Chapter 1

PUSHED 

Lisa's pov 

“Keep your mouth shut and do as I say”he told me  in an  icy tone.“Remember that”.Maxwell Brown,my  uncle spoke.

“If you deliberately set out to disobey me….

I laughed.” What will you do?”

“Is that how you speak to me now?”He  walked to where I  stood and slapped me across my cheek.

“Must you show you weren’t brought up properly?,ragged doll orphan”.

I  grit  her teeth and bit my tongue.I had hit this  stone and bruised myself so many times that I had lost count.I  wondered why I had never ran away from home.It was the only semblance of a home I  had ever known.

“Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?”I asked softly,keeping my  voice as calm as I could.

“You either do as I say or leave this house!”

   We  stared at each other,my  head pounding dully,exhaustion seeping through my  bones and pains giving way to my  eye lids.But I didn’t even twitch.i  stood up and turned to leave.

“You have no right to make decisions about anything under this roof”Maxwell's  voice stopped me .”When it comes to death,you are mine”.

My body almost quivered with rage before I locked it in place.The wheels in my  mind started to churn.

“You still need me”I informed him coolly.

Maxwell paused,before speaking.”Not anymore”

I  shrugged.”Go ahead and kill me,do it real quick”.

“You dare speak to me like that!?”

Before he  could utter a word,I walked out of the study and towards my own wing, quickening my  steps once I  was on my  own.

“Lisa Grey!!”

“Come here  spoiled brat!!”

“I'd teach you a lesson you'd never forget”

  Maxwell  kept calling at me  as I  took large steps to my room.

I  hurried up to my room and once inside,I  shut the door with a loud bang .Undressing and freshening up,I  lay on my  bed still.Then,tired and numb I  grabbed my  pillow and sighed as I  stared out the window.

Not for the umpteenth time in my life,it hit me  how truly alone I  was.

Maxwell Brown wanted a puppet he could control and parade around.I  knew he'd been serious about killing me.

No.It wasn't his death claim slash threat that bothered me  much.It was his action.Tonight was the first time uncle Max was laying a finger on  me .

There was something going on with him,I  thought as I let large balls of tears stream down my  face,wetting my  bed.

****

Indecision was weighing me down,where my emotions were concerned.

     Nobody had knocked on my  door or called me  down for breakfast.

My  stomach grumbled and I  placed my hands on it.

I  didn't know why that worried me much ,but for some reason I  couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen.Something I  didn't like by any means.i wouldn't anyway,not if  uncle Max was perpetrating it.

“I can't keep on hiding here while I'm hungry”I grumbled.

  I walked out of my room, placing my sweaty hand on my gorgeous neckpiece.It was a gift from my  late parents to me  on my 15th birthday.

    Shaking my  head,and shoving the thought of uncle Max  aside,I took in the beautiful,sunlit lawns of the mansion.i was going to run away , disappear and come back to avenge my  parents death.

    Feeling strength seeping into me  with that decision,I  started walking towards the kitchen,the eyes of Max's  bodyguards following me ,I saw the man in question sitting in the living room.

He saw me  enter and motioned with his finger to come which irritated me  to no extent.

“We are dining out tonight at crimson's,dress accordingly”.

“Today is my parents death anniversary, remember”

“I don't care,do as I've said”

“And if I don't?”

“You want to taste my wrath Lisa”

“Like I care,”she laughed wryly.

“A bold claim”

I nodded and waited for him to say anything more,he raised his fingers up and dismissed me.

Hands clenched in fists,I turned away forgetting why I came and walked to my wing ,locking my  door firmly behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and headed towards the bathroom.For some reason I  felt knots beneath my stomach.

A firm knock on my  door startled me,

“Get dressed young miss,”Max's  bodyguards said.

“Leave me alone!”I screamed.

“Not without you ma'am”

“Are you moving mad?”

“No ma'am”

“Then get the hell out!!”I screamed louder and burst into tears.

The blood rushing inside me  was crimson,the blood I  wanted out of the man's nose was crimson.

***

I  sat in the restaurant,at the place reserved for Maxwell Brown's  dinner.

Dressed appropriately in a black sleeveless backless dress that flared out in a skirt from my  waist.

Four other men sat across the table excluding Maxwell Brown .

My  nape prickled

I  felt eyes on me.

I  tensed,the fine hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

My breath hitched 

I  felt those eyes caress every inch of my  exposed back.

I  felt intense hate oozing from those eyes.

 letting my  gaze wander,trying to fathom who’s gaze it was.

Closing my eyes,inhaling softly,I  picked my  glass of wine and took a big gulp.

I was absent minded and couldn’t pick anything from Maxwell's conversation with the men.

Maxwell didn’t address me  and I kept on shoving food down my  throat.

With disgust plastered on my  face, I  picked up her phone and was about to stand.

“Drop that phone Lisa”

“At last somebody paid attention to me”

“Watch your tongue”

“That’s what I’ve done since we got here”

“Must you always show you weren’t raised properly!?”

“Must you always re..mi.nd me of..”I couldn't complete my  statement and burst into sobs.

I  banged the table and got up, turning  towards the corridor not sparing anyone a single glance,my  body was trembling with rage.

Entering the restroom, I stared at myself  in the mirror, placing my hands on the clean granite counter.I looked at the mirror again as the light from the windows blurred a bit,the world spinning slightly.

Did  someone spike  my  drink?

“No,No,No,this could not be happening,at least not in the toilet!”.

Shaking  my head to clear the haze so I  could walk,I  turned the doorknob and tried to take steps.

I  swayed hard,almost tipping over.

I blinked,my  tongue swollen as the world spun a little more with my  legs jelly.My  lids got heavier,fear pooled in my  stomach as I  I drowned in  the assumption of how slowly I'd  die.

          Suddenly I felt a hand gripping her and she passed out.