UNDER HIS RULES

Bella shivered in her sleep. Despite being covered with a thick blanket, the pain throughout her body prevented her from moving much. How could she have had a peaceful night’s sleep? Every time she remembered how Beatrice had acted, she felt the urge to beat the woman once again. Her carefully planned scheme had fallen apart.

Even her cunning attempts to gain sympathy from Sam were no longer effective. In the past, it was so easy for her to divert Sam’s attention from other women. But now? Not only did he avoid looking at her, he rarely even glanced at other women.

And who was to blame for all this?

Beatrice!

Yes! That girl was like a leech and filth that she desperately wanted to get rid of. Unfortunately, getting rid of Beatrice wasn’t easy.

“Damn it!!!” Bella cursed, unable to accept it. “I won’t stay silent, Beatrice. I won’t! You bitch!!!” she yelled loudly.

Nevertheless, she winced again because of the pain on the corner of her injured lip.

Her bedroom door was suddenly opened, revealing two familiar individuals who often roamed around Sam’s house: Zein and Mateo. They couldn’t enter without orders. Behind them stood Eland, looking at Bella cynically.

Bella immediately got up, disregarding the pain that struck her legs. With unsteady steps, she approached the despised figure. As soon as they were close enough, she delivered a slap.

“You bastard!”

Eland moved his cheek slowly. It was quite painful to receive a morning slap from Bella. He had wanted to do good this morning because his principle was that doing good would bring goodness. But unfortunately, this girl couldn’t be shown even the slightest bit of mercy. So, what he did now was to grab her by the hair.

Firmly. Regardless of Bella’s cries of pain.

“Don’t be disrespectful to me, Anabella,” he whispered right by her face. He pressed Bella’s body against the wall not far from them.

“Being a bastard once means you’re always a bastard, Eland!” Bella retorted. Ignoring the pain, she was enduring as long as she satisfied herself by insulting Eland.

“You two, leave,” Eland hissed at the two people who were still standing, waiting for orders. Without many words, they immediately left. Closing the bedroom door and locking it. The click sound indicated that there would be no disturbance in this room. This made Eland grin with satisfaction.

“It’s just you and me, Bella.” Eland loosened his grip slightly. Bella took the opportunity to spit at Eland. Then the woman laughed contentedly.

“Do you think I’m afraid?”

Eland scoffed. He wiped off Bella’s saliva and immediately lunged at her without warning. Regardless of the punches Bella landed on his back and face, Eland continued to advance until they both fell onto the bed.

“I can’t wait to make you regret this, Bella.” In one swift motion, he tore apart the nightgown Bella had worn the previous night. It ripped on the right side due to Eland’s actions. The man sniffed the scent of the clothing and the perfume that clung to it. “Hmm… very typical of AnaBella. I like it.”

Bella grabbed whatever object was nearby to keep Eland at bay. Unfortunately, Eland was always quick to deflect her attempts.

“What do you want!” Bella yelled, glaring in disbelief. “Don’t be disrespectful! I am Sam’s woman! No one can touch me except Sam, no matter what!”

Eland laughed. “Is that so?”

Then he forcefully grabbed Bella’s hand. Ignoring her groans, especially considering her bruised face from their struggle the night before, he tied the torn fabric tightly around her wrists.

“Let me go!”

Eland didn’t care. Not only her hands, but her legs as well. He fastened each one to the end of the bed, where Bella was positioned in the middle.

“I won’t tolerate your behavior, Eland! Sam will make you pay for all of this!!!” Bella shouted loudly. “Let go, Bastard!”

“Let’s see if the Boss is willing to teach you a lesson so that your mouth won’t run wild again,” Eland, sitting right on top of Bella’s legs, reached for the phone in his pocket swiftly. The only person he wanted to contact was Sam.

“When will you join me?” Sam asked immediately. “Prepare the position.”

“I’ll leave in half an hour. The others are ready with their weapons.”

“Good. Why did you call me?”

“Can I have some fun with your leftovers?”

“Sam! Eland is being disrespectful to me! I won’t stand for it! Sam!”

All Bella heard was Sam’s laughter on the other end. “Do as you wish. Just don’t disturb Beatrice. Anyone who touches her, whether a woman or a man, will face death from me, Eland.”

“Understood, Boss. Beatrice is safe. I’ll leave, and Jack will come here.”

“Take care of it.”

Then the phone call abruptly ended.

Bella couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Sam, the man she loved. The one she had given most of her heart to. The one she had been with for almost three years… behaving like this?

“It can’t be possible,” Bella muttered.

“Why can’t it be possible?” Eland chuckled. “You seem to have forgotten where you come from, Anabella.” He then leaned down slightly and wiped the tears that suddenly wet Bella’s cheek.

“No… Sam loves me,” Bella shook her head softly. “It can’t be that Sam is like this.”

“Sam has never loved any other woman except one person. Only Beatrice. It just so happened that when Sam couldn’t control himself, you were there. When Sam was in danger, you were there. But what Sam did to your life is neither small nor simple. He has done a lot, Bella.” Eland ran his fingers through Bella’s disheveled hair.

“Forget about Sam. You won’t be able to dive into Sam’s heart. You won’t be able to separate them either.”

“You bastard!” Bella looked at Eland with contempt.

“Instead of using your mouth to curse someone you can’t reach; you better use it for this.” Eland unabashedly lowered his pants.

His member was fully erect, begging to be satisfied. “I don’t have much time, Bella.” He tugged at Bella’s hair slightly. “Suck. Don’t make me rough if you don’t want it!”

***[]***

Beatrice sat at the dining table, feeling listless, even though there was a delicious breakfast spread next to her. Somehow, Ute had cooked quite a lot this morning. Not to mention Ute’s smile that refused to fade since Beatrice had been here.

“Eat, Beatrice,” Ute said once again. “What time does your classes start?”

Beatrice sighed in annoyance. “How can I go to class when my body is covered in wounds like this?” She then showed her scratched hands and face to Ute. “My body is in so much pain,” she complained again.

The events from last night caused a commotion throughout the house. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Beatrice with awe. Previously, Beatrice had been talked about a lot for standing up against Bella, but it wasn’t like last night.

Beatrice truly showed her true self when provoked by someone else. Her anger was terrifying, and people thought she was just like Sam.

She appeared friendly, but unfortunately, hid a terrifying nature within her.

“Hey… Beatrice,” greeted one of the individuals who caught Beatrice’s attention. Her eyes blinked slowly, confused by the presence of this new figure whom she had never met before.

Ah… Did Beatrice forget or suddenly suffer from amnesia? She rarely left her room. Always under tight surveillance, even though she had no intention of running away. How could she escape when she didn’t know where this house was located in the Southern Part? Was it far from her home? Or was it in the city center?

She had only left this house when she visited the campus a while ago. Beatrice could estimate the considerable travel distance. Finally, she assumed that this house was located on the outskirts of the Southern Part forest. Then… how could she escape if she had to traverse the forest and reach the neighboring hamlet?

It was ridiculous!

“Oh, hey.” Beatrice forced a smile. “Who are you guys?”

There were four people near Beatrice, nudging each other and appearing shy. This caught Ute’s attention in the kitchen. “Oh my, you guys. You’re too shy to introduce yourselves. Beatrice has been waiting for you to speak.”

“Oh, right. Beatrice, the four of us want to introduce ourselves.”

Beatrice became confused. “Introduce?”

“Yes.” One of them extended their hand. “I’m Desi. I’m on the right side of this house. I usually help Ute or Sam with housekeeping tasks here.”

Soon, the others followed suit. At least Beatrice had new acquaintances besides Anne and Ute.

“You were really cool last night,” praised Aster, one of them who was now sitting in front of Beatrice.

“Really?” Beatrice was confused.

How was she cool? There was nothing cool about the conflict between women. It’s just that last night, Beatrice had run out of patience. Bella’s behavior had become unforgivable.

“Yes. You’re really cool. No one has dared to stand up against Bella like you did, Beatrice.”

Beatrice just smiled. She didn’t know how to respond.

Meanwhile, at the campus, Hera furrowed her brow at the message that had just arrived on her phone. Beatrice couldn’t come to class today, even though she was already behind on her subjects. But seeing the condition that Beatrice sent through a photo, Hera felt sorry for her. Somehow, Beatrice was so careless that she fell off her motorbike and got injured. It resulted in scratches and bruises on several parts of her body and face.

Although there were many things Hera wanted to discuss, especially her problems with her brother, her meeting with her brother’s girlfriend made her determined. If she had to find out on her own, she would do it for her brother.

But Anne said it was impossible. She still needed help. Considering that the person providing assistance was busy with many matters, she wasn’t too focused on finding out the cause of her brother’s death. It wasn’t a matter of a gunshot wound, it seemed. Anne informed Hera that something much bigger was overshadowing Tony’s death.

Don’t ask how surprised Hera was to listen to everything Anne said. It all felt like a dream and was unbelievable. However, Anne didn’t care much if Hera didn’t believe. In fact, Hera was asked to come to the large forest within the Southern Part forest. It was the house where Anne lived and worked for a ruler who held sway over the dark business sector and the glamorous world in the Southern Part.

Samuel.

Just hearing his name sent shivers down Hera’s spine. But Anne said that Sam wasn’t like that. He would help, although Anne couldn’t say for certain what kind of help they would receive.

Anne wanted Hera to meet Sam and persuade him a little to continue the investigation. Eland monitored Anne’s movements, even though the narrow-eyed man was rarely at home.

She didn’t want to deal with Sam’s trusted people. Although not as terrifying as the ruler himself, the three people around Sam couldn’t be underestimated.

“I wanted to ask her to come with me,” Hera complained. She put her phone away and prepared to enter the classroom. She didn’t realize that a pair of eyes were watching from a distance. After the girl she had been observing entered her classroom, the figure moved away.

The figure then opened the car door, which had been parked in one corner all this time.

“How is it?”

“Patience, Boss. I haven’t gotten in the car yet,” Hugo sighed. “Besides, you don’t need to worry about Hera. Eland has given a warning to Anne.”

Sam folded his arms across his chest. “You yourself said that we shouldn’t let our guard down. I’m not that old to forget your sarcastic remarks, am I?”

Hugo chuckled. “Boss, why have you been so easily offended lately?”

“Just follow my orders. Don’t mess up my plans today.”

“Understood, Boss!” Hugo prepared to close the door. “Head the car towards De Faux Mansion, Rul.”

Rulli, the driver who always accompanied Sam and Hugo, turned to confirm. “Boss?” Making sure that Hugo’s statement was indeed correct.

Not without reason, sometimes Hugo would blurt out their destination, causing Sam to be angry all the time. But Hugo never seemed to be discouraged by Sam’s anger. As for himself? He was always terrified because Sam’s anger was so frightening.

Why wasn’t Hugo afraid at all?

Rulli thought that Hugo had nine lives.

“Yes, Rul. This time, Hugo didn’t mispronounce it,” Sam grumbled. He then rolled down his window, opening the roof of his car with a single press. “Anyone who gets in the way, just shoot them.”