The Billionaire’s Pretend Fiancée

Sofie’s POV

I walked into the venue for my first class of the day with slight anxiety brewing inside me as I tightly clasped my tote bag.

Heaving a deep breath to calm my nerves, I quietly stepped into the hall while doing my best to avoid drawing too much attention to myself.

Thankfully, the inhabitants of the hall seemed not to notice me as I walked to the middle of the room to take a seat. “Did you hear that we are getting a new professor for the semester? They said he’s nothing but bad news.” A feminine voice to my right drifted into my ears, and I tilted my head sideways to see who it belonged to.

It belonged to a pretty girl whose blonde hair was cut into a bob, she grinned at me, and I managed to dart a small smile at her, although some parts of her sentence still confused me.

“I recently transferred here, so I don’t really understand what you just said.” I uttered, to which she nodded, outstretching her hand.

“I reckoned. I’m sorry for assuming. By the way, I’m Katie Perez.” She smiled as we shook hands.

“Sofie Diaz. It’s nice to meet you.” I replied with a smile of my own as she released my hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too. By the way, my boyfriend interns at the admin office, so he knows everything going on in this place. He told me about the new professor and allegedly, he molested some students at his former school. Katie explained, shaking her head and I gasped in astonishment.

What the fuck?

“How sure are you about this? I mean, it’s not like I don’t believe you but it’s just that it’d be scathing to the school’s reputation to hire a molester, wouldn’t it?” I said and she nodded, clearly mulling over my utterance. “Anyway, I just want you to be careful because there might be some truth in the lies.” She said, fishing through her bag for something.

I just nodded before grabbing a notebook and a pen from my bag. “He has arrived! That’s him over there.” Katie whisper-yelled, discreetly pointing at the incoming form of a short, burly man with a beer belly.

As if by some evil stroke of misfortune, his gaze rested on me, and he darted a lascivious smile at me which made my heart lurch with fear.

Maybe there was really some truth in the lies like Katie had claimed. I didn’t want any drama in my life at the moment or even in the nearest future, so I made up my mind there, and then to always avoid the man.

I went through the lecture in a daze as I couldn’t shake off the trepidation brewing within me, no matter how hard I tried.

“Hey, you. The girl in the pink cardigan, see me in my office when the class ends. I have chosen you to be my course representative. It’s the second office on the right wing of this floor.” The man’s voice boomed through the microphone, and dragged me out of my reverie.

I looked around the class to see who the unfortunate girl was but I was perplexed when I noticed everyone had their eyes on me, including Katie who looked at me, with worry twinkling in her blue eyes. “What?” I mouthed to her and her gaze lowered.

It was then the harsh realization hit me that I was the unfortunate girl; I was the girl wearing a pink cardigan.

Goosebumps instantly enveloped me as my throat suddenly felt parched. I racked my brain with the hope of making a reasonable excuse to get myself out of this mess but none was forthcoming as the man smirked at me before walking out of the hall.

I swallowed harshly as I felt Katie’s hand envelope mine, “Just go and make sure you don’t sit at all even if he tries to persuade you to. Stand your ground and stand beside the door, so that you can quickly make an escape in case he tries something stupid.” She was saying but all my mind could register was the fact that I was in deep soup.

I nodded and grabbed my tote bag, ignoring the concerned looks trailing after me as I trekked out of the lecture room.

Staring at his metal-engraved initials on the door; C. J Bolton, I heaved a sigh of despair before knocking on the door.

“Come in, dear.” His raspy voice came from within and I swallowed nervously before walking into the office.

He was sitting behind a desk with a stupid grin on his face, holding a cup of coffee. I followed Katie’s advice and stood beside the door.

“I’m here, sir. What do you need me for?” I asked in a clipped tone.

“Don’t be a stranger to my antics, angel. Come here.” He patted his lap, “Come and sit down on your throne.” He grinned manically.

I was too stupefied to utter a word as I stared at him with a question in my mind; was the man mentally ill?

“I almost forgot to ask for your name, what is your name, darling?” He asked, advancing toward me, his large belly swaying from side to side.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

I tried to unbolt the door, and make a run for it but my efforts were futile as the door remained shut.

Tears of frustration welled in my ears as I continued struggling with the bolt, “What the hell did you do to the door?” I yelled.

He laughed, “You don’t have to scream, flower. You should save that for later when you will do so underneath me. By the way, I’m Cornelius and you still haven’t told me your name.”

“You will have to force it out of my throat, you psycho!” I hollered as he stood in front of me.

The man was slightly taller than me by some inches which gave me a sort of leverage to escape but the damn door was not cooperating.

“I destroyed the CCTV camera, so there’s no way this will get out. You don’t have to be shy with me, sunshine. I want you and I know you also want me.” He said, tracing down my jaw.

Before I could utter a word, he slammed me against the wall with his body weight, and ripped the buttons of my cardigan off as he sucked on my neck. I knew I’d have to scrub my neck until the skin there peeled off when I got home.

I screamed, and writhed against him but my efforts were futile as he harshly pinned my wrists above my head.

Grasping onto a thin thread of hope, I dug my teeth into his neck and that did the trick. Blood quickly pooled around the area, and he shrieked as he got off me, clutching his neck. “Stupid slut, I will kill you today.” He yelled, swinging dazedly at me with his other arm.

I successfully ducked his strikes and ran to his desk to search for the key to the door.

Fortunately, I found it beside his abandoned cup of coffee and I took it. I felt him pull my leg from behind, and I grabbed the vase at the center of his table, and smashed it on his head.

His hands immediately slipped off, and I easily opened the door after grabbing my tote bag and dashed out of the office with my heart hammering against my ribs.

I saw Katie standing in front of the office with worry lines etched all over her face. “I knew the bastard would try to do this. I was trying to open the door but I couldn’t, I’m so sorry.” She said as she helped me button up my cardigan.

“It’s fine. I managed to escape at least.” I said, smoothening down my disheveled hair.

“How?”

“I smashed a vase on his head but he will be fine. He’s still breathing.”

“Will you be able to finish the rest of the classes for today?” I shook my head, “No. I’m going home. I feel lightheaded and I don’t think I can concentrate on anything.”

“I can understand. Just take care of yourself.” She patted my shoulder as we walked to the exit door of the building. “I will, thanks.” I smiled before walking out of the school premises to the bus stop to take a cab home.

As I sat in the cab, the realization of what could have happened back there and I burst into fresh tears.

When the cab driver showed his concerns, I waved it off and told him I was fine.

I was definitely not fine, and I didn’t know if I would be able to hide the fact that I had almost gotten raped today from Roman.

I could only hope he never found out.