•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌Another day...Another morning... Still, it did nothing to calm the turmoil I felt inside of me. Everything around me was just the same but I didn't feel the way I used to. I feel hateful all the time, anger is the only emotion coursing through my veins right now. Ten days, I spent ten days in that cell but it felt like a year. It felt as if that cell didn't belong in this world, time passed by slowly there. I looked out of the window and felt nothing... this view always brought me comfort but now it did nothing to me. Nothing to calm the storm brewing inside of me. I remember looking out of this window and dreaming of a life outside these four walls. I thought it'd be a fairy tale. I thought my parents were wrong and the world out there was anything but evil. “The world is a dangerous place and you are easy prey, Evangeline. You are innocent and naive and you lack physical strength. This world will chew you alive.” My dad wasn't wrong. He wasn't wrong at all

•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌I had my headphones on as I continuously flipped the pages of the book that was before me. I hadn't read a word, the music blasted in my ears blocking out all the other sounds. I slammed the book shut and got off my bed. Nikolai had called Bianca earlier, I knew that he did because Bianca and I hadn't talked after his whole engagement fiasco. I pretended to be asleep while Bianca waited for me. I didn't wake up until she finally gave up and left the house. I got to my feet, straightened out my dress, and headed downstairs. His house was crawling with his soldiers, they all tried to avoid making eye contact with me. They were moving some stuff into the house, some furniture, suitcases, and whatnot. Was Nikolai redecorating? I hopped onto the couch and put on the TV on full volume. Someone grabbed the remote out of my hand and turned the volume down. I huffed and looked up to see Nikolai looking down at me. He placed both of his hands on the headrest of the cou

•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌I showered up, getting rid of the soreness of my muscles. I had never worked out in my life before and exerting my body so much in a single day has taken its toll. I heard some voices coming from downstairs. I couldn't recognize them. I mulled over the fact that I should go and check it out because it could be Nikolai's business partners. His business partners were not the kind of people you want to make a conversation with. But then I heard a shrill female voice. I went out of the door and stood at the top of the stairwell. Still, all I heard were the voices. I went downstairs and saw a tall, lean middle-aged man with a young blonde woman standing beside him. I could only see their side profiles. The woman turned and I sucked in a sharp breath. It was Grace Russel. Nikolai's wife-to-be. I know because I had attended their engagement. Her face was engraved at the back of my mind, the sight when Nikolai had slipped the ring on her finger replayed in my head on a

•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌I awakened with a monster headache. I groaned and leaned against the headboard for a few minutes. It was still dark outside, I glanced at the clock and it read three a.m. My throat was incredibly parched, I tossed aside the duvet and got off the bed. I hadn't changed into my nightwear earlier, I went to the bathroom, freshened up, and changed into a pair of a satin crop tank top and pajama shorts. I ran my fingers through my hair as I went down the stairs. The whole mansion was dark, it was late at night and all the lights were switched off. I went closer to the kitchen door and heard a tap running. Furrowing my eyebrows, I walked inside only to see the person I did not want to see under any circumstances. He was a liar and a manipulator. I had no idea why would he stage something like that but I was done being Nikolai's puppet. He was washing off his hands and then I noticed the red color sprayed over his white shirt. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled up but

•Evangeline•╌─═❁═─╌I entered the gym and glanced at his back. He was facing the boxing ring as he took off his t-shirt, leaving him only in black sweatpants. I kept standing by the door unsure of what I am supposed to do. Am I supposed to warm up or something? If it was before, I would have confidently walked up to him and asked him what I am supposed to do but now I felt so out of place. It felt like we were strangers. He belonged to someone else. There was a wall between us now that I didn't want to break down. Last night just proved how he would never fall for someone like me. So much has happened between us, the good and the bad. I don't know where we stand. When is all this going to end? How is all this going to end? After he gets married, what am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to live because I refuse to be someone's dirty little secret, not after my own parents made me one. "Get in the ring" I got startled by his sudden order. His voice sounded so brusque almost as