Chapter 5

*Matilda*

“What the hell happened here?” Maya’s loud shriek jolted me awake. First, my head ached from the hangover that I had from drinking too much alcohol.

Before I could process why my sister was screaming, she pounced on me on the vast bed and pulled against my long blonde hair, screaming, “You fụcking bìtch! How dare you sleep with my man!”

Slap!

Slap!

Her palms collided against my cheeks with a loud thud until a firm hand caught hers.

“That’s enough, Maya! I’m sorry! I didn’t know she was your sister!” Samson’s apologetic tone filled the air as he stood there beside the bed. His firm hands carried Maya away as he glared at me.

Hurried footsteps approached the door and swung it open. As my vision adjusted to the room, I realised my mistake. I wasn’t in my room. I was in the well-furnished guest room that my parents had set up for their guests—most especially Maya’s fiancé.

How could I not know this?

The door swung open, and my father, Vincent, and my elder brother, Calvin, a 28-year-old guy, barged in. Before our mother, Ella, entered.

“Matilda! How can you be so shameless to sleep with Maya’s fiancé? Are you crazy?” Mom screamed like a lunatic, and before I could explain, she was on me on the bed. Her large palms collided with my cheeks and she smacked me repeatedly.

“Please, Mom. I am sorry,” I stammered to apologise as my mother dragged my naked body off the bed.

“You’re crazy! We specifically warned you to stay away from the guest room. Was this your plan? To ruin your sister’s happiness!” Mom screamed at me, her palms landing more heavy blows against my face. Her loud voice had alerted the whole house, and I could hear the maids’ gossip echoing in the corridor.

Calvin stood with an irritated look on his face. His hands by his waist. His eyes glared staring at me like he would kill me too.

No one volunteered to rescue me. Not even Samson, the same man who broke my virginity. Who asked me about his performance the previous night.

How could he stand there with Maya? His hands were around her waist, hugging her and comforting her against his chest.

Maya stood in front of him, hugging him and crying her eyes out like a miserable child.

My lips tasted of blood as my mother smacked me repeatedly, until Dad broke the silence and ordered her, “That’s enough, Ella. It’s not Matilda’s fault.”

Dad stepped forward, dressed in a white robe and black trousers. He was a tall, dark-skinned man. His hand caught Mom’s hand from delivering more brutal blows and punches on my head as I raised my hands over my head to block more of her attack.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Mom shrieked as she tried to free herself from Dad’s strong hold.

“I told you we should take Matilda to the countryside to stay with her grandma, but you refused. Now look at what she did to Maya. She is so shameless and I don’t want to see her in this house. You better take her away. Else, I will kill her by myself!” Mom yelled and pulled her hand away from Dad.

She wore a long white night dress, and she stormed out of the room, not wanting to spare me another glance.

I sat on the floor sobbing. How was it my fault? I didn’t ask Samson to sleep with me. How couldn’t he know his own fiancée? I told him it was wrong. I tried to stop him, but he was adamant. Now I am receiving the blame alone.

Dad stepped forward to meet me as I sat on the floor sobbing. I expected him to slap me, to punch me and call me all sorts of names like the rejected daughter he never wanted, as Maya’s sobs filled the air in the room.

However, Dad reached for the bedsheets and used them to cover me first. Before he demanded, “Why did you do this, Matilda? Don’t you know your room? How are you here with Samson?”

“Dad…” I managed to respond. “I got drunk last night. I don’t know I was in the wrong room. I tried to stop Samson, but he was on me. He kissed me and slept with me, without giving me a chance to explain.”

More tears streamed down my cheeks. I knew my father wouldn’t believe me. He has supported my siblings’ and mother’s relentless torture against me.

“Dad, that’s a lie. Matilda came here on her own. She wants to take Samson from me. She cannot have him,” Maya sobbed, turning to face us. Her eyes were filled with tears, but Samson’s hands didn’t leave her shoulders.