Concentrating. Incredibly careful I held my brush. Making sure the paint is brushed in the right places. Sticking my tongue out to help me. I picked up my brush one last time and... finished. My ten nails had a beautiful pastel pink color.
I was quite proud of myself. I had made no mistake while painting my nails. I wanted to share my accomplishment with someone.
I made my way down to the kitchen. Maybe Mary was on her brake. I entered the spacious room in the hope to see the woman who always kept me company when I felt lonely. "Mary?" I heard a thud and then the old lady made her appearance from behind the kitchen island.
"Yes, dear?"
"Did you hurt yourself right now, I heard a thud. I'm sorry I did not mean to scare you." I said guiltily.
"It's alright dear. What is it you wanted to tell me?" She asked with the infamous friendly smile she had always shown me, no matter what.
"Look," I held my fingers up, "I painted my nails." I showed her my hands.
"That looks lovely dear." She said tiredly. "But if you don't mind me, Ava, I have to finish this within the next hour."
I was disappointed, but I understood very well. Mary was here to do her job, which was cleaning, not keeping me company. That was one of the many extra's whenever she had the time. "I'm sorry I did not mean to disturb you," I said with hunched shoulders.
"Ava, I did not mean to-"
"It's alright Mary, maybe father has some time for me." I made my way out of the kitchen and headed to my father's office. I had to climb multiple stairs until I stood in front of the big wooden doors of my father's workplace.
I knocked three times and waited until I got permission to enter the room. "Come in" I heard a low voice saying.
The room was quite spacious. It faced the back garden, giving you a lovely view from up here. On the left and right walls were two big bookcases, holding over a dozen books. From time to time father would give me permission to lend some of the books.
"Father?" I said while stepping into his office.
"Ava? What are you doing here?" He asked with a confused face. Father was sitting behind his huge desk. It was well over three meters long.
"I wanted to see how you were doing and... showing you my nails," I said hesitantly.
"Your nails?" Again, his confused expression made an appearance on his face.
"Yes, look, I painted them," I said with a smile.
My father did not look confused anymore, but rather angry now. "Painting your nails? Ava, there are more important matters than that nonsense. How about your schoolwork? And your piano lessons?"
"I have finished my work and I'm already done with practicing the piano," I said in a low voice. "But I see you are busy; I will leave you to it." My father only nodded at that and went back to work as I exited the room.
I sighed. I wanted to talk to somebody, but who? Then an idea popped up in my head. My brother Xavier. I quickly made my way to the living room where the house phone was. I sat down on the couch and dialed his number. "Hello, father?"
"No, it's me, your younger sister," I said excitedly.
I heard him sighing. "Hello Ava, is there something urgent you have to talk about?"
"No, not really, I just wanted to talk to you. How are you doing? When will you come to visit us again? It has been ages since you have been here."
"Look Ava, I really want to talk, but I'm busy. We will talk later, I promise." And with that, he had hung up before I could say goodbye. 'We will talk later', yeah right. He always said that, but never lived up to that stupid promise.
I pouted. I graved for some social contact, but I had no family or friends to talk to. We also did not have any pets. I had asked multiple times for a cat or dog, but my father always disagreed. He said it was not ladylike, owning a pet.
I looked through the window, the garden looked really inviting. Only I had to ask my father for permission to go outside and he was already in a sour mood. So maybe it was better to not disturb him again.
But if I am quick, he won't even notice as he is still in his office. A smile crept on my face; it had been a while since I have been outside. I got my shoes and coat.
As I stepped outside, I took a deep breath of the clean air. It was nice outside. The sun was shining high in the sky and there was no trace of any clouds hovering in the blue sea of air. I made my way to the rose garden and smelled the beautiful flowers. This was my favorite place on our land. It was peaceful here, which always made me happy, no matter how sour my mood was.
I walked through the garden until I was stopped by someone grabbing my arm. I looked up to see to whom this arm belonged; it was my father. He looked truly angry. "What are you doing here?" He hissed.
Before I could answer he was already dragging me inside. Once inside he asked me again. "What were you doing in the garden without my permission?" His hand was still tightly around my arm.
I gulped. "I-I just wanted to get some fresh air, f-father" His face still did not look pleased. His grip on my arm tightened. "You know better than to do that. As a punishment, you can't go outside for two weeks, that better teach you to go behind my back. Now go to your room!" He roared.
Upon entering my room, I let myself fall on the bed. I cried. Going outside was always my last resort to make myself happy. With no friends nor family to spend my time with, I considered nature my friend as it never let me down. But even now that could not cheer me up anymore, at least for the next two weeks.
The wedding was done. The dress was shown, the kiss was shared, and the vows were spoken. The guests cheered, oblivious to the silent cries of the bride. The beautiful ceremony masked the impending doom that she felt deep within her heart.The bird was once again caged by a master who wanted to show his prized possession to the underworld of the modern era. He paraded her around, flaunting her beauty and grace to the other greedy men who desperately wanted to hunt down that precious lady. She was a trophy in his eyes, a symbol of his power and status.He pranced around with her, showing her off to the other greedy men, desperately wanting to hunt down that precious lady. Each night was a display, a spectacle where she was the main attraction. The lady felt miserable again. The weight of her gilded cage was suffocating. Never could she really leave her cage. Never could she spread her wings and explore the world. Never did she get the chance to feel the wind brushing through her hair,
For two months Nicholas and I were trapped in one of Victor's houses. It was difficult, but I was used to it. This was my life until now, so no differences for me. Nicholas, on the other hand, was going insane. A week ago he apologized to me for having me stay in his home all the time. But being locked up wasn't the only thing that irritated him. Nicholas' business, mafia, went through great losses because of the deal with Victor. It seemed every week went something wrong and he had to pay more and more money and lost many investments. At the same time, we didn't particularly try to get pregnant. I didn't want to be touched and well, Nicholas was a gentleman. He had only asked me once if I was serious to which I replied, "Well, if it really comes to it, yes, but I mostly did it to buy us some time while protecting Evelyn. So I would rather not." Nicholas understood and never spoke of it again. This morning was the same as any other, only it was not. After a quick shower and getti
I stood shaking on my legs, never in my life was I so afraid, except for the fact I was kidnapped once. I was back again at Nicholas' mansion. It was still dark and the world had gone to sleep. A cold breeze passed by us, between me, Evelyn and Victor, and my brother and Nicholas. We were both taken out of the car and Evelyn and I looked both panicked. The tension was real. Victor looked at Nicholas with a smug face. He knew he had the upper hand in this. It was not supposed to be this way. Evelyn and I would have been on the boat if it weren't for the cruel man next to me who held my arm in a tight grip.It started when we arrived at the harbor. Like here, it was too quiet when we got to our destination. Nicholas had said there would be multiple guards near us wherever we went, but once there, no one was in sight. The door of the car in front of us was opened by one of Nicholas' men, only to be closed again. The moment he tried to investigate he was shot. I remembered how I screamed.
The four of us sat all freshly showered and energized from last night in the living room together. We all looked anxious as we were all shaken up by the events of last night. The ball we held was supposed to be helpful for us, not harmful. My anger towards Nicholas had vanished from the moment he said he did not plan to get me pregnant. Evelyn, however, was still furious at my husband. She knew the most of my past as we had talked about it together these past weeks. She was only trying to protect me, which I appreciated, but I felt sorry for Nicholas as her eyes could kill somebody."So, what's the plan Mr. I-don't-think-things-thoroughly?" Evelyn snapped at Nicholas."Evelyn, please," I whispered. I was already too harsh towards him and Nicholas got already scolded last night by my brother's girlfriend."It's alright Ava. The plan is the following and we have to act quickly. Victor will send his lawyer by any time now. It will be either tomorrow or the day after that. Between now and
Meaning the girl is free to claim. No, no not this again. Why can't these people let me be? I hated father after everything he did to me, but I now truly understood why he kept me away from these men. Why can't they just leave me alone?My body started to shake. With my two hands, I had to grip Nicholas' arm to steady myself. I could not believe this was happening again. Again! I wanted to go home and hide from the world. To run away as far as possible."Don't be ridiculous!" Nicholas hissed. "She is my wife not some whore to be passed around." Victor seemed not to be faced by the words Nicholas said. He only laughed and smiled."Well if you are not giving her hand away I will tell your lovely guests that the two of you are not fully married yet," Victor said with no care in the world. I could not believe how he could be so calm while discussing such a horrible topic. Talking about someone else's life like it was nothing at all.Nicholas tensed even more if that was possible. "Don't y
Evelyn and I made our way down towards the foyer. Both our dresses moved majestically around our bodies as we made our descent down the stairs. Both men were waiting for us as they stood in their sharp-looking suits. Nicholas was wearing a dark black suit with a matching black dress shirt. Xavier, on the other hand, wore more lighter clothes. His suit was grey with a light grey dress shirt, matched with a burgundy red tie.It was my brother who spoke up first as we got in their eye-sight. "You look lovely, both of you ladies." He smiled. He always smiled when Evelyn was in the room. I wished somebody would do that when I would enter the room.Maybe, someday. After all this is over.When we were at the bottom of the stairs Evelyn thanked Xavier for the compliment. "I think 'beautiful' is a better way to phrase how our ladies look." Nicholas finally said as I stood beside him. "You look really beautiful Ava." He said in a low voice.I did not know how to take the compliment. "Y-You thin