Chapter 1

"Z! Are you coming tonight?"

I widened Lexy's eyes and signaled to her not to be noisy. It's Friday, and my friends want to have fun tonight at a bar not far from our school because it's also a birthday celebration for one of our team members.

We were in the school's closed gym. I just sat on the bench to drink water and rest for a while. I just finished my volleyball training and am waiting for Bettina. She's a cheerleader at our school. Of course, she's beautiful and talented; that's why most of the boys on campus are courting her.

"I need your answer now, so I can prepare what I'm going to wear right away!" Lexy said artfully.

I rolled my eyes and approached her before speaking.

"I'll just message you later. You know that I'll just escape again," I answered her.

She laughed and poked me lightly in the side.

"You're really such a brat! What if your mom and dad find out? I might get scolded too if they find out I'm with you!" Lexy was preaching to me.

I was tormented again and held my breath. What can I do? My family is holding me by the neck, and I never seem to be able to let go.

"I'll come. We'll just meet there," I answered her.

She was so happy that I signaled to her again. Sister Bettina is here, and she might find out about my escape later.

After Bettina's practice, we headed home. As usual, our bodyguards always followed us. We couldn't do anything, even though we didn't want bodyguards, because that's what our father ordered.

Yes, my family is rich, and most people know them. My parents own a lot of businesses; that's why they want to protect us from their competitors who intend to do us harm. I grew up to have a good image, even my own father didn't have a good image for the most part. Yes, he's a good businessman, but I can't avoid hearing from other people about his having multiple women. I always have to be top of the class, I can't go out with my friends, and there's a limit to when I leave the house. If your situation is like that every day, you will get really tired.

"I'll just buy iced coffee before going home. What do you want?" Bettina asked me while we were in the car.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine. Thanks," I answered her.

She just nodded and didn't speak until our car stopped at a cafe. It just opened, so there were a lot of people. Before Bettina came down, she looked at me again.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I'll just wait for you here," I answered her while scrolling on my phone.

Bettina finally got out of the car with her bodyguards, while my two bodyguards were left outside the car.

I was thinking about how I would escape later. I said yes to Lexy, so I really have to go there tonight. I just hope Mom and Dad don't get home right away so I can leave easily later. My only problem later is how to get out of the gate without being seen by our guards at home. Because since they caught me running away before, they have been more vigilant.

I sighed and looked out the window because I felt a little stressed from the thought. My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw a familiar car. It was Dad's! I'm not mistaken, because I know his car. What is he doing here anyway? At this time?

I straightened up to get out of the car, but I was very surprised when I saw Daddy. He has a woman with him who is not too far from his and Mommy's age.

To hear that my father is having multiple affairs with some women in this city hurt me so much, but it made me crippled when I saw it with my own eyes.

My tears flowed as I looked at my father outside. He opened the door for the woman while holding her waist. I feel like my whole being is being destroyed. I thought that other people were just saying that to discredit him, but I myself discovered that it was true.

"Zariyah?"

It was like I was back in my senses when I heard Bettina's voice. I didn't realize that she was back, and Dad's car had already left.

"What's happening?" she asked, apparently seeing that I was crying.

I quickly wiped my tears before looking at her. I can see her concern as she looks at me.

"Bettina, I saw Dad!"

She frowned and looked outside.

"Where? I-I didn't see him. Isn't he there?" she asked me.

I shook my head, and my tears flowed even more. I know Bettina knows about that, but we both turn a deaf ear to what we hear from others. Now that I saw it and it was proven to me, I was even more hurt.

"How could he do this to us? To Mom?!" I asked, crying.

Bettina immediately hugged me to stop me from crying, but that didn't do anything.

"Maybe that's just his friend. Let him."

"Friend?! He's guiding that cheap woman to get in his car while holding her waist!" I answered as I couldn't control the anger I felt.

Bettina pulled away from hugging me and touched both of my cheeks before speaking again.

"Fine, but calm down, okay? Let me handle it. Just don't tell Mom so she won't get more stressed," she told me one after the other.

I don't know how I stopped crying until we got home. I quietly got out of the car while Bettina was still left behind. I'm sure she will tell our guards not to tell Mom and Dad about my crying earlier in the car.

He doesn't want us to do bad things, but it turns out he's the one doing it!

"Z! Are we going to watch?" my youngest sister Margot greeted me from the door.

I could see the slight surprise in her eyes when she saw my face.

"Oh! What happened? Are you alright?" she asked.

I stopped for a moment because I didn't know what to say to my sister. I don't want her to know about it, because, of the three of us, she is the closest to our dad.

"Let's just watch it tomorrow, Margot. I'm tired and I want to rest early," I answered her.

She didn't ask any more questions and just let me go up to my room. I took a shower right away and just went to sleep, because that's my coping mechanism when I think a lot.

I just woke up at twelve a.m. because Lexy was calling. I immediately stood up from my bed when I remembered that I was going to a party.

I just wear my black miniskirt and pink halter top. I just let my long and wavy hair down. I just put on a little make-up, and I almost bathed in the perfume on my body.

I was nervous when I left the room. The entire hallway was dimly lit. I had no idea if Mom and Dad had come home, so I looked in their room. To make sure if they had come home or not, I slowly approached them, and my chest pounded even more when I saw that their room was slightly open.

I was about to leave when I heard my mother talking.

"I don't mean anything. I was just asking if that's true, Zandro. You don't have to be offended by that," I heard my mother say.

I stayed not far from their room. I wanted to hear what they were talking about, but I'm sure it was all about Dad and his affairs.

"Of course, not. Your questions are just repeating themselves. They're just making up stories to ruin our family!" Daddy answered in denial.

I was almost exhausted, and the anger was felt again. This is the most painful for me—Mommy's silent questions—but she can't do anything else because Dad only answers her in denial.

I just left there, and I was surprised again when I saw Bettina coming from her room. She was also dressed and looked like she was going somewhere, so when our eyes met, we both surprised each other.

I immediately approached her.

"Where are you going?" we asked each other at the same time.

We both looked at what we were wearing, it was obvious that we were going out tonight.

"I'm going to a party. I didn't say goodbye because, for sure, Mom and Dad wouldn't agree, so I'll just escape. How about you?" she answered and asked me.

I laughed a little, because we had the same reason.

"That's my answer too. So, let's go!" I answered her, then shrugged my shoulders.

"What? No! We can't leave together tonight. You stay, and I'll go," she told me.

"No way! I'll go with you tonight, or I'll tell Dad about this!" I threaten her.

She almost held her breath and didn't do anything if she didn't agree to what I wanted. We both ran away from home. It was successful because no bodyguards saw us leaving. It was only then that we found out that we were going to the same party.

"Don't drink too much, Zari. We have to go home after three hours," Bettina told me.

"Alright!" I answered her.

Bettina and I parted because she saw her friends, so I immediately looked for Lexy. I didn't have a hard time finding her because I had already seen her.

"You're so hot tonight, huh?" she praised me.

"Duh?" I answered while rolling my eyes at her.

We both laughed, and she pulled me to our table, where our other friends were. They were starting to drink, and since I was a few minutes late, I immediately had a fifth shot of alcohol.

We just drink and have fun there with my friends. Many boys from other schools approach me, and I don't snob them because I also have many friends.

I don't know how many shots of margaritas and other alcohol I've had. I can feel my dizziness, especially when Annika and Lexy pull me to the other table. We were laughing there, and I saw that there were other women and men there. I'm not familiar with them; that's why I waved in greeting.

We stayed there for a while, and some boys from that table were talking to me. I only stopped drinking when I felt so dizzy that I sat down while my friends were busy. I closed my eyes for a moment because my surroundings seemed to be spinning. I swear! I'm not going to drink again!

"Drunk already?" someone asked, and then chuckled.

I opened my eyes to look for the one who spoke. I knew he was talking to me! When it laughed a little again, I saw that it was the person next to me who spoke.

He's wearing a black leather jacket. His nose is pointed, and his almost perfect jaw is defined because he is in a side view. He's holding a glass of alcohol, and he drank it when he saw me looking at him.

"I'm not. I'm just a little bit tipsy," I answered him.

"Oh, really?" he asked, then turned to face me.

Now I see his face better. From his almond shaped eyes down to his red lips. My chest heaved as he came slightly closer to me. Oh shoot! It looks like I'm going to fight tonight.

"Do you want to sober up?" he asked, then placed his broad palm on my thigh.

I can see his wide eyes, as if he is telling me something.

This is not my first time to make out at this kind of party, and I'm not that innocent anymore, but all I can give is a kiss.

I don't know, but my body suddenly stuck to him like a magnet. I grabbed his jacket to pull him closer to me until our lips met. I immediately felt warmth in my body as we both kissed. Add to that his caressing between my thighs.

Our kiss was only interrupted when I suddenly heard Bettina's voice.

"Z!"

Even though it was noisy around the whole bar, I could hear her loud voice. I let go of the hold on the shoulder of the man I was kissing. I was drunk because of the kisses when I turned to Bettina.

"What?!" I asked her, annoyed.

"Let's go! Dad found out that we're here!" she said nervously, then pulled me upright.

Instead of being nervous because of what I heard, I just laughed while being pulled by my sister. So what if he found out? I also caught him earlier with his cheap mistress!