Cartel Queen No More: My Escape to the Elite Chapter 1

“Wife, you bite so tight…”

While doing the deed with my fiancé, I suddenly froze: “What brand are you wearing today? It’s so thin.”

The man on top of me worked even harder, speaking faintly: “I’m not wearing one today. Let me stay in a bit longer. Deals have been hard to close lately, and I’m under a lot of stress.”

Watching him act so needy, probably no one would believe this was the ruthless, terrifying arms dealer of South America.

The only way he relieved stress was by indulging in endless intimacy with me, his childhood sweetheart and fiancée.

But tonight might be our last time.

It’s all because of the Vance family's ancestral rule: the heir must personally seek a lucky omen from the ancestral shrine before marrying.

However, over the past five years, Arthur Vance has drawn a bad omen 98 times in a row, receiving 98 lashings as punishment.

For the 99th time, I decided that if he drew a bad omen again, I would take the punishment with him and beg the Vance family to make an exception and let us marry.

When I rushed to the Vance family shrine, Arthur had just drawn a lucky omen—one divining block face up, one face down.

But before I could cry out in joy, I saw Arthur flip the face-up block over, turning it into a bad omen!

Then, he spoke to his uncle beside him:

“Announce to the outside that the omen drawn this time is still a bad one.”

I froze in place, my mind going completely blank.

The uncle picked up the blocks, looking at Arthur with a complex expression:

“Arthur, when you were a kid, you always said that when you became the biggest arms dealer in South America, you’d use ninety-nine arms deals as a dowry for Chloe. Now that you have the power, why do you keep putting it off?”

“This is the 99th time you’ve changed a lucky omen to a bad one.”

It turns out that the previous 98 times, he had drawn lucky omens!

Inside the shrine, Arthur’s voice held a hint of helplessness:

“My desire to marry Chloe has never changed. But during the three years Chloe went to Eastern Europe to open up the market, it was Mia who went through life and death with me.”

“Mia said the day I got married, she would leave the organization and go to the most dangerous arms circles in Africa. Although I don't love her, I'm human. After eight years of sharing life and death, I really can't bear to let her take that risk.”

“And what about Chloe Hastings? You change the omen time and time again to delay the wedding. Aren't you afraid she'll lose heart and leave?” the uncle pressed.

Arthur fell silent for a moment, picked up the whip from the corner, and handed it to his uncle:

“That’s why I can never let Chloe know about this. Let the lashing each time be my compensation to her. This time, according to family law, give me ninety-nine lashes.”

Outside the door, I covered my mouth tightly to keep from crying out loud.

Just then, the phone in my pocket vibrated. It was my mother calling:

“Chloe, what was the result of the divination this time? Can you and Arthur get married?”

I felt like I had swallowed a dud firecracker; I couldn't speak.

My mother instantly understood and advised me earnestly:

“If you haven't managed to get married in five years, it's clear he doesn't truly want to marry you. Listen to Mom, marry into the Thorne family in Europe. The Thornes are no less than the Vances. You definitely won't suffer any grievances if you marry there. Mom just wants you to be stable and happy.”

My eyes fell on the lonely figure dressed in black inside the shrine, and a dense, stabbing pain spread through my heart:

“Okay, I agree to marry into the Thorne family.”