WARNING
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SOME DESCRIPTION OF ABUSE AND A LITTLE BIT OF VIOLENCE PLEASE SKIP IT IF YOU CANT HANDLE IT NIRELLE By the time my mom is done with the makeup, I am barely able to recognise myself. I can not deny it; she has done a good job. I have never looked this good, and certainly not in the ten years I have lived here. I close my eyes and I remember the day my mom held my hand and led me into the Thamore mansion. She had told me that this was going to give us better lives, and I was so excited. I had never known my father and had always longed for a father figure in my life so my mates at school would stop making fun of me. I wanted to be loved by a father, but I got a nightmare instead. From the first night there, I felt Enoch's hand in inappropriate places, and I tried to overlook it. He was the father I needed, and so everything was good in my eyes. We were a perfect family with Cory as my elder brother; however, everything changed when, on my sixteenth birthday, he came into my room and placed his hand right on my vagina. I shrieked at his hands, and he told me not to worry, that this would help me become an adult. It was not right; I knew it, so I told my mom, and instead of supporting me, I got locked in the basement for the first time ever. I remember banging on the door and screaming until my wrist ached. I remember crying so much that my throat burned, but all of that went away when I slept that night. However, the feeling of his hands underneath my panties jolted me back awake that night. I could not sleep. The next day, Yvette let me out, and I was free again, but Enoch was not done; he was back again, this time tearing off my clothes with one hand and the other hand closing my mouth forcefully as he thrust himself into me like an animal. He left me alone in the darkness of my room with tears clinging to my face. He came again the next night and the next night, and for a week straight, he continued raping me and no matter how much I told my mom, all she did was look the other way. Afterwards he would come into my room at least twice a week and rape me; sometimes I would lie lifeless on the bed because there was no salvation for me. If I managed to escape, I knew there was nowhere else to go. Yvette might even bring me into the room for him to have his way; I did not know what else to do so one day I took hold of his cock with my teeth and bit as hard as I could imagine. His pounding on my back did not stop me. I was determined to create enough damage to him, and I only let go when I could not hold onto it again. "No daughter of mine would be allowed to do business," he announced the next morning at the breakfast table. I looked at him; it was a wonder that he was still alive and well after the damage I caused yesterday. I wished I had held on a little longer; I wished I had found a way to end him so I could be free from the nightmare, but there he was, ready to put me in more chains than I already had. "Nirelle, you would support your brother and make sure he grows to be successful." There were no questions to be asked; Yvette began grooming me to be the perfect wife to any man I should be married to. The thought of it alone makes my skin crawl. Once I was twenty, he stopped coming to my room very frequently, only once in a while, especially on days he had a little too much to drink. I remember when I was eighteen and had tried to flee; the iron gates had refused to open, and I was left pounding on them for a while before one of the bodyguards flung me over his shoulders and dropped me in the basement. I had gotten the beating of my life and spent the next three days in there with no water or food; they only let me out because they were sure that I was ready to behave. "Let us go." Yvette's voice snapped me out of my memories. I stare at her and open my mouth to beg. "There is no use begging; this is your fate, and I suggest you take it," she said. I have wanted to avenge, but I am sure that I would be unable to get it with me being sold to a man who held my parents like a puppet. Was this my salvation? Was this my escape? Would I really be escaping? I stand up, feeling my legs buckle under me. I turn to her and frown, still trying to beg; she knew how to get me out of there. "If you let me escape, I would never come back; you would never hear of me. I will live as if I am dead." "The dead can't live; you either marry him or we both die."NIRELLEBy the next time I am conscious of my environment, the room has changed to something nicer but still feels like it's out of a horror movie. "Are you finally awake?"The voice is familiar but feels distant, like something I knew from my childhood and then forgot all about. I try to raise my head and realise that I am in the psychiatric ward I had moved my mom to. What was she lying at here? Claiming I was carsey? How were they going to push me into a marriage with Cassian if they did this?"Are you?" I look up at the voice, and now the man is standing right beside the bed. "Are you feeling much better?""What happened?" I groan as I push myself into a sitting position."Apparently, you currently have a mental condition," he said, like he was revealing a big secret to me."Of course." I roll my eyes because that was what would make them bring me in here. "Who brought me?""Yvette," he said after hesitating to speak. He saw that I was not going to back down until I got an answer,
LUCIEN"Okay, then what is going to happen is that in three days her body will be found somewhere, and there will be no evidence of who it was that killed her." Olivia's voice and the nonchalant nature of it sent fear down my entire body. I felt my legs buckle, but I could not show them.Wolves like them preyed on the fear, and if they showed it, then they would think they had won. "You won't do that because that would only push to show the entire world how despicable you all are.""You want to do that?" Cassian suddenly asked. I had not even noticed him walk in, but obviously, he had to be in the middle of this. "People don't believe the truth; they believe what they are shown and who can put on the best show.""Wow, for you all, the life of a person who should be precious to you means little, and you do not even care." Why did I even expect that at least her mom wanted the best for her deep down and had never done anything for her own gain? Yet she stood there with a firm face, her
LUCIENTHREE DAYS AGO: NIGHT OF THE LAUNCH"Mr Vexley, I want to talk to you about something urgent." I was already on my way out of the hall when I was cornered by someone whom I could not recognise."I have to decline because I am already on my way home.""I am sure you'd benefit from what I am about to...""I am not looking for any new partnership, so I would like to decline. However, if you want to say more, then you can make it to the office on Monday, and I would do all I can to see you," I say because the disappointment on his face is palpable, and I did not want to be the man who killed the dreams of those younger than him. His face brightened, and then he walked away, leaving me alone.Theo walks into the room, and from where I am standing, I see his eyes dart all over, looking for me. He finally spots me and begins to walk to me, so I do the same. "Where is Nielle?""In the car," I nod and then am ready to apologise when I notice his eyes still darting around. "Where is Zane
NIRELLEWhen I wake up next, I am in an eerie, unfamiliar room. The walls are concrete, and the inside looks like something straight out of a horror film. I try to sit, but the sound of the metal creaking is way too loud. I finally managed to stand up, and the feeling of paralysis I had felt in my leg is now gone. How long have I been out? My hand brushes against the wall, and the rough feeling leaves an uneven brush against my skin. The light inside is glowing on and off, and it makes my head hurt. I should not be shocked that they would think of kidnapping me; they had done it once, so a second time should not have been that hard.I get closer to the wall and notice writing across it. I try to read it, but it makes no sense, so instead I pull the blinds to reveal what is behind the window. Instead, outside, I am met with a brick wall.I try to pull open the door, but it would have been strange if it weren't locked from the outside. I sigh and lower myself to the ground beside my c
THE GAS MASK LAUGHNIRELLE"We have been sitting out here in the limo for a while now; maybe I should go let Lucien know that it is time to go home?" I asked. Theo looked at me with a worried expression."I will go check instead.""Is something wrong?""No, it's just weird that they both aren't here.""Do you want me to come with you?""Are you missing him that much?" He asked, and I nodded. He fake gagged, and it made me laugh. "Just wait here; I am going to be back soon, pulling them both by the ears.""Don't pull Lucien by the ears," I call after him as the door shuts in my face. I press my face into the tinted glass to see the security guards standing at the guard. I lean back into the chair and get ready to throw off the dress as soon as I get home and soak in a hot bath. It had been hard work trying to look pretty for the camera and people all night.I close my eyes and yawn as I suddenly feel too exhausted. I hear the driver's door open and then close. "Are we going already?" I
NIRELLEThey were taking too long to reveal the project, and it was making me worry that they already had a clear idea of what we were trying to do. "Don't worry about that," Lucien had said when I brought my worry up to him. "They would be too ashamed to gather all these people and not do anything." He was too sure, so I had to agree with him in the end."Thanks to everyone who has honoured our invitation tonight, and a special thanks to Mr and Mrs Vexley." Mr Wolfe on the stage had a huge smile on his lips. "For gracing our occasion," he added, and I was trying to understand this man.The Thamore and Wolfe family seemed not to mind that they were on the wrong side of Lucien's anger; they wanted to still ride the waves as long as they could."This is the first event they are attending since becoming public, and when my son said we had to send out the invitation to them, I was almost too sure they would want to avoid the public for now, but they graced the event."I felt my finger tre