8 PUNISHED

Sofia pouted her lips when she heard their exclamation remark. "What's wrong with liking him? I will only like him. I don't need him to like me back."

"Are you sure with that?" Yusef asked. "You should know how many people became a victim to this so-called love. Your father married another woman just three years after your mother died. Didn't he say and promised that he would love her? Your stepmother, she promised to love you and take care of you like her own child but when your father died, weren't you thrown somewhere which brought you to where you are now? My father said he loves my mother but what did he do? He killed her because of unfounded jealousy. Love? I don't believe in this word. It gives you nothing but pain."

Sofia looked towards the man beside him with dumbfounded expression. She didn't expect him to hate this emotion so much. "I won't fall victim to this emotion, okay? Chill. I know my limits and I know that we will never end up together. I am the heiress and he's from the law enforcement."

"It's good that you know that." Viktor retorted. He picked up another chicken leg and ate it with gusto. He didn't think much of what Sofia was trying to do. In any case, he'll always look after her.

Nico didn't say anything at this point. He was just silently eating beside her while carefully observing their surroundings. After eating, they paid for their bills and left the restaurant.

"Let's all go back to the mansion. Master has come back." Nico informed them.

Sofia rolled her eyes and sigh. "I'm dead."

"Yes, you are." Viktor commented before getting inside his own car.

Sofia followed Nico to his car and the three of them left. They were in City D to join that drag racing event and to come back to City A, they'll have to travel for almost six hours. "I'll take a nap. Wake me up once we're back."

"Sure."

Sofia closed her eyes to get some sleep.

Nico watched her sleeping face with a sad expression on his face. Among the three of them, he was considered to be the one who knows Sofia the most. He knows her mannerisms and her hobbies. He knows what she fears the most and the things that she hates. He also knew that she was seeking for genuine love. She always dreamed of finding someone who can love her with all her flaws and her bloodstained hands; someone who could understand her and the things that she went through.

Nico still remembered their conversation about finding her true love but he was very pessimistic about it. She's a mafia heir. She killed a lot of people and she will kill when needed. She ran a lot of illegal trading and deal with many crime related incidents. If someone knows about her identity, one will be blinded with money. It's either that person will love her for her money or will tell the authority about her.

'No matter who you love, I just hope he wouldn't hurt you or I will break his neck.' Nico told her one time, letting her know that whatever happens, he will be there to protect her. That's how loyal he was to her.

Seeing that little pretty face beside him, Nico couldn't stop his worry. 'If she ends up falling in love with that officer, what will happen to us? And what will happen to her?' He was more concerned to the last question than the first. He was worried that she'll be deeply hurt by that man.

After six hours of driving, Nico entered a large estate where many guards walked around for patrol. "Sofi, wake up. We're home." Sofi slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Nico's anxious face. "Come on sleepy head. I know you don't put your guard up on me but you have to wake up now."

Sofia rubbed her eyes and looked outside the window. Sure enough, they were already back at the mansion. She fixed her clothes and her hair before stepping out of the car with so much vigor.

It's already morning when they arrived at the place and the person that she was most afraid of was sitting in the teahouse at the garden, reading the news with his tablet.

"I heard about what happened last night." Lucas Basilischikov commented without raising his head to see that the little girl he raised has come home.

Sofia stopped in front of him and bowed her head in 90 degrees position. "I'm sorry for letting you know about an embarrassing incident master. Rest assured that was within my plan and everything was handled properly. There's no need for you to worry about it."

"Just make sure that it won't complicate a lot of things or I will kill you first and feed you to my dogs." Lucas calmly replied as if he wasn't talking about life. "I won't be interfering with your kind of fun but you have to deal with the organization as well. You will become the successor of my position. You need to know the ins and outs of our businesses."

"I'll get to it. I'll show you that you chose the right person to take your place."

"Hn. I don't have anything else to tell you. You can go back inside and take your punishment for almost getting caught last night. You know what to do already, right?"

"Yes, master."

Sofia went inside the mansion and walked directly towards the basement room. Nico, Viktor and Yusef came along with her for their punishment as well but they were told to stay outside of the room while Sofia was getting punished. Getting caught or almost getting caught will cause them to be punished but they didn't care about it. The important matter was that they had fun with all the chasing last night.

Sofia removed her clothes, leaving only her black sports bra and her cycling shorts. After a minute, guard came and started whipping her with a black leather whip. Her buttocks felt numb at first because of the impact; and she could only grit her teeth when the pain started coursing all over her body.

After twenty lashes, Sofia put on her clothes once again and walked out of the room with a cold face. She didn't wait for the three men to finish getting their punishment and left to go back inside her own room. "Tsk! That damn guard. I'll make sure to get back at him when I become the leader of the group."