3| Returned home.

**Thelma**

"Let go of me!" I screamed, as two muscular bodyguards caught me downstairs in the mansion's living room. They thought I was a thief and held me tightly, refusing to let me go.

I saw an old man with a full head of white gray hair. He had silver-looking eyes and wore a long white garment. He walked out and stared at me in confusion at first. He stopped and spoke to the two bodyguards who had seized me, saying, "Release the young lady."

"Yes, Grandpa," the two bodyguards replied. They released me, and I dusted off my arms irritably where the two bulky men had gripped me.

My thighs still hurt from how the handsome man in the room had pounded me so hard, and I could still smell his scent.

"Who... are... you?" the old man asked, his extremely white hair and beard giving him an ethereal appearance. I greeted him first, "Good morning, sir."

I assumed he was related to the man I had slept with, and I added, "I need to be on my way home now, sir."

The old man smiled at me understandingly and said, "Alright. Thompson, open the gate for her."

"Okay, Grandpa," one of the bodyguards, named Thompson, replied. He gestured for me to follow him, saying, "Come with me."

I followed him as he led me outside the mansion. We walked toward the gate, which he unlocked for me to exit.

I was grateful that I wasn’t being followed outside.

I immediately ran toward the bus stop and saw a yellow taxi approaching.

I ordered the taxi driver to stop and told him, "To LX Hotel."

"5k, madam," the taxi driver replied, and I quickly slid into the back seat and shut the cab door. I said, "Drive..."

The taxi driver started the engine and drove off, while I felt nervous, sitting uncomfortably as I felt the throbbing between my thighs.

I watched the road as the driver in the yellow T-shirt navigated toward the LX Hotel.

I quickly stepped out and paid for my ride, rushing into the hotel premises to retrieve my car.

As I entered the hotel, my father's son, Steven Sabastian, glared at me angrily as he strode up to meet me.

"Where did you go last night?" Steven yelled at me. I knew they were worried sick since I hadn’t picked up my phone calls and had left the hotel the previous night.

"Thelma!" Steven roared my name again. He was 36 years old and a black man.

"I went to see someone," I lied.

"See someone with all those red marks on your face and neck? Who?" Steven glared at me. I had always known that he loved me, and he had never accepted that he was my half-brother.

"Leave me alone, Steven. I'm going home," I said, immediately running toward my yellow car. I desperately needed a good bath to wash the scent of that icy man off me.

Steven stood silently with the two bodyguards who accompanied him, watching as I got into my Ferrari. He waved to the two guards standing behind him and said, "Let's go."

I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Steven and the two bodyguards walking back to their cars.

I sighed in relief, started my yellow car engine, and drove out of the hotel parking lot on my way home.

I was nervous and scared as I drove my yellow Ferrari to face my family, with Steven and the bodyguards following behind.

----

I arrived home in front of my family mansion, drove my car into the garage, and parked. I saw my father standing at the front of the mansion, glaring angrily at me.

I stepped out of my car and walked up to face my father, who had cold blue eyes burning with anger.

"Where did you go without answering your phone calls last night and this morning? The guards said they couldn't find you anywhere in the hotel," Father asked, gazing at me angrily.

I could see my mother standing worriedly beside my Dad. I lied, "Dad, I went to see my friends."

"Shut your mouth, Thelma, and go inside now. This will be the last time you leave this house to celebrate your birthday in a hotel," Father warned. It was indeed my first time celebrating my birthday in a hotel, even though I was now 24 years old.

I ran past my parents, feeling scared, and retreated to my bedroom.

My heart raced as I remembered my father's angry expression, and I locked the bedroom door behind me. I didn’t need the maids to disturb me; I was treated like a princess at home and had five maids attending to me.

I wasn’t even paid; yet, the man hadn’t taken it lightly with me.

"Did he think I was a prostitute?" I asked myself before walking up to my bedroom mirror to stare at my face.

My room was painted cream, and I gasped at the horror of what I saw in the mirror: "What??"

My neck had hickeys, and there were red love marks on my cheeks. Worst of all, my lips looked red and swollen.

My chest was covered with red marks too, and I forced myself to remove my red gown to inspect my full chest in the mirror.

I saw red marks on my yellow breasts as well, which were clear evidence of how hard the man had sucked on me the previous night.

At some point, I got scared; the way he had sucked on my breasts felt as if —he thought I was his mother and he was my baby.

"Oh no! No wonder Steven was staring at me so angrily. And my Father. Did he also notice that I was no longer a virgin?" 

I stared at my reflection once more in the mirror, removing my bra to examine my red nipples.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on my bedroom door, and I demanded, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Elsa," my favourite maid replied.

"Go away, I don't need your help right now," I told her.

"But your Mom sent me to assist you," Elsa insisted from outside my door.

"Just go away! When I need you, I will send for you," I replied.

"Okay..." I heard Elsa say, and I sighed with relief as her footsteps walked away.

Elsa was my favorite handmaid among the five maids we had at home.

I sighed and rushed to my bathroom to take a bath, desperate to rid myself of the lingering scent of that handsome cold man.

The way he looked at me, as if I had stolen something from him, baffled me.

I sank into the white bathtub filled with warm lukewarm water, and scent of soaps, relaxing and washing away the remnants of the night.

After my bath, I stepped out and returned to my bedroom to get dressed, still in pain from the intense encounter I had with the stranger.

I could still smell him even after my bath, and his earthy scent lingered in my nostrils. His silver colorless eyes haunted me as I walked toward my bed and sat down. I drew out my bedside drawer to retrieve my cream and moisturize my body.