Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
At least then, the government would have no choice but to take care of Jan.
At least then, her worries would be over, and Jan would be in a better place.
She could just do it right now.
She could aim for her heart, thrust it deep, and—-
“Ilse?” Jan suddenly appeared on the doorway.
The knife fell from her grasp, clattering to the marble countertop.
Oh God.
Oh God.
Oh God.
How had she become so weak?
Jan walked into the kitchen, and she swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. “W-what is it?”
He handed her several pieces of mail. “I forgot to give you this.”
“T-thank you.” She managed a smile. “Go back to the living room. I’ll bring the food out when it’s ready.”
“Okay.”
She waited for him to leave before reluctantly reaching for one of the envelopes on the table. It used to be that prospects of receiving letters excited her, but now it only filled Ilse with dread.
Tearing the envelope open, she pulled out two greetings cards and was startled to find that it was from her parents and Jan. They were dated almost exactly a year ago, a day after Christmas.
She read Jan’s card first, her lips curving at his familiar and nearly illegible scrawl. Everything was also written in big block letters, mainly because he found it the easiest style to write.
DEAR ILSE,
MERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
SORRY IF I MAKE YOU ANGRY SOMETIMES.
I LOVE YOU.
JAN
She folded the card closed with shaking hands.
Our dearest Ilse,
May this be such a wonderfully sweet surprise that you will think it is your most precious gift, and you will have no need to burn a hole in our pockets like you usually do. Even now, we can’t remember how it is you’ve convinced us that it’s okay for you to shop for your own Christmas gifts.
We love you very much. You are the image of perfection the first day you were born, but when we saw how much you love your older brother, we realize that you were even more perfect than we realized.
We used to worry about Jan, wondering who would take care of him if we were gone, but then you came into our lives, and we realized that God has answered our prayers through you.
Stay as you are, our beloved baby girl.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Mama and Papa
Chapter One
Present Time
Red Light District, Amsterdam
As the sun slowly set on the horizon, its last golden rays retreating from the picturesque canals, another side of the city of De Wallen gradually emerged, one whose narrow alleyways shone like rubies under the glow of neon red lights. By 11 PM, the city had completely transformed itself into a paradise of sin. Every square foot of its area now lived up to its name as the Red Light District, and there appeared no end to the merrymaking as tourists, mostly made up of first-time visitors, poured into the streets with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
Fondly nicknamed RLD by its patrons, the area was richly steeped in history, as evinced by the historic buildings and churches ironically located in proximity of sex shops and adult theaters. And yet, despite being the subject of countless documentaries and having every street painted with promises of sexual decadence and euphoria, the city was somehow able to maintain its intoxicating air of mystery.
Its allure was as lurid as it was timeless, and those who understood this were certainly poised to earn a lot of money.
Case in point being his favorite tour guide, Jaak de Konigh mused.
She was still a few meters away, but he recognized her easily. Her long brown hair was tied back in a severe bun, and the sight had the Dutch billionaire actually fighting the urge to free her locks from its confines.
And it was quite a familiar urge, Jaak acknowledged to himself. He remembered feeling exactly the same way when he met her months ago for the first time, remembered spending a full five minutes imagining how her hair would look cascading down her back.
It spoke a lot to just how much he found her attractive, considering how he needed much less time to make a woman come – or break her heart.
When she reached him and the rest of her tour group, a slack-jawed silence fell over the other men, a reaction that the billionaire could perfectly understand. Her hair might
be her crowning glory, but the rest of her features were just as divine. Her oval face was fine-boned, dominated by big brown eyes that seemed to issue a challenge to every hot-blooded male her gaze came into contact with.
Seduce me.
Fuck me.
Taint me.
And then there were her lips, so full and lush that just the thought of them wrapped around one’s cock could probably have prepubescent boys cumming in their pants.
Beautiful didn’t cover it, really, the billionaire mused, but what truly made her every man’s sexual fantasy come to life was her body. Her hourglass figure was a throwback to an era when women unashamedly celebrated their curves, and tonight’s outfit certainly served to showcase her abundant breasts and generous hips.