4. The black serpent

IVY

My heart felt heavy. I was struggling to breathe because of the thick tension in the car.

He hadn’t glanced my way since we entered the car and I dared not glance back not after what I had seen earlier. He killed those men in front of me like it was nothing. I didn’t fail to notice the satisfied look in his eyes. I’ve never seen anyone so comfortable killing nor have I ever witnessed seeing anyone being killed.

He hasn’t said a word to me and while I preferred it that way, I was heavily disturbed. After what felt like forever, the car came to a stop. I hadn’t realized because I had slowly zoned out, thinking about my life.

I looked outside to see where it was that I was. It was a mansion. Before I could comprehend further, Alejandro was standing outside of the car.

He opened the door and in a stern tone he said, “Get out.”

Without hesitation, I got out of the car, my hands shaky a little and my heart hammering in my chest from fear. His presence made me uncomfortable and wary.

“Follow me.” He commanded and I did I told, taking long strides so I could catch up with him and not make any mistake that could cost me my life.

After seeing him kill those men, I feared for my life. Although I was rushing to catch up with him, I didn’t fail to notice the beautiful mansion.

It was one of a kind. Its architectural brilliance commands attention from every angle. A striking blend of glass and steel, the exterior featured expansive floor-to-ceiling windows that reflected the vibrant hues of the sharp surrounding landscape.

Men were positioned in different parts of the mansion all dressed in formal black outfits with black glasses. I almost tripped when I missed a step but luckily I was caught by Alejandro.

“You might want to watch here it is that you are going to, don’t you think?” His tone was sharp and harsh.

Nervously, I gulped down the invisible lump that formed in my throat due to fear. He slowly let go of me and I began to follow again until we were inside the beautiful expensive well well-furnished mansion.

Two maids appeared in front of us upon call all dressed in formal outside with their hair neatly packed in a bun. I hated that I was being too wary and I kept staring and taking note of every little detail.

“Strip her off this dress and everything that she came with. Take her phone away too,” he ordered and my lips parted in shock.

Did he just ask they strip me naked? What was he planning to do? What does he have in mind? The thought of that scared me.

“Yes sir,” the maid replied simultaneously before walking towards me.

“But.. I..” I wanted to speak up. To ask questions about why I was being stripped of my dress but the fear in my heart wouldn’t let the words form.

“But what? What do you think you are? Some princess in my mansion?” He chided, taking steps closer to me with a bland look masked on his face.

It was so hard to read it and that mortified me.

“Listen carefully Iris Silver. You might be a Silver but to me you are nothing. You won’t ever be a proper wife to me and you want to know why?” He leaned closer to me and I shuddered from fear.

What made it more terrifying was the fact he wasn’t raising his voice. He was speaking calmly yet they were intimidating.

“It is because you are nothing but a puppet to me.” He said with no emotions in his words.

“My advice for you would be to do as you are told and to stay out of my way. That’s the only way you will be able to survive you.” He stood upright and adjusted his suit jacket.

He turned to walk away but halted on his track. “There will never be anything between us and for the rest of your life, you will be married to me living pathetically and miserably.”

I felt a horn of electricity run down my spine. His words were scary, laced with no emotions. Who was he? Why did the Silver have to give their daughter to him? And worse for how long was I going to keep acting like Iris because I was already scared of my life.

What could he possibly have on the Silver for them to agree to this marriage? Did they ever know of this side of him? I had so many questions in my head but was unable to voice them due to fear.

“Take her to the room prepared for her and make sure that she doesn’t act out of place and if she does, you have the right to hit her,” he ordered.

My eyes widened in shock. Did he just say that? Were they going to beat me up if I didn’t act as told? Was I going to be his puppet? I hated this life for myself and I wanted so badly to leave this place.

Alejandro walked away leaving me with the maids. “I…”

“Follow me,” one of the maids said not giving me a chance to speak, and obediently, I followed them to the room he had asked them to take me to.

I looked around the beautifully furnished mansion. The Silver’s mansion was beautiful but this was far more beautiful. For someone like Alejandro, he did have good taste.

The maids led me to the room that was prepared for me. As soon as I entered, I felt my heart clench. Although the room was spacious and far better than where I lived, it didn’t give me any homely feel.

What was I expecting? There was a queen-sized bed dressed in black and the whole room felt lifeless. I’ve always been a fan of colors and what was in front of me was nothing but negativity.

I snapped back to reality when the maids began to undress me.

“You don’t have to. I will do it myself.” I said to them but they didn’t listen to me and kept doing as they were told and in no time I was stripped naked as they got rid of my underwear too.

I had to use my arms to cover my boobs while clenching my legs.

“Go burn them,” one of the maids said to the other and she handed over my clothes to her.

“What?” I was confused but all the while I spoke, it felt like my presence was in existence as they didn’t listen to me.

The maid walked to the closet to bring out a black dress for me.

“Put this one,” she said.

“What?” I have never liked the color black and only wore it occasionally. It was my least favourite colour and here I was being told to wear it.

“Who owns that?” I couldn’t help but ask because there was no way I’d wear someone else’s clothes.

“I’d advise that you do as told and not put yourself in danger,” she replied to me for the first time.

“But…”

“You heard him, didn’t you? If you don’t do as told, I have the right to hit you so save me and the stress and put it on,” she cuts me off, giving me the dress to wear.

I hesitantly took the dress from her and put them on and as much as I didn’t want to speak or ask any more questions, I just couldn’t help it. I was scared for my life and I needed to know more.

“Who is he?” I voiced out before I could think.

I didn’t fail to notice the fear in the girl's eyes when I asked that question. It was then clear to me that I wasn’t the only one scared of him but that was understandable.

Just who was he that he could easily kill people and have so much power?

“You don’t know?” The girl asked back, staring at me with surprise on her face and I mentally scolded myself for asking because it was impossible for the Silver family to not know about him.

Iris knew about him and that’s why she chose to run away.

“I know he’s is Alejandro Leone but who is he?” I asked, hoping that she would give me a proper answer.

“He’s the black serpent.”