CHAPTER 5

However, Flora's assumption was wrong. Devon instead stepped inside with tears seeping down his cheeks. The gentle man knelt on the bathroom floor, then pulled Flora from Vanessa's arms into his own warm embrace.

"Flo..." Devon's voice was hoarse, choked by an extraordinary tightness in his chest. "Forgive me... Forgive me because I failed to protect you that night."

Flora sobbed heavily against Devon's chest, gripping the man's shirt tightly in despair. "Devon... I am already dirty... our wedding must—"

"No, Flo. Our wedding will still go on," Devon cut her off firmly. He tightened his embrace, burying his face in Flora's hair. "I love you, not just for your physical purity. Tomorrow, we will still stand at the altar and bind our vows. I accept you as you are."

Flora cried tears of emotion in Devon's embrace, feeling saved by the extraordinary sincerity of her groom-to-be.

The sincerity that Devon showed in front of Flora turned out to be the exact opposite of his shattered soul. The vision that the woman he so deeply loved had been touched, violated, and brutally claimed by Arthur Sterling kept looping in his brain, triggering a sense of worthlessness as a man.

That night, for the first time in his life, Devon, who was known as a good man and rarely ever touched alcohol, stepped inside a noisy and dimly lit nightclub in a corner of Manhattan.

"Give me the strongest one!" Devon ranted to the bartender.

The bartender nodded silently, then slid a glass filled with dense amber alcohol in front of Devon. The completely frustrated Devon immediately snatched the glass and downed its contents in a single gulp. The first glass, the second, up to the third glass moved quickly to his stomach.

However, moments after the third glass was finished, Devon suddenly felt something wrong with his body.

His breath suddenly felt heavy and suffocating. His heart raced frantically with an extremely severe beat. A strange and thick wave of heat suddenly burned through his entire bloodstream, spreading quickly and centering at his groin, which was now hardening tightly in an unnatural way. Devon's vision blurred, his world spun, and all of his strength was suddenly paralyzed.

As Devon began to groan from the heat on the bar stool, a soft hand suddenly touched his shoulder.

Vanessa.

"Oh my god, Devon? What are you doing here?" Vanessa asked with a facial expression that looked highly shocked. She immediately wrapped her arm around Devon's body, which was already burning hot and limp.

"V-Vanessa... my body... is strange..." Devon ranted hoarsely with hitched breaths, trying to resist the pull, but his consciousness was already on the brink.

"You are heavily drunk, Dev. Come on, I'll take you back to your apartment before you pass out here," Vanessa whispered in a highly anxious and caring tone of voice.

Beneath Vanessa's support, Devon, who had already lost control over his body's nerves, could only helplessly let himself be guided out of that noisy place, into a taxi, until finally they arrived at Devon's luxury apartment unit.

Once they arrived at the apartment, Vanessa supported Devon's limp body onto the king-size bed. Devon collapsed on his back with racing breath and sweat soaking his forehead due to the heat torturing his body.

Vanessa stood at the edge of the bed. Slowly, the anxious look on her face vanished, replaced by a cunning, satisfied smile as she stared at Devon's helpless, handsome face.

"If only you had chosen me from the very beginning, Dev... None of this mess would have ever happened."

 Vanessa showed her true colors. She was the main mastermind behind what happened to Flora, and now Devon.

"Tonight... I will make you mine," Vanessa whispered coldly.

Vanessa crawled up and caged Devon's body. Her hands moved to unbutton Devon's shirt one by one, exposing the man's broad chest, which felt extremely hot.

Vanessa smiled in satisfaction. "Dev, you know, I am the one who had Flo raped that night. I was the one who ordered it," she whispered softly to Devon. Devon, who no longer had full consciousness, did not understand what Vanessa was saying.

"And tonight, it's my turn to take Devon." She began to gently stroke Devon's handsome face.

Vanessa's touch instantly ignited Devon's passion, which was already on the brink. Devon groaned heavily, then slowly opened his eyelids, which felt extremely hot and heavy.

His blurred and chaotic vision made the reflection of Vanessa's face in front of him suddenly turn into the figure of the woman he loved so deeply.

"Honey... you came?" Devon whispered hoarsely, reaching out his hand to stroke Vanessa's cheek.

Vanessa smiled triumphantly. "Yes, I came, Honey..."

"Don't worry... whatever happens, I will still marry you. I love you, Flo," Devon groaned, thinking the woman on top of his body was Flora.

Even though there was a burst of disappointment in her heart because Devon kept calling Flora's name, Vanessa did not care. To her, physical possession tonight was the absolute weapon to trap this man later.

"Yes, we will get married as soon as possible, Devon... I love you too," Vanessa whispered right in front of Devon's face.

Hearing that answer, Devon, who thought he was with Flora, immediately pulled the back of Vanessa's neck. He devoured the woman's lips ravenously, wildly, and full of passion.