Prologue

"Where are you? I've been here for a while now," Samantha asked over the phone to her best friend Harriet.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but I can't go anymore," Harriet stated.

Samantha frowned. "What? Why?" she asked, raising her voice due to the background noise. "You promised to come with me to celebrate my birthday."

"I'm really sorry, Sam. My dad called me suddenly and said he wanted me to have dinner with him and my Mom. You know I can't say no to my dad, right?" Harriet apologetically said.

Harriet, her best friend, has been living on her own since she was 18. Unlike her, who still lives in the same house with her mother.

She let out a sigh. "Fine, but you have to make it up to me," Samantha says, her voice a little disappointed.

"I will, I promise. And I will treat you the next time we hang out. I'll buy you everything you want."

Harriet's words made her grin. "That's a promise?"

Harriet laughed on the other end of the line. "That's a promise. Alright, I gotta go. My parents are waiting for me. Happy Birthday, Sammy!" And before she could respond, Harriet had already hung up.

Samantha did nothing but shake her head.

Harriet was terrified of her parents, and she knew it. Harriet always reminds her that her parents are her King and Queen, and she is only a servant who does everything they say.

Samantha's mother, thankfully, is not like that. Her mother encourages her in all she pursues in life. Her mother would totally back her until her actions had disastrous consequences for her and others.

"Cosmo, please," she ordered the bartender, who promptly obliged.

She peered around the pub while waiting for her ordered drink.

Messy, loud, and packed. The club was filled with a variety of individuals. People of various ages, many of them are flirting, looking for someone to warm their nights.

"Can I sit here?"

Samantha turned to face the source of the voice, and she found a man smiling at her with a warm smile on his lips.

She fixed her gaze on him. The guy is pretty attractive, the type that will appeal to her. His height is average, but he appears to be a little taller than she is. His skin is white, and he has two dimples that are visible now that he is smiling.

"Miss?" the stranger demanded once more.

Samantha frowned as she glanced at the stranger.

The stranger began by repeating what he had said and pointing to the stool near her. "I am asking if I can sit here?"

She nodded, as if she had only heard what the man had said. "Sure," she replied, then averted her gaze.

"Thank you," the stranger said, and she just nodded in response.

She must have appeared foolish because the stranger's lips couldn't stop smiling while looking at her.

"Here's your Cosmo," the bartender said as he placed the drink she had requested in front of her.

Samantha thanked the bartender and was about to drink when the stranger next to her spoke again, leading her to return her gaze to him.

The stranger stared at her and said, "Cosmo. Good taste."

While looking at her, the smile on his lips did not fade.

She cocked her brow at the stranger. "Are you trying to flirt with me?"

The stranger said to the bartender in front of them, "Snake Bite for me, please." After ordering a drink, the stranger returned her gaze; this time, he wasn't just smiling innocently. Instead, he was already smiling lopsidedly at her. "Do I sound like I'm trying to flirt with you?"

She simply shrugged. "I'm not sure, which is why I'm asking," she said as she sipped her drink.

The man laughed slightly before reaching out one of his hands, his friendly smile returning. "I'm Daniel."

She didn't want to appear rude, and the guy appeared to be harmless, so she took his hand and said, "Samantha."

***

Samantha awoke from a deep sleep when the warm rays of the sun kissed her face.

She muttered in frustration and covered her eyes with her arm. She was ready to fall asleep again when she felt a hot breath hit her neck.

Her eyes remained closed, but her brow furrowed. She waited a few minutes for that heated breath to go away, but it didn't.

That's why she cautiously lifted her arm from her eyes, opened her eyes, and turned to the other side of the bed, where the hot breath was coming from. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open when she noticed a man sleeping soundly by her side. And the man was the source of the hot breath on her neck.

Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the man beside her. "What the hell..."

She lowered her gaze. The man's arm was resting on her stomach. One of his legs was also lying on her leg.

"What the fuck happened?" she exclaimed, stunned yet softly.

She returned her gaze to the man next to her. She remembered what had happened the more she stared at the stranger's face. She checked her body, which was wrapped in a white blanket, to make sure what she was recalling was correct. When she saw she didn't have a single cover on her body, her eyes widened even more.