A Cruel Start

The ever-busy and bubbling streets of C-city brought the entire place to life. The many sky-rise buildings, luxury cars, touristic sights, and entertainment spots ensured that the city remained busy day and night.

Soon, a luxurious vehicle pulled up and parked within a very grand 5-star hotel.

Lydia sat in a daze while checking her phone impatiently. Why meet now? She couldn't understand what was so important and couldn't wait for tomorrow. She tilted her head to the side and leaned against her chair while starting outside the window, deep in thought.

Anyone who saw her would instantly think that she was a goddess. She had deep raven hair as rich as the night sky and light golden eyes that could memorize anyone that gazed upon them. She was the exact definition of a beauty.

Lydia was deep in thought when suddenly, her phone vibrated loudly.

Hm?

She immediately snapped out of her thoughts and smiled warmly when she saw the caller I.D.

"What took you so long? I called you 15 minutes ago, but you didn't answer."

[Sorry your majesty, this one had to handle some business. So don't get mad, okay?] It was a deep masculine voice on the other side of the phone.

Lydia chuckled: "Fine; I'll forgive you. But I'm curious, though... Why did you let me come over without my driver? You know we are getting married tomorrow. So what's so important that can't wait till after the ceremony?"

[Baby, it's a surprise. I can't tell you now.]

"Fine. Since you called me here, then you better treat me for dinner later on.”

[Yes, your majesty. Anything for you. Why don't you come up now? I'm waiting.]

"Sure, I'll be right there."

With that, Lydia placed her phone in her bag, stepped out of her car and gave the keys to a valet boy with a charming smile. And as she walked, the staff and other customers started chatting about her non-stop. Particularly, two women who looked no older than thirty-five started whispering about her.

"AHHH!!!! She's so pretty... Why can't my skin look like that? More importantly, how can a small girl like this afford such expensive goods? Do you think that she's a cheap nightwalker?"

"Cheap nightwalker? Heh. What do you know? This girl is famous and is nothing like those nightwalkers.”

“Wait? Don't you know who she is?" The other woman shook her head in denial curiously.

Who exactly was that little girl?

The second woman opened her eyes wide and excitedly saturated all she knew about the girl. She was filled with the spirit of the Gossiping fairy.

"Goodness! I can't believe you don't know her. Well, you've been outside the country for too long, dear. That's the famous 28-year-old Lydia Hart, one of the youngest billionaires in the city."

"WHAAATTT!!"

"Shhh… Not so loud.” The other hushed anxiously, her back hunched and her eyes darting at her surroundings. “My dear friend. What you don't know is that she came from a poor background. I heard her family used to be so broke that they couldn't even afford three square meals a day."

"Really?"

"HMHM. It's true! But that's not all. When she became rich, she also opened another company and gave her boyfriend the position of CEO. And after they get married, I heard that she would also transfer ownership to him. It's said that their love is so strong that the boy once risked his life to save her during a car accident. My dear, everyone in the upper society knows of their public display of affection."

The other woman opened her mouth wide open in amazement: "How romantic! It seems that it's true love. But– Ah!...Shhh, Shhh…. she's coming this way! Act natural!!"

Instantly, the ladies turned silent and pretended to read magazines while the famous young billionaire walked past them towards the lobby front desks.

Lydia removed her large shades and verified her identity. In no time, the hotel staff called her fiance, Kelvin. And after confirming that he was indeed expecting her, they escorted her to the room.

Kelvin had already informed the staff to let her in since he was in the shower. Thus, after entering the room, she quickly made herself at home, sitting on one of the many comfy couches. And soon, it didn't take long before she was greeted with the sight of a handsome man walking towards her with a towel wrapped around his waist and another wiping his damp hair.

This man was her soon-to-be husband, Kelvin.

"I missed you so much, beautiful," Kelvin said while kissing her forehead.

"Me too. I can't wait for your so-called surprise. Is this a pre-wedding gift?"

"You wouldn't be wrong if you thought that way.” Kelvin smirked mischievously. “ Tomorrow, we will officially be married. So I wanted us to do something exciting tonight. And no. It's not what you think. I just want to take you out to my special place. But before we go, I was hoping you could sign our marriage papers now. This way, we won't have to do it tomorrow in the courthouse. I want tomorrow to be stress-free for you. So once the wedding papers are signed, we can just focus on our grand wedding in the afternoon. So baby, what do you say? 

Kelvin smiled charmingly at Lydia while looking deep into her eyes.

Heavens! Was he trying to seduce her?

She blushed, feeling moved that he wanted to do all this so she could have more free time tomorrow. The man was very thoughtful. However, something didn't feel right about it.

Lydia raised her left eyebrow in confusion. "Don't you need witnesses for this?"

“Pfft~” Kelvin chuckled. "Come on, beautiful. You know that when there's money, there's a way. So don't worry about it. I just want more time with you, that's all." He said while pulling her out of her chair before tightly wrapping his hands around her waist.”

"You!-- Your towel will fall!"

"So what?” Kelvin retorted shamelessly. “We will be husband and wife tomorrow, so what are you getting shy about? I'll see my body sooner or later, so what's the big deal?"

Lydia flushed even harder. "Well…. "

"Hush, beautiful. So what do you say?"

"Ok— Okay, okay. Anything that makes you happy." She said with a smile.

"Great!” Kelvin’s excitement couldn’t be contained. “You stay here while I get the documents."

With that, Kelvin took off speedily.

Lydia looked at him and smiled wryly. He must really be thrilled to get some free time with her for him to run that fast.

The air was so sweet that anyone walking in would have the illusion of seeing pink bubbles floating around Lydia. But suddenly, Kelvin's phone vibrated non-stop, disrupting the lovey-dovey atmosphere.

It vibrated for a while and fell silent for another, before vibrating again vigorously. 

Noisy. 

Lydia frowned. She wasn't the type of girl to check her fiance's phone, or anyone else's for that matter. But the constant vibrations were beginning to ruin her mood. She furrowed her brows in annoyance and decided to take the phone to him. But when she was about to grab it, like lightning, Kelvin was back on her side again.

He hastily took his phone and kissed her playfully before turning off his phone.

"Ugh. Baby, don't worry about the call just now. All these people from work are just so annoying. I'm with my soon-to-be wife. So how can I be bothered with them?"

"But what if it's important?"

"Then it will just have to wait. Today, I want to spend as much time as I can alone with you."

Lydia smiled happily, and the duo shared another passionate kiss. Her man truly loved her.

After sitting her down, Kelvin handed an envelope full of documents to her.

"Baby, don't worry. I've read everything word for word. So you just have to sign them. Look, I've also signed my part as well."

"Okay."

With that, she signed everything swiftly. She too wanted to spend more time with him before their wedding. And when everything was done and over with, Kelvin took the documents away and brought in two glasses of wine.

" Here, wifey. This is for you. After chilling a bit, I'll take you to the place."

"Good."

Lydia took the glass filled with white wine and took little sips from time to time while talking merrily with Kelvin. But as she drank, her eyes started feeling heavy and drowsy, and her entire body felt weak as if someone had sucked the life out of it.

What's going on?

"YOU!” She stared at her glass in disbelief. “Why?

~Bam!

She slumped to the ground, struggling to look at Kelvin, who was laughing cynically.

Quite frankly, he began to look like a demon from the pits of hell.

What will he do to her?

Her breathing became heavy with every heartbeat that drummed ever so loudly. And in her moment of darkness, countless thoughts rushed through her head in a flash, leaving her in a state of absolute panic.

Too late!

Her eyelids gave way as her mind slowly began to drift further and further. Lydia finally lost consciousness, with but a single question in mind. – Was this her end?