Chapter 1 The Encounter

"This isn't Kings I know," a blonde man with two different colored eyes said confusedly.

Hugo Newell realized that the nightclub he frequented since he was 18 years old looked very different. It looked very sparkly and noisier compared to the usually calm and glamorous exclusive club called Kings. He wished to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with his favorite escorts before his 22nd birthday. 

After all, his birthday party would be a huge event for the man as he would be declared the CEO of the Newell Co. That company was a multinational company that was known for its chains of luxury hotels and real estate around the world. Before the young man would carry such a hard responsibility, he wanted to have fun. Yet, the place looked very bizarre to him. 

'Am I dreaming?' the man asked himself.

After that, a man dressed in drag came to the blonde young man as the former greeted coquettishly while he was winking, "Hello, Sir! Welcome, welcome to our club! We haven't seen someone as handsome as you are here!"

"Isn't this Kings?" Hugo asked the other man.

"My goodness, no! This is Rings, the gay club! But someone as young as you should explore yourself first, no?" the man in drag said as he winked again.

It wasn't a problem for Hugo. As long as they had holes, he would go through it shamelessly. It was never about sexuality. Rather, it was more about power.

As the heir of the most influential company around the world, the man quickly learned from a young age that power was important. Especially after his parents' tragic deaths in the car accident. Power was everything. With power, a person could do anything. Hence, it was important to show how powerful you were. 

Before Hugo could say anything, the man in drag quickly dragged him to a dimly lit area that was full of people sitting and a stage. After that, that man left the young man alone. 

As Hugo was still in his train of thought, someone accidentally bumped into him. 

"Hey, watch the fuck out!" Hugo yelled angrily. 

But Hugo quickly shut his mouth. He was left stunned instead. The man who just bumped into the blonde man looked very beautiful. Too beautiful to the point that he looked almost like a woman. 

That man had auburn short hair with a pair of hazel eyes. He was taller than Hugo. That auburn-haired man only wore leather shorts and boots with his nipples pierced. His face was covered by a half-face mask. On his chest, there was a red X mark. Clearly, this man was an escort here as Hugo had seen there were men with red tattoos on their bodies.

From the auburn-haired man's smell, Hugo knew that the former just had sex. When he thought of it, Hugo felt uncomfortable. As if there was something in his heart that he couldn't fathom. He felt very antsy when he cast his gaze on the auburn man. On the other hand, the auburn man turned his head away from him.

'Why did I feel like this?' Hugo asked himself.

Just before Hugo was about to speak to the auburn man, the man in drag appeared again as he ordered the auburn man to go backstage.

"Hey, where does he want to go?" Hugo asked. 

"Oh, we're going to hold an auction to get a night with him and other escorts," the man in drag explained.

The man in drag continued, "That's X. Rings' VVIP escort. You'll need more than $10,000 to spend a night with him."

Hugo then told the other man, "I want to join the auction."

Soon, Hugo was brought to the VVIP seat. Even though there were 12 seats in the area, only 5 people sat on it. Minutes later, the escorts were then brought to the stage. 

And, there he was. X. People instantly cheered the moment X was on stage. It made Hugo realize that X was the favorite escort. Somehow, it sparked his desire to get X more than anyone else. No matter what, he had to get X. 

He was Hugo Newell. No one would mess with him. The blonde man smirked confidently knowing that very well.

***

Without Hugo knowing, someone else was also stunned after their meeting. It was X. Or, rather, it was Samuel Richardson. 

After he bumped into Hugo, Samuel felt as if the world stopped moving. The auburn-haired man had no idea that he would meet that blonde man again, especially in a place like this. His whole body shook violently as he drank the champagne to calm himself before the auction.

It felt sickening for Samuel to meet Hugo here. As someone who was severely bullied by the famous heir of the Newell Co., his hate wasn't unfounded. The blonde man made his life a living hell when they were high school students. He could still remember how the blonde man kicked him as if he was worth nothing. 

Samuel truly wished that he could run from this place, but he knew he couldn't do that. His parents had left him with his hemophiliac little brother, so hospital bills were costly. So, the man was grateful that Jeffrey took him and his brother in when they had nowhere to go.

Initially, it hurt Samuel's pride and soul to work here. Soon, the man got used to it. Besides, the money he earned here was enough for the rent, food, and Michael's hospital bills. It made Samuel work extremely hard as an escort, making his way to be the most popular escort that Rings ever had. 

Also, Rings had a tradition where it would hold bi-monthly auctions. As an escort, Samuel would be put in an auction with other VVIP escorts. Then, they would spend some time with the person who bid for them. Samuel thought that today's auction would be the same day as other auctions.

Unfortunately, the man was so wrong about it.