Entrapped

Chapter 8.

The door of her room slowly opened and, out of reflex, Tiara shot her head in the corresponding direction and saw the same maid who had been serving her since she was locked in her arriving with a tray of food.

She bowed a little out of respect before addressing her, " Ma'am, I have brought your lunch." She informed her while placing the tray on the coffee table near the glass window.

Tiara scoffed loudly, irritated by her behaviour already towards her, "How many times do I have to tell you that I am a prisoner here so stop with this courtesy already!" Her voice managed to convey her irritation to the poor maid who was told to look after Tiara.

"Don't you understand English or are you just dumb?" Tiara snapped at her, who was still looking at the ground, "I told you I am not going to eat! Don't you understand that?" She knew she was being rude but at this point she didn't care at all. It didn't matter to her how others would feel because she was devastated and, at the same time, was boiling with anger and that feeling blinded her completely.

" Ma'am, you skipped your dinner yesterday and breakfast as well this morning. It's not good for your health and, besides, you need to take medicine." The maid said in a robotic tone, masking her emotion with a straight face, but Tiara managed to sense a little concern in her stiff posture. She wasn't worried about Tiara's health, but was worried that she would lose her job if she failed to do her task which was assigned by Xavier himself.

Tiara laughed a little, her laughter was completely humourless and sounded forced, "Do you think a person who is going to die no matter what should worry about his health?" She questioned, her eyebrow raised, demanding an answer from the maid.

Tiara was apprehensive about the way she was getting treated; this was not what she had thought would happen to her. She was supposed to be locked up in a dungeon instead of this nice room if not dead by now.

This was not how the traitors here were treated and she had certainly become the biggest one by betraying Xavier and breaking his trust and the promise she had given him. She was supposed to be in pain, tortured and dead, but here she was just locked up in a nice room, after getting whipped for like twenty times and it didn't settle well with her because she knew that the punishment for the person who stole a handful of money was much more severe than what she had received.

She was anxious about what would happen to her and the dread had settled deep in her heart because she knew that the traitors didn't get fed there except for the females who were to be sold and that fear of being sold to some creepy man to be his slave petrified her.

She really hoped that it was not how Xavier was planning to punish her for betraying him because she would rather kill herself before going through all that humiliation.

"I don't think Mr. Black is planning to kill you as he has asked me to look after you well." That maid's intention was to calm Tiara down but it did the exact opposite. Her words horrified Tiara and she had never thought that not getting a death sentence could be this cruel.

"Then what does he want to do with me?" She snapped, losing her calm entirely. Her inside was shaking with anxiety but she refused to show anyone how she was really feeling, "Answer me!" She yelled, throwing her hands in the air.

The maid visibly flinched back in fear when Tiara suddenly yelled and shook her head in the negative, "I don't know, ma'am." She was just doing her work and that was to follow what Xavier had asked her to do and besides that she knew absolutely nothing.

Her nostrils flared and she clenched her hands tight in a fist and instantly threw away the food that the maid had brought as her lunch. Tiara was going crazy; she couldn't hold the building anger she was feeling for Xavier.

"Where is Xavier?" She demanded with gritted teeth, glaring at the maid who was shaking in fear.

"I have no idea." Her answer infuriated Tiara even more at the thought that, after ruining her life, he had the audacity to live his as if nothing had happened.

"Tell him to come here! Tell him I want to talk to him!" She demanded.

"I will pass your message ma'am-"

"I said stop calling me that and tell that bastard to come here right now!" Tiara had enough, the rage she felt inside her was making her go berserk.

She nodded her head and hurriedly ran out of Tiara's room, locking her away on her way out while Tiara waited for a few minutes for Xavier to come, but when he didn't come, she lost her hope.

She ran to the door and tried to open it although she knew that it was locked, but she still tried anyway.

"Xavier!" She slapped the door with her hands, banging it as hard as she could to get him there.

"Open the door!" She was weak and the lack of food in her system made her even weaker, but Tiara knew the criticality of the situation. She was afraid that the ticking time would cost her too much and it just made her more determined to save herself from what Xavier had stored for her.

She looked at the glass window which was also locked, straining her from going to that balcony that could probably help her to get away from there. She looked around anxiously and her eyes landed on the table lamp and she grabbed it tightly and swung it in the air with full force and hit the glass window with all her might and the feeling of disappointment gripped her soul when she noticed that she didn't even manage to dent that frail looking glass. Anger rose up in her and she hit it again and again, but the result was the same.

She became exhausted with the efforts that were as futile as her own existence and she sat on the bed. Tears of vulnerability blurred her eyes and she broke down in sobs.

It was evening when Xavier came back home after spending hours in his warehouse where he signed up some files related to the underworld and then letting out all the pent-up frustration and anger Tiara had caused him at his prisoners who had dared to stand against the Blacks.

He was slowly moving towards his room when he saw the maid, the one he had ordered to look after Tiara, standing outside his room.

"Mr. Black," she bowed down in respect and continued, "Ms. Jensen refused to eat. She has not eaten anything since last night."

"I don't care," he did, every single cell of his body cared for her. His heart screamed at him to go and check on her, yet his tongue managed to utter those words in a cold tone.

"Alright, Mr. Black but she demanded to see you personally." That intrigued his interest and gave him a good reason to visit her.

Xavier was a leader although not official yet, but people respected him like one and he didn't want to ruin his reputation because of Tiara, though he had not cared about it years ago, but now the tables had turned completely.

Xavier dismissed the maid right away and slowly made his way to the room Tiara was kept in. He stood outside her room, staring at the closed door, contemplating what she would say to him. Would she realize her mistake and apologize?

Xavier was afraid that his heart would compel him to forgive her right away, it would forget all the pain he had felt her betrayal had caused in a second, seeing her remorseful. He didn't want that, not yet at least. He didn't want her to take advantage of the love he had for her and forgive her instantly.

He needed to be a little harsh with her this time, otherwise he reckoned that she would take him lightly and would try to cross him again.

He slowly twisted the door knob, gaining his cold composure, and he stepped inside the dimly lit room. The only light that was making it illuminate was from outside. The orange hues of the sun that was about to set gave that room a warm essence which was disturbed by his cold presence.

He moved in and his eyes scanned the messed-up room; broken dishes and pieces of tray were laid on the floor near the coffee table along with food, the table lamp was resting on the floor, near the window and the bedsheet was crumbled badly.

Xavier frowned upon the state her room was in. He clearly remembered that she didn't like unorganized places, it used to creep her out, but he guessed she had also changed that habit of hers a few years. Everything he used to know about her seemed like a lie or a thing that no longer exists.

A slight movement alerted him, he heard a faint sound of footsteps and abruptly turned around, only to find Tiara approaching him with the sharp piece of a broken tray to attack him, but he was easily able to catch her hand in the air, stopping himself from her useless attempt to harm him.

She wasn't agile enough to attack him. He had been trained for situations like this, although he had never expected that he would be using his training against the woman he loved madly. It hurt him, but then again, he wasn't disappointed, he had stopped feeling that way about her anymore. He no longer expected anything from her and knew that he had to do everything alone.

He gripped her hand tighter while his other hand made its way to her waist. He pulled her closer to the extent. That their bodies were crashing against each other.

"Is this why you wanted to see me, Tiara?" Hurt was clearly evident in his voice, but like every other time she was unable to detect it.

"Yes," She snarled at him, glaring at him with all the hatred she could manage to muster up in her eyes, "I wanted to stab you and free the world from a monster like you!" She exclaimed venomously.

"When was I ever a monster to you, Tiara?" He couldn't help but ask her that question. He didn't deny that he was a monster, he was one, perhaps the most merciless one, but he also knew that he had never been one to her. Then why was it that she was gravely accusing him?

"You are the biggest monster in my life, Xavier. Your menacing presence devoured my happiness, you killed the man I love right in front of my eyes."

His grip tightened on her waist in anger upon hearing her words, his body seemed to shake in anger, "Then aren't you the one who provoked that monster inside me when you rewarded my generosity with betrayal?"

Tiara was at a loss for words. She knew she should never have involved Mason in the mess she was, yet she endangered his life because of her selfish greed to have him and to be loved by him. She was equally responsible for his death because if Xavier was the one who pulled the trigger, then she was the one who brought him in front of Xavier.

"I have always been good to you, Tiara. I have been generous and selfless. But you will not see that side of me anymore." He said huskily, looking at her aghast face who didn't understand what he meant, but she could guess that the meaning behind those words wasn't in her favour.

She shuddered involuntarily, her lips trembled as she struggled to say something, to oppose him, but her mind went numb when he suddenly pressed his lips on her.

She panicked and tried to push him away, but her strength was nothing against him. He kept kissing her roughly with all his might to punish her.

Xavier had always imagined his first kiss with Tiara and not in any imagination had he thought that it would be like this, full of force with no love but betrayal, hatred and punishment.

He didn't like kissing her because the lips he had thought would be sweet as honey had turned out to be sour because of the corruption she had drawn herself into.

He stopped as suddenly an image of her from the other day flashed before his eyes. He remembered her in that skimpy nightgown she was wearing, her body was covered with his marks. A feeling of disgust washed through his soul upon the thought that those lips were touched by another man before him.

He pushed her away abruptly as if her closeness was burning him, his steel-grey eyes turned a shade darker with the blazing rage he felt at that moment.

She let out a faint whimper as his push was forceful on her fragile body that made her back hit the wall behind her. Her wounds ached a little from the impact but she managed to stand on her feet and looked at him.

"How dare you kiss me like that?" Tiara snarled and curled up her fingers in a fist looking at him with a hateful gaze, "You have no right to do that, Xavier!" She brought her dainty hand up to her lips and rubbed them furiously as if trying to remove his filthy touch off of them.

Xavier scoffed at her bold composure. He knew she was absolutely faking it and pretending to be tough, but deep down she was as scared as a dead leaf who feared to fall off the tree, but he didn't feel any sympathy for her because she had brought this upon herself and she must face the consequences of her action.

"Listen to me, Tiara, and listen well-" He paused, giving a menacing halt to his words to make her shudder from inside, "I am Xavier Alejandro Black, the mafia lord, the one who is infamous for his cruel ways and the one you have deceived," His voice was cold, that sent chill of a fear to her every cell and Tiara was suddenly reminded that how people used to refer Xavier as Lucifer, an angel of death.

"And now baby it's time for your punishment." She was scared out of her wits. Her soul trembled as she tried to think about what he had in mind for her. She could feel her breathing quickening and the fact that she couldn't even escape his wrath made her situation worse.

"W-What are you-you g-going to do with m-me?" At that moment Tiara really thought that death could be a mercy and she desperately wanted that for herself, but she was aware that Xavier was not going to show any mercy as he had said already.

"I plan to marry you."