HOT AS HELL

FIVE. THE SECRET UNTOLD

Felix guided Bella to turn right, through a hall leading to a french door on the right that led to another, quieter and dreary hallway. Bella was doubtful and wanted to stop following Felix because it seemed like she was just being played by him. But then Felix stopped in front of the brown door and turned to look at her, who looked very tense.

“Mr. Liam is inside. Do you need anything else, Miss?”

“Erm... I need water. Can you take it inside?”

Bella felt sorry for having a bad prejudice against Felix. He smiled warmly at her. His dimples appeared on his cheeks when he smiled. Slowly, Bella began to feel comfortable around Felix.

"Okay, I'll bring you a glass of water after this.”

Felix left. Bella sighed loudly to get rid of the fear that crept into her heart. However, Liam was a bad man who had raped her and ruined her life. She would probably see another cruelty behind that door when she opened it to come face to face with the monster.

“Liam Carlos.”

Bella called his name a little louder as he opened the brown door wide. Liam was sitting on his chair, behind his desk. He looked at Bella and he had been waiting for her.

"Sit down."

“Where am I now?"

"Sit down."

The firmness in Liam's tone scared her. There were only the two of them there. Bella was afraid that Liam would rape her again like yesterday after she stepped into his study.

"I said sit down. Why are you still standing there?"

Bella wanted to be angry with him. She even wanted to kill him by strangling him, then tearing his face until it bled. In her entire life she had never been treated so lowly by a man.

"Why are you always forcing and threatening me?"

"Because you deserve it."

Bella walked into Liam's study stiffly. The corner of her eye tried to catch the view of Liam's study, which was very quiet and gloomy. The yellow lamp hanging from the ceiling couldn't light up the room. The old bookshelf behind Liam's desk gives the room a mysterious aura.

Bella looked at the photos of her family on the right side of the wall, all pierced with knives on the surface. A photo of his father at a party. A photo of his mother standing in front of a luxury clothing store. And a photo of Hunter standing on the balcony of his apartment holding a glass of wine. Liam was clearly spying on them all this time. Liam also had photos of Bella in various poses and different backgrounds. Liam marked the photo of Bella standing in front of the class with a red marker.

"What makes that photo special? Why did you mark my photo with a red marker?"

"Because I was going to kidnap you. You were in my plan, Bella."

For a moment, Bella thought that Liam was a very dangerous crazy psychopath. Bella suddenly regretted her decision to come with Liam just because she wanted to prove whether Hunter and her parents had really lost her or not.

"Are you going to kill me?"

“I won’t kill you. Your expression says you are afraid of me," Liam spoke calmly, as if he didn't care about Bella's pale face.

For a moment, Liam felt strange with Bella. Bella sometimes showed a rude and arrogant side in front of him, but on the other hand, she would show a weak and fragile side. Women are unpredictable!

"I want to go home. Let's make a deal between you and me,” said Bella, with a reassuring face. She pulled up a chair and sat down as if she was a tough woman who harbored no fear in her heart.

"A deal? It seems you're asking me to negotiate.” Liam gave her a deadpan look and started leaning towards Bella to intimidate her. “Alright, what are you going to offer for our deal this time?”

Bella gulped nervously. Liam's face that was so close to her’s made her heart beat so loudly inside there. Moreover, Liam's eyes were locked right in her blue eyes, making Bella suddenly lose the courage to make a deal with the crazy man.

"I..." Bella licked her lips slowly to reduce her nervousness. But instead of getting calmer, she became even more nervous when she saw Liam's eyes moving to follow the movement of her tongue on the surface of her lips.

"Relax, Bella. I'm listening."

“Please, let me go. Let me go back to my family. In exchange, I will not report you to the police for your lecherous behavior yesterday. You are free to do anything, as long as you don't disturb the peace of my family anymore. Let's just say that your revenge on my family has paid off after you raped me yesterday. I—"

"I can't let you go. You have to stay with me, no matter what. And about that grudge, I can't just forget it. I would only be truly satisfied if I had managed to wipe out Louise's entire family. They have to die and feel what I have felt all this time.”

He took out a large book from his drawer and threw it on the table. Bella flinched in surprise until she almost fell from her chair.

"Read it, and you will know everything."

With hesitation, Bella began to open the thick book while looking unsure at Liam. Maybe all this time she really didn't care about the condition of her family, which she always thought was odd. But she also never tried to find out. She just let all the awkwardness happen around her until finally a man forced her to see the reality in front of her eyes.

“Wwh-what is this?” Bella stuttered when she saw a photo of herself as a child, crying near two coffins.

The photo seemed to be taken from a local newspaper. There was a huge headline under the photo, Queen's Group heiress, Bella James crying over her parents' coffin.

Bella looked at Liam's face and the piece of newspaper alternately in confusion. She didn't know what to say to Liam. She was very confused and clueless about what happened in the past.