Becoming Her Billionaire Ex's Pet

Leaving

She had responded as coldly as she could, “I don’t want a boyfriend who’s bullied and too soft-hearted.”

Back then, she believed it was the perfect way to push him back to his father. Now, faced with the drastic change in the boy she once loved, she regretted it.

“I’ll do anything if you can clear my father of the charges and let him live,” she pleaded, aware she was asking too much but hoping he would show kindness for the sake of what he once felt.

With his agreement, Sophia felt a sense of relief knowing that her father would avoid jail time and their family would remain together. However, as he stood to leave, her father's desperate pleas echoing in the room, she suddenly noticed that her younger brother was no longer in the living room.

"Where is Caleb?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Bring the kid in," ordered the person who had been doing most of the talking.

Her brother was led in from the kitchen, visibly shaken but unharmed. His trembling frame reassured her, and she glanced around the room. The men dressed in camouflage, wearing masks, resembled mercenaries, while those in suits appeared more like they were there for a business deal.

"I don’t have all night. Sophia will be coming with me for seventeen months to settle Mr. Bennett’s debt. If anyone mentions this to anyone, we’ll return her body in an urn, and Mr. Bennett will be jailed for his daughter’s murder, fraud, and embezzlement."

Everything happened quickly after that. Her family begged for her release, but she knew deep down they were somewhat relieved. This was better than death; seventeen months of whatever fate awaited her was manageable, as long as she stayed alive. Her father wasn’t going to jail, and no one was going to get killed.

Reporting to the police would be foolish, especially with the risk of her being killed for their mistake. She knew they would wisely concoct an explanation for her coworkers and friends if asked about her absence.

She felt somewhat pathetic, thankful that they were blindfolded and couldn't see the expressions she wore.

As she followed Alex outside, she resisted the urge to hug each family member before leaving. It would only add to their guilt, feeling her warmth and knowing she could soon be dead and cold.

The walk to his tinted jeep parked outside felt interminably long. She briefly considered running—would he shoot her?—but swallowed the thought and stepped into the vehicle. Only someone with immense power could infiltrate such a secured neighborhood and abduct someone like this.

The car ride felt endless. Sophia occasionally glanced at Alex, who sat beside her, silent throughout the entire journey, either staring ahead or scrolling through a tablet until they finally reached an airport.

His once soft, boyish features had hardened over time, now giving him a strikingly chiseled appearance. Sophia couldn’t deny that his transformation had made him magnetic, though in a way that was both captivating and intimidating. His handsomeness was undeniable, yet there was something about his presence that warned of the dark, dangerous secrets hidden within his brown eyes.

As he reached over to untie the ropes binding her hands, his touch was eerily gentle, a stark contrast to the coldness she had seen in his eyes. After untying her, he stepped out of the jeep silently. Sophia looked down at her now freed hands and couldn’t help but wonder if these were the same hands that had taken lives. The thought formed a painful knot in her stomach, causing her to wince slightly before following him out of the vehicle.

She couldn’t stop herself from pondering what might have happened if she had never broken up with him. Would he have turned out differently? Perhaps he would have avoided this harsh transformation. But then, how could he have survived without his father’s financial support? Maybe he would have given up on his own, and that thought hurt her more than anything, the idea that he might have left her eventually, regardless. She sighed deeply as they walked toward the private jet.

Resigned to her situation, she soon fell asleep after the flight took off. Halfway through a dream that took her back to the days of their high school romance, she felt a soft warmth cover her body and a gentle touch on the back of her hand. The touch disappeared as quickly as it came, causing her to frown in her sleep. She snuggled deeper into the blanket and drifted back into her dream.

***

When she woke up, stress began to weigh heavily on her as the reality of what lay ahead started to sink in. Noticing that the plane had landed, her mind was suddenly flooded with all the thoughts she had tried to escape from by sleeping. She glanced at Alessandro, the man who had stolen her away from her life in exchange for her father’s survival and freedom.

As he met her gaze, she noticed a brief flicker of surprise in his eyes, almost as if he was caught off guard by the way she looked at him. For a moment, it felt like they were back in time, but reality quickly snapped back into focus as his gaze grew colder the longer she stared. Realizing the futility of her resistance, she looked away, accepting her defeat.

The drive that followed felt even longer than the previous one, and she closed her eyes in a futile attempt to fall asleep again. When sleep eluded her, she could only hope that the growing hunger gnawing at her would soon fade away.

His house exceeded all of Sophia's expectations. It was far grander than she had imagined, especially considering what was publicly known about his wealth. Clearly, one shouldn't rely on everything they read online.

She followed him into the house, and a middle-aged woman approached them. Alex gave the woman a nod before turning and walking away, his broad back disappearing up the stairs. Sophia couldn't help but watch him until he was out of sight.

"Hello, my name is Lisa. I'll be responsible for taking care of your needs. I'll have dinner prepared for you. Do you have any dietary restrictions?" the woman asked.

Sophia let out a sigh of relief and shook her head. Finally, someone acknowledged that she hadn’t eaten in hours.

"That's good. You look worn out from traveling," Lisa observed, her tone serious but lacking any genuine concern. "I'll show you to your room. Follow me."

Lisa led the way down the hallway to a different staircase. Sophia followed her upstairs, and Lisa showed her to a room. The room was almost identical to her own back home, which initially startled her, but with each step she took inside, she felt an increasing sense of comfort and familiarity.

"I'll let you know when dinner is ready," Lisa informed her before exiting the room.

Sophia didn’t have a chance to respond before the woman left. She headed to the bathroom to freshen up, considering it had been hours since she was dragged out of her house, and it was now well into the evening.

The closet contained only a set of pajamas, so she put on the comfortable purple silk two-piece. Despite her hunger, exhaustion quickly overtook her, and she fell asleep almost immediately upon lying down on the bed.

Alex's POV

When Alex went downstairs for dinner and noticed Sophia wasn't there yet, he decided to go check on her himself. He knocked politely on her door but received no response. Slowly, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Sophia was lying on the bed, asleep, dressed in the pajamas he had carefully selected for her, considering her favorite color from their high school days. He wondered if her preferences had changed over the years, but seeing her asleep in the outfit, he felt a sense of satisfaction for having made the effort to provide something that would bring her comfort.

He approached the bed and gazed down at her peaceful, sleeping form. She was still as beautiful as he remembered—no, even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her. If anyone had changed, it was him. He had transformed so much that he feared she would never want him back in her life. Yet, the plans he had made, based on what he knew about her, had not failed. She had chosen to sacrifice herself to save her father.

He couldn't help but think about what might have happened to her if it hadn’t been him who had shown up at her house to demand payment. Sophia hadn’t disappointed him; she had put herself on the line to protect her family, acting as a shield. Her love for them seemed even stronger now, more intense than he remembered.

As he stood by the bed, he reached out and gently touched her brown hair. It felt soft beneath his fingers. Every second he spent with her felt precious. Seventeen months seemed far too short a time to convince her to love him again.

He knew he was far from perfect, but the one thing that hadn’t changed since their breakup was the love he still held for her. If he could somehow get her to reciprocate those feelings, he would feel richer than any amount of wealth he possessed—far richer than anything the internet could speculate about him.

He leaned in, tempted to leave a kiss on her forehead, but he restrained himself. Instead, he carefully covered her with a blanket before stepping back from the bed.

The person he had become must seem foreign to her, especially given the circumstances that had brought them back together. But how could he stand by and watch her father go to jail, knowing he had been deceived by someone he trusted?

As he thought about the months ahead, Alex knew there was a chance she might hate him when their time together was over. But there was also the possibility that she could come to love him again. Everything depended on how well he played his role.

A nervous tremor passed through him. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to let her go when the time came. The thought of losing her again was something he didn’t think he could bear.