*Seraphine*
For the longest time, I craved love. I craned for the kind of affection only a mother could give.
I wanted so much to gain her approval as well as to rebuild the broken bridge between her and my father. But what did I get?
Betrayal.
Pain.
What did she ever give to me besides her constant physical and emotional abuse? What did she ever do to me besides asking me for money incessantly?
She stole my man!
I cried out in pain when the bodyguard behind her laced his hands between the strands of my hair, and using it to pull me upwards, he dragged me to my feet until I was toe to toe with my mother.
Seizing the opportunity, she hooked her fingers under my chin and grabbed onto my face so hard that her long claw-like nails dug into my flesh. My blood dripped from the cut but she didn't care. Hell, she even seemed unfazed as she seethed; "You look like shit."
And usually, that should hurt anyone. That should make anyone feel bad, but it didn't do it for me because truth be told, those were one of the nicest words she's ever said to me in my entire life.
So shrugging off her words, I lowered my head and hissed; "And you are shit."
My words earned me a resonating slap. It earned me a slap that rang out, echoing in the quiet room until all I could hear was the continuous ringing in my ears.
She should be satisfied seeing me like this— so torn and dejected— but she was not. She wanted more. And this desire was the reason she asked her stupid ugly bodyguard to slap me harder…
And harder.
And harder.
Again and again, each slap ringing across the room until I was a crying mess, and until my mouth was so bloody, all I could taste was the metallic tang of my blood in my mouth.
By the time she was done with me, which was a couple of minutes later, they let me fall to the floor like a freaking ragdoll and the force of my fall made my head hit the tiled floor with a loud thump. It was so loud that I cried out in pain.
"Arghh!"
"You will leave New York," she seethed through gritted teeth, "…never to return again. And you will not make contact with anyone, especially, my Lucian."
My Lucian.
The words echoed in my head, sending jolts and jolts of shockwaves running down my spine. It hurt me beyond any words I could describe and twisted at something in my chest until I was struggling to breathe.
I wanted to ask her why, to know why she'd decided to hurt me so much, leaving me to rot. But as soon as I glanced up at her and caught the sight of the same ring I'd seen in Lucian's trenchcoat on her finger, my breath hitched.
It was true.
She was indeed marrying him, a boy who would've been her son-in-law.
Blinking back the tears in my eyes, I let my eyes meet hers defiantly and I hissed; "Now, I know why father hated you."
At the sound of my words, her eyebrows twitched slightly. Then she smiled at me and shrugged; "Because he was a fool. And he was good for nothing."
I gulped.
"Lucian however, is nothing like your father. He's smart and sweet and always knew what he wanted from the onset. He's always wanted me but I made him approach you because I always knew you were stupid… and that in order to get my hands on your father's filthy company, all I needed to do was make you feel like you were loved. His cock was an added bonus and I know you enjoyed every inch of it."
Her words were like knives, driving into the deepest parts of my heart.
I wanted to speak but I could not find the words. I couldn't even move because I was in too much pain.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed my phone lying helplessly on the floor but just as I tried to reach it, a loud scream tore out from the back of my throat.
Why?
Because mother had seized that opportunity and stepped on my already bleeding fingers with her pointy stilettos.
"And what the fuck are you trying to do?" She snarled, "are you trying to reach someone?"
I wanted to say no but my throat felt too clogged, and I could only whimper, crying out in pain as she drove her heels deeper into my flesh. My cries increased in tempo when blood gushed out from the wound, and like a crazed beast, that only fuelled mother to grind her feet against the floor, squashing my bones and flesh as she moved.
"What are you doing, beautiful?" A deep masculine voice suddenly called out, sending shudders down my spine.
My heart raced like a fucking bitch because that was a voice I had grown to love. A voice I was accustomed to, belonging to someone who would sing me to sleep on stormy nights.
Lucian.
Something like a bile rose at the base of my throat when Lucian stepped into the room, looking all handsome in his crisp gray suit. His blonde hair was styled into a man bun and his chest— broad and muscular— strained against his clothes with each step he took.
His dark brown eyes raked my body slowly like he was looking at filth and then he hissed; "Do not dirty your shoes with her blood, mi amor. My men will take care of her."
'Of her' like I was something to be trampled on.
'Of her' like I was nothing to him— the same me who had brought him up from nothing and turned him into this person that he is now.
Those words so carelessly said sent me deep into the abyss. If I was hurt before then, I would probably be on the brink of death now.
My lips trembled when I looked into the eyes that used to hold nothing but love for me. But now, all it held was contempt.
A deep dark twisted kind of contempt.
And then he leaned in to kiss my mother on the lips. Right. In. Front. Of. Me.