PROLOGUE.

"Mom, where's Daddy?" Adrianna asked her mother, who was busy packing their luggage as quickly as she could. 

"Why are you packing? And where is Daddy? Where are we going? Isn't he coming with us?" The little girl kept firing her poor mother with questions. But she did not even bother to answer her. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, and her heart was beating faster than ever. All she wanted was to leave that place safely. 

She looked at the old little room and absorbed all the memories she had had there. 

Then she paced towards her little Adriana and tried to pick her up, but Adriana wouldn't let her. 

"No, I'm not going with you, Mom! Not without daddy!" She folded her arms, refusing to follow her mother. 

Frustrated and scared to death, her mother grabbed one of her arms roughly and yelled,

"Your father is dead! They killed Daddy, and they are coming for us!" Tears filled her mother's eyes as she spoke. 

Little Adriana felt her body go numb.  She didn't understand what her mother had just explained. 

"I'll never see Daddy?" She asked. 

Her mother picked her up quietly, and with the luggage on her other arm, she made her way to the exit. 

But it was too late. 

They were there, men dressed in black with their boss who had a sinister smile. 

"Going somewhere?" The boss asked, then pushed Adriana's mother to the floor. 

"Please sir, let us go. Please,  I promise not a word about all that has happened would leave my lips." She begged while a little confused Adriana cried. 

"Who should we kill first, the mother or the daughter?" The man said pointing his gun between the both of them. 

"Oh, that would be boring!" He yawned. 

"Boys, make them face each other, then cut their bodies in pieces. Start from the toes, up to their necks. I want them to watch each other's pains." He grinned.  

The men did as they were told. 

The first cut Adriana got was on her wrist, the man claimed he was just testing the knife. 

He then proceeded to cut from her toes. 

Screams filled the air, blood flooded the room. But who would come to their aid? No one dared. 

Adriana's mother watched in horror as they cut her daughter to shreds.  

And Adrianna watched her mother's parts full the floor. 

It was too painful to watch.

But that was the end for seven-year-old Adriana and her mother. 

Or is it?

….

"Wake up! Wake up!" She felt a slap on her back, making her wake abruptly. 

"What?" She asked calmly. 

"Come, a lady is looking for you." 

The lady led the little girl to the office in the orphanage. 

Adriana has been in this orphanage for about a month now. She does not know how, but she just woke up on the streets after she was brutally chopped into pieces by those terrible men. A lady brought her to the orphanage, and every night, she would cry and beg them to take her back to her mother.

She knows her parents were killed too. She just wished they would come back just like she did.

The memories were fresh in her head.

And every night before going to bed, one thing rings a bell in her little ears.

"Revenge,"

The lady opened the door to the main office, revealing a well dressed lady, standing, waiting for them.

"Oh yes! She's the one!" The lady said the moment she set her eyes on Adriana. 

"What's your name, little angel?" She asked.

"Adriana," Adriana replied.

She could remember helping this same lady find her purse when she snuck out of the orphanage a few days ago. 

Did this lady come to report her? Oh, she would be whipped so bad by the matron tonight. 

"Can we start the adoption process immediately?" The lady said to the matron.

"We will start right away." She said. 

"My little angel. You'll be known as my daughter from now on." The beautiful lady smiled. 

******

ADRIANA'S POV

(17 Years Later.)

Feet tapping the marbled floor, my eyes were stuck on the stage.

I could feel a pair of eyes on me. No one had to tell me there were fathers. This isn't the time to return the look, though; I have a lot more on my mind, and I think it's safe to say he is the least of my problems at the moment.

Still, I couldn't help but shift my gaze to where he was seated.

His glare was worse than I thought, but who cares? Not me. Again, he is not a huge problem at the moment.

He's definitely wondering what in hell I'm doing here. He doesn't know things are about to get a little more intense.

I smiled at the thought of it.

I took my eyes off him and faced the stage again.

Finally, the moment I have been waiting for arrived.

The corners of my lips moved upwards when I sighted Raphael. He walked to the stage confidently.

He started with all the unnecessary stuff they normally say when giving a speech. I rolled my eyes, trying my best to avoid yawning or, worse, hissing.

Get to the good part already!

I said in my head, and I wondered if he heard me because his next words were

"And with that, I would like to introduce our new business partner, Ms Adriana Steele." The crowd became silent; they were all wondering who the person with the surname Steele was.

"Ms Steele will be the designer for our new Jewelry business. Ms Steele, please join me here." Raphael said.

I gave Father one more look. Everyone's eyes were on him since they had no idea who I was. I could see how hard it was for him to compose himself. Mom was trying her best to hold him in one place.

I rose to my feet, my hands caressing the silk dress that hung around my body as I walked to the stage and stood next to Raphael.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Mr Raphael; thank you to the Willinghams for trusting me with this project. And thanks to my father, Mr Christopher Steele, for always believing in me."

The once silent crowd was now filled with murmurs.

"Christopher has a daughter?" Someone said,

Again, eyes were on Father.

His face was crimson red now.

I bet he would love to dig the ground and hide forever.

Raphael continued talking about the new business plan that the Willinghams have.

But no one was paying attention to him, rather, their minds were on how Mr Steele has a daughter, and no one knows.

Well, here we are, I'm finally claiming my name.

I looked around the hall, hoping to see the Willinghams, who were seated together at their reserved table. Just as I thought, their table was silent. They were looking between Father and I.

I stepped down from the stage and made my way to Steele's table.

What is a gala if I don't get to sit with my family?

"You piece of shit, what have you done?" Father muttered under his breath.

I returned his words with a smile.

Mom's hands were on his; she was the only reason he was composed, or else he would've embarrassed himself by now.

I kept my head straight as the cameras flashed.

Father should thank me. Normally, at such galas and events, the only people who get the spotlight are the Willingham family. But here we are today. The whole press wants to talk to Mr Steele, all because of me.

"Let's leave," Mom said to Dad and then me. We stood up and made our way to the exit. The media men were all over us.

"Mr Steele, what is this? Is she your daughter, or is this just a scandal?" Red carpet reporter asked.

"Mr Steele, everyone knows you and Mrs Steele don't have a baby, and also you've said in so many interviews that you have no intention of adopting. Did you change your mind all of a sudden?" Another chimed.

We kept walking, trying our best to ignore the press.

Father could pass out any second. The thought of it made me chuckle.

The walk to the car has to be the most stressful one, even with the security personnel trying their best to push the interviewers aside. We managed to get to the car, and the ride home was smooth.

"You worthless little thing!" Were his first words when we shut the door to the living room.

"Christopher, please," Mom begged.

"Don't you dare Lisa!" He said. "I always knew she would be trouble! Look at her! Look at how she embarrassed me today!"

"Honey, she is just a child; please forgive her," Mom begged.

"A child! A child can't pull all that stunt! What do you want? Popularity? Well, you've gotten it." He barked.

What could I do but smile?

"Now you've gotten the little attention you want, right? You know what you're gonna do tomorrow? I'm going to call a press meeting, I know those brats will be waiting outside anyway. You are going to come down and deny being my daughter, okay?" He was fuming.

"Honey, this is wrong. Think about how she'll feel, please," Mom said.

"I don't care about how she'll feel! Did she care about how I would feel before doing what she did?"

"She's your daughter!"

"She's not my daughter for the last time! She is not my daughter! You adopted her. I never wanted the adoption. I only signed the papers for your sake, and I remember stating clearly that she can live with us and get all the luxuries, but no one should ever know!" He took his tie off and stomped towards the stairs.

"You want your hands in my money, don't you? I promise you won't get what you want!" He added before ascending the stairs.

"Adriana, my love, please don't take his words personal, you know how he can be," Mom said, wrapping her arms around me.

"It's okay, Mom, just go to him. I'm fine," I assured her.

She took a few minutes, thinking whether to go after him or stay with me.

I assured her again that I'll be fine. Only then did she race up the stairs and straight to their room.

I felt guilty for the position I've put her in, but then, it's what needs to be done. It won't last, I promise.

.

I let out a relieved sigh when my back hit the surface of my bed.

What the heck? I never thought such fancy galas would be this stressful.

Mustering the little energy left in me, I reached to my feet and loosened the straps of my heels and then threw them across the room.

I lay back in silence, thinking about my next step.

The noise from my vibrating phone is what made me realize that I had fallen asleep.

I picked up without paying much attention to the caller ID.

"Hello?" I grumbled.

"Ms Steele," I rolled my eyes at the sound of Raphael's voice.

"In bed already? You didn't mind calling and saying a little, you know, thanks for the effort I made."

On a normal day, I'd just hang up on him, but now, he's my biggest key to success.

"Raphael, I'm exhausted, but you know I appreciate your efforts. And by the way, I am paying for the service. It's not a favour." I said.

I could hear him chuckle.

"That reminds me, I did a great job today. Why don't you send something." I've already settled this gasbag!

"Raphael, is it that the Willinghams don't pay you enough as their special advisor and personal assistant?"

"Do you want me to abort the mission and focus on my loyalty to the Willinghams? I could do that, you know?"

Sneaky asshole.

"I'm not sending a dime, not until I hear the progress of the mission," I said.

It was getting hot in here,

I stood up from my bed and started taking my dress off.

I need to breathe!

"As we speak now, Mr Willingham has agreed to my idea of getting you married to his oldest son."

A smile crept on my face, I had to swallow the excitement in my voice before speaking.

"Good. I'm glad you are taking your job seriously." I said.

"As we speak now, you will be meeting with your husband-to-be tomorrow for lunch, you know, to get to know each other."

This is great. The joy of getting results is one of my favorite things on earth.

"But you know, all that can change with just a few words from me," He said.

Greedy ass.

"I'll send you the money, Raphael. No need for the pathetic threats," I said, then hung up.

With my dress occupying a spot on the floor, I hopped back to my bed, my thoughts running wild.

"Meet my husband-to-be tomorrow."

Nice.