Chapter 3

In her room, the green silk dress hung on the wardrobe door. Tatiana stared blankly at it before taking it out.

She slipped into it and stood before the mirror. The reflection that stared back looked elegant and composed—nothing like the storm brewing inside her.

A mixture of feeling crept in. She had made the decision to escape all her problems. But, was that the right decision.

“Oh, my girl,” Susan said softly, “are you sure this marriage is the best choice right now?”

A tear welled in her eye, slipping down before she could stop it.

Tatiana wiped it away quickly, not wanting Susan to see. Then lips curved into a faint smile that did not reach her eyes.

“It’s the only way to gain my freedom, nanny. Mr. Michelle is a good man. I’m sure his grandson… will take after him.”

The words felt hollow, even as she spoke them. But she had no other choice. This was her way out, her chance to step beyond the prison she had always called home.

Tatiana’s phone began to ring, breaking the suffocating silence of her room. She glanced at the screen, and when she saw the caller ID, her lips trembled into a small, broken smile.

" Freda…” she whispered under her breath, her voice hoarse from the crying she had done earlier.

The moment she answered, her best friend’s familiar voice came through, loud, mocking, and playful.

“Let me guess—‘I’m sorry bestie for letting you dress up for my birthday party and busting your bubbles at the end.’” Freda’s laughter carried a sharp edge as it echoed through the line.

Tatiana’s lips parted, but no sound came out.

“I’m mad at you, bestie! How can you cancel your party at the last minute! Tell you what—I even invited Derrick to the party. And then you go your own way cancelling everything! Gosh, Tatty, I hate you!”

Her words stung, not because of their meaning, but because of how far they were from the truth. Tatiana’s eyes burned. Her body was shaking with tears streaming down her cheeks as she sat down quietly.

Silence stretched.

“Tatiana, are you listening to me? Hello? Tatty, are you there?” Freda stopped when she felt the aura that something was wrong.

“Tatiana… what’s wrong?” Her tone had shifted to urgent and uneasiness.

“Nothing…” Tatiana swallowed hard, trying to steady her voice. She whispered but the word cracked with weakness.

That only fueled Freda’s suspicion. “Tatiana Richardson,” she snapped, “if you say one more lie, I will get there right now and whip your damn ass! What the hell is wrong with you? And don’t you dare give me that bullshit that everything is well with you. I know you, little Richardson.”

Tatiana finally broke . Her lips quivered, her breath shuddered and the tears spilled harder. “He… he almost took advantage of me, Freda…”

The line went dead silent. Freda’s heart clenched. Her voice softened, shaky. “What are you saying? Who?”

Tatiana’s body folded in on itself. Her knees drew up to her chest, and she hugged them tightly with her sobs tearing through the air.

“My uncle… he almost took advantage of me last night. And worse—my mum is refusing to believe me. Now… I’m being shoved to marry a guy I don’t even know about.”

Freda sat on her bed, stunned. Her grip on her phone tightened. She could hear Tatiana’s pain, every sob breaking her own heart.

“Wait, wait, wait, bestie. Slow down. You were almost taken advantage of last night and this morning you are getting married? This doesn’t make sense!”

Tatiana wiped her face. Her eyes were swollen and red. “Last night Uncle Tony arranged my birthday party…”

Freda cut in sharply. “And I wasn’t invited.”

“He invited only his friends." Tatiana’s sobbing grew harder. " At first he told be you will be coming, until… until I realised I had been drugged. But I escaped before he could get to me.”

Freda exhaled loudly, relief flooding her tone. “Thank God, bestie. You scared me here! I’m glad you still keep your first time. At least Derrick will be the perfect one to break it.”

There was deadpan silence.

“Tatiana…” Freda’s voice dropped, full of suspicion. “You said you were drugged, right? How… how… did you…”

Her voice stuttered, heavy with confusion. Suspicion, realization, and fear rummaged through her head all at once.

“Hell no, bestie. You’re still a 'pure', right?” Freda asked, as though her life depended on the answer.

Tatiana’s silence on the other end said more than words.

Freda gasped. Her chest heaved with rage.

“Not anymore…”

“Wait what? You already…”

Tatiana's voice was almost inaudible.

“I… I… I needed to get the drug out of my system…”

“You allowed a guy to take advantage of you!” Freda’s blood ran cold.

Tatiana’s voice was weak and trembling. “I couldn’t resist. The drug was too strong. I just couldn’t resist…”

“Did you get his name?”

“No…” Tatiana whispered in guilt.

“Tatiana!”

“I wasn’t in my senses. He wasn’t too. He just left a note saying I suck at my job.” Tatiana’s lips twisted in a bitter half-sneer, though her tears betrayed her.

"That lunatic! What a jerk!" Freda nearly screamed into the phone. “Oh my God, Tiana. You were almost abused by that good-for-nothing bastard of an uncle of yours, then you come home to an arranged marriage. Worse—you gave your first time to an asshole of a stranger who mistook you for an escort? Bestie, tell me, did you kill someone in your previous life that made you this cursed?!”

Tatiana let out a half-sob, half-laugh. “Are you comforting me or rubbing salt in my wound?”

“Sorry bestie. I don’t just—”

Tatiana abruptly hung the call. The sight before her made her freeze when her bedroom door creaked open.

“Nanny, can you get our princess juice,” Tony's voice cracked smoothly.

His eyes flicked to the phone in Tiana's trembling hands before his lips curved into a faint smile.

Susan, looked at Tatiana, who sat stiffly, eyes wide, silently pleading not to be left alone with him. Susan hesitated, but Tony’s gaze bore into her. She couldn’t disobey.

“Yes, sir.”

She hurried out, glancing back one last time.

The moment the door clicked shut, Tony’s smile vanished. He strode across the room and seized Tatiana’s arm. His fingers dug in cruelly, squeezing until she gasped.

“Let go of me…” Tatiana cried with trembling voice.

“Do you think you can get away from me?”

Tatiana flinched with her entire body shaking. “Let me go, Uncle. I will scream…”

"Go ahead. Let’s see who will get trashed when your mum gets here.”

Tony's eyes narrowed at Tiana. He leaned in and his breath was scorching Tiana's face.

Then, his tone dropped into a low, venomous growl,

“Now listen to me...Tatiana, you are mine. And I will rather see you dead than give you to another man. If you don’t want the boy to end up like your ex-boyfriend Mark, you better behave.”

Tiana's heart stopped. Mark. His death. The way no one believed her suspicions. But now, he has finally confessed. Her chest rose and fell in terrified gasps.

“Let ... let me go… please, you’re hurting me…” Her tears flowed withing ceasing. Tony's grip around her arm had tightened.

Until the door opened suddenly forcing him to release her. Susan returned, holding a glass of juice.

Tony instantly stepped back, sliding his mask of calm back into place.

Susan froze noticing the way Tatiana shivered. Her arm was still red from his grip and her face was pale with fear.

The strange gleam in Tony’s eyes didn't go unnoticed as he stared at his niece.

“Sir, the juice,” Susan said softly.

Tony took the glass from her, then turned to Tatiana.

“Princess, you need to eat something before you go. And don’t force yourself to like that boy. Know that I will be here at your back, always supporting you.”

His voice was sweet, but every word carried an undertone of warning to Tatiana.

“Nanny, make sure she takes the juice.”

With that, he walked out, his footsteps heavy, echoing down the hall.

The instant he was gone, Tatiana collapsed into Susan’s arms. Her sobs came hard and fast and her body was trembling like a leaf in the wind.

“I want to leave here, Nanny… take me out of here,” she pleaded.

Susan held her, stroking her hair, tears welling in her own eyes. She whispered comforts, though she knew she was powerless.

“This marriage will take me out of this house, right? Then I will marry Alexander Michelle. No matter what, I have to get married to him.”