IMDD CHAPTER 2 (NOVEL) (Patreon)

After leaving the apartment with as much dignity and composure as she could, she ran to her car the moment she stepped out of the elevator. Her fists were balled tightly at her sides as she strode over to her car.

Sliding herself behind the wheel, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

After her breathing returned to normal, she revved the engine and stepped on the accelerator, sending her car speeding out of the place that she never wanted to step into ever again.

Eva sped up her car once she hit the highway. Biting her trembling lips, her fingers gripped the wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. Despite her best efforts, the heinous scenes of her fiancé f**king another woman kept replaying in her head. His words kept echoing in her head.

'Why? Why did you do this? Why must you betray me too?' Eva screamed this out within the confines of her own mind.

Then her grandfather's disgusted face flashed in her mind as she remembered how he had looked at her. Those eyes… so condemning and cold.

"How could you have cast me away so easily like this? Didn't I do everything a good granddaughter should have done despite all the cold treatment you have shown me all this time?"

She gritted her teeth as another memory flashed in her mind. It was a picture of herself when she was young and already being neglected while she watched her parents shower her sister with so much love. She remembered her young self being ignored as she held her perfect score test papers, intending to show them to her parents. But what she ended up with was watching her parents hug and gift toys to her little sister while ignoring her, who was simply standing to the side.

'Why did everything turn out this way? How could all of them do this to me? Can anyone tell me? Why?!' Her mind was screaming and hoping for a release…someway or somehow.

She jammed both her feet on the breaks. Her car screeched to a halt in front of a bar along the highway called 'Devils' Den'.

Eva desperately drew in deep breaths. Her breathing was short and labored, and the lack of oxygen reaching her brain caused her vision to swim dangerously before her. She knew she had to calm down. She needed to calm down!

After regulating her breathing and getting herself under control, Eva grabbed her small mirror. No matter what state she was in at the moment, she never wanted to look pitiful in front of anyone.

But the moment she saw her reflection, Julian's words echoed in her mind again. 'Don't ever show that ugly face of yours in front of me ever again!'

Eva smiled bitterly once again. She couldn't even deny that Julian was right. She grew up not caring about her outward appearance at all. All that mattered to her was knowledge and her work. So she never paid attention to how she looked. As long as there was no dirt, tears, or any sign of emotional weakness on her face, nothing else mattered to her.

She never thought she was pretty, but right now, she was finally seeing how ugly she really looked. Her skin was so dry, and her face was covered with pimples everywhere. She had dark circles, and her eyebags were so awfully puffy.

Her bitter smile faded as she wondered if things might be a little different if she at least paid more attention to her physical well-being. But she quickly shook her head, throwing all those useless thoughts away, thinking that nothing must've changed at all, even if she didn't look this ugly.

Desperate to completely stop these thoughts, she stepped out and entered the bar.

The Devil's Den seemed to be just another normal bar that many people visit.

Leaning against the counter, Eva ordered a Long Island Iced Tea—with a request for it to be extra strong—and then began to drink silently. She winced at the taste of the alcohol as it burned a fiery trail down her throat. However, she relished the sharpness and sting that the drink brought her.

The bartender eyed her as she sipped on her drink. "It seems that this is your first time drinking strong alcohol, eh, miss? Would you prefer to order something milder that most ladies drink instead? I can whip it up for you quickly." The bartender offered kindly.

Eva smiled wryly at the bartender's offer. "No, thanks. I'm alright. This drink is fine. Anyway, I am here to get drunk to my heart's content for the first time in my life tonight!" Eva laughed bitterly as she thought about how ironic her life was. Thinking of how her life has turned out so far, she snorted in mockery at her current situation and gulped her drink down in one go.

After a while, she signaled the bartender to hit her with another glass of the same drink.

Soon, her eyes looked a little unfocused as she started having an engaging conversation with her glass.

"Now look at you." She pointed emphatically at the innocent glass sitting before her. "You have worked so hard for so many years. You have never experienced these kinds of things…" She glanced a little enviously at the ladies recklessly dancing on the dance floor, like they had no problems whatsoever in their lives.

"All these normal things people usually enjoy." She added before she returned her gaze to her glass and continued scolding it. "Why? Because all you thought and cared about for your entire life up until now was that damned company, which you thought was going to be yours forever. You never had a normal childhood and teenage life... all because of your ridiculous dedication to earn as many degrees as possible, just so you could please and hope to impress your so-called family. And then you worked your ass off, giving your all. For what? Just to save the damn company, even went to the extent of sleeping in your office for countless nights, all alone. You never even had the time to pay attention to care for yourself, and now look at you… nobody values or cares about anything that you have done. Now your so-called family, that never actually considered you as their own, is even demoting you from your hard-earned position, so their beloved daughter can now take over. Even your fiancé threw you away as well. He must have likened you to some toy. Haha. What a dramatic life you have, Evangeline Yo…" She droned on in a drunken state, not realizing nor caring that she was looking so silly talking to a glass. Her smile faded, and she gulped down another mouthful of her drink again.

"That's right, you're not actually a Young. You are not even related to them by blood! They never even considered you part of their real family. You were just a pawn for them all along. Keep that in mind from now on. Make them all pay for casting you away, and treating you like some slave they could easily cast away whenever they wanted… once they are done using you! Make them regret… all of them…" Eva shouted out in anger, slamming her fists on the counter.

"And how are you going to make them regret what they did to you?" A deep and mellow voice echoed.

Eva's head snapped to her right, and she saw a man sitting next to her, looking so deliciously tempting in a black suit. He was not looking directly at her but kept staring at his own glass. She realized that even his side profile was so illegally breathtaking.

"Do you have enough money and power to bring them all down?" The man finally glanced over at her. And she was momentarily struck. His eyes were as dark as a moonless night, framed with enviable thick lashes, and his face… he was just too gorgeous to be real.

Eva shook her head, and instead of gaping at the gorgeous creature, she frowned at him.

"I… I…" she stammered, and all of a sudden, she jumped from her seat and suddenly grabbed onto the man's collar. "I don't have enough money or power right now, but I will definitely find a way to bring them all to their knees! I'll make them all beg!" She hissed, shaking with anger and frustration.

"I will do everything, anything, to make them all regret… even if I have to sell my soul to the devil!" She added with determination, burning in her striking blue eyes.

The man smirked. He lifted his fingers and tucked some errant strands of her slightly mussed-up red hair behind her ear. "Be careful what you wish for, Miss. A certain devil here might really fulfill your wish and claim your soul in exchange."

"If that devil is really here, do introduce him to me, handsome. I would like to make a deal with him." Eva drawled out, smirking back at him.

The man chuckled shortly. His eyes gleamed wickedly, as if he were looking at something very interesting. "How brave… but I guess it's because you're drunk right now. You might want to wait until you are more sober, miss." His smile faded even as his eyes sparkled intensely. "Because once I introduce him to you, there will be no turning back. It would be too late to regret."

But Eva insisted loudly, "I am not drunk! Where is he? Tell me. And don't worry… even if he asks me to go to hell with him, I'll gladly follow. As long as he can give me all that I want."

He only smiled. But then he stood in a swift move and towered over her.

Leaning over her face, he pinched her chin gently and tilted her face up to his before his deep and sexy voice echoed in her ears. "Alright, your wish is my command. I will gladly introduce you to him."