Chapter 7: You're not alone

Just as the family wanted, Clarisse became invisible; she doesn't go out from morning till night, and the only time she goes to fetch food is at midnight, knowing that's the time with the highest probability that she wouldn't come across any of them. She avoids Victor the most, sleeps all the couch every night, and vanishes into the store room very early in the morning so he won't see her as he ordered, she would come out of the store room or closet after she confirmed he had left for work and when it's 12 in the night, she switched off all light as instructed of him so he wouldn't see her when he comes back. She kept living like this for about two weeks until one night. A night she would never forget.

Victor was having a nice time in the club with Klaus, enjoying the feeling of the women's bodies around him, he was having a blast when he sighted a figure that resembled that of Alice. He pushed one of them off him and quickly stood up, following the figure whose arms were wrapped around the hands of the man she was with. He took a careful look at them and confirmed his suspicion. He followed them till they got to their lodge, watching them kiss and grope each other's bodies hungrily as they entered the room. He curled his fist in a ball and clenched it tightly. Who he had just seen was indeed Alice and Ramses. He is richer than Ramses yet she chose Ramses over him. He was boiling in anger.

" It's all her fault, it's all that devil's fault." he gritted his teeth in rage and punched the wall so hard that his knuckles got bruised. He went back to the party and got himself drunk.

Clarisse was home, using needle and thread to carefully sow the clothes she was working on, she was almost through with getting them ready. She was humming a song when she heard the clattering sounds. She rushed to the sitting room to check what was happening when she saw Victor, he was so drunk and reeks of alcohol.

" Victor?",

" Alice, she left me", he sobbed and nearly fell but she quickly rushed to his side and helped him stand on his feet.

She took him to the bedroom, lay him on the bed, and made to help him remove his shoes.

" Alice!", He cried out,

" She'll come around", Clarisse said not knowing what to say to console him but he grabbed her by the wrist,

" It's all your fault",

" Huh?". Before she could say or do anything, he pounced on her and began to kiss her neck,

" What are you doing?",

" It's all your fault", he yelled and grunted,

" And I'm going to make you pay".

Until he tore her dress, shredding it into pieces before his intentions dawned on her,

" No, please, please don't", she begged, pleaded, cried for help, and scratched his face and back, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pinned her down on the cold floor.

******************

" I'll only give you this morning to be visible; don't let me see you by the time I'm back", he said, putting on his suit and carrying his bag before walking out, leaving her on the floor as she clutched the blanket tightly to her chest. She felt as if her soul had been torn from her body, leaving behind a hollow shell.

Every moment was an eternity of pain and shame, as she replayed the events of the rape over and over in her mind. Her body ached from the violation, but her heart ached even more from the loss of her innocence. She curled up in a ball, her tears flowing like a river, washing away the last remnants of her dignity. Ally bowed as she bumped into Victor who was on his way to work, she had an errand for Clarisse from Bree, so she headed over to the room and could hear the whimpers from the doorstep, on getting to the room, she could immediately understand the situation, her heart sank as she rushed to her side, pulling her closer to her chest tightly, but Clarisse felt no presence.

She took her to the bathroom to scrub her body for her but Clarisse felt dirty, worthless, and utterly alone. She wanted to scream, to rage, to disappear into nothingness, but the weight of her trauma was too great.

" Ally?",

" I'm here with you, I'm with you, Clarisse, you're not alone, and I'm going to stay with you", she said, and she scrubbed her body for her.

" I want to run away, I want to run as fast as I can, run to where there's no soul", she said and sniffled,

" We'll be fine Clarisse, we'll heal, we'll get through every single hardship this world throws at us",

" But I'm..tired", her breaking voice stabbed Ally's heart multiple times, " the universe? My parents? They've all forsaken me, I'm so invisible to everyone",

" Not to me; I see you, Clarisse, I see you", she said and hugged her tight, getting drained in the process, but she couldn't care less. She allowed her to cry and weep as much as she could on her shoulder.

*********************

" We've gotten the signature of Arthur's family, we can now begin the project", the chief executive officer said, " but the investment is still very low, and we'll need enough funds and reinforcement once we start",

" Start the construction",

" But sir, the funds are not enough, and no investors, and without these, the project will die prematurely and that's not good for our reputation, losing interests and approvals is already a sign of failure",

" And what have you done too far regarding that?",

" I already gathered every necessary information I need to get on some big investors and also find a perfect opportunity to get one of them on our side",

" How rich is he? We don't need just any investors; we need someone who can invest big. This is an international project, and we ought to have started by now".

The CEO chuckled along with the director who smiled, " he is the third richest person in the United States, a billionaire".

This captured Ferdinand's interest, " third richest?",

" Yes",

" How can we get someone like that to believe in us and not to talk of investing",

" Well we have the universe on our side, there's a perfect opportunity to get him on our side",

" How? Cause this seems so impossible",

" His grandfather is in search of a bride for him, he's in his dying bed and he wants to see his grandson get married before he dies",

" So...",

" This is where your daughter comes in".

Ferdinand collapsed back on the chair, " if I'm not wrong, the person we need is the imbecile, the invisible billionaire, Christian Charles?",

" You're very correct, Christian Charles". Ferdinand sighed. This is not going to be easy.