Chapter 3

I am Selina Morrison, the first child of a Billionaire, Benjamin Morrison. My mother died during my birth and my father remarried my step mom, Silver Morrison.

Silver Morrison bought me up and I suffered greatly at her hands. My father wasn't aware of this. Silver was highly manipulative and almost turned me against my father.

The abuse didn't stop with her. She brought her son, Max, with her when she married my father. He was way older than me.

As a child, Max assaulted and molested me physically and sexually and threatened me not to speak up. I bore the pain and the dread in my heart until I came of age.

As I grew older, I couldn't take it anymore. I went out of my way to learn self-defense. I learnt different fighting skills and became a black belt holder. I was able to defend myself against Max's assault and he stopped.

I became free from Max but I wasn't free from my own devils. I hated Max, hated myself and hated men.

I avoided men and trained harder as I didn't want to be seen as weak and powerless. I began to dress like a man to hide away my femininity which I saw as a weakness.

I stood up to defend myself and other women against any form of deprivation and assault. I became a tomboy and my father disliked me for this. 

His dislike didn't make me bulge. How could I tell him that it was all I could do to heal my scars and silence my inner turmoil?

I couldn't help it. I continued and he disliked me for it.

I avoided romantic relationships like they were plagues. No man ever had his way in my heart and I thought I was stone dead to all emotions until Brian Rivers came into my world and swept me off my feet.

This did not just happen magically.

Apart from my stone-cold heart, Brian didn't fit my status. He was just a measly bartender. But he was persistent. 

He was always around and I found it offensive at first. But despite my blunt rejection, he didn't stop coming around.

Since he was always there, he became handy and he was always available to offer help anytime I was in a difficult situation. 

Without shame, he always used such opportunities to ask me out. He was persistent and he knew what he wanted.

Under my facade of dislike and anger, he began to shake up my walls.

One fateful day, I was returning from training. I didn't go in my car, and as I was bouncing on the road, I was attacked by a rabid dog. 

The dog charged at me and I fled. Despite my fighting skills, I didn't stand a chance against a rabid dog. The fear of getting infected from its bite filled my head and I ran like a lunatic.

The dog charged forward and chased me without relenting. The street was particularly dry and the few people I met also took to their heels.

Brian swooped in from nowhere. I saw him grab a nearby plank and smash it on the dog. The dog lost control and stopped its pursuit. Brian was its new prey.

Brian withstood it and charged at it while I fell on the ground, breathing hard.

When I turned around, I found Brian beside me. His hand was dripping blood and beside him was the raid dog, it seemed to be unconscious.

My eyes widened and I scampered up.

“Are you okay? Where the hell did the bitch come from? Hope you weren't bitten?” He said, looking concerned as his eyes danced over my body.

“You were bitten! You are bleeding!” I yelled.

“This?” He said holding up his bleeding arm.

“Don't worry, it's nothing... I have called the emergency service and they are on their way,” he said and rose to his feet.

The concern, love, and care that plastered his face melted my heart. I had never felt such care from anyone, not even my father. 

“He is different! He even put himself in harm's way just to ensure my safety,” I assured myself despite the alarms blaring in my head.

My heart swelled with a rush of emotions. I rose up and drew him into my embrace, hugging him passionately. That was the beginning of our romance. 

I was head over heels for Brian. I fell helplessly for him, but my father didn't accept him.

“Selin, you can't marry him. He is just a bartender, he doesn't belong to our class. He is a gold digger. He doesn't love you. He only wants your money,” My father advised but I didn't listen. I continued with Brian until my father got fed up.

One fateful afternoon, my father said to me. “Choose one. Me or Brian.” At first, I thought it was a bland joke but when I realized that he meant it, I was flustered and angry. In the heat of the moment, I angrily chose Brian.

A flicker of pain tumbled down my father's eyes and that was all.

“I Benjamin Morrison denounce you as my daughter!” My father blasted and my eyes widened in shock.

Without a second thought, my father gave me my share of inheritance and threw me out of the house.

I was heartbroken by my father's irrational behaviour, but I didn't flinch. I thought I had it all. I had found love and I had my inheritance. 

I searched for Brian and put my faith in him.

With my inheritance, we harnessed our skills and started a winery.

Three years down the lane, the company had boomed and I had lived each day waiting for a proposal from Brian but what did he do? He slapped me on my face.

On our special day, he proposed to my friend in front of me and humiliated me publicly. After raising him up, he paraded himself like he was the king and I was an underdog, a nonentity.

How I wished I had seen Brian for what he was and I had listened to my father.

Anger surged through me like molten magma, but more than that was the feeling of betrayal. All that I had sacrificed had gone down the drain.