Lavender:After Igor left, I took a temporary shift at a café. It was my first day when I noticed the disturbing behavior from the customers.“The evening shifts are messy. Get used to it and don’t resist. The most they’ll do is bite your ass, slap it, or just grope your breasts. That’s all,” another waitress said, as if that wouldn’t be too bad at all.I was left stunned when one of the waitresses came back in with an empty tray and a bite mark on her cheek. She was rubbing it and pulling her skirt down to hide her butt.The skirts were short, but I wore safety shorts underneath. However, I had no clue how long before these people would grope me.I won’t hold back. I’ll fight.As I walked out with a tray, I watched the table I was approaching. There were five men sitting there. They were talking until I arrived, and then they began to smirk.“So, new meat,” one of the big men said, smirking even wider.“She’s the bastard one. Dicks go in and out of her every night,” so these were the
Lavender:"No, I'm not going anywhere with you. You are not dragging me back to that cage," I refused to let him take me back to that horrible place. Sure, this place wasn’t any better. But at least I could fight or have a moment of peace."I don't remember allowing you to say no," he tilted his head, making my eyes land on the blood on his shirt. He sighed when he realized what I was looking at.He had put his coat back on after he probably killed those men. I wouldn’t put it past him.He looked so casual that it was scary.The tall man in a black suit with a white shirt covered in blood was towering over me with a gun sticking out of his pants—it felt like a scene from a horror movie.“Allowing me? I’m sorry, what am I, a child?” I hissed, though deep down, there was always this fear that I’d make him so mad he’d point the gun at me.Again.“I am going back to my home, and I’m saying this again—you will not drag me back to that place, your palace,” I said since he just kept staring
Lavender:I had rushed downstairs after finding all my belongings in the attic. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the casserole, specially served to me on my plate, was drugged.I noticed the maids looking at me and then rolling their eyes, because let’s be honest—they weren’t happy that I was back either."I don’t understand why you’re so interested in that island?" Nikon, the devil who lied to me yet again, was standing outside the mansion with his car, his phone glued to his ear.He was always in a black suit, rings on his fingers, a silver chain on his neck, and a perfectly expensive watch around his wrist.All in all, he was always on the move. As I softly skipped through the door and reached him, he noticed me."I’ll call you back in a minute," he hung up, moistening his lips before raising his brow and leaning down to hear me out."What am I doing here? You said you wouldn’t drag me back," I hissed, reminding him of his promise—or at least his word. Aren’t mafia bosses supposed
Lavender:“Mom, what is this?” I asked my mother when she stormed upstairs to the attic. It was her first time being in my room. I was slightly hoping she came to see if I was being taken care of. But from the looks of it, I could tell that wasn’t the case. She was holding some papers in her hands that seemed to be the reason she had come to my attic.“Your brother filled these forms for you and submitted them,” she muttered, looking upset. I noticed someone else standing right next to the door.Nikon had fixed the lock for my attic bedroom door. He said he would give me privacy, so I was hopeful he wouldn’t bother me again like he had before.And now that my mother was telling me he had even filled out the forms for me, I was kind of looking forward to becoming a doctor. I had been saving so much, but my family would drain me completely. I had eventually stopped thinking about spending money on my education and lost the desire to achieve my dreams.I felt selfish for taking help from
Lavender:“But I am his stepsister. Look, it’s urgent. I need to speak with him and stop him from doing something,” I said. I had never been to such a luxury corporation before, so I didn’t even know what to say when trying to talk to the CEO.“Ugh, it’s such a good morning for some girl to ruin it for me,” she muttered under her breath and then called him again.“She’s saying she needs to stop you from doing something, boss,” there was a warning hidden in her voice.I guess I chose the right words, because they caught their attention.“Okay,” she hung up and then pointed to the guard, then at me. “Take her to the boss’s office.”I instantly straightened my back as I was led to the elevator. The guard was so bulky, holding a long gun. I don’t even know what those are called. I had only started seeing guns after being introduced to Nikon. He was the only one who waved them around so much.I was taken to the top floor where only one office stood, with two lounges on either side of it. T
Lavender:“And he—he always says things that make me feel so disgusted with myself,” I whimpered, hiccuping while trying to finish a sentence.I don’t know what made me break down, because I never do that in front of anyone. Even for my age, I always try to keep it together and act mature. But somehow, Easton walking me to an empty street next to a café made me feel like I could finally cry in front of someone.Not just anyone—Easton.I knew the minute he made me sit down on the stairs of a locked house that he didn’t mean to insult me.“Why did you even go to his office in the first place?” he asked, sitting on the step below mine, still somehow looking taller than me.“I wanted to tell him that I don’t want to continue my studies,” I said, wiping my tears, feeling annoyed with myself for acting like a baby.Usually, I handle my own problems. I comfort myself. But in front of Easton, I felt vulnerable—I wanted him to take care of me.Pathetic?After all, I’m just a human being with a
Lavender:The crowd was heavy that day. First my stepsisters, and then Igor. And from the looks of it, no one seemed too happy to see me with Easton.I sprinted into the mansion while the two followed me inside.“What were you doing with Easton?” Normani ran until she passed me and stood face to face with me.“He was only giving me a ride,” I replied, trying to sidestep, but Sabrina stood on the side, blocking my path.I don’t know where Easton went—probably went back to check on Nikon.“Oh really? How come he only saw you but never saw us?” Normani moved her head a lot when talking. It was intimidating at times.“Ask Mom. She would tell you where I went and why he might have spotted me.” I tried to get past them, but when they stood tightly together, I realized I needed to put up some kind of fight.“Why can’t you tell us?” Sabrina hissed, arms crossed over her chest.“Because I don’t owe you any explanation.” The look on their faces when I spoke up for myself for the first time shoc
Lavender:“There is something seriously wrong with you,” I said in disbelief, watching him smirk at me.“There is?” he raised his brow, and that confirmation he waited for sounded like a trick.It was as if he wanted me to take back my words. But I wouldn’t.Even when I was genuinely scared of him.“Hmm, well, let's find out what’s wrong with most of us,” he said with a slight grin as he stepped back from me.But the way he walked backward was even scarier, especially when he started rubbing his chin and looking me up and down.“I won’t let you go that easily. You’ll have to do the same for me as you’re doing for your other brothers,” those words made me look away in disgust, and that’s when his laughter made me look back at him.“What? I thought you weren’t doing anything wrong? But your reaction tells me there’s a dirty little secret you’re hiding.”I didn’t say anything to him after that, and he started walking toward the door.I kept having this awful feeling that he’d stop and tu
Lavender:I went straight to my room and changed into my PJs to lie down in bed. We had arrived earlier than we had planned.It was 2 AM, and I was restless. I knew I had to confront Easton about his comments on me.However, deep down, I had a feeling Igor was lying just to cause tension between me and his brother.Levi: Hey :) I heard you had your stepsisters over at the shooting location the other night. There were talks about them.That was a long guess. He knew I did his PR work and made speeches for him, so it was obvious that somehow words had reached my ears. However, what he didn’t know was that it wasn’t my line of work. I didn’t work for anyone, and I had no connections with paparazzi or anyone like that.Thankfully, his message arrived soon, or I would have kept staring at my phone. But the context of his text didn’t help with my anxiety.E-Tron: Oh! I guess I know what you're talking about. Yeah, she was being so "pick-me" there. One of them. She ruined it so much, acting
Lavender:"Take this, it will help your body warm up," Igor grunted when I didn't accept the coffee he was offering me. He had taken me back to the cruise that had been waiting for him. He had a cruise for himself later. He was probably not planning on returning with his friends.The race was still ongoing, and Valerie had to stay behind to take care of Raymond.It’s not that she was supporting him, but they had to leave one person behind with Raymond.I finally accepted the coffee cup, and he sat down with me."Earlier, when you talked about your brother... What did you mean? I mean, Easton is very respectful towards me," I uttered softly, trying not to raise his suspicions more than I already had."Easton and respectful? He has many women in and out of his life. I don’t think he has time to be respectful towards them. And if he is, that means he isn’t done using their bodies for fun. I’m not claiming my brother uses anyone. Usually, women just throw themselves at him without any dem
Lavender:My body was under so much stress, but I didn’t stop fighting. I would scratch his whole body if I had to. As I pulled his hair, his hold over me started to loosen. That’s when his grip tightened around my neck in an attempt to choke me until I passed out.Coughs erupted from my mouth, my throat closing as he choked me from behind with his arm wrapped around my neck, my chin tightly pressed against his arm.I was trying my best to stand up from the ground, but at this point, I was beginning to realize it wouldn't be possible for me.However, as the world started to fade around me, I felt sudden relief. The weight of his body on my back was no longer forcing me down. I rolled over to get away from him, and while lying flat on my back, coughing, I saw someone get on top of him and start beating him to a pulp.It took me a few seconds to finally see clearly and catch my breath. It was Igor, punching his friend wildly.“Let him go, you’re going to kill him,” Valerie kept shouting
Igor:"Wooooo! We are definitely going to win!" Valerie giggled, sticking her tongue out at the passing cars.Her fingers were covered in rings, bracelets stacked up, and big earrings dangled from her ears. She was all set and ready for the race.This would mark us as the best among the racers."What do you think? If I open this window now, will my top come off?" she asked, clicking her tongue and spreading her legs to sit more comfortably."You call this a top? It's a bra, ma'am," I teased, and she laughed loudly. She had gone out with me to buy this outfit and jewelry for the special night.Whenever she needed something, she'd ask me to take her shopping. She never made me pay, even when I always insisted. She’d say she just wanted my opinion. But honestly, I didn’t know what to say to her. Everything she picked out looked good on her."Do you think this skirt are too short?" she asked, pouting, her arm stretching out, hand in my hair, running her fingers through it."No! It suits t
Lavender:All the cars started leaving, one after another. Loud engines, bright lights, dust in the air. I just sat on the chair and watched them go. It was like they couldn’t wait to race. Then I saw it.One car didn’t move.It stayed in the same place while the others drove away. That felt strange. I looked at it again. The windows were dark, but I could see someone inside.He was looking at me.I didn’t know who he was, but I knew he wasn’t just sitting there. He was staring. At me. Not moving, not blinking. Just watching.My stomach felt tight. Like something was wrong. Really wrong.I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. My eyes stayed on the car. My body didn’t move. I felt cold even though the night wasn’t that cold.Why was he still there?Why was he watching me?I started recalling who had sat down in that one particular car. His form was not recognizable because of the tinted windows, until all the cars had passed me and disappeared. Then, he slowly rolled the window down.T
Lavender:“Let me go,” I started kicking and screaming when a hand grabbed me. It was Igor.“Shut up before I smack the teeth out of your mouth,” he screamed as he grabbed me by both my arms and shook me awake.“I will not allow you or your friends to touch me,” I screamed in his face, and he gave me a blank expression.“We are not going to. Do you think you’re that important for us to spend the precious time we’ve planned for weeks convincing you to have sex with us?” he hissed back, and my protesting started to fade away. “That jerk was making a joke.”“Well, it wasn’t funny because it happens to women all the time—” Finally, I teared up.It was my worst fear, and hearing his friend think it was a funny joke broke me down. There were some girls with some of the guys, and even they laughed about it.At least some of them did.“Yeah, it’s not funny. I call him an asshole for a reason. Nobody is touching you, so don’t worry,” he then let me go while promising no one would touch me.I d
Lavender:I had finished my dinner and went back to my room, planning to change and rest. Thankfully, Nikon had taken the right stance, or else I don’t even want to imagine being at the island with that psycho.I was about to grab my wig and the black backdrop when a loud banging on the door almost knocked the world from under my feet. It was aggressive, like someone was in an emergency. I jumped off the bed and reached the door, worried that someone got sick or hurt.Or maybe some emergency had arrived.But the minute I opened the door and saw Nikon standing outside my room, I knew it wasn’t anything like what I had thought.“Grab your aid kit, you’re going with Igor,” Nikon stormed in, his presence wild and threatening. Behind him was Igor, who only leaned to the side, supporting his body with the wall.“Huh? But—but you said—” I started panicking almost instantly. Going to an island where there is no one else but my psycho stepbrother and his friends, who were probably just as craz
Igor:It wasn’t new for my brother to humiliate me. But this time, it was worse because it was for someone like Lavender.Since when did my brother start feeling so bad for a bastard child?I rushed back to my room and grabbed a bottle of wine from my bar. That’s when my friends started blowing up my phone.“I’m not coming,” I hissed at them.“But why not? We’ve planned everything. The ferry is ready, our cars are ready to go—why are you changing your mind now? Don’t tell me you’re having cold feet. Are you scared of losing?” As they laughed, I clenched my jaw secretly.They had no clue that it wasn’t funny to me.I had been mistreated so much that now no one took me seriously.“Fear of losing, my brother? There’s no way Igor would be afraid of losing,” I didn’t know Nikon would come to my room. If I had known, I would have closed the door.But now he was standing in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest.“Brother Nikon—but he’s saying he isn’t coming,” my friend must have g
Lavender:My family had returned. They looked happy. But I was too. After what happened between me and Easton, I was over the moon.I couldn’t stop smiling even when no one said anything nice to me.We were dining together and my sisters were gushing over the scenery from the picnic.“Daddy, can my friend come over sometime?” Sabrina said to Mister Volkov, making him smile in surprise at the fact that she was calling him her father.“Sure, they can come whenever they want. It is your house—” Mister Volkov suddenly stopped when Nikon placed his spoon down.It was done so politely, but somehow it made everyone turn to look at him.“But of course, ask for your brother’s permission first,” Mister Volkov corrected himself.“It’s okay. As long as they don’t walk around poking their noses in everyone’s business—especially mine and my brother’s,” Nikon warned her, grabbing his spoon again.He was usually quiet all the time.And just when I thought I hadn’t been under his scrutiny for a while,