Attempt to escape

Pain! Pain!! And more pain was all she could feel. Her body hurts and so does her heart.

She couldn't tell which pain was worse. The one from her heart or the one from her body. It was probably the one from her heart.

She still couldn't believe that her family could do such a thing to her. She had always known that they hated her, but she had no idea that it would be to this extent. Her tears couldn't stop flowing.

She quickly wiped her tears when she heard footsteps approaching her room. She needed no soothsayer to tell her that it was her stepmother and her children.

She didn't want them to see her crying. That would only cause her more trouble. 

"What the hell are you still doing huh?" Matilda, her stepmother, bellowed when she saw that Carine hadn't packed her bags yet.

"Let me have the damn papers" Max hollered.

Carine felt fear wash over her. She hasn't signed the papers. She expected the slap even before it landed on her face.

Smack.

She felt a stinging sensation on her cheeks.

"Why haven't you signed the papers?" This time, it was Luke, Matilda's youngest son. He was the one who hated her more than anyone in their household. The dude hated her with all the vessels in his body. 

Carine couldn't answer as she continued sobbing. 

"Sign the damn papers you fool" He yelled at her as he took a quick glance at his wristwatch.

"Mr. Martelli's men would be here in a few hours, and we don't want to keep them waiting,"

Carine sobbed as she shakily took the pen and signed the papers. The papers  that marked her as the infamous Mr. Martelli's property.

She couldn't believe they were doing this to her. Her family wants to sell her off, like she was some object for sale. They want to use her as collateral to pay off Max's debt, a debt she knows nothing about. How cruel of them.

Of course, they couldn't use Laura or Gianna. They were the legitimate children, while she wasn't.

The mother and sons turned to leave when they saw that she had signed the papers.

Carine quickly gripped Matilda's legs.

"Please Mom, don't do this to me. Please I beg of…"

Smack.

Matilda slapped her on her already swollen cheeks.

"First of all, I am not your mother and I'll never be, and the next time I hear you call me your mother, I'll send you straight to hell, to meet your godforsaken mother"

Carine felt something pierce hard in her heart at Matilda's words. That was mean. She should have known that Matilda would never listen to her pleas.

"Gina was right after all. You are an ingrate. You know, being an illegitimate child, we have the right to send you away to the street, but no we didn't, because my father's blood runs through your veins. It's just a simple task. Is that too much to ask?" Maxwell asked.

Carine scoffed, her tears forgotten. "Simple task you say? If it was so simple, why didn't you use Laura or Georgina?"

Matilda gasped. Carine dared talk back to them. She shouldn't be surprised. Carine had a smart mouth.

Smack!!!  

Maxwell smacked her.

"You are the illegitimate child here, got it?" 

Carine sighed. Her cheeks had already gone numb. She couldn't even feel the pain anymore.

Matilda and her sons left the room, leaving Carine to her misery. 

Carine sank deeper into her bed, her tears flowing like a river.

A few minutes later, she heard the doorbell ring and she knew instantly that the men were there. She lazily gathered her belongings into her small bag. 

Laura, Matilda's eldest daughter, barged into her room as usual. 

"They are here".

Laura was two years older than Carine. She's twenty-four years old. She had always been jealous of Carine, especially when all the boys in college had their eyes on her. 

She knew that Carine was way more beautiful than her and it always made her angry. With her long black hair, her almond-shaped orbs, olive skin that complimented her almond shaped serene eyes , and a killer body that could drive any guy crazy. She was shaped like a model. Her physical endowment only made Laura's jealousy grow with each passing day.

Laura smirked when she saw Carine's gloomy face and swollen eyes.

'This vixen that had always made her invisible among the guys was finally leaving,' Laura thought with a proud smile on her face.

Now that Carine was leaving, she would go back to being the most beautiful and wanted girl in their school. Laura smirked. What a good way to start her day.

She smiled as she made her way out of Carine's room in that usual elegant walking step of hers.

Carine dragged her feet off the bed and made her way out of the room.

Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it in her ears. And she was sure her family could hear it too.

She saw about six men all dressed in black suits and each a pair of Giorgio Armani shoes. 'Mr. Martelli must be wealthy' She thought.

"The papers," One of the men said to her brother, who quickly handed the papers to him.

Carine stood rooted to the ground. This was happening.

"Let's go, ma'am " One of the men walked up to her.

She turned to watch her family members for the last time. They didn't even bother to spare her a glance. She exhaled.

Outside she saw three black 2022 Jeep Wagoneers parked. She turned to look at her house one last time. She still can't believe that she was leaving this house. This house nursed all her memories with her family, both good and bad.

She felt someone nudge her sides and turned to see that it was one of the men.

He opened the car for her and she got in.

She watched as they drove out of her compound. 

 She didn't know what fate awaits her or where they were taking her, but one thing was certain, she must survive. She will try to survive, for her brother. So she would see him again.

With that thought in mind, she wiped her tears as she stared out of the window, at the beautiful streets of New York City. 

Suddenly, a thought popped into her head. She contemplated giving in to the thought or just ignoring it.

Then again, ignoring it would cost her her freedom. Ignoring it would mean that she has to keep calm and allow these guys to take her to her eternal doom in the form of Mr. Martelli. She had heard so much about him. The media have always tagged him as cold and inhumane. Some tagged him as the blue-eyed devil. She felt shivers run down her spine. She knew what he was capable of doing.

That would never happen. 

At this point, she was grateful for the fact that she still had her boots on, after all, she had just returned from her running lessons when her family broke the news to her.

She looked to her right and saw that the other man was immersed in his phone. The driver's eyes were concentrated on the road.

When she pulled her boots, Kirk thought that maybe her legs hurt and didn't read any more meaning into them.

"I want to pee," She let out.

Judging from the way the man stared at her, she could tell that he didn't believe her one bit.

She groaned angrily. "I said I want to pee"

She repeated sternly.

"Pull over," The man said to the driver.

The driver pulled over to the side. 

She frowned when she saw the other men step out of the car too.

"What?" She asked, but none of them answered her.

"Didn't your mothers teach you how to respect a girl's privacy?" She scoffed. 

Still, they didn't answer her. It was until Kirk ordered them to excuse her that they did.

Carine glared at them and mouthed 'assholes' as she pretended to bend to ease herself. She gazed around and saw that the place was secluded.

Perfect time to run. The men were nowhere in sight.

For the next few minutes, she began to run away in the direction of the bush.

She didn't know how long she might have been running, but when she glanced back, she saw the men chasing after her. 

Just great.

"Don't let her get away," She heard one of the men yell. She didn't bother to see who it was, as the only thought on her mind, was to get away.

The next minute, she shrieked in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Ouch" She shrieked.