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.(A month later) The Percy family stood around the hospital bed; Ashley sat beside their grandfather, tending to him and changing the stockings. He was rushed to the hospital due to a heart attack, and his son and grandchildren all stood beside him, looking sad. " How are you feeling now?" " Very bad, I feel like I'm about to die", " Stop saying that", Chris and Ashley said almost shouting, " You're not going to die, and stop scaring us", Chris mumbled but he heard, " It's the truth, and let me see my grandchildren before I die", " There's no way you'll see your grandchildren before you die", " Gael!!", They screamed his name and Chris hit him hard behind the neck, " Ouch! Why do you hit me?", " Say something like that again and I'm going to break your head", " Not like I'm not telling the truth", he grumbled, "At least let me attend my grandson's wedding before I die", " I'm always ready to get married, grandfather; mum is the one delaying". The grandfather
Clarisse's eyes flickered, moving slowly on the bed, her eyes opened to see the white ceiling, and the smell around was familiar, she looked around to see the drip being passed to her." You're in the hospital", she heard a feminine voice say, " Fainting around on the street like a homeless cat, I don't know what rumor you're trying to spread, that we're maltreating you?", Bree said irritatedly. Clarisse turned to look at her, she was the only one present with her in the dimly lit hospital room.Bree wanted to say something when the doctor came in." How are you feeling? Mrs Arthur?".Mrs Arthur? That sounds odd and a reminder she's married to the Arthur's family which she doesn't like." Can..you...just call me... Clarisse?", Her weak voice said," Oh, okay, how are you feeling? Clarisse?"," Weak, I feel so weak"," That's understandable, you've shown all symptoms of Malnutrition and that's not good considering the position you were in?"," Position? What position?", Bree asked mov
One of the maids looked around mindfully before entering the Lamborghini car, slamming the door carefully, she bowed after sitting beside the woman reeking of wealth and authority, sitting next to her in a privilege she might never get in her lifetime again." Good afternoon, Ma'am"," Good afternoon, how's it?"," They've changed the woman your son is getting married to"," What?! What do you mean by that?"," Apparently, their biological daughter turned down the proposal of marrying your son, ma'am".Sharon scoffed and laughed, " I'm damn sure it's because of the rumors, no offense, that makes it perfect, I was never in support anyways, thanks for your hard work"," But"," But?"," Yes ma'am, he's still going to marry from their family"," What do you mean?"," I told you they've changed the daughter he's marrying"," Oh yeah, I forgot you said that which other daughter do they have?"," Mr. Ferdinand's brother's daughter, he's her new father since her parents died"," From the inf
" Huh? What happened to your dress?", Ashley was surprised to see her mother's dress changed, " but I must say, this one looks better and more beautiful, who's did it for you?", She asked admiring the dress," My daughter in law"," No way!", She chuckled, " wow! Can't believe that big head's wife-to-be will be someone with a skill, a nice skill"," I was surprised too", she relaxed back on the couch, dropping her purse beside her and kicking the heels off. A maid quickly came forward to pack it and take it to the room where it belonged." But why is your mood sour, is she not beautiful? don't worry, your son is a heavenly god, his handsomeness alone is enough so worry not, they won't give you ugly grandchildren"," It's not that"," Then what is it?"," I was angry when I saw her"," Why?"," The way she looks broke my heart into pieces, I was so angry that I wanted to yell at her and ask why is she not taking care of herself"," I don't understand"," I don't know, what did that fam
" Hi laws", Patricia waved at Sharon but she rolled her eyes in disgust. She whispered to her daughter, "Had I known I'd have come and pick her up by myself and doll her up, what is this?", she said referring to the lonely lady at the alter," I can tell immediately she's not their daughter, their daughter is not even present here"," I don't care if she's present or not, I'm very angry right now", she whispered.Clarisse stood at the altar, stood blankly at the flower in her hand. Not like she's throwing it to anyone, who would want to catch a flower from a woman like her, a woman who's getting married to another man just in few days after her divorce? She sighed dejectedly, trying hard not to listen to the murmurs, though there was nothing new, it just hit differently. She knows they're laughing and pointing at her oversized wedding gown, and her oversized heels and probably also gossiping about her divorce and shamelessness. Her eyes welled up in tears, why is her life full of p
Alice groaned covering her ears with the pillow and tried falling deep asleep back and just as she was successfully sleeping back, her phone rang out again with the ringing tone that sounded so noisy." Ugh!!", She groaned loudly and sat up with anger ready to blast whosoever was calling her with insults, " Dani?", She called the name showing on her phone screen out and picked up the call." what's it?", She said tried to suppress her outburst." oh my goodness! Congratulations baby!".Dani's voice was clouded with excitement that makes Alice even more pissed." Congratulations for what?"," c'mon...stop feigning to be pissed, I know you're very happy right now and I'm actually pissed that you keep such a thing from us, me especially, but I guess you just wanted it to be surprising, anyways... I'm so so so... happy for you right now to even be pissed, but I still am", she said and laughed.She felt so happy for Alice that her heart could not contain it but Alice was just confused at a
" who's that?", One of the maids asked Ally as she went back to her duty." just some men", she replied not giving the maid much attention," Oh, some men are already coming to look for you...tell me, is that your new crush?", the maid teased Ally but she wasn't anything, " he is good looking though","You should get back to work, he's not my crush or anything", she replied coldly." tsk, you're no fun", she pouted her mouth and left her.Ally resumed back to what she was doing but her mind was feeling unsettled, disturbed, and guilty." I shouldn't have said that much", she said and sighed, falling back on her butt and scolding herself. She had just told a total stranger things she felt like she shouldn't and that was because she was so angry at that moment that she couldn't caution herself. A few minutes ago" Who are you?"," I'm her friend"," Clarisse does not have any friends"," she does now, I'm her new friend but I feel like I don't know anything about her, she constantly zon
Christian frowned and said in a deep and vibrant tone that made Clarisse's heart skip so hard," and why would my woman do that?"." huh?".' did I hear that right?, He's been acting crazy since the wedding, I'm not Alice, who's his woman?', Clarisse said in her mind as she looked up at him, meeting his gray eyes.Their eyes met and Chris felt his heart skip, her blue ocean eyes were so beautiful and drowning but at the same time, held lots of emotions." I'm doing that because I know it isn't me you want to be here and I understand that", she said looking away. She's sure Patricia can't just send her off to a good man so this is what she's thinking it is." What makes you think it's another woman I want here?"," because I know it definitely can't be me", she said like she was so sure puzzling Chris and thinking if he was missing something." I don't know what you're thinking princess..."," Clarisse, that's my name", she said feeling uneasy about him calling her princess, nothing is