Obviously, since I didn’t have any money and had no way to earn any either, I had to quit school. I didn’t have a place to live anymore, so I had to move in with my only surviving relative: my grandmother. With just one small luggage of clothes and necessities, I took a train to a nameless town in the countryside where my grandmother was living.
By the time that I left the capital city, I was already prepared for the worst. When I first stood in front of the address that was supposed to be where my grandmother lived, the reality wasn’t too far from my expectation. My grandmother, as I was told, ran a small confectionary and cake shop in a very small town. The description was spot on.
‘Sweet Time’ was the name on the faded white and pink sign of the small shop owned by my grandmother. It was clear that the sign had faded from white and red to its current state of pink. The shop was located on the first floor and our living quarters were on the second floor.
Life with my grandmother was like a return to the basic of everything. We were poor but happy. Our house and shop were small, but it was enough for two small girls like us. I went to a local public high school to continue my education and was granted a scholarship to further help with my expenses. I did everything that I could to support my grandmother just so that we could survive and keep the shop afloat.
That meant that I worked every single hour of the day that I was free. I rarely went out with friends because I had to work at the store. I focused on my study so that I would get a scholarship to university. It went without saying that we didn’t have enough money to send me to university.
Life was tough but it was simple enough. Throughout it all, my grandmother was always there for me. Not once did she complain even as she got older and that meant that I didn’t have any valid reason to complain either. At the end of my highschool life, I got a full scholarship to study arts and design at a nearby university. That meant that I had to move out and live at the university dorm, but I still made sure to travel the short distance home to visit my grandmother and help out at the store.
It was during my freshmen year at university that I met my first and only boyfriend. Life was all well and good until…those men turned up.
One day, when I arrived at the store from one of my grocery shopping trips, I could immediately sense that something was wrong. The whole neighborhood was quiet, too quiet. It was like no one was living or breathing there at all. No one walked the street, no car passed by and there were just no signs of life.
My heart skipped a beat as my eyes focused on a large black limousine that was parked in front of my home. I have never seen a limousine in real life before, only in the movies. It was obvious that in this small and poor town where few people owned cars, no one owned a flashy black limousine. What I couldn’t wrap my head around, as the shock of all this took over, was why was there a limousine parked right outside my house?
Once my body had recovered from its initial shock, I found myself dropping the grocery bag out front and running as fast as I could towards the store. The sight of smashed windows, broken signs and flowerpots tipped over spilling black soil everywhere stunned me to the core as I gasped in shock.
What happened here while I was gone?
The next thought that entered my head was…grandma! Where is she? Is she ok?
“Grandma!!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
I ran through the ajar door into the store. The inside of the store was also a mess just like the outside. Everything that could practically be destroyed was destroyed and there, kneeling on hands and knees in the middle of the floor, was my poor grandmother.“Grandma!” I cried out as I ran to her side, bending down to support her frail body.
“Lisa…” my grandmother called my nickname softly in between her upset sobs.
The sight of her crying and how her body shook from shock and fear broke my heart into a million pieces. What did we do to deserve something this cruel?
“You’re finally back,”
A man’s low and emotionless voice said, making me realize for the first time that my grandmother and I were not the only ones in the room. Slowly, I looked up in the direction of the voice. There, not so far from where we were crouched down on the floor, were three very tall and big men. All dressed in black.
I couldn’t make out their faces because they all wore black sunglasses that hid their eyes from view. Their black suit, pants and shiny leather shoes seemed pristine and perfect even after all the havoc that they have wrecked in my home. These men seemed like they appeared straight out from a movie…a mafia mob movie.
So, this…was the mafia…
“Dear sir, I apologize if we have offended you in anyway but…I’m sure all of this has to be some sort of misunderstanding…” I said in a shaky voice as I slowly got up to my feet.
“Do you know Simon and Marianne Maxford?” one of the men dressed in black asked sternly.
“Yes…they were my parents…” I replied softly. What did the mafia have to do with my parents? It’s been around six years since they’ve passed away…
“Then there is no mistake. We’ve finally found you,” the man continued in a leveled voice.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“Take a look at this,” the man said as he held out a few sheets of paper towards me.
Hesitantly, I took the papers from him while noticing that my hands were shaking badly. What could these papers be?
Before I had the opportunity to read the content of the paper, the man began speaking again as if answering my unasked question.
“This is a loan contract that your parents made with our boss when they took out a five-hundred-million-dollar loan,” the man stated factually.
“…What?!” I exclaimed in shock.
Five hundred million dollars?!
--To be continued…
That’s impossible. My parents never mentioned taking out any debt from the mafia and definitely not five hundred million dollars. What would they even need that much money for anyways? We lived a normal life. We didn’t have any crazy money to spend like that.I turned to look behind me at my sobbing grandmother who had a look of absolute shock on her face. I knew it, this is probably also my grandmother’s first-time hearing about all this. I was worried about my grandmother. She looked so pale like she could pass out at any moment and her silent sobbing cries had gotten louder as the situation worsened around us.“It’s just as the contract states. Your parents borrowed five hundred million dollars from our boss and we’re here to get it back. Simple,” the man continued in a passionless voice.Simple. My foot.I looked down at the contract that I clutched tight
I heard a low voice call out to me before a hand reached out and shook my right shoulder. I woke up with a small jump. When did I fall asleep? I must have dozed off during the multi-hour ride to the city. I guess I was tired, I didn’t realize when I had fallen asleep at all.Where am I?The car had come to a complete stop and looking out of the window I could see that we have arrived at a gigantic mansion decorated in the baroque European style. This building is massive! Are we at a luxury hotel?I could see the beautifully decorated garden outside with its cupid water fountain and flowers of various types and colors. If the circumstances of my arrival here had been any different, then I’m sure that I would have enjoyed the view and would have felt super excited to be in such a nice place. However, the only thing I felt right now was anxiety, fear, and stress.The men wordlessly unbounded my hands and feet before carefu
“So, you do remember me. Excellent!” the boss said with a warm smile that showed off the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes.I have to say that I did not expect the kind-hearted uncle to be a mafia boss. In other words, I did not expect the mafia boss to be a smiley uncle figure.“Yeah…umm…hello…once again, I guess,” I stammered when I finally found my tongue.“Have a drink, dear. You look a little tired from the trip. It must have been a long one…” the boss said as he gestured to a glass or water that was placed on the coffee table.“Thank you…” I whispered as I reached for the glass.“Did my men treat you roughly? I did order them to be gentle with you…as gentle as handling a feather,” the boss asked, suddenly his gaze was serious.For some reason, I figured that I shouldn’t tell him that they
“So, you see, that family member that I have chosen is my son. Trust me, it’s much better than marrying me, is it not?” the boss said, laughing at his own sick joke.I stared at the document in shock as my hand shook. If I tear this paper apart, will that void the contract? I guess not…As I was deep in thought as to what I should do next, the boss’s mobile phone started to ring loudly, disturbing the tense atmosphere in the room.“What? I see…and? We’ll cover it…give her the best treatment,” the boss spoke through the phone.The conversation came to an end and the boss looked at me with a sad face and I wondered what that whole phone call was about.“The man that took your grandmother to the hospital just called,” the boss said solemnly.“How is she?” I asked with worry.“I think she already knew this but…
“Miss Malissa, the boss wants to see you now,” the leader of the men in black said as he poked his head in through the opened door.“Ok…let’s go,” I said as I walked towards the door.I wished I had gotten to speak with my grandmother, but she was still asleep. I wanted to talk to the boss too. Perhaps, he had already given up on the wedding based on what happened earlier today.…“You want me to what?” I said as my eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.“Hahaha! You don’t have to act so excited. It is as I said, I want you to move in and live with Hayden. He’s handsome, isn’t he? Just like me when I was younger…” the boss said cheerfully as he sipped red wine.“Umm…what he looks like isn’t the main problem here…” I muttered.“You will do as
Hayden had arrived and is sitting very close to me opposite the dinner table. This is the closest that we’ve gotten since we met at the church at what was supposed to be our wedding. Although, it failed miserably at my relief.Well, at least, he isn’t dead drunk this time, I thought as I looked at the man sitting opposite to me.Now that I had a chance to see him up close, I had to admit that Hayden is extremely handsome and attractive. Light blond hair, flawless skin, bright blue eyes, and a very handsome face with a straight nose. He looks like an angel, a prince, a Greek god, and everything else along those lines.As I have observed before at the church, Hayden was very tall, and I barely reached his shoulders even in those ultra-high heels I was forced to wear at our failure of a wedding. I wasn’t surprised that he had a girlfriend or at least a lover…or two…or more…?I was also sure that
“…I don’t understand,” I said, confused.“It’s simple, really. Each time you break any of the rules, I’ll fl a part of your body as mine,” Hayden said with a smile.“As yours?” I asked, still confused. If all parts of my body are still intact, how can he possibly claim a part to be his?“Yes. The body part that I’ve chosen to claim will be mine to do with as I please, wherever and whenever I please,” Hayden stated as he smiled with utmost satisfaction at his own idea.Seeing that I still looked quite confused to this alien concept, Hayden laughed softly at me as he continued to watch me from the opposite side of the table.“Stand up…and strip,” Hayden commanded, his eyes never leaving my face.“Excuse me?” I replied in shock. What did he just…say?“Stand up and take off your clothes.
**Clap Clap Clap**“That was quite a cute little show…now…try your best to stay very still,” Hayden said as he clapped his hand with pleasure.Lazily, Hayden slowly stood up from his seat and came to stand directly in front of me. He’s so close…we’re not even an arm’s length away from each other. I felt my body freeze as his blue eyes locked with mine. For the life of me, no matter how I struggled internally, I couldn’t look away from his captivating eyes.I held my breath and for a moment, I forgot to breath entirely. I didn’t know what he wanted from me.“Ah…” I let out a slight sound and quickly bit my lower lip to silence myself.Hayden had reached out a hand and touched my right shoulder with the back of his hand before running his fingertips slowly and softly down my right arm.“What are you…doing?” I asked stunn