Ares ran his finger through his head. The last thing he wanted to do was to snap at her for being too cold.

     "I should never had allowed you to leave Italy. You should be Mrs DeLuca. You should have been my wife. That's the one mistake I made, but I won't repeat twice." He looked upset and angry.

    Mia scoffed... "Never. I'm not the same girl you knew back then Ares. I changed. No matter what you say, I'm never coming back to you." Mia's anger matched his.

   His infamous smirk was back on. "I'll make you mine again pumpkin." He leaned closer to her ears and whispered a few things to her.

   Her mouth dropped open as she turned pale.

It wasn't possible he knew!!

    He leaned away... "Surprise." He smiled.

      "Who, who told you that?" Mia was still in a bit of shock.

     "I only did my assignment, don't get all upset my pumpkin." His smile turned into a complacent smug. 

   "You conniving bastard." She said between her teeth, fisting her hand into a ball.

    "Soon, we'll be together." He wrapped his finger around the lock of her hair. "You're so beautiful, it makes me wanna kiss you."

     "I'd rather kiss the devil than you arrogant sicko!" She snapped, swatting away his hand.

    Ares chuckled saying,  "Oh you will. Soon you will. You do know when we play pretense I love being the devil."

             "Universe, is he bothering you?" Ryan appeared beside her, looking straight at Ares.

     Mia jumped just by hearing his voice. "N-no." She stuttered.

    "And who the heck are you?" Ares eyed Ryan but still kept his smirk on.

     Ryan ignored him and turned to Mia. "You and I have a lot to talk about. Wanna ditch this party?" Ryan gave her the warmest smile. Just as she was about to answer, Ryan held her hand but Ares snatched it out of Ryan's hand.

    "Who the hell do you think you are?" Ares glared at Ryan.

     "I should be asking you the same question." Ryan raised a brow at him.

     "I suggest you buzz off and mind your business." Ares moved closer to Ryan.

     "Unhand her right now." Ryan warned.

He scoffed... "You must be crazy."

     "I don't repeat myself but for you I will. I said, unhand her." His voice was deeper and huskier.
   
    "Guys please, not here." The last thing she wanted was an audience. "Ares stop you're hurting me!"

   Ares looked down at Mia's hand, he was clutching unto it so tight. "I'm sorry." He released his hand immediately. "I didn't know, I'm sorry, so sorry." He apologized and seemed apologetic.

   Her wrist was already turning red.

     "This is all your fault douche ." Ares glared at Ryan.

     Ryan glanced at Mia's hand. "Does it hurt?" He could see the redness.

   "I'll be fine."

   "Let me see." Ryan said to her.

   Mia extended her hand to him.

    "What do you think you're doing pumpkin?" He asked and Mia withdrew her hand. Ares turned back to Ryan. "Don't you dare touch my fiancée."

    "Ex. Ex-fiancée so shut up." Mia corrected him sternly. "You know what, both of you should just leave me alone." Mia rubbed her temples as she walked out from their middle.

     "Stay away from my Mia or you and I would have a serious problem." Ares' smirk was back.

   Ryan's face was more rigid, showing no emotions. He gave Ares one last look before walking out.

    Mia decided after an hour that the party wasn't for her. She'd spoken to Nina, Ares' sister and also Mrs DeLuca. But she could tell that Adela DeLuca hasn't forgiven her for ditching her son because of the cold shoulder Adela gave her.
......................................................
     Mia made her way to the private bar to have something to drink so that she could calm herself. She'd just seen Ares and the fucking bastard knew about her secret.

     Why did everything become so complicated?

    Why? Why? Why?

   She had to drink to forget, at least only for the night.

    "Hey, I want the strongest you got." She told the bartender as she sat across the counter. "Strongest, got it?"

   "Sure thing." He smiled at her.

   She didn't care to ask what kind of drink the bartender had given her but she seemed to like how it tasted. It only took three cups to make her tipsy.

    "I love this." She giggled stupidly, taking her six shot.

     Ryan had looked all over for  Mia until someone told him she was seen in a bar. He saw her talking to the bartender who was obviously flirting with her.

     He walked straight to meet her. "Can you cut the drinking?"

     Mia turned to him in a groggy manner. "H-how did you find me?" She stuttered, pouting.

     "What are you doing? So you left the party to get drunk?" He frowned, taking a sit beside her.

   "No. Not today. Don't scold me, I'm not in the mood. Right now I wanna drink to my fullest, you want a drink?" She called the attention of the waiter. "Hey, get him a drink, same as mine. Okay? And more for me."

    "Right!" The waiter winked at her.

    "Universe that's enough. Last time you got drunk you landed in the hospital. I'm not taking that chance again."

     Mia looked at him. "Don't be a kill-joy. If you don't want to see me drinking then get the hell out of here, hmm." She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. The waiter arrived with two bottles of alcohol. "Mhmmm, this is so good." She got hold of a bottle, pouring and filling her glass. She was drunk.

     "What's wrong with you?"

    "Nothing! Just so you know, my life sucks right now. I need breathing space." She gulped down another glass. "Come on, drink up." She handed him a glass.

     Ryan sighed... "Wanna talk about it?" He sipped from his glass.

    "You'll get bored if I tell you." She scoffed.

     "Try me." He shrugged.

   "Hey, you're not gonna ask why I haven't been answering your calls. You don't wanna know?"

    He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't need to know. The important thing is that you're here now."

     "Since you don't wanna know, I better keep my mouth shut." Mia giggled like a child.

     "Now tell me, what's been going on with you." He asked, watching her take another gulp. "Can you slow down on your drinking? It's starting to worry me."

    Mia chuckled, placing her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "I think you should drink more."

     "So are you gonna tell me about... Ares?" Ryan asked her.

                 Mia dropped her hand, turning away from him. "Curious aren't you." She took a sip from her cup. "The bastard. Ha! Well... As you know, he's my fiancé, I mean ex-fiancé. Now, where do I start from." She sniffed and then exhaled.

      "Ares and I were not exactly friends but our families were close. The first time we met was maybe a month after my accident seven years ago. He was visiting with his dad. He was strolling down our garden and he saw me and blah blah blah. Then we started hanging out together often, God I was older than that guy! One day he told me he liked me but I told him he was cute and friendly. That's all. I didn't want to go out with a soul. I thought he was cool with us just being buddies and all, but I was so stupid."
✴✴✴✴✴

  Flashback... Six years ago.

    "Ares, how come it's so far? I told my mom it was gonna be at your place." Mia groaned.

    "Chilax we're almost there. It's my birthday, it doesn't matter where it's gonna be held." Ares told her, driving his latest Ferrari his dad had just gifted him.

   Mia pulled her hair soft brown chocolate hair up in a ponytail. "Eyes on the road." She'd seen him staring at her.

  He chuckled, turning to the road. "I like your hair down. It makes you more beautiful."

   Mia rolled her eyes... "Yeah right. Oh hey, is Stephanie showing up?"

    Stephanie was Ares' current girlfriend.

     "Errr. Stephanie and I broke up already." He hesitated to say it.

    "Really?" She looked at him. "What happened? You guys were so all over each other."

              "Well I didn't want to hurt her," he shrugged. "And I couldn't tell her I love someone else." Ares glanced at Mia. "She'd find someone else who would love her the way she is."

     "If you loved someone else, why did you date her?"

    "I thought I would forget about her if I dated Stephanie." He said plainly.

     "So who's the girl? Do I know her?" Mia asked casually.

    "No. You don't." He shook his head.

   "Is it Tiffany? I saw you guys together last week."

    "Tiffany? No! God, no." He chuckled... "Tiffany is not my type, she's too lousy."

   Mia laughed... "Thought I was the only one that noticed." She laughed and Ares laughed along.

    They arrived at a nice lake house mansion. To Mia's horror, plenty of people were loitering around... Drunk people.

    "Ares what is this?" She looked at the scenery. It wasn't what she thought. Her mom was gonna freak out when she finds out she went to a frat party.

    "My birthday party of course." He smiled down at her.

     "I wanna go home. You lied to me." Mia frowned, trying not to snap. Her short floral print dress, danced along with the wind.

      "Pumpkin relax. I'm here, no one's gonna touch you. Do you trust me?"

     "No. And I don't trust going into that house." Mia said to him.

   "Relax. It's just a party." Ares told her. "You're going to college soon, you'll find a lot of my college buddies here. At least you get to see how college guys act. What do you say?" Ares had his infamous smirk on.

    "Whatever." Mia reluctantly agreed.

    The loud music was strong enough to pull down the building. You could barely hear what someone close to you say unless they screamed it in your ear. 

   Mia shouldered her way through the crowd which was going crazy, as she tried finding Ares. She finally saw him with some group of guys, they were drinking and laughing.

     Ares immediately spotted her. He went over to meet her. "Hey, what's wrong?" He touched her face.

     "I wanna go home, I don't fit in this party. It's too loud." Mia raised her voice so that he could hear her.

     "Did you have something to drink?" Ares pretended not to have heard.

    "Ares." Mia frowned. God knew she didn't want to be in the party.

 
    "I'll get you something." Ares smiled, kissing her forehead.

     Mia sighed knowing she was stuck. No one could get her home except Ares.

    "Guys, meet Mia. She's a friend of mine." He said wrapping a possessive arm around her waist. The other four boys smirked, ogling at her.

    "Hey." Mia bit her lips as she wasn't used to too many attention on her.

    "Sup." One smiled at her.

   "Nice to meet you Mia." The green eyed nodded. The other two just kept staring.

     Ares took a plastic solo cup and handed it over to Mia. He whispered into her ear, "we'd be leaving soon, okay?"

   Mia nodded, placing the rim of cup on her lips. The taste of the alcohol wasn't that bad, it tasted a bit like orange juice. Thirty minutes later, she was high and dancing.

    "Are you okay?" Ares held her as she stumbled against his body.

     "Not really." Mia could barely stand. "I don't feel so good." She tried moving but missed her step. Good thing Ares caught her quickly, he carried her in bridal style.

    "You wanna rest for a while?" He asked her.

     She was nearly unconscious, instead of talking she groaned. Ares carried her away.

      Mia woke up the next day with a pounding headache. She felt something draped around her body, she slowly opened her eyes, pushing away whatever was on her body. She sat up only to find herself naked with a blanket over her body. Mia panicked, she turned to see who was beside her. Ares. He too was naked, except the blanket covered his waist down. 

    In horror, Mia clamped her mouth with her hand. Oh God please no. She prayed silently. Ares stirred, opening his eyes.

    "You're finally awake, how do you feel?" He smirked while sitting up. He moved closer to her, placing soft kisses on her bare shoulder.

    What had happened?! She couldn't remember a thing. She was battling with fear and panic within.

   "H-how could you?" She was shaking and her lips were trembling. "How could you do this to me?" She fought hard with her tears.

   He took her hair away from her neck and kiss it. "What?"

    "Don't touch me!" She screamed, pushing him away.

     "Pumpkin what's wrong?" He frowned at her.

     "You're despicable! How could you do this to me?!" Tears spilled out from her eyes. "You took advantage of me! You planned this all along you bastard, God I trusted you and you do this?!" Mia sobbed loudly. She felt used, dirty, disgusted! She could never forgive him.

     "What are you talking about? We both wanted this. You told me yourself, don't you remember?" Ares asked her.

    Mia shook her head. "Why would I want that! You bastard!"

   Ares looked hurt. He reached out to touch her face. "Mia I —"

    "Don't fucking touch me!" She moved away, holding on to the blanket.

  "Pumpkin please. I-I love you." Ares said to her. "I love you so much."

    "I hate you! I hate you, you rotten pig and I will never forgive you for what you did to me." She snapped at him furiously.
......................................................
     "He planned everything. I found out I was spiked. Yeah, one of his friends told me." Mia took another shot of her alcohol.

     Ryan sighed... "Do you still hate him for what he did?"

    Mia snorted... "Do I?" She looked at him. "I despise him with my whole being. Do you know the sonofabitch didn't leave me alone after he got what he wanted? He made me feel dirty and still thought I'd give him a chance. Is he really dumb? I never told anyone what happened that day not even my mom, until now. After that day, everything about men irritated me, I wanted nothing to do with any man. And as for Ares, I thought he'd leave me alone, but he kept on pestering me."

    She scoffed... "I avoided him but he always found his way to me. It was because of him I enrolled for karate classes but he did the same. He couldn't stay away, he was so obsessed with me for years until last year, I got the shock of my life."
✴✴✴✴✴
Flashback... Last year.

    The DeLucas had Mia, her mom Karen and Mr Montuori (Mia's godfather) over. They were all seated on a ten seated dinning table, which Mr DeLuca sat by the head.

    "The meal is very delicious and tasty." Karen complimented the dish.

     "I was thinking the same thing." Adela DeLuca said.

     "Now that the atmosphere is a bit lively, I have a few things to say." Angelo DeLuca said. "Samuel, my wife and I have discussed things over and we know it's best for the kids and the company. We've made a decision that the children, my son Ares and Samuel's goddaughter Mia should get married."

    Mia dropped her cutleries noisily on her plate in shock.

    "What!" Ricardo, Nina and Mia said in unison.

       "Isn't it awesome!! I get to plan another wedding!!" Adela squealed.

   Mia glanced at Ares who was gloriously smirking before turning to Karen. "Mom?" Mia was still in the state of shock. "What's going on?"

     "You're getting married that's what." Karen smiled at her.

     "How did this happen?" Nina who was the oldest of the siblings asked. She was already married.

        "We wanna keep the business in the family. And we can only achieve that if they got married." Samuel said to her.

    Mia shifted her chair backwards, noisily. She stood up just immediately, "Excuse me." She scuttled away.

    In surprise, everyone at the table watched her leave.

    "Let me." Ares said, suggesting to go after her. He too ran out of the dinning.

    Mia needed to escape from the nightmare. How could they make her marry someone like Ares?! How could they agree?

    "Pumpkin wait! Please wait!" Ares ran after Mia who was walking so fast. "Stop." He caught up with her, pulling her hand to stop her.

    "Let go!" She snapped, facing with him.

    "Hear me out." He released her hand.

    "You go back in there and tell them you don't agree to it. Tell them you don't wanna get married to me, and neither do I."

   "No." He frowned a her.

   "No?" She was confused and angry.

      "I will do no such thing. We'll get married whether you like it or not! You've had your way for too long, I've waited long enough, there's no better way for you to be mine than for us to be married." Ares said to her with irritation.