04| Your Life Belongs To Me.

Mia Kincaid:

I can’t stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks or prevent my heart from breaking any further. The images of my family not fighting for me will forever be seared deep into my mind, consistently slashing my heart with a thorn-spiked-like whip.

My mother willingly sent me away.

Nate didn’t save me.

My father didn’t stop my mother.

Rose didn’t come to my rescue.

I thought they loved me. I thought we would always stand together as one, no matter how fierce the storm is that we are forced to face together.

My entire world crumbled around me as they all stood there, watching me being dragged away against my own free will, without an explanation as to why or where I was going.

Every time I pleaded with the two men who took me to answer my frantic pleas, they shared a look between themselves and continued to ignore me the entire ride. Even when we arrived at our final destination, here, they refused to answer me.

Instead, they dragged me inside this large mansion, kicking and screaming, up two different staircases and into this empty room, locking me inside.

I am unsure of how long I have been here because minutes seem to stretch into hours. Being left here alone without any answers only adds to the unyielding fear choking my insides.

The sound of the lock turning on the other side of the door has me jumping to my feet. I lean my back against the distant wall, yearning for it to engulf me. With wide, fear-stricken eyes, I watch as the door opens, and a man enters the room with heavy footsteps mirroring the beat of my racing heart.

My breath catches.

He’s just not any man.

He’s the man I bumped into outside the jeweler's earlier today.

The ignorant ass who cut me off before I could summon the right words to apologise to him.

He prowls the room like a predator, sizing up his prey.

If he didn’t look just as shocked as I was, I would have thought he kidnapped me because of our unpleasant encounter earlier. But as his lips draw into a thin line and his eyes narrow into deathly slits, I can tell he is just as taken aback as I am.

“What do you want with me?” I managed to ask, breathlessly.

He devours the space between us. “You are Julian Kincaid’s kiz?” His voice is calm, barely a whisper, but it demands an answer from me.

“Kiz?” I whisper when he doesn’t speak in full English.

“Daughter.” He growls with venom lacing his voice.

“Y-Yes…” I reply, hating the slight stammer he evokes from me. “What does my father have to do with me being brought here against my will?”

Quicker than the blink of an eye, his hands fly out, and his fingers dig into the flesh of my upper arms. I grit my teeth, trying to hide the bite of pain they are causing me, and I meet his glare.

A sob is ripped out of my throat. “You’re hurting me.”

“I’m the one asking the questions.” He sneers, pressing my back against the wall and stilling my movements as I do my best to break free. “Do you know who I am?”

“An arsehole who thinks it’s okay to put his hands on a woman.” I spat out in anger. “I demand to know what I am doing here and what you plan to do with me. You will not get away with this. My father wil-”

“Yeter!” He bellows violently, almost shaking the life out of me, and the words die on my lips instantly. “My name is Quenten Yilmaz, and your baba isn’t coming for you.” He pauses, gauging my reaction like I’m meant to know who he is. “No one is coming for you, and you no longer have a family. You are alone, and you will remain here for the foreseeable future.”

“No…” I whisper with disbelief, momentarily closing my eyes and shutting the world out. “You’re lying.”

His calloused fingers dig deeper into my flesh. “Why would I lie to you? What could I possibly gain from being dishonest? You are the debt I am owed on your baba’s behalf, and we will marry in the next forty-eight hours. You will be a Yilmaz.”

My eyes spring open. “Never!” I cry out, unwilling to accept his insane demands. “I will never marry you, and I will never bear your name. This is insane. You’re insane!” I struggle beneath his grip again, but it only causes me more discomfort, as he is a lot bigger and stronger than I am.

“You will bear my name, and you will act accordingly. This is not up for discussion, and if you try to run away, I will return to the Kincaid's, and I will take Nate’s life before yours, then your abla.”

“You, you wouldn’t.” I sob, knowing full well he means every word he has spoken.

A kiss may not have sealed his threat with a promise. But the fire blazing in his irises does.

“Try me.” He replies through gritted teeth, releasing me from his clutches, and he takes one step back, pointing towards the door. “Run and find out for yourself.”

My gaze darts between my captor and the open door. Freedom awaits me if I cross it. My limbs are aching to make a dash for it, but my mind and heart are screaming at me not to test the devil’s patience. Feeling defeated, my back slides down the wall until my butt hits the cold floorboards.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I ask him with a death wish sitting on my left shoulder. “You are stealing my life from me.”

“You are to pay for the sins your baba committed against my family years ago. You can marry me and save your abi's life,” he titters before switching to English. “Brother's life, or you can escape, signing three pending death warrants. The choice is yours.” He spits out, his voice heavily drenched with repulsion.

I stare up at him, my eyesight blurry, and I hate the way he towers over me. Wiping the tears staining my cheeks with the heels of my hands, I realize I have so many questions and a long list of unpleasant words I wish to hurl at him.

I mean, who does he think he is? God? He can’t treat me like this.

I remain silent.

Something in my gut tells me that this man, who is determined to make me his wife in forty-eight hours, isn’t a man I should be challenging.

He is a man to be feared. He is a man who lacks both conscience and compassion. A man who takes pleasure in others' suffering.

“I have a life I need to get back to. I must take a test to secure my scholarship abroad." I express out loud my realization that my dreams and hopes will never become my reality.

“Your life belongs to me and this mansion now. There will be no tests or a scholarship for you to study abroad. I suggest you suck it up and accept that your life is over.”