The Fiancé's Cruel Deception

I was kidnapped with my fiancé, Charlton Morris. In that dark, damp room, he was my hero, shielding me from our captors and whispering promises of safety.

After our rescue, he proposed in front of the world's cameras. But the fairytale was a lie. The kidnapping was a sham he orchestrated with my own father, a cruel plot to ruin my reputation.

I was just a pawn, a public pariah to make his family accept his true love, Giuliana. They humiliated me with a degrading video, had me committed to a mental asylum where I was nearly assaulted, and then discovered I was pregnant.

They forced me to abort the child I was secretly carrying-his child. They thought they had broken me, that I would disappear quietly with my shame after they had taken my dignity, my reputation, and my baby.

But on the day of their wedding, I sent them a gift: the preserved remains of the child they made me kill. Then, I burned my old life to the ground and bought a one-way ticket to London. They thought the story was over. They had no idea my revenge was just beginning.

Chapter 1

They called me defiant, a sharp-tongued socialite, but beneath the wild behavior, I was just Kiara Mitchell, a girl who used her reputation as a shield. Now, staring at the blurred faces of my captors, that shield felt useless. My body ached, every muscle screaming in protest as another blow landed.

The burlap sack over my head smelled of dust and despair. I tried to focus, to identify something, anything, in the darkness. My wrists, raw from the ropes, burned with every struggle.

A voice, low and gravelly, barked an order. I stumbled, dragged forward by unseen hands. My bare feet scraped against rough concrete, sending shards of pain up my legs.

The air grew heavy, thick with the scent of stagnant water and something metallic. A cold dread settled in my stomach. Where were they taking me?

A sudden shove, and I fell forward, hitting the ground hard. My head rang. The sack was ripped from my head, blinding me with a sudden, harsh light.

My eyes slowly adjusted, revealing a dimly lit, damp room. Water dripped from the ceiling, forming murky puddles on the concrete floor. Chained to a pipe in the corner, a figure stirred.

My breath hitched. Charlton Morris. The supposedly righteous heir, looking as disheveled and terrified as I felt. His perfect suit was torn, his face bruised.

He looked at me, his eyes wide with a fear that mirrored my own. We were trapped, two unlikely companions in this nightmare.

A man, his face obscured by a ski mask, approached us. He held a rusty pipe. My heart hammered against my ribs.

He raised the pipe. I flinched, bracing for the impact. But it wasn't for me.

The pipe came down on Charlton' s arm with a sickening th thud. He cried out, a guttural sound of pure agony. His body convulsed, but he didn't break.

The masked man laughed, a harsh, grating sound. He spoke, his voice distorted, "That's for your family, Morris. They'll pay."

Charlton glared at him, his face pale, sweat beading on his forehead. He gritted his teeth, a silent defiance in his eyes.

They left us then, alone in the cold, the silence punctuated only by the drip of water and Charlton' s ragged breaths. My earlier terror mixed with a strange, unsettling admiration. He was hurt, but he hadn' t begged.

Hours passed. Or maybe days. Time blurred in the dark. They came back, occasionally, to beat Charlton, to remind him of his family's debt. Each time, I watched, helpless, my stomach churning with bile.

Once, they dragged me forward, pinning me to the floor. My heart froze. This was it.

But Charlton, despite his injuries, surged forward, rattling his chains. "Leave her alone!" he yelled, his voice hoarse. "She has nothing to do with this!"

The masked man chuckled, "Ah, the protector. Very touching." He struck Charlton again, harder this time.

Charlton slumped against the wall, his head lolling. But his eyes, even through the pain, found mine. They held a silent message: I'm sorry. I'm trying.

It was a strange comfort, a flicker of humanity in the brutal darkness. He was a stranger, but he was defending me.

Then came the humiliation. They strapped me to a chair, my arms and legs pinned down. Charlton watched, his eyes pleading with them, but they just laughed.

They forced a camera on me, its bright light searing my eyes. My designer clothes, what was left of them, were ripped. My hair, usually perfectly styled, was a tangled mess.

They made me beg. Not for my life, but for... other things. Things that twisted my stomach. Things that made me want to vanish.

Tears streamed down my face, hot and humiliating. I tried to fight, but their grip was iron. My voice broke on every word.

Charlton screamed, a raw, animalistic sound, struggling against his chains. "Don't you dare! Don't touch her!"

But they ignored him. They enjoyed his rage, his helplessness. They enjoyed my despair.

After what felt like an eternity, they switched off the camera. They left me there, sobbing, my dignity shattered. Charlton was silent, his head bowed, his shoulders shaking.

I thought I couldn't feel worse. I was wrong.

They brought me back after a few hours, dragging my limp body back to where Charlton was chained. They had a needle, thick and ominous.

I struggled, but my body was weak, my spirit broken. A sharp prick in my arm, and a wave of drowsiness washed over me.

My vision blurred. Charlton' s face, etched with concern, swam before my eyes. He was saying something, his voice distant.

Then, a cold hand on my skin. Another. I felt a presence, heavy and unwelcome. A whisper, husky and unfamiliar.

My mind fought against the fog, against the violation. But my body was no longer my own. It betrayed me.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, fragments of memory like jagged glass. The metallic taste of fear, the heavy press of a body, the crushing weight of shame.

When I finally woke, Charlton was staring blankly at the wall, his face a mask of disgust. He wouldn't look at me. The silence in the room was heavier than before, filled with unspoken horrors.

A fresh wave of nausea washed over me. My body felt... wrong. Deeply, irrevocably wrong.

I started to cry again, silent tears that burned my cheeks. Charlton, his voice barely a whisper, finally spoke. "Kiara... I..." He trailed off, unable to meet my gaze.

I didn't want his pity. I didn't want his words. I just wanted to disappear.

Days turned into weeks. Or so it seemed. We ate scraps, drank stale water. We talked, at first about nothing, then about everything. He told me about his family, about the pressures, the expectations. I told him about my mother, about my father' s cold ambition, about the emptiness beneath my rebellious facade.

We huddled together for warmth in the cold, damp room. His broken arm, now crudely bandaged, was surprisingly strong when it wrapped around me. His presence, once terrifying, became a strange comfort.

He told me stories, silly anecdotes from his childhood, trying to make me laugh. And sometimes, I did. A weak, pathetic laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

We were survivors, bound by shared trauma, by an unspoken trust that formed in the darkest corners of that room. He was my protector, and I, his reluctant confidante.

One morning, the door creaked open, letting in a blinding shaft of sunlight. Masked men entered, but this time, they weren't carrying weapons.

They were carrying bags. Clean clothes. Water bottles.

They untied us, roughly. My legs buckled, weak from disuse. Charlton caught me, his touch surprisingly gentle.

"It's over," one of them grunted. "Your family paid, Morris."

We were pushed into a waiting van, our eyes shielded from the sunlight. The relief was overwhelming, almost dizzying. It was finally over. We were free.

But freedom brought a new kind of terror.

The van stopped, the doors swung open, and we were thrust into a blaze of camera flashes. Reporters, shouting questions, swarmed us. Their faces were a blur of aggression and morbid curiosity.

"Ms. Mitchell, did Mr. Morris protect you?"

"Mr. Morris, what were their demands?"

"Kiara, are you okay?"

My eyes darted around, overwhelmed. I felt Charlton' s hand on my back, guiding me, shielding me from the onslaught.

Then, a screen above us flickered to life. My blood ran cold. It was the video. The humiliating, degrading video. Publicly displayed.

A collective gasp from the crowd, followed by whispers, murmurs, and outright jeers. My face burned. My stomach dropped.

"Look at her!" someone screamed. "Disgusting!"

"The Mitchell heiress, finally revealed for what she truly is!"

Charlton squeezed my hand, his grip tight. He pulled me closer, his body a barrier between me and the judging eyes.

My vision blurred with tears again. The world was spinning. I could hear my father's disappointed voice, my mother's ghost whispering "I told you so."

The whispers grew louder, each word a venomous dart piercing my already fragile heart. "Whore." "Shameless." "She deserved it."

I wanted to run, to hide, to cease to exist. Every pair of eyes felt like a condemnation. Every flash of a camera, a public execution.

Suddenly, Charlton stepped forward, pulling me with him. He faced the cameras, his bruised face set in a determined line.

"This woman," he declared, his voice strong and clear, cutting through the din, "is a victim. She was subjected to unspeakable horrors, and I will not stand by while you publicly shame her."

My head snapped up. He was defending me. Not just privately, but publicly, in front of the entire world.

"I take full responsibility for her safety," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the reporters. "I failed to protect her adequately during our captivity. And for that, I will spend the rest of my life making amends."

The crowd quieted, shocked by his words. He was taking the blame, sacrificing his polished image for me.

A reporter, bolder than the rest, scoffed, "Making amends, Mr. Morris? What does that even mean?"

Charlton looked at me, his eyes filled with a raw intensity I hadn't seen before. He took my hand, raising it to his lips.

Then, he dropped to one knee. Right there, in front of everyone.

My breath caught in my throat. My mind reeled. What was he doing?

"Kiara Mitchell," he said, his voice resonating with an unexpected sincerity, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

The flashbulbs erupted. The crowd gasped. My world tilted on its axis. My heart, so recently shattered, felt a strange, dizzying flutter. He was offering me a lifeline, a way out of the public humiliation.

But it was also a trap. He was offering me everything, and I had nothing left to give but my broken self.

My father, Jermaine Lee, appeared through the throng of reporters, his face a mixture of shock and calculating triumph. He gave me a subtle nod, a silent command. Say yes.

My eyes met Charlton's. His gaze was unwavering, almost desperate. He needed me to say yes. For what, I didn't know.

My mind screamed no. My heart, however, whispered a desperate plea for escape, for protection, for a chance to reclaim some semblance of dignity.

"Yes," I heard myself say, the word barely a whisper, lost in the roar of the crowd.

A cheer erupted. Charlton slipped a ring onto my finger, a dazzling diamond that felt impossibly heavy. He stood, pulling me into a tight embrace, shielding me from the world, from the consequences of my own brokenness.

It was a fairytale ending. Or so it seemed. But deep down, a cold knot of dread settled in my stomach. This wasn't a love story. This was a deal. And I had just signed my soul away.

My father was already on the phone, his voice too loud, too cheerful. "Yes, the Morris corporation and Lee Industries... a merger of families, an alliance for the ages!"

Charlton' s grip tightened on my waist. His lips were at my ear, a whisper that chilled me to the bone. "You're mine now, Kiara. Don't forget that."

The words were a promise, and a threat. My stomach churned. I had just traded one prison for another.