One day, I went out with my friend to a new cafe that had gone viral a
week prior. Unbeknownst to us, there was a group of men already waiting for us
outside with unholy intentions. After we were done eating, my friend—let's call her
Tisya—and I walked home together, as our houses are not far from the cafe.
We walked past the main street where it was slightly dark, but still visible enough for
us to walk through. Suddenly, the group of men from earlier emerged from the dark
with grins, sending shivers of fear through my spine. The last thing I knew, they had
put something over my head; I assumed the same thing had happened to Tisya. After
that, only darkness accompanied me, and I could feel my senses sharpening.
Traveling to a place where you know there is danger makes you think of two
things: the terror that is waiting and how to escape it. When we arrived, I could hear
that there was a bunch of men outside waiting for our arrival. Their disgusting cooing
could be heard from inside the vehicle. I sensed the driver's door open as the person
walked around to the other side. When the door opened, I was roughly pulled out by
my arm and pushed forward. I started walking, and I could sense their eyes on me as
I was forced forward. Inside the building, I picked up bits of information from a group
of people there regarding what might happen next. 'I wonder what these girls look
like.' "Are they going to be sold to Big Mama too?"
"Hope Boss likes the fish we captured; maybe he'll finally find one he's interested in and devour her whole."
We were forced to kneel, and they tied our hands to chairs before yanking the sacks
from our heads. I flinched at the sudden light before I could see the place properly.
The room was dark, with only the light above me switched on; beyond that was total
darkness. Thinking it was only me and my friend who had been captured, I looked to
the side to find there were more girls inside the room. Some were crying; one
girl was throwing a tantrum, moving around to set herself free, only to get slapped
and forced into unconsciousness again. Some were actually excited, even saying they
would be the "Ma'am" of this place very soon.
One big, bald man walked by to look at
each of us and said, "You guys are going to make us rich, that's for sure. I wish
Boss would let us have fun with you, though it would be hard to choose if that
happened." He snickered wickedly before showing a malicious grin, proving his
bad intentions.
As we waited for what felt like hours, suddenly all the men in the room bowed
their heads, even though there was no one there—at least not yet. The man
who commanded this place must have been incredibly powerful to have so many
loyal men willing to commit crimes without questioning him. My expectations were
high, or so I thought, until the man who emerged from the door turned out to be a
short, fat man who looked like he had barely showered, with oil stains all over his suit.
I rolled my eyes, hoping for someone charismatic so this situation wouldn't seem as
grim as it looked.
But strangely, the men remained bowed. It seemed odd until the fat
man shouted, "Show some respect to Mr. Roman Shade!" As they yelled in a mix of
Russian and perhaps Italian, a man in a white suit entered, radiating an aura that
filled the room. Even those of us who were tied up couldn't help but feel the power
he exuded; he brought a chill to the room just by entering it. Our eyes met—or maybe
they didn't—because he surveyed the other girls as if we were pieces of meat in a
supermarket. His scrutiny was precise and quick.Without wasting a second, he
began eliminating the girls, simply pointing and saying, "Sell" or "Useless."
When he reached my row, he looked at a confident girl who clearly thought she was the main
character and smirked. "Sell her, but you guys can have fun with her first."
He then stopped between Tisya and me. I assumed he would choose her, as she is beautiful
and has the figure most men crave, but instead, he skipped her. He looked at me, and
for some reason, I found a spark of braveness; my eyes remained locked on his. I could tell he commanded respect, and my defiance must have caught his attention, because he ordered his men to take me to the office he had just emerged from. I sat in front of him, a mix of confusion and relief. It was terrifying to be known by a man who could easily hurt me, but there was a small relief in the chance I might escape. I felt a pang of guilt for being selfish enough to feel relieved while my friend was still in danger.
Roman looked at me before saying in a deep, dark voice, "Be my woman."
I looked at him in wide-eyed disbelief. "What did you say?"
He smirked and repeated, "Be my woman, and you will have the luxury life everyone covets."
I stayed silent, thinking, before I glanced up and asked, "Then what happens to me?"
He laughed as if I had asked where the bathroom was, not taking me seriously. I maintained a firm expression, showing that despite being a prey in this world of
predators, I was earnest. His face changed when he saw my seriousness.
He looked directly into my eyes and said, 'Being my woman means you stay with me. You let me
do whatever I want and follow every command without complaint.'
I was taken aback, his words leaving me speechless.
Without hesitation, I replied, "No. I will never be your girl and disrespect myself just for safety."
He looked dumbfounded by my answer.
Did he really think I would accept? He stared at me for a second before laughing
again, but this time it was a cachinnation of frustration. When his offer failed, he
turned to a threat to change my mind. He ordered his men to turn my chair toward
the window, facing the room where Tisya sat alone.
He whispered in my ear, 'You will regret refusing me. I'll show you how harrowing this life can be. Just be grateful it isn't happening to you, but to your friend.' With terror in my eyes, I watched a group of men start to rip Tisya's clothes off. They hoisted her onto the table, four
men restraining her limbs so she had no chance to escape. The big, bald man from
earlier looked at the window with that same sinister smirk.
Roman whispered against my ear,
"It's showtime."
The bald guy started unzipping his pants until his backside was in full view;
I could tell he was getting himself ready by stroking himself before he went deep inside her without giving her a chance to react. He moved inside her like it was heaven, while I watched as if looking through the gates of hell. Her voice and the slapping sound echoed in the room, but I couldn't do anything but watch. I tried to look away, but Ramon was forcing me to look at the sinful activities happening in front of me. My eyes slowly filled with tears because it was painful to watch someone I knew get punished because of my decision.
I yelled, 'Stop, just stop! I can't bear to watch this anymore!'
He smirked and said, 'Are you willing to be my girl now? I might give you a chance since you have piqued my interest.'
I looked up at him. 'I will not be your girl. I will only belong to a man who marries me, not give my pride to someone who is not just a nobody, but who disrespects his own nature.'
He was nearly apoplectic when I said that, as if his ego as a man had been scratched by my words.
He scoffed and said directly to me, 'You are too innocent for this life. I might as well
put a tag on you with the word "husband" so people get what you want.'
He stopped himself before saying something else. 'What if I married you? Will that
make any difference?'
I could only gaze at him with confusion because of his aim to make me agree to be with him. 'Why do you keep asking me to be with you? Rather than waste your time with me, why don't you find another girl who is more willing to be your woman or wife? A man like you can get any girl in the world.'
His gaze sent a cold, terrifying shiver through me before he started talking in a
menacing tone. "You are right; I could have any girl I want, but where is the fun when
it's easy? And you, little one, you pique my interest in a way I can't describe. Usually,
when someone rejects my offer, I end her life or make her life miserable, but you… you make me want to chase that part of you where you finally give yourself to me without me having to force it out of you. I didn't say you were different than any other girl in this world, but the way I react to you is different than to others."
I said to him, loud and clear, 'You aren't even Muslim, and even if
you converted, you don't even know the basics.' I could feel his eyes boring into me
as he leaned so close to my face that I could practically feel his breath.
"Do you know me that well to tell me that? Because your assumptions are empty, without any proof.' Again, a confused look painted my face. He continued, 'You don't know me, so let me tell you directly. My mom was Muslim, and I used to live with her long enough to know more than just the basics of that religion. The only difference is, I chose my father's side, which is Christianity, just because... you don't have to know that. All you have to know is that I am more than capable of marrying you, and it doesn't matter if you don't like it, because your friend's fate is in my hands.'
To stop my friend from suffering, I looked at him and made a deal. "Stop
your men and give me 24 hours to think about this. If I don't have an answer by
tomorrow, I will let you do anything to me. I will not refuse, and I will become your
toy for as long as you like."
He sighed and stepped back. " 'Anything' is a really
dangerous word. Are you sure you mean what you said, or is it just a bait so you can plan to escape? Just so you know, once I have found you once, I will always find you."
I shook my head. "Just like you said, you don't know me. When I say something, I will stick to it until it is no longer needed. I will not run away, and I will keep my end of the deal if you keep yours."
"Very well. If that is what you need, then that's what I will give. You really are intriguing, and I can't wait to see your next move. Also, since you asked very nicely, I might as well give you some real
comfort." he called his assistant; the fat guy came in and bowed his head to Roman.
"What do you need, my master?"
"Rayan, untie this woman and lock her with her friend in the guest room. Give them something to wear, but make sure they have no chance to escape. I want our men guarding the room 24 hours a day, and no mistakes are allowed. Understood?"
Roman raised his eyebrows at Rayan. "Yes, sir. I'll do it right away."
He untied me and dragged me to a room that was quite comfortable, despite its small size and the
fact that it barely had light to illuminate the room. A few minutes later, Tisya was also pushed inside. They threw clothes to us before closing the door and locking it.
I rushed toward Tisya, making sure she was okay. "Are you okay, girl? I know what they did to you, and it's my fault all of this happened. If we had just agreed to go home with the others, this would never have happened, and you wouldn't be..."
I was far too afraid to say the word describing her situation. I felt disgusted with myself for letting this happen to my friend, especially since it was actually her special day. Today was the day she was supposed to start her work at her dream job, but instead of celebrating her success, this happened. Her eyes locked on mine before she formed words that were barely above a whisper.
"You don't have to blame yourself. None of us knew this would happen, and guess what? At least we are still alive, despite everything, and I am grateful for that. Let's just hope it gets better from
here."
I looked away and murmured to myself, "I will make sure it is better."
I helped her put her clothes on and also cleaned the blood between her legs with a piece
of cloth they gave us. I turned off the light after making sure she was asleep
and lay down beside her. I looked up at the ceiling to think about my next move and
ended up falling asleep for the rest of the night.
The next day, I woke up to find Tisya was no longer beside me. I panicked and
looked around, but she was nowhere to be found. I banged my fists on the door
and yelled as loud as I could, "Open up!" To my surprise, the door opened almost
immediately. Without any doubt, I already knew who was standing in front of the door.
It was none other than Roman Shade, who was looking down at me because of our
height difference. With a sneer on his face, he asked in a snarky tone,
"You look like you've lost something. Maybe I should help you?'
I grabbed him from collar of his suit. "Where is Tisya? Where is she? You had better not hurt her again, or I swear you won't see the light of day again."
He smirked down at me. "Oh, I see. Tisya is her name, huh?" He leaned in close.
"You are so brave, yet so stupid. Even if you knew where your friend was,
you couldn't do anything to me. In here, I am in charge, and nobody will disobey me
because they know the consequences."
I locked my eyes on his. "Just tell me where he is, and let's end this once and for all.'
He nodded. "Sure. It will be exciting to see what your decision is. Your friend is in a separate room not far from here for medical attention. I may be a villain and a possible monster, but I still have a human side, believe it or not." he looked at his watch. "It's still early before you have to make your
decision. Do you want some breakfast? What do you have in mind? Pancakes, waffles,
or anything else?"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You are my enemy, yet you are treating me like afriend."
He crossed his arms and laughed. "You see me as your enemy, but you have to remember that I want you. That will never be how I look at you. Just so you know, hating me will only make you fall for me even more."he winked at me with a wide cheeky smile on his face.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "I don't care about anything, I just want to see my friend. Also, I have already made my decision, and we can talk after I'm sure nothing has happened to her." He pouted. "You worry about her more than yourself. You're like a main character who sacrifices everything to save her friend. Be selfish sometimes, at least so there's a plot twist."
I replied, "It won't be a plot twist if you are already expecting it to happen. That would just mean I did exactly what you predicted." I followed him to the room he mentioned. Inside, just as he had said, Tisya was being treated by a doctor; there was no infection or anything harmful in her
system. I looked at her and quickly excused myself before she noticed I was there.
Roman looked at me strangely. I had been so scared when I couldn't find her earlier,
so my leaving the room confused him.
"Why didn't you go in? Didn't you see your friend there? Can't you see she is actually being treated?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "I obviously saw her, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't be this calm. I might
just yell, throw a tantrum, or even do something stupid."
Suddenly, I heard a loud mumble came from his stomach before I turned my head toward him and raised my eyebrows.
"What? I'm hungry," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Being a scary mafia leader who is respected by others, I am still human. I even asked you what you wanted to eat so maybe we could eat together."
I couldn't help but pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. "Are you even a grown man? You act like you're five, just somehow super tall and huge, wearing a suit and a clip-on tie. You think I didn't notice that?"
He looked surprised. I crossed my arms and continued, "If I actually eat with you, will you finally be normal for once? For your information, I rarely get annoyed by people unless it's my little brother, and you remind me so much of him right now— even though you're less weird."
He nodded eagerly. "Absolutely. I will be normal, though I don't know what your definition of normal is. You still haven't answered me. What do you want for breakfast? If you don't tell me, I will buy every kind of food I can think of, and you will have to eat it because I don't like people wasting food."
I couldn't believe he was threatening me again, and this time with something I
actually liked. I let out another sigh. "I want pancakes with whipped cream and syrup. Also, I want black tea with only one spoonful of sugar and plain water."
He took his phone and placed the order before heading to Tisya's room. He opened
the door and, with a serious face, asked, "What would you like for breakfast? I can't
have you dying of hunger while I hold you captive. Request anything; it might be your
last meal if you're unlucky."
Tisya looked at Roman in confusion. "A piece of bread and plain water is enough."
He raised his eyebrows. "What do you think this is? A prison? Eat real food, woman. Don't make me look like I'm poor."
Tisya's mouth fell open in disbelief. She thought for a bit. "Can I have an egg sandwich with iced
coffee?" She was testing the waters with that order. Roman nodded and sent the order to Rayan.
After the food arrived, Roman handed the sandwich and coffee to Tisya before
entering the dining room. He put my food on a plate and carefully added the syrup
and whipped cream. He thought for a second and decided the food looked boring, so
he added chocolate syrup, marshmallows, fresh strawberries, honey, and crushed biscuits on top. He plated his own food and asked Rayan to call me over. I opened the door, feeling a bit scared, only to see him sitting there waiting for me. If I didn't know he was my kidnapper, I might have found this cute, but I pushed the thought aside. I sat down across from him, my eyes locked on him in case he had another trick up his sleeve. I looked at my food and, with wide eyes, stared at the
mountain of sweets melting in front of me.
"Sir... Roman... what is this?"
"Obviously, the pancakes you ordered were just given a bit of a twist because they
looked boring when they arrived, so I got creative and made them look lively."
I just stared at them, speechless, before I took a fork and knife. I cut a piece of the
pancake and, as I expected, the sweetness overload exploded in my mouth when
I took a bite. I silently ate without any complaints and just dealt with it while
he started to eat his. I kept drinking water after each bite to rinse the sweet
taste from my mouth until, without me realizing it, I had already eaten the whole
plate. It was like sweet torture; I didn't like it, but I couldn't find any reason to hate it
either.
I took a sip from my almost cold tea and wiped my mouth with a napkin before I looked at him seriously. "This is not a game, you know? And I don't want to play any games, so if you have something to tell me, just say it. At least I won't feel weird, because what you're doing right now feels as odd as it can get, and I want to be prepared."
He paused mid-bite before his eyes looked up at me; then, he laughed his
heart out. "All I did was eat with you. Perhaps you can give your answer a bit faster, because feeling curious for too long gets annoying, and I don't have the patience for that."
I remained silent while finishing my tea because I was still thinking about what I
wanted, but for sure, I didn't want Tisya to be here any longer. I couldn't have anyone
touch her like that again.
I opened my mouth just to remind him, "My answer will only be revealed tonight because that's part of the deal. You can't change my mind easily, and I won't even let you try."
He sighed, annoyed. "Fine, but you better give your answer or you know the consequences—which you were the one to set in the first place." He stood up and fixed his suit. "See you tonight."
He walked out of the room before his men came to get me and put me back in the small room where Tisya was already waiting. She looked at me worriedly. "You were gone for such a long time, I couldn't help but worry because I'm afraid they will do something to you. You know, it
felt weird when the person who kidnapped us asked me what I wanted to eat. Did he ask you too?" I shook my head and lied, "Nope, they just gave me some bread and water and did some questioning. Nothing else, unfortunately."
"Huh, really? Perhaps..." Her face flushed a bit, and I didn't want to put weird ideas in her head.
"Don't even think that he might like you, because if he did, you wouldn't get hurt in
the first place." she nodded. "You're right. It would be impossible for that to happen if
he liked me. I might watch too many dark romance movies. When we get out of here,
I will sell all my books so I won't get any weird ideas again."
We stayed in the room and did nothing but talk about getting out until the
sun went down.
The door opened. One man grabbed my arms aggressively and dragged me
to Roman's office, where images of what happened yesterday flew back into my mind.
I was forced to sit before Roman sat in front of me with his arms crossed.
"Time's up, little one. You told me to be patient, and I was, so give me my reward now, huh? Tell me your answer now!" He hit the table, making my heart jump. Fear rushed through me, since I had forgotten that he was still scary despite everything I had learned about him today. I looked up at him and said, "Let my friend go, and then you have to marry me. That way, I agree to stay with you, and you won't bother her ever again. I also want to make this a contract marriage. This is my answer."
He scratched his chin while nodding. "Well, I can work with that. You made an interesting deal here. Your friend will be set free, and we will head to Thailand tonight."
I didn't even argue because I had already said what I wanted, and that was all I wished for. Just as he had kept us alive, he proved to be a man of his word. That night, he summoned a few of his men to send Tisya back to where they had found her. They placed a sack over her head while she was asleep and put her in the back seat before driving away from the hideout. When they arrived, they threw Tisya out of the car and left before she could fully free herself, ensuring she wouldn't catch any information about them. When Tisya was finally free, all she could see was smoke and the dark sky. She realized I wasn't there; in that moment, she panicked and rushed home. Her parents were already waiting, and when she arrived, they both hugged her and asked what had happened. With tears in her eyes, she told them everything that had happened to her and me. Her parents called my parents immediately, and since it had already been over 24 hours, they filed a police report. Meanwhile, Roman and I were heading to Thailand, where we could finally get the most important part of the deal done. We got there using his private jet, and while on board, I couldn't help but wonder if Tisya was okay and if my sacrifice was the right decision. We arrived there right before the sun went up, so I could see the sunrise like it was a light of hope that everything would go well. We got into his car, and his driver headed to the place where the Qadi and a few witnesses were already waiting for us. We performed the wedding right after he converted, and in that moment, I felt like I couldn't breathe. The Qadi recited the vow to him, and he replied:
"I, Roman Shade, promise you, here before Allah and my friends, to care for you, support you, provide for you, through all life's ups and downs, as your faithful and loving husband."
And just like that, we were officially husband and wife. I got into the car after that
and stared out the window, thinking this is where the nightmare starts. And this?
This was the beginning of a disaster.