Chapter Five

Ava's pov

Brent nodded at me and I slowly slid out of the car. Just when I thought I was amazed, the compound stunned me.

The mansion was the biggest I'd ever seen with a huge front door and other smaller extensions that stretched to the back.

Guards stood armed with all manner of terrifying guns with stoic faces in different areas of the mansion. None of them looked like they'd ever uttered a word in their lives.

I took a bold risk by waving at one of them and the glare he sent back to me?

It did more than correct my brain.

“Can you at least pretend to be classy instead of gaping at everything like a commoner?” My father's gloomy voice cut my eye tourism short.

I wanted to glare at him and tell him how he raised me in poverty but he was already taking long strides away from me.

I bit my lips in regret but ended up running to catch up with him. He didn't look back for a second to see if I was there, he just kept walking like a lost sheep.

What if one of these guards snatched me and threw me out?

By the time we got to the huge door, I was out of breathe. The distance between the gate and the door felt like an entire yard back home.

“What the hell is this place?” I wondered, feeding my eyes on the scenery around me. Out of nowhere, Brent's huge arms pulled me before I could even speak or blink.

I was so stunned by the interior of the house that I couldn't think of passing another snarky comment.

Goodness! The house was drop dead gorgeous.

My eyes roamed from the black, mysterious artworks hanging on the wall to the huge, red chair sitting in the middle of the house. The chair looked more like a throne than a actual chair.

Where is the moon goddess’ name is this?

“I see you kept to your promise, Brent. You really are a man of your word.” A gruff but somehow smooth voice slipped through the silence.

I darted my eyes around the house, only to find a short…scrawny old man with a furry ball of white hair all over his head and face stumbling down the staircase.

His voice was nothing like his appearance. Heck, the closer he got to us, the more I feared that he might stumble and break his neck.

Soon enough, he was standing right before me and his eyes stared into mine like he was searching for my soul.

My words stuck to my throat, my eyelids batting furiously.

“You brought the perfect fit this time. Good job.” He commented. Then it dawned on me.

Don't tell me my father brought me all way here just to get married to this scrawny, almost dead, old man?

I flashed my face to my deadbeat father and found him smiling like he'd won a hunting competition in the pack.

What the heck?

I glanced at Brent and back at the old man until I was unable to hold it in.

“Please tell me you didn't make me exchange my mother's life for a marriage to an old man who lokjs like he's one step closer to his grave.” I spat out without a care.

Brent's face widened in shock. I caught the minyte fear flashed in his eyes like a daze.

Before I could process what was happening, his hand tore a hard, stinging slap that left me stumbling until I crashed into a chair.

Tears filled my eyes without hesitation.

“Are you nuts? Do you realize who you're speaking to? Does he look like your useless, coward of a grandfather who can't do anything without his witch of a wife?” My father pounced on me like a wild animal and started punching my face.

The whole thing happened so fast that I couldn't feel my body when it crashed to the hard floor until my hands instinctively flew up to cover my face from the punches my father was raining on my face.

Memories of my father doing the same thing to my mother in the past flooded my head and bitter tears rolled down my eyes.

One hard punch landed on my lips and blood splattered out, spilling everywhere including his face and the white shirt I had on.

That didn't stop him.

Pain shot through every inch of my body but I couldn't whimper….let alone beg for help.

I caught the old man smirking with pride on his throne and rage shot through me.

By now, I has blood all over my face, my lips, my nose, my neck. No part of my body was left unbeaten.

At that point, I closed my eyes wirh tears rolling down while patiently waiting for when the horror would end.

Then I heard someone cough behind me.

“Do you plan to kill my bride before you bring her to me?” A hard, masculine voice finally interfered.

All of a sudden, everything stopped. The punching, the tears, the memories….everuthing came to a stand still.

My father jumped off me like an animal caught in the act while I remained on the ground, bruised and bloody.

I couldn't see clearly since I had blood in my eyes but my ears suddenly seemed to have sharpened its skills.

“I….I….was….she needed a bit of correction…I just thought to….”

The voice cut him off instantly.

“Correction, huh? Is that your reason for punching her like a long lost enemy?”

My father fell on his knees immediately.

“I didn't mean to go hard on her, my lord. I just thought to teach her a lesson so she doesn't give you a hard time.” He responded with a shaky voice.

Whoever my savior was, paraded around me then stopped before my father's face.

“How would you like to learn the same lesson now? Since you've given me a hard time?

My father went flat on his face.

“Forgive my ignorance, my lord. I was stupid, I didn't know what I was doing. I have no idea what came over me. Forgive me!” He begged in a high pitched cry I would never have imagined.

The entire house went silent.

A cold wind gushed through the house and despite my pain, I felt a nervous shiver tingle in my spine.

“Let him be, Milrac. She's his daughter and he can correct her in whatever way he pleases. Besides, she was being mouthy.” The old man finally interfered.

“Well, she's my wife now and no longer his daughter. No one else is allowed to touch her.”