FAILURE

DANTE'S POV

"He's going crazy." Adeline says pacing back and forth. Liam and I look at her like she's cray but I guess she has every right to be. She just scammed a racist, murderer and sex trafficker. If Adrian links all this back to her, she'll be in deep shit. Which is why she needs to get the hell away from that house.

"It feels like he's a time bomb just waiting to explode. I don't know if we did the right thing Dante." She says, talking quickly. She grabs a glass of water and downs it in a gulp.

"What's done is done." Liam says with a strained voice. He might be on our side but it's very clear how he feels about me scamming Adrian. It was easier than I thought. One of the images Adeline sent to me had all the information I would have ever needed to get access to Adrian's bank account which was really fucking convenient.

I walk towards Adeline and grab her shoulders to calm her down. "Look at me. You're fine. He doesn't know you did this. He won't even suspect you. But I want you out of that house, you hear me? You can't stay there anymore."

"I just have to get my things." Adeline says as she nods her head.

"We should act now." Liam says. "Before he has time to pull in money from other sources. We should use the evidence Adeline sent you."

"Working on it." I say cutting Liam off. How do I break it them that the evidence Adeline sent me contains proof of Adrian being linked directly to the sec trafficking organization? I can't bring that to the police. That particular aspect is my fight and I can't let Adeline or Liam find out about it just yet.

Adeline promised me she won't look at the photos she sent to me yet and from the look of things, she kept her promise.

"Let's just get Adeline out of Adrian's house first, okay?" I say and gaze intensely at Adeline.

"You'll be able to get out of there today, right? If you want Liam and I can come with you. Just to make sure you're safe." I propose.

"No, I can do this. I'll be in and out in no time. I just have some important documents at his place concerning some of my patients. Plus, I don't want you or Liam to be seen anywhere near his house. Adrian doesn't suspect me, so I'll be fine." Adeline explains.

"How are your parents holding up?" I ask her We'll wire the money we stole from Adrian to her parents' account for sure. We just need to make sure Adrian is out of the picture first.

"They're stressed. They were counting on Adrian's money so now they're really tensed about what happens next, but Adrian managed to assure them so they're calm for now. But I don't know how long that will last." She says.

"Okay. You get the documents you need to get and you get out of his house, okay? As for the black people there, don't worry. We'll take care of them from the money we got from Adrian when the time is right. We'll get them all out of there."

"I think you should hurry up Addie. Every time we waste is time for Adrian to figure everything out. We shouldn't underestimate him." Liam intervenes. Adeline walks over to him and gives him a warm hug. I have a bad feeling about this. I can't just let her walk into the lion's den.

As soon as she leaves, I'll send Liam home and I'll follow her. I can't let anything happen to her.

ADELINE'S POV

Once I get back to Adrian's place, it's very clear that the atmosphere in the mansion feels tense. I see Adrian's car parked in the driveway and my heart falls to my chest. I was hoping he wouldn't be home by the time I got back, because I snuck out again today to get to Dante's.

I try to keep myself calm and remember that I'm not a suspect right now. Adrian doesn't know about the contract and he doesn't know that I've been working with Dante. I compose myself and walk into the mansion, looking for an excuse to give to Adrian as to why I was out without my car and without supervision.

The second I get into my room, my heart almost falls to my stomach as I notice a figure sitting in the dark. Through instinct, I switch on the lights and come eye to eye with Adrian's angry face staring at me and in his hands, is a device. My phone.

My eyes widen and my heartbeat thunders in my ears. I completely forgot about my phone and with all the pressure I felt on me, I left in a hurry to see Dante and I left my phone in my room.

I knew it. I freaking knew it. I knew something bad would happen and this is it. This is my downfall. He's going to kill me.

"I hear this is the second time you're sneaking out like a little bitch." His voice tells me everything I need to know. He knows. I don't even know how he managed to unlock my phone because I have a password but he's Adrian Wellington for crying out loud. He must have gotten someone to do it for him.

I shake in my spot as I stare at the sinister look in his eyes.

"Adrian…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" His voice resonates in the room like a bomb and before I know it, he's taking long strides across the room and then his palm lands on my face with a sharp sound. I fall to the floor from the impact as pure pain resonates through me. It takes me a moment to recollect myself and realize the situation that I'm currently in.

He just slapped me and it hurt more than I thought it would. Except, he has no idea who he's dealing with. I regain my senses and pick myself up from the floor in not time as he tries to kick me. I dodge his kick and land a punch to his face.

"GUARDS!!" I try to run out of the room as he is taken aback by my punch but then two guards stop me at the door and push me back inside the room. The guards hold my hands behind my back and make me face Adrian's angry and bloody face from my punch.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Adrian screams and lands another slap to my face. At this point, I can taste blood in my mouth. I try to fight off the guards but there are two of them and only one of me. I try to remember all what I learnt from combat training but before I can make my move, one of the guards sticks a syringe into my neck and I feel the energy ooze out of me like water falling down a waterfall.

"That'll keep her calm for a moment boss." One of the guards says. Pain and confusion shoots at me from every nerve as I try to make sense of the situation I'm in, as I try to think of all the possible ways I can escape from here, but whatever those guards just injected in my body has made me weak and unresponsive.

"And to think I trusted you! To think I was going to give you everything!" Adrian yells. He picks me up from the floor and shoves me onto the bed. My head hurts and all I can see are blinding lights, and all ic an hear is the sound of Adrian's voice like a hammer to my head.

"You've been lying to me all along! You've still been fucking that boyfriend of yours and both of you stole my money! You even made me sign a fake fucking contract! I swear to God, I'm going to kill everyone you love. I'm going to make you suffer. You broke into my safe and you even made me doubt my guards! You have no idea the devil you just messed with Adeline! No fucking idea and by the time I'm done with you, you'll beg me to end your life."

He says and then in a second gets up on top of me in bed.

"I'm going to fuck you and then I'm going to dump you in the darkest place you've never seen before." He whispers in my ears. All I can do is struggle against the weight of his body pressing down on me. All I can do is scream and fight, but no one hears me. No one comes for me. He's going to rape me.

Tears fall from my face as he takes off my clothes and because I'm drugged right now, all my efforts to fight him off are futile.

"Get off me you monster. Get the fuck off me!" I scream but my body doesn't respond with the force I want it to. All I can do is lay down limp and watch him have his way with me.

"SHUT UP!" He yells again and then lands a punch to my stomach. I cry out as the pain blinds my vision. The punch he just gave me sends pain coursing through my every nerve. I no longer even have the power to scream.

Now I'm naked on his bed and all I can feel is pain and the sensation of his dick sliding in and out of me.

"This is how it should have been all along." He says as he pushes my thighs wide open and thrusts inside me even harder. Pain. Anguish. Failure. I feel a million emotions per second, none of which are good.

"I could have given it to you good Adeline. I would have made you my queen." He says and then with a final thrust, he comes inside me. His hot semen makes me feel dirty, worthless. It's hard to believe that in a matter of minutes, life as we know it for me turned upside down so fast.

I was with Dante a few hours ago but now he feels so far away. I feel alone.

"Now you're worth nothing to me." Adrian says. The drug is taking another effect on me and I feel like I'm going to pass out any time now.

He gets on top of me again and slaps my eyes open. "Look at this face Adeline. Because my face is the last you'll see. And my face is the first you'll remember when you wake up in a place you truly belong. I hope you rot. I'm about to send you to the worst place imaginable for a pretty and stubborn girl like yourself. You'll truly wish you were dead Adeline."

He laughs and it echoes in my head like gunshots. All I want to do is sleep. All I want to do is pass out and never wake up again. All I want to do is wake up from this nightmare, to wake up in Dante's arms so he can whisper to me that it was all a dream.

But it never comes. The last thing I see before I pass out is Adrian's evil face. And the last thing I feel is hands on me, carrying me to a destination I don't know of.

"Tell Veronica she'll love this one." Those are the last words I hear from Adrian's mouth before I drift into oblivion. I couldn't save Martha. I failed.