Chapter three
1362 Words
Tomorrow was the d-day. Emily was going to be sent off to Lucas the next day. The attic doors were finally opened up after two days.
Emily had been locked up there for two days, with no food or water. Her family had locked her there and went on with their daily lives, the nights she spent in the room, she had prayed and prayed for God to end her miserable life for good.
“Get up, go pack your things and prepare for tomorrow” her father said to her not sparing her a glance.
Emily stood up, legs wobbly, she felt a terrible headache and dizziness all at the same time. It was probably from hunger and her whole body ached.
She went to the kitchen stuffing any piece of food she could find in her mouth and some under her blouse. She checked if the coast was clear as she limped tiredly into her room eating all she had stolen hungrily.
Emily knew what was coming for her tomorrow and she vowed to herself that once she finally arrived at Lucas’s place, she would do everything in her power to escape. She would escape from Lucas and most especially her cruel family for good.
She entered her bathroom trying to scrub off the dirt and trauma from her body, after her very long shower, she passed out on her bed falling asleep immediately.
Emily woke up to very loud knocks on her door. She hurriedly went to open it, slipping in the process because she still felt drowsy. It was her stepmother.
“G-Good morning mother” Emily stammered as she greeted.
Her mother replied to her greeting with a disgusted look. “Put this on” her mother said, throwing some clothes at her face and leaving the room, certainly not forgetting to bang the door shut.
The dress was a cute yellow skirt and jacket outfit, this had to be the nicest thing Emily had ever owned. But she recognized the outfit too well, it was one of Sophia’s clothes that she planned to throw out, of course her family would never get her anything nice from their pockets.
Emily took a quick shower, changing into her clothes. They looked big on her, the skirt fell from her waist while the jacket sagged on her shoulders.
She decided to try on the shoes her stepmother had thrown into her room while she was in the shower, it was still one of Sophia’s hand-me-downs.
The shoes were worse than the clothes, she couldn’t even walk properly with them on and her bruises were not making it any better.
She took a safety pin using it to fit the skirt around her waist while she stuffed tissues inside the shoes so they could fit.
Her hack kind of worked even though she looked a bit funny.
Emily had not packed her things yet, but there was not much to pack. She quickly stuffed all she ever owned into two small duffel bags.
“You i***t, why are you still here” Her father barged in and yelled.
“The driver is already here so pack your things and get out” her father yelled again walking out of her room.
Emily rushed into the car struggling to carry her little luggage. The driver helped her with her luggage, putting it in the trunk. Just before they were about to leave, her “beautiful” family came outside to see her.
“You better not embarrass us in front of the Smiths or you’ll live to regret it” her father said sharply.
“The driver will drop you off at Lucas’s penthouse and once you’re there, you will act like a prim and proper wife, do you hear me?!” He warned.
Emily nodded.
“Don’t disappoint Lucas!” her stepmother added while Sophia just gave her a dirty look.
“Okay,” Emily whispered.
For the first time, Emily had thought her family came to bid her farewell, but it was the complete opposite. They just left her with a warning and a threat.
She sighed deeply, entering the car as it started moving. “Welcome to my doom” she told herself, sinking back on the car seat.
Little did she know that Lucas was waiting impatiently in his penthouse expecting a totally different bride.
— — ————————————————— — —
Lucas waited impatiently for “Sophia” to arrive, glancing at his watch every five seconds. She was supposed to arrive earlier than this but she insisted on wasting his time. He hated people who wasted his time.
After a very long car ride, Emily was in front of Lucas’ penthouse. Her palms were very sweaty and her heart seemed to beat twice as fast.
Her driver followed closely behind her, holding her two duffel bags tightly. He was clearly following her father’s orders—to make sure she did not run away.
She stared at the huge building in front of her, everything about it screamed luxury and she felt out of place.
”I definitely don’t belong here” she said to herself walking into the building, her driver followed closely behind her, holding her two duffel bags tightly, he was clearly following her father’s orders, which was to make sure she did not run away.
If the exterior of the building was beautiful, then the interior had to be a work of art, starting from the well polished marble floors, to the expensive furniture and exquisite paintings, but the amount of tension she was under gave her no room for admiration.
The driver approached the reception desk and spoke to one of the staff, “Mr Smith is expecting her” he said, his eyes not leaving Emily.
There was a look of panic on the staff's face but she quickly covered it with a smile.
“Okay, just give me a moment please” she said, making a phone call.
“This way madam” the staff said, gesturing to them to follow her.
They entered a private elevator that the staff operated with a key card. The elevator kept going higher and higher but not as high as Emily’s heart rate.
By the time the doors opened, she could barely breathe. The staff member led her down a short hallway and stopped in front of a large black door.
She pressed a code into a panel and the door opened..
"Welcome to Mr. Smith's penthouse." She said with a wide smile while Emily in her head tried to figure out what was worth smiling about.
The penthouse was beautiful but lifeless. Everything including the furniture was either black, white, or grey but mostly grey.
“I’ll excuse you now”, the staff member said leaving the house and her driver followed suit dropping her bags on the floor and walking out a bit too fast.
Emily couldn’t help but scoff at his behavior, so he too was scared to meet the demon of a Lucas but contributed to forcefully bringing her here.
The sound of the door shutting in front of her made her jump.
Lucas slowly turned around.
Emily froze.
All the rumors she had heard were false.
He was tall.
Dangerously handsome.
His sharp jawline and piercing dark eyes gave him an intimidating appearance that immediately made her want to look away, but she couldn’t.
The Smiths had a son, everyone knew, but what he looked like, many people didn’t know. She didn’t even expect Lucas to be so young.
The Smiths sure did have a lot of secrets.
Lucas' gaze landed on her, studying her from head to toe.
Her oversized jacket dangling on her shoulders
She held her oversized skirt together with pins that were very noticeable
Her shoes she couldn’t even stand well in with the tissues she stuffed them with poking out from the sides
Her very thin and frail body
Her trembling hands and the frightened expression on her face.
“Who are you?” He asked coldly.
- Writer
