"Ms. Ashley, you're finally here." A bespectacled man in formal attire greeted her with a slight bow. His smile, tough gentle, and innocuous, couldn't mislead Ashley.
At one glance she knew who it was. Damon, Ambrose Lockhart's right-hand man. The man who had committed all sorts of sins for his Boss. To have a guess, the number of people he had murdered amounted to no less than a hundred. And that's not accounting for the inhuman torture, and blackmailing he did at Boss's bidding.
To have a right hand man as vicious as him, one could only imagine the level of ruthlessness the great Devil Ambrose Lockhart carried in his soul.
"President Lockhart has been waiting for you." Following the lines of the novel, he reminded her next.
Uptil this point things looked civil. He was respectable and genial. But Ashley knew for a fact that all it would take was one word of disrespect for his Boss and things would go South.
That's how things proceeded in the original novel.
However that's not hoe she wanted to take things.
Ignoring her throbbing heart, Ashley put on a smile and replied. "Then we shouldn't keep him waiting for long."
Damon, totally not expecting her cooperation was stunned for a moment. "I might have made a misjudgment here."
"What does Mr. Damon means?"
"Ms. Ashley is really a brave person." He commented before werai g an inquisitive look.. "I hope the guards we had dispatched to escort you here didn't inconvenience you?"
Ashley ryebrow twitched.
Escort? Was that even the right word? They freaking shoved her in a black van and threw guns on her face if she screamed. How can this conveniently be called as escorting?
Never mind her internal turmoil, Ashley wore a cool expression.
"What's there to be scared of? I understand President Ambrose's position and the need for confidentiality. If anything, I'm flattered to have caught his attention."
Scared her ass! The original female lead was scared shitless arriving here with a snotty nose and teary eyes. And who the fuck would not be when you are kidnapped in broad daylight by a group of men with bulging muscles and guns?
It was only because Ashley knew of this beforehand that she could maintain her calm.
Damon's smile had a hint of approval. "This good. This way, we'll have it easy for everyone. Alright, Ms. Ashley, follow me then." He guided her to an exclusive elevator.
Ashley obliged while hiding her trembling hands behind her back.
In the original writing, President Ambrose coincidently witnessed Ashley sing when he was passing by one of his subsidiaries. The moment her voice fell into her ears, he was mesmerized by her. However, he wasn't someone who went by the norms of society.
If he wanted someone, he would have her. Forgoing the formalities of pursuing women in a normal respectable way, he would have her dragged and served before him.
That was how Ashley ended up being escorted by a horde of dangerous-looking black-clad men to his residence. And now being escorted by his right-hand man to the Devil's lair.
Anyhow, that was the premise of the original novel.
With an original female lead.
The thing is. The person here was not the original Ashley.
Fuck! She was an unfortunate reader who happened to badmouth the author for writing such a fucked up novel in a moment of fury. How could have she known the Gods would punish her by transmigrating her into the novel right after she vowed to castrate the Male Lead if she happened to be the Female Lead?
Whoever was responsible for her misfortune, did he not know that the words said in the heat of the moment are not to be taken seriously?
And the most fucked up thing was she transmigrated after the moment she had already had the fateful encounter with the crazy ML that sealed her fate. If she could have arrived a few hours earlier, she could have avoided everything.
But no.
It was as if the universe conspired to teach her a lesson.
Ashley had already gone through the five stages of grief after closing herself in the studio's storeroom. She had already accepted her fate and decided to move on. But when the moment arrived for her to meet the Devil in person, the Devil about whom she had read those fucked up things he did, she couldn't hide her tremors.
"Ms. Ashley, is everything alright?" The smiling murderer inquired politely.
Ashley smiled at him doing her best to pass it off as a natural, relaxed one but it came out quite strained and ugly. "Everything's fine."
Yeah! Totally fine.
I'm going to get fucked up by your Boss, figuratively and literally. What could possibly be wrong?
Damon looked at her for a few seconds appearing to be contemplating something before he slowly opened up. "Ms. Ashley, actually forgive me for my intrusion but as my job required I ran a background check on you." He paused noting Ashely's expression and finding her unsurprised, he continued slowly. "I understand you are an honest person who doesn't value material gains. You are also someone who holds by her rules and refuse to submit to force but here's a piece of advice. It's better to give up in situations where you are destined to lose. If only, it would save you from avoidable pain."
"I understand Mr. Damon. Thanks for your concerns. I'll do my best not to make things difficult for you." Ashley smiled at him recalling the original Damon in the novel had said the same words to Ashley.
With the original female lead who was a kind-hearted innocent flower, his words had backfired. She had panicked, hit him, cursed him, and demanded to be sent back. In the end, she was presented to the Devil in such a state, kicking and crying. Already worked up and ready to lash out.
Needless to say, the Devil who had an abnormal pattern of thinking didn't spare any effort to placate her in any matter.
In fact, her pitiful, crying state aroused some sadistic desires within him. The way the author described their first encounter had Ashley already spitting blood. However, for some fucked up reason, maybe her morbid curiosity, she didn't burn the book right away and continued to read.
'Ding'
They arrived at the uppermost floor.
"Please follow me."
Ashley gulped imperceptibly and followed suit. Soon they arrived before a magnificent door. Damon swiped a card and Ashley prepared herself for hell.