Chapter 3

(Thelma)

"Let go of me!" I screamed, caught by two muscular bodyguards in the mansion's living room. They thought I was a thief and refused to release me.

An old man with a full white beard and silver eyes emerged, staring at me in confusion. He wore a long white garment. He stopped and ordered the bodyguards, "Release the young lady."

"Yes, Grand Master," they replied, letting me go. I irritably dusted my arms where they had gripped me.

My thighs still throbbed from the black man's rough treatment, and I still smelled of him.

"Who... are... you?" the old man asked.

"Good morning, sir," I said, assuming he was related to the man I'd slept with. "I have to go home now."

He smiled understandingly. "Alright. Thompson, open the gate for her."

"Okay, Grand Master," one of the bodyguards replied. Thompson said to me, "Come with me, miss."

I followed him outside. He unlocked the gate, and I was grateful no one followed me.

I ran to the bus stop and hailed a yellow taxi.

"To LX Hotel," I told the driver.

"5k madam," he replied.

I slid into the back seat and shut the door. "Drive."

The taxi driver started the engine and drove off. I sat nervously, feeling the throbbing between my thighs.

I watched the road as the driver, in a yellow T-shirt, drove to LX Hotel.

I stepped out, paid, and rushed into the hotel to retrieve my car.

As I entered, Steven Sebastian, my father's adopted son, strode up to me, his eyes blazing.

"Where did you go last night?" he yelled. They were worried sick. I hadn't answered my phone, and I'd left the hotel.

"Thelma!" Steven roared my name again. He was thirty-one, also black.

"I went to see someone," I lied.

"See someone with those red marks all over your face and neck? Who?" Steven's eyes burned. I knew he loved me, and he'd never accepted being my adopted brother.

"Leave me alone, Steven. I'm going home." I ran to my yellow car. I needed a bath to wash off that icy man's scent.

Steven stood silently with the two bodyguards, watching me get into my car. He waved to the guards. "Let's go."

I checked the rearview mirror and saw Steven and the bodyguards returning to their cars.

I sighed in relief, started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot, heading home.

I was nervous and scared, so I drove the yellow Ferrari home to face my family. Steven and the bodyguards followed behind.

~~~

I arrived at my family's mansion, drove into the garage, and parked. My father stood at the entrance, glaring at me.

I stepped out and walked to face him. It was a bright Saturday morning.

"Where did you go without answering your phone last night and this morning? The guards said they couldn't find you anywhere in the hotel," Father demanded, his cold blue eyes burning into me.

My mother stood worriedly beside him. "I went to see a friend," I lied.

"Shut your mouth, Thelma, and go inside. This is the last time you leave this house to celebrate your birthday in a hotel, silly girl," Father warned. It was indeed my first time celebrating my birthday in a hotel, even at twenty-four.

Father continued to glare at me as I rushed inside.

I ran past my parents, scared, and retreated to my bedroom.

I breathed heavily, remembering my father's angry face. I locked the door. I didn't want the maids to disturb me. I was treated like a princess, with five maids attending to me.

I couldn't believe my body still throbbed from what that cold man had done.

I hadn't even been paid, yet he hadn't taken it easy on me.

"Did he think I was a prostitute?" I asked myself, walking to the full-length mirror.

My room was painted cream. I gasped at my reflection. "What?"

My neck was covered in hickeys and red marks, and my lips looked swollen.

My chest was covered in red marks too. I took off my red gown to examine myself.

My bréasts were covered in red marks. The ruthless man had sucked on me hard.

At some point, I'd been scared by how he sucked on my boobs like I was his mother and he was his baby.

"Shit! No wonder Steven was staring at me angrily, and Father... Did he notice I was no longer a virgin?"

I stared at my reflection, removed my bra, and stared at my swollen nìpples.

I frowned and heard a knock. "Who's there?" I screamed.

"It's Elsa," my handmaid replied.

"Go away. I don't need your help now."

"But Madam sent me to dress you."

"Shut up, Elsa, and go away! When I need you, I'll send for you."

"Okay..." I heard Elsa reply, and I sighed as her footsteps faded.

Elsa was my favorite maid.

I rushed to the bathroom to wash away the lingering scent of that man.

Even after my bath, his earthly scent lingered in my nostrils.

His silver eyes still haunted me. I sighed and walked to my bed, still wrapped in a towel.