Lavender:My family had returned. They looked happy. But I was too. After what happened between me and Easton, I was over the moon.I couldn’t stop smiling even when no one said anything nice to me.We were dining together and my sisters were gushing over the scenery from the picnic.“Daddy, can my friend come over sometime?” Sabrina said to Mister Volkov, making him smile in surprise at the fact that she was calling him her father.“Sure, they can come whenever they want. It is your house—” Mister Volkov suddenly stopped when Nikon placed his spoon down.It was done so politely, but somehow it made everyone turn to look at him.“But of course, ask for your brother’s permission first,” Mister Volkov corrected himself.“It’s okay. As long as they don’t walk around poking their noses in everyone’s business—especially mine and my brother’s,” Nikon warned her, grabbing his spoon again.He was usually quiet all the time.And just when I thought I hadn’t been under his scrutiny for a while,
Igor:It wasn’t new for my brother to humiliate me. But this time, it was worse because it was for someone like Lavender.Since when did my brother start feeling so bad for a bastard child?I rushed back to my room and grabbed a bottle of wine from my bar. That’s when my friends started blowing up my phone.“I’m not coming,” I hissed at them.“But why not? We’ve planned everything. The ferry is ready, our cars are ready to go—why are you changing your mind now? Don’t tell me you’re having cold feet. Are you scared of losing?” As they laughed, I clenched my jaw secretly.They had no clue that it wasn’t funny to me.I had been mistreated so much that now no one took me seriously.“Fear of losing, my brother? There’s no way Igor would be afraid of losing,” I didn’t know Nikon would come to my room. If I had known, I would have closed the door.But now he was standing in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest.“Brother Nikon—but he’s saying he isn’t coming,” my friend must have g
Lavender:I had finished my dinner and went back to my room, planning to change and rest. Thankfully, Nikon had taken the right stance, or else I don’t even want to imagine being at the island with that psycho.I was about to grab my wig and the black backdrop when a loud banging on the door almost knocked the world from under my feet. It was aggressive, like someone was in an emergency. I jumped off the bed and reached the door, worried that someone got sick or hurt.Or maybe some emergency had arrived.But the minute I opened the door and saw Nikon standing outside my room, I knew it wasn’t anything like what I had thought.“Grab your aid kit, you’re going with Igor,” Nikon stormed in, his presence wild and threatening. Behind him was Igor, who only leaned to the side, supporting his body with the wall.“Huh? But—but you said—” I started panicking almost instantly. Going to an island where there is no one else but my psycho stepbrother and his friends, who were probably just as craz
Lavender:“Let me go,” I started kicking and screaming when a hand grabbed me. It was Igor.“Shut up before I smack the teeth out of your mouth,” he screamed as he grabbed me by both my arms and shook me awake.“I will not allow you or your friends to touch me,” I screamed in his face, and he gave me a blank expression.“We are not going to. Do you think you’re that important for us to spend the precious time we’ve planned for weeks convincing you to have sex with us?” he hissed back, and my protesting started to fade away. “That jerk was making a joke.”“Well, it wasn’t funny because it happens to women all the time—” Finally, I teared up.It was my worst fear, and hearing his friend think it was a funny joke broke me down. There were some girls with some of the guys, and even they laughed about it.At least some of them did.“Yeah, it’s not funny. I call him an asshole for a reason. Nobody is touching you, so don’t worry,” he then let me go while promising no one would touch me.I d
Lavender:All the cars started leaving, one after another. Loud engines, bright lights, dust in the air. I just sat on the chair and watched them go. It was like they couldn’t wait to race. Then I saw it.One car didn’t move.It stayed in the same place while the others drove away. That felt strange. I looked at it again. The windows were dark, but I could see someone inside.He was looking at me.I didn’t know who he was, but I knew he wasn’t just sitting there. He was staring. At me. Not moving, not blinking. Just watching.My stomach felt tight. Like something was wrong. Really wrong.I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. My eyes stayed on the car. My body didn’t move. I felt cold even though the night wasn’t that cold.Why was he still there?Why was he watching me?I started recalling who had sat down in that one particular car. His form was not recognizable because of the tinted windows, until all the cars had passed me and disappeared. Then, he slowly rolled the window down.T
Igor:"Wooooo! We are definitely going to win!" Valerie giggled, sticking her tongue out at the passing cars.Her fingers were covered in rings, bracelets stacked up, and big earrings dangled from her ears. She was all set and ready for the race.This would mark us as the best among the racers."What do you think? If I open this window now, will my top come off?" she asked, clicking her tongue and spreading her legs to sit more comfortably."You call this a top? It's a bra, ma'am," I teased, and she laughed loudly. She had gone out with me to buy this outfit and jewelry for the special night.Whenever she needed something, she'd ask me to take her shopping. She never made me pay, even when I always insisted. She’d say she just wanted my opinion. But honestly, I didn’t know what to say to her. Everything she picked out looked good on her."Do you think this skirt are too short?" she asked, pouting, her arm stretching out, hand in my hair, running her fingers through it."No! It suits t
Lavender:My body was under so much stress, but I didn’t stop fighting. I would scratch his whole body if I had to. As I pulled his hair, his hold over me started to loosen. That’s when his grip tightened around my neck in an attempt to choke me until I passed out.Coughs erupted from my mouth, my throat closing as he choked me from behind with his arm wrapped around my neck, my chin tightly pressed against his arm.I was trying my best to stand up from the ground, but at this point, I was beginning to realize it wouldn't be possible for me.However, as the world started to fade around me, I felt sudden relief. The weight of his body on my back was no longer forcing me down. I rolled over to get away from him, and while lying flat on my back, coughing, I saw someone get on top of him and start beating him to a pulp.It took me a few seconds to finally see clearly and catch my breath. It was Igor, punching his friend wildly.“Let him go, you’re going to kill him,” Valerie kept shouting
Lavender:"Take this, it will help your body warm up," Igor grunted when I didn't accept the coffee he was offering me. He had taken me back to the cruise that had been waiting for him. He had a cruise for himself later. He was probably not planning on returning with his friends.The race was still ongoing, and Valerie had to stay behind to take care of Raymond.It’s not that she was supporting him, but they had to leave one person behind with Raymond.I finally accepted the coffee cup, and he sat down with me."Earlier, when you talked about your brother... What did you mean? I mean, Easton is very respectful towards me," I uttered softly, trying not to raise his suspicions more than I already had."Easton and respectful? He has many women in and out of his life. I don’t think he has time to be respectful towards them. And if he is, that means he isn’t done using their bodies for fun. I’m not claiming my brother uses anyone. Usually, women just throw themselves at him without any dem
Lavender:“So, Lavender! How’s your study going?” Christine started yapping, and as expected, her attention toward me brought smirks to their faces.My mother looked tired, while my stepsisters looked amused, like they were waiting for a show.“Good,” I replied, quickly looking down.“Umm, Easton—you’re a model. I know you,” she giggled, catching his attention next. Easton looked up from his food and briefly stared at her.“Good,” Easton replied, bowing his head down right away.“By the way, big brother, I heard you announced your relationship to the world?”It was Sabrina, the always-quiet yet creepy one, speaking up after a while. She didn’t talk much, but whenever she did, I always wondered what made her break her silence.I clenched my fingers around the fork tightly, side-eyeing Easton, who raised his head and exchanged a glance with his brothers.“Not yet,” Easton replied.“But we saw the post,” Igor teased him. His father looked pleased for whatever reason—maybe it was the firs
Lavender:“I feed you such good food. I bet you haven’t had fruits like this before. And this is how you massage me?” my mother snapped, kicking me before putting her foot back in my lap.I was in pain because of the blood transfusion, but she didn’t care.She had made me sit in her room for two hours now. My arm hurt so much for some reason.“I actually gave blood today,” I said. I didn’t have to remind her—she already knew.“So? You give blood all the time. Don’t make excuses,” she hissed.I sighed and started massaging her foot again. Mister Volkov wasn’t around yet, so she was making me stay in her room.I’d heard he was having a meeting with his sons.I just wanted him to come back to his room so I could go back to mine.Finally, when my hands couldn’t keep going, Mister Volkov’s voice echoed from the hallway. My mother sat up like she’d been caught with another man and snatched the oil out of my hands.She grabbed my hand and stretched it out, quickly pouring oil on it. It was h
Lavender:I woke up in my attic, worried and confused about how I got there, until I opened my eyes and saw Nikon sitting on the chair with a book in his hand.I sat up and swallowed hard.“Glad you’re awake,” he said, not looking too bothered as he kept reading the book.I had bought that book for myself.It was my damn course book that he was reading like it was some novel.“You passed out on the road,” he said casually. “I brought you here. Now thank me so I can leave.”The demands he made with a straight face were always strange.He was so full of himself.All of them were.“Thanks,” I said, steadying myself.“Hmm, you don’t have to. It was the right thing to do.” With that, he shut the book and gave me a fake closed-lip smile while I stared at his face in disbelief.“Now, what was it that I saw last night?” he asked, crossing one leg over the other.“I was out on a walk when your brother offered me a ride, but I said no,” I lied. I couldn’t tell him I’d been having something clos
Lavender:Thankfully, he didn’t make me stay to answer his question.I mean, he didn’t have to. He literally told me he’d question me later.Did he see the whole interaction or just the part where Easton was driving behind me?It was the next day—a new morning, and definitely a new beginning for me.Another person I thought cared about me was gone.I was now completely alone.But I guess there are some perks to being lonely—you can’t get hurt.“You look a little pale.”The nurse, a middle-aged woman with kind green eyes, studied my face while preparing me for the blood transfusion.“That’s just my complexion,” I lied, smiling through tired, empty eyes.Her concern wasn’t wrong—I hadn’t eaten that morning since I had to catch a bus early for college and then head straight here for my appointment.My mom had been blowing up my phone, reminding me not to miss this transfusion.I hadn’t fully healed from my fall and the previous transfusion—but who was going to tell her that?And now that
Lavender:“Lavender, don’t make a scene out here,” he drove right beside me, rolled down his window, and looked at me.“You told me to fuck off, so please drive home. I can walk back. And it’s you who’s making a scene on a fucking abandoned road,” I said, no longer trying to be timid.Why do women get so happy when a man calls them innocent and sweet?Trust me, I used to feel happy too—until that night.I realized that when a man calls a woman innocent, he means she’s easy to fool. It’s not a compliment. Being a good girl is such a harsh scam. It’s often used for women who get taken advantage of, and my heart ached for them—and for myself.I’d rather be known as a cunning bitch now than be called innocent and sweet.“Lavender, you’re starting to make me angry,” he hissed, and I stopped walking.“Easton! Fuck off,” I bent down to the level of his window and yelled right in his face.The shock on his face was worth it. He could come out and kill me for all I cared. I felt so disgusted b
Lavender:“We? Talk about yourself. I didn’t do all that with you because I wanted to bond with you. You made a fool out of me,” I began to panic once I realized he had played me.And then my mind went back to what Igor had told me. Did he know his brother would do that to me?“When I asked you about the models, you told me you don’t do all that. Why?” I wanted to grab his collar to make him look at me so badly, but I don’t think I could get that close to him again.“Because that was my personal business which you were trying to poke your nose into. I’m a model turned actor, I don’t go around telling everyone about my life,” he raised his voice. “And stop acting like I took advantage of you. Whatever we did was mutual. It’s not my fault that you caught feelings.”As he kept talking, I’d had enough. I opened the door and stormed out to avoid being scolded by him after getting cheated on.After a few seconds of me crying alone, he came out as well.“Lavender, I meet fans every day. Do y
Lavender:I had come downstairs and sat in the passenger seat of his car, just like he had asked me to, while he was still inside. I was worried someone would see me in his car before he arrived, and it would be another mess.After a while, I watched him come outside in a gray shirt and hop into the driver’s seat.He started the car and drove us to the same abandoned building as before. The minute he parked the car, he unbuckled his seatbelt and then leaned over to do the same for mine.His scent was so strong, his cologne amazing. But I was still reminded of the way he had slept with the other girls the same day.However, once the seatbelt was off, I found him holding my waist to help me out, probably intending for me to sit on his lap.That’s when I realized he was going for a steamy session.“Wait,” I steadily placed my hands on his hands to free my waist. He stopped and set me free, leaning back in his chair, looking so confused as to why I did that.“You gotta tell me what’s goin
Lavender:“You are a fucking liar,” I hissed.I was breathing heavily, losing my mind. My body was shivering so badly that I didn’t know what to do to calm myself down.Reading his text gave me so much anxiety, and instantly, I remembered the words spoken to me by his own brother.Igor!He was right.Easton is a good actor.He had me in the chokehold of his love, and I believed it all.I had my hand on my forehead when I received another text from Easton.E-Tron: Are we meeting today? I’m really excited to see you.I groaned, clenching my fists.My hand flew to my chest as tears started spilling down my face even more. It wasn’t easy at all for me to settle it in my mind that yet another person in my life had played me.E-Tron: What happened? Where did you go? I want to know what time we can meet so I can make reservations for usI was gritting my teeth hard. Reading his text felt like he was reaching through the screen and slapping me hard.I started typing hysterically, writing what
Lavender:I fixed my hair one last time before I was satisfied with how I looked. It was a huge day for me. I was going to meet Easton. I wasn’t sure how he would respond to us being stepsiblings, but I was confident he would find a way to navigate through it—maybe a loophole for his brothers.Honestly, I wasn’t expecting too much from our meet-up when I used to think about it, but now I had a feeling it would escalate to something very intimate. We would be the only ones at the manor, and I was sure he would get closer to me, maybe even too far this time.I smiled at the thought of being under him. His affection would make me feel more alive. But I was a little worried now that I remembered Nikon. Nikon had told me, “One of the rules in the mafia is not to get involved in forbidden love. Never be seen with your friend’s, foe’s, or ally’s spouse or partner. Never catch feelings for someone who is related to you—that includes stepsiblings and a friend’s partner too. And finally, never