beauty from the first time he saw her photo in the private group chat. Who’d be the smartest Casanova among the three competitors?

***Present Day Tuesday***

He sat into a swing chair, relishing his red wine and thinking about his hundred and one ways to entice the prideful model. He smirked every time he remembered the look in her eyes when he stirred her up unexpectedly. He was sure he saw a glitter of temptation and impulse which was repressed beyond her pupils that day. Now no matter what, he shall lure her to surrender her mind and anatomy to him.

***Time Skipped***

Lily stood at the front door of Anna’s room holding a vibrating phone and desperately waiting for her boss lady to open up. The waiting period lasted for about ten minutes before the woman eventually unlocked her door starting with “I told you I do not wish to speak to anyone, Lily!

“Its your Father”

She quickly snatched the phone away from Lily’s hand and picked the sixth round of call coming through.

“Appa!

She slammed her door on the young woman’s face…

“Ae Ra ya... Gwaenchana?” the voice spoke in Korean, asking if she was fine.

“Ne Appa… Nan Gwaenchana” She replied that she’s okay.

“Hwak-shirae?” (are you sure?)

“Eo… Jeongmal gwaenchana. Kokjeong haajima” (Yeah… I’m really okay. Do not worry)

“Khreom… bap meog-geosseo?” ( Then, have you eaten?)

“Ani… Najunge meog-eul kke” (No… I’ll eat later). The conversation went on for a few more minutes in Korean before they switched back to English. Her Dad had called for the second time in the whole of two months, to know if she was okay only after he had seen the viral tweet on social media. But despite his negligence, Ae Ra still loved him because she thinks that at least, he does not try to control her life and extort her like her materialistic mom does. So she feels grateful.

Just an hour after the call, Anna’s agency manager arrived at the Mansion. He has some good news to share with her but she was not answering his calls. Eric was outdoor when the man arrived so he led him into the sitting room where he sat and waited.

“Why are you here?” She spoke from the stairs, wearing a purple nightie.

“You are not picking my calls”

“I need to rest. Am tired of hearing bad news from you every second of my days”

“Well I brought you some good news today… The agencies are willing to proceed with our contract”

“What? Are you being serious?” her face revealed a shock

“It will be in our best interest for you to get ready and come down here right now”

“I’ll be down in five”

But then… It took almost half an hour before she showed up wearing a maroon colored dress along with a bright red lipstick.

“So, you were saying that the agencies agreed? All of a sudden?” She inquired as she majestically descended from the stairs.

“I cannot explain everything. But I think you have to meet with the man behind all this. You must thank him for saving your career, for whatever reason he did”

“A man?” Her thoughts figure out “Could he be my new boyfriend Jalan Marco?

“You should know better. This is the only piece I was able to get from the Chairman” He hands over a small thick card to her..

She looked at the details which was written: 391 Exo Island. Rogue Villa, Thunderberg.

“I’ll take my leave now” he rose to his feet and picked his top coat from the couch.

“Hold on… Do I have to go alone?

“That scary dude obviously shouldn't be your company” He points towards Eric.

A small laughter escaped through her lips after glancing at Eric who was monitoring every hand movement of the Manager as if his life depends on that.

“Fine. Take care on your way” She finally said.

***Time Skipped***

Her mind suffered under conflicting opinions thinking of either to text Jalan Marco and tell him about her meeting with another man, or to keep it secretive. She knew that it could lead to a whole new misunderstanding if she text him so why not just be secretive about it. Maybe it will be the best thing ever if she goes through the back to make another powerful connection for herself. Maybe her world could be better than it already is. The thoughts ran through her mind.

She was hardly able to sleep through the night thinking of who she was going to meet at Exo Island. She thought about so many things including the type of outfit she would wear, to have his attention all captured, and to possibly wrap him around her little finger. The opportunity was a golden one which could not be guaranteed to come even once in someone’s lifetime. So now that it came into hers’, she has to carefully plan for it to make it happen. She cannot risk watching it slip through her fingers just because she was dating one single billionaire.

Its never gonna happen!

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