Nolan had already flatly rejected the man, and Valerie also took a dislike to Rovano for blurting out that he liked her in front of everyone, even though this was the first time they'd met.

Valerie shook her head; meeting strangers was terrifying, not at all like what she'd seen in the films. Was this why she wasn't allowed to leave the mansion?

"He's a madman, absolutely terrifying!" Valerie muttered.

The girl continued walking towards the back garden, the place where she usually went to be alone. Her father had finished introducing her to all the guests after their conversation with Rovano Morvane.

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she sensed someone standing right behind her. Valerie swallowed hard; her throat suddenly felt dry and, once again, the atmosphere around her felt oppressive.

Slowly, Valerie turned around. There stood a tall figure wearing a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, and a black tuxedo draped casually over his broad shoulders.

With his muscular hands tucked into his trouser pockets, any girl would surely be captivated by such a handsome man striking such a cool pose.

But Valerie was terrified out of her wits when she saw him.

Cold sweat trickled down her temples and her hands suddenly began to tremble; Valerie didn't realise how badly her body was shaking.

Tap, tap, tap.

Rovano walked slowly; with every step he took, Valerie's heartbeat seemed to quicken.

Now he was even closer, just a step away from Valerie; he towered over her, standing before the girl who had just risen from her seat.

The man before her stood tall yet relaxed; he gazed at Valerie with piercing eyes, a smirk clearly etched on his handsome face.

Valerie tilted her head back to look at Rovano, who was now slightly bending down to look at her face. The difference in their heights made Valerie feel even more intimidated.

Rovano's face drew closer suddenly; his eyes were locked on Valerie's. The girl could barely breathe and steadied her trembling body by taking a step back, as she felt cornered.

She tried to break free from Rovano, but his gaze kept her rooted to the spot.

Their foreheads were almost touching, and Valerie lost the nerve to speak. She could only feel her throat going dry; even swallowing was difficult for her.

"Do you know... Raven?" Rovano asked in a low voice, almost a whisper.

His voice was so soft that only Valerie could hear it, as she felt the warmth of Rovano's breath on her face, making her chest feel tight.

She needed a little space, but Rovano held her gaze, which seemed to make Valerie's body go stiff too.

"H-hah?" the girl stammered.

"Raven," Rovano repeated; he gave a fleeting smile, which felt more like a sly grin.

Valerie blinked; she was frightened and confused by what Rovano was doing right now. The handsome man was bullying her.

"R-raven?" Valerie's voice finally emerged, though it was very faint, "A black bird of prey?"

A sly grin reappeared on Rovano's thin lips. "That's right."

Valerie managed to swallow and breathe a little more calmly as Rovano created a slight distance between their faces, which had been almost touching moments before.

"A raven usually chooses its prey," Rovano whispered again, "to survive."

His right hand rose and his fingers gently caressed Valerie's left cheek, making her eyes widen in surprise; Rovano was teasing Valerie through his touch.

"And that raven has found his prey."

Valerie's eyes followed Rovano's finger as it slowly descended to her chin, touching it from below-which automatically made her tilt her head back further.

Their eyes met again, for quite some time.

"I've got you, Valerie," Rovano said again, his voice barely a whisper, his face drawing closer still, spontaneously.

The girl stepped back, but her feet were held fast by the chair behind her.

Valerie could no longer remember what happened after that; her eyes simply closed tightly because she was so afraid she couldn't move a muscle, her fists clenched to suppress the trembling.

Something soft brushed against her full, pale pink lips, making them slightly damp, and something forced its way into her mouth. Unfortunately, her body was completely stiff.

Her heart was pounding so hard, her blood rushing through her veins.

That hand pressed against the back of Valerie's neck, finally causing her body to go limp and succumb. Her hands, which had been trembling and clenched, now opened and touched the broad chest of the man who was now kissing her.

Coming to her senses, her eyes opened; sure enough, Rovano was kissing her. Valerie's hands fought back, pushing the man away with all her might.

"Ah!" Valerie screamed; she felt something pierce her neck.

Valerie felt her head buzzing; slowly her vision blurred until darkness swallowed her, her body going limp.

Slowly she stepped backwards; her body was no longer balanced until finally she fell, but Rovano caught her immediately.

Valerie Ashford, unconscious in the arms of Rovano Morvane.

A drugging kiss? No. That wasn't what had rendered Valerie unconscious.

Rovano had injected a sedative into Valerie's neck, using a small syringe that the girl hadn't noticed at all, and only felt once it had been withdrawn.

Rovano had hypnotised her to close her eyes and feel his kiss.

There was no one in the back garden apart from Rovano, Valerie and two of Rovano's bodyguards who had just arrived. Rovano's plan was very well organised, wasn't it?

"Take him to my car without anyone noticing, as quickly as possible, and you..." Rovano pointed to one of his bodyguards.

"Distract them and deal with the security CCTV. Do everything exactly as planned; don't leave the slightest loophole."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and give them a big surprise."

Amidst the revelry of the business party, they were unaware of a small scream signalling a loss. With a casual stride, Rovano tidied himself up and rejoined the party.

His prey was already in his grasp.

"Nolan, will you remain so arrogant? Valerie is mine now."

Nolan and Mrs Ashford-Natasha-were finally able to relax on the living room sofa; discussing business and introducing Valerie had been quite exhausting today, even though the person they'd introduced hadn't been around them for the duration of the event.

"I haven't seen Valerie since she slipped away whilst meeting that Morvane-where has she gone?" Nolan asked his wife, massaging his temples as his head felt slightly dizzy.

"Last I saw her, she was heading towards the back garden," replied Natasha.

Nolan sighed heavily, "Let's check her room. She hasn't even opened my present, even though today is her birthday. Has she forgotten?" He pointed to a wrapped present on the table.

"Weren't you the ones with her all day? You were parading Valerie around to the guests like some sort of object," asked Nolan's father, Jaden Ashford.

Nolan sighed again; he hadn't even realised when Valerie had slipped out of his sight because there were so many guests.

"I will check on her. Natasha, you need to rest. You've been busy all day getting everything ready," said Nolan's mother, who had also joined them.

Nolan's mother went upstairs first, whilst Nolan stood still for a moment, watching his father, who still looked angry.

"NOLAN! NOLAN!"

Everyone in the mansion immediately rushed towards the source of the sound as Nolan's mother's loud, desperate screams rang out repeatedly.

Nolan panicked when he saw his mother kneeling at the threshold of his daughter's room, sobbing uncontrollably.

"What's wrong, Mum? Calm down..."

"Valerie... Valerie's been kidnapped!!"

Nolan saw that Valerie's room was in complete disarray and unrecognisable; how could this have happened when security at their home was so tight?

With a look of disbelief, he stepped fully into Valerie's room, which looked like a shipwreck; on the dressing table mirror was a message written in Valerie's lipstick.

'MY PREY.'

Nolan nearly lost his balance; several of his staff members arrived, including security personnel, and they were stunned to see the state of Valerie's room, which was in complete disarray.

Natasha ran up from downstairs to the top floor; she hugged Nolan tightly, her eyes widening at the sight of Valerie's room.

"How could this have happened?!" Her voice boomed, sounding desperate.

Who had kidnapped her? Who knew about his daughter? He had only just introduced his daughter to his business associates today; just today, all the guests were within his reach. No one had left the tightly guarded main hall; even during the dinner, all his guests were still present.

Nolan remembered every detail. He tried to think clearly and look for any overlooked clues.

Could it possibly be Rovano Morvane who did it because he'd been rejected? No! Nolan couldn't just make accusations, but he had to find his daughter immediately, wherever she was; he had to check every single guest.

At present, the prime suspect is indeed Rovano, who has been behaving suspiciously, but Nolan cannot act rashly either.

"FIND MY DAUGHTER!"

"Sir!" A man shouted from a distance. He was part of the CCTV control room team.

"All CCTV access has just been hacked! We can't check anything! Everything's gone! Including the recordings from the past few days."

That night, heart-wrenching sobs could be heard from Ashford Mansion and panic swept through the entire building. Nolan tried to calm his family; Valerie was not only the jewel of this family but also a big secret.

••••

The wind was blowing so strongly that it made the window curtains billow; the sun was about to rise. Rovano stood at the edge of the balcony railing, taking several deep breaths, before stepping into a room.

He was currently in a luxurious house near the coast-perhaps in Langholmen? Yes, Rovano was in Stockholm, Sweden.

It had taken nearly eight hours to fly directly here from Boston since last night. That was the fastest flight he'd chosen.

The man had even given Valerie a small dose of sedative so she wouldn't wake up during the journey.

He'd had numerous business ventures in this city for the past two years; Rovano was free to come here whenever he pleased without having to worry about his business back in his home country.

If there's a meeting? He just video calls; unless there's something urgent, he can't stay in Europe for long because he's here to have fun whilst running a small business.

Rovano positioned himself on top of the bed; he moved very slowly, because he wasn't alone there.

There was a girl fast asleep, even though the effects of the sedative might have worn off half an hour ago.

Valerie Ashford, the target he had successfully abducted.

Since when had he started targeting women as his prey? This was the first time, especially since receiving information about the Ashford family. It turned out to be true; they had been hiding a girl this beautiful.

Just like his memory from over a decade ago, when he first visited the Ashford Mansion, there was a young girl he'd seen, and she'd always haunted him.

Rovano felt something was wrong with him. But seeing the girl beside him drove Rovano mad; he wanted to devour her immediately, carving wounds and gashes with his trusty little knife.

Her skin was so smooth and unmarked; Rovano was itching to see her cry as she was covered in blood.

This psychopathic man was truly mad; his mental illness was difficult to cure.

Rovano lay beside Valerie, his back to the girl; his hands itched, but he refused to do anything because he was still weighing up a few things.

Up until now, he had always tortured men of his own age. Regardless of who they were, once he'd had his fill of torturing them, if any died from the ordeal, he'd order someone to dispose of the body; if they survived, he'd bribe them with money and release them once they'd received medical treatment.

Simple. No long-term plans; at most, he'd keep his victims locked up for about four days.

But with this one, how many days? Rovano couldn't even think of anything other than whether to torture her or not.

The girl was on the verge of tears at the slightest touch, and that instantly satisfied his desire, so there was no need to torture her until she bled, was there?

Rovano cursed again; he'd never been interested in women in his entire life. Men were the same. The point was, he'd never given a thought to love or any such ridiculous notion.

He heard a faint sound; Rovano also felt the mattress shift slightly. Had Valerie woken up? Rovano decided to stay where he was and close his eyes; he was curious to see how the girl would react.

"Hmm..."

Valerie opened her eyes slowly and blinked; she gathered her wits completely, as her head was still a little dizzy.

She stared at the ceiling where she had woken up; she realised something-this wasn't her room.

Her eyes shifted to the plain white blanket covering her body up to her chest; this wasn't her blanket.

This wasn't her pillow or her bed, then her head turned to the side where Rovano was lying with his eyes closed.

"R-Rovano?! Where am I?!"

She was still fully dressed; the girl was still wearing the dress from yesterday's event. She quickly got out of bed, her body barely steady; she clutched her head and held onto the table not far from the bed.

"Be quiet," Rovano's firm, cold voice made Valerie immediately look towards the source of the sound.

"W-why... A-am I here with-w-with you?" Valerie, frightened, tried to ask, though her words came out stammering; tears began to well up, then streamed down her cheeks.

Valerie had never imagined she would be in the same room with the stranger whose proposal had been rejected by her father the day before.

"Calm down," Rovano said firmly again, but Valerie's tears continued to flow.

Rovano continued to stare at Valerie with a cold, piercing gaze, but his expression softened when Valerie suddenly took his hand.

"I w-want to go home... Mr Morvane, please take me back to the mansion," Valerie pleaded with him.

"No, you are my prey," Rovano replied, clasping Valerie's hand; the girl gazed at him sadly, her sobs still unceasing.

"Raven, remember? A raven never lets go of its prey."

"You're not a raven! You're a human! I-I want to go home!"

Valerie was terrified; she'd seen films about kidnappings that ended badly. Now she was experiencing it herself, but she couldn't escape because she knew nothing of the outside world.

She'd never set foot outside the mansion's gates. But at the very least, she had to try to escape from here, even if she didn't know what fate awaited her.

Valerie quickly pulled her hand away, then ran towards the nearest door and grabbed the handle; she tried to open it but couldn't.

The girl could only lean against the door as Rovano caught up with her.

The man pinned Valerie's body against the door; her eyes were shut tight and she was breathing heavily with fear. Rovano then took hold of the door handle, pressed it down, and pushed the door open.

The door swung wide open and Valerie nearly fell backwards as her back hit the door. Instantly, the girl's eyes flew open, and Rovano was still staring at her blankly whilst holding her body in place.

"If you keep pulling it, this bathroom door will never open, no matter how long you try. You're supposed to push it inwards to open it, Valerie."

Valerie's eyes widened; the girl was both startled and felt foolish and embarrassed.

Valerie felt Rovano's arm, which had been on her back, now slide down to her hips and wrap tightly around her. They locked eyes; Valerie felt her chest rising and falling rapidly as her breath came in gasps. Fear, confusion and nervousness all mingled together.

First, she had dashed from the bed to this door, violently yanking at it with all her might, trying to open it but to no avail; in her panic, she hadn't even noticed which way the door opened.

Secondly, Rovano had scared her half to death, then made her look like a complete fool for not being able to open the door.

Why the bathroom door? Why hadn't she found the exit door? And was it because Valerie was so panicked that she hadn't realised the door clearly needed to be pushed? Even though the position of the tiles made it obvious.

Valerie's body slumped there; she sat limply on the floor, unable to support herself for the moment.

Rovano observed the girl's expression, trying to figure out what sort of girl Valerie was.

"Please tell me where this is?" Valerie asked softly. "I haven't been out of the mansion for a long time-almost my whole life..."

"Sweden," Rovano replied briefly.

The man then walked towards another door at the far end of the room, leaving Valerie behind.

Valerie just stared at him in disbelief, "S-Sweden? Europe?"

Valerie whimpered, clutching her cheeks, unable to believe that she had not only left the mansion, but her own country.

"Have I really left the mansion?"

Valerie could only watch Rovano's back as he walked further and further away. What was she supposed to do now? How could she escape and get back home when she was already abroad like this?

"I'm not there anymore, so there aren't any high walls blocking my way," Valerie muttered, then slowly got up to follow Rovano.

As if forgetting the fact that she had been kidnapped, Valerie turned towards the balcony door; she was panicked at first, but a moment later, her eyes still swollen, she broke into a light jog.

Once again she was stunned; before her lay a vast expanse of ocean, the wind whipping against her body and hair. Valerie stared in disbelief at what she saw, her jaw dropping, then her sadness turned into a broad, beaming smile.

"Mr Morvane, is this the sea? Are we by the seaside?" the girl asked innocently.

Rovano paid her no mind at all, merely staring at the girl impassively and watching to see what else she might do.

A moment later, Valerie jumped for joy, scampering around the small balcony, feasting her eyes on everything within her sight. She was so overjoyed she lost all sense of self.

Seeing the white sand of the beach made her want to walk there, but the distance turned out to be far too great; they were on the top floor.

Valerie sighed, a little disappointed, but a sense of joy still tickled her heart.

As soon as she turned around, Rovano was already standing behind her, arms folded across his chest, staring at Valerie with furrowed brows in surprise.

The girl wasn't the least bit afraid now. Yet just a moment ago she'd been hysterical, begging to go home.

In fact, just a few minutes ago she'd been sobbing uncontrollably, but now she was jumping for joy like a madwoman, and Rovano felt he'd chosen the wrong victim.

The girl was shamelessly cheering in front of him as if she'd won the lottery, even though she was the victim of a kidnapping.

The girl stood there, silent for a moment, wondering why Rovano had brought her to a place like this.

Slowly, she stepped towards the cold-hearted man, who didn't so much as crack a smile at her.

The lines on the man's face seemed to deepen as he frowned in confusion at Valerie's behaviour.

"Mr Morvane, why did you bring me here?" asked Valerie, the girl gazing gently at Rovano; though she was still a little afraid, she felt she had to ask.

Rovano did not answer; the man merely stared at Valerie, his gaze becoming slightly sharper.

"I want to thank you. All my life I've longed to leave that mansion; I want to see the real sea, the people, and the life that exists in this world. All this time I've been locked up there like a prisoner," Valerie continued.

"You've never gone out even once?" This time, Rovano was intrigued and asked Valerie.

Valerie nodded, then the girl gave a small smile. "I spent my time indoors, even went to school at home, only seeing the outside world through the television screen and the internet. They say Dad took me out once when I was four, but how could I possibly remember?"

Rovano thought hard; it turned out the Ashford family were quite cruel-they didn't need to lock the girl away to such an extent, when there were plenty of other ways to hide her.

"How sad," muttered Rovano, so softly that Valerie couldn't hear him.

"In that case, can we go for a walk along the beach?" asked Valerie, her eyes sparkling.

Rovano felt annoyed hearing this; the girl wasn't thinking straight, even though she was in the middle of a kidnapping.

The man dragged Valerie into the room and then threw her body onto the bed. This left Valerie utterly shocked.

"Do you think I'm here to play with you?!" snapped Rovano at her.