Bride Of The Bullet

Chapter One It has been ten years since freedom stopped belonging to me. Exactly ten years since I had wished that the bullet that struck me in the back had killed me once and for all, and did not give me a life ahead with a monster I despised every minute, every second under this roof of Gold. None of my pleas were heard, and I was brought into this house like a trophy. My father, Adrian Blackbell, had killed my parents when I was nine. A beautiful morning in my peaceful house was flooded with blood in the span of 12 minutes as men-in-black barged in and shot everything on sight. My mother saw my father’s head severed from his shoulders and she still dared to crawl with a bullet in her chest and shield me. My mother’s lap was warm and bloody. I couldn’t help but scream and scream until blood oozed out of my mouth. They were both dead right in front of me. Horror filled my veins, but when I looked back, I saw a young boy holding a revolver with shaking hands. His eyes were no less different from my parents. Dead. Beside him was Adrian Blackbell– whispering in the boy’s ears. The last thing I saw was Adrian’s smile, and then I felt excruciating pain in my back, and darkness engulfed everything. When I woke up, Adrian was with me in the hospital, and the world had been informed that he would be adopting me, given that he was sympathetic to the incident at that house. It’s been ten years since I have been waiting to tell the world that he was the monster who killed my family. “I will not let my patience wither. I will destroy him, every bit of him.” I whispered as I looked at myself in the mirror. The only memory I have of my past life was the incident that ended it all. I did not know what was happening to me. The rage inside me was building, but the memories were getting hazier day by day. I set aside the brush and picked up a straightener. Adrian had rules. Many of them actually. The grip he had on me was because of the anklet I picked up from the drawer. I brushed the golden edges with my finger. When I first woke up in the hospital, Adrian looked at me as if I were a scum handed to him. Aside from his disgusted expression, I saw that I had an anklet on my hand, and the grip was so strong, it left a scar. My mother gave it to me right before she was shot with the last bullet. I sighed, kissed the anklet, and put it in the safety of my drawer. “Ma’am, Mr. Blackbell called you to his room an hour ago. I suppose he is getting rather angry about your punctuality.” Alice looked at me through the mirror. I chuckled, “It can’t be helped when he hates to see me without a proper dress and full glam.” She smiled and signaled at the door. I sighed and stood up and made my way towards the murderer. I knew what he was planning. Although he could have done something much worse to me, I am glad he drew the line by selling me off to one of his enemies to soothe the corporate way. “Selling” might be a strong word but I don’t think otherwise. The whispers get to my ears eventually. If he decides to admit me to a prestigious school, I’d know beforehand. If he decides to move places or replace everything I own with something new, I would always know. Adrian wrapped me in luxury right before he did something absolutely horrible to me. We reached his study as Alice pushed open the gigantic wooden door, revealing him standing facing the garden and his back to us. The garden was behind a gigantic floor-to-ceiling window, and as I went inside as the door was shut and locked. I always stood before he told me to sit, and sat before he told me to stand. My entire life was controlled by his words, and every one of my actions had to be beneficial to him. “You are to be wed on the 12th of this month.” His voice grumbled across the shelves and straight at me. Today was the 10th of December. “Buy whatever you need, although everything would be prepared by the wedding manager I hired.” He turned to face me. My eyes never met his but I could always imagine blood dripping off of his face and hands. I nodded. He sat in his chair and focused on the files in front of him. That was his way of dismissal. I left the room as fast as I came in. Alice was in front of me smiling as if I just waged a war. Soon, the hope drowned in her face when she saw that my face hadn’t changed as I came back. “Aren’t joyful to hear the news of your wedding?” She followed me. I sighed. “It’s deportation, Alice.” She cleared her throat. “Do you happen to know who your groom is?” I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes as I turned the corner of the hallway. “Whoever it is, I will be equally unhappy.” She audibly grumbled. The reason for living right now was to expose Adrian Blackbell’s corrupt, unhumane ass to the world and destroy every bit of the legacy he created of himself. After that, I have no idea what will happen to me. I don’t care to know. I have started gathering data’s about him since I was 14 years old and everything I have found isn’t strong enough to bring him down fully. I need evidence of that night in my house. I need witnesses. The scar in my back isn’t enough. Alice opened the door to my bedroom. I stepped in and plopped myself on the couch. “I figured you were unhappy and depressed living in the same quarters as your father so maybe marriage would bring you joy.” She looked down. “Perhaps I was wrong.” Alice was could be my grandmother in age. Ever since I came in this house, she had been my butler and being a former military lieutenant, she went over her ways to make me happy. I smiled sadly and sat straight up. “Fine, tell me, who is the prince charming I am to marry?” Her face lit up like a candle in a dark room. “Well, it is Zohan Salvatore.The grandson of Ilian Salvatore.” My smile faded away as fear crawled my veins like poison. Alice continued. “The corporate wars would finally come to an end through this marriage. You are a medium of peace, young lady.” I felt cold. Suddenly, this marriage weighed heavy on my mind. It wasn’t the name that terrified me. It was the man behind it. Zohan Salvatore was the arrogant golden heir, every headline drooled over. A billionaire who carried power like a weapon and beauty like a curse. The few times our paths crossed, he touched me with his eyes.. He looked at me like he wanted every forbidden piece of me, like he could shatter me with his desire alone. Yet the second he opened his mouth, all that attention turned to disdain. He was the kind of man who could ruin a girl without ever laying a hand on her. And now, Adrian was sacrificing me to him. No wonder my blood turned to ice.