It's Victoria

CHAPTER 3

In the Valencia family dining room, a grand table was set for dinner.

Behind The Valencia's grand seat, there was a portrait of the whole family who lived inside The Valencia's estate. The first woman I noticed was the so-called queen inside the Villa sitting on a queen's chair.

Mersedez Maraiah Valencia, the matriarch of the Valencia Family, wearing the golden crown, passed by my ancient ancestors. Holding her title as the queen of the household,

Her silver-streaked hair, a testament to the passage of time and wisdom she held through years of ruling the clan.

Honestly, our family doesn't have dinner together, except when there's a family meeting involved. I only wore the simple green fitted dress I designed for myself. I applied some make-up and let my hair loose.

The room was filled with silence as everyone sat at the central table in the central mansion.

Everyone started eating but no one dared to talk. Not until grandma will.

"It's been a month." I heard Lola Mercedez swallow hard while slicing her piece of stake. "The family is not well."

Everyone ate in silence, not even a bit of the utensils sound. My brothers were sitting right beside me. Saxon was on my left, and Venorem was on my right.

I ate there silently like everybody, afraid to break the silence.

"Victoria, care to explain to everyone what you did?" I was stunned by what Lola Mercedez said. I even stopped chewing my food. The atmosphere was now heavy because she was now mad and her eyebrows also raised up slowly.

I immediately bowed in shame. What should I say? Will they believe that I am just talking to a stupid, arrogant man? But before I could talk, Venorem started talking.

"Everything was misunderstood." He calmly said, and continued eating. I bit my lower lip because of fear. I touched Venorem secretly on his lower elbow to stop him, but he just nodded and looked at me, saying in his eyes that it was okay.

"Tell me exactly what happened, V" She strictly said again.

"Yes, that was me. What happened was we were just talking." I dared to speak and everyone stood silent as my cousin's eyes turned to me. "And then I got to my hotel, alone."

"You just gave me a great idea." She stopped for a bit. "The royals were rich, and so were we. Would it be perfect if you would marry him?"

"What? No!" Kristoff and Venorem said at the same time before I could even react.

It was like I was roped to my chair and I couldn't move. Marry? At this age, Fvcking nineteen?

"Lola, she's only nineteen!" It was Matt, sitting in the opposite direction as mine. He was my 20-year-old cousin, older brother of Margarett.

"You cannot do that!" Sammuel even reacted.

"Oh, I think that was illegal," Beatrice jokingly said. Really? Does she still have the right to joke in this kind of conversation?

"B, shut up." Kristoff angrily told his sister to stop.

It hurts. But you know what hurts me the most? Saxon, mom and dad didn't even try to say no. They were just there unbothered and eating silently. I haven't had the chance to talk.

"My decision is final," Lola Mercedez said in an angry tone, making everyone silent.

"Without my approval? Really?" Everyone looked at me as my eyes started to swell up. I probably can't go to school tomorrow because of this situation.

"Who needs your approval?" She shouted.

And it hurts me a lot of being stubborn, but tell me! Who wants to be married at 19?

"I don't want to get married!" I stood up, finally found the urge to shout back. Everyone was stunned, and I could feel all eyes were on me. I don't want to care anymore. No.

"V, stop." Venorem tried to stop me by holding my hands and sighed in frustration. I'm sorry Ven, but I just can't

"Then go leave!" She now sounded calm, maybe also stunned and shocked at what I said. The tension in the room thickened, realizing I was the only one who dared to talk back at her. Yes, she can control the family, but not this. I don't want it.

"You can't do that." My voice cracked, and my hands trembled in anger. An anger that came and filled my heart with hatred towards my whole family.

"The door's open, Victoria," Lola said, and then continued eating like nothing had happened.

I couldn't say anything more and just left, leaving my father, scratching and sighing in frustration.

I ran to my house and got into my Lambo, and started driving as fast as I could, out of the estate. The pedal sinks to the floor of the car as I angrily step my heels on it, not afraid of anything that will happen. fck this family.

The weight of this burden was suffocating me, crushing my whole sense of being a normal girl. I just want to live normally for once. Why does everything seem to be impossible? How do I find the strength to carry on when the path ahead of me was shrouded in darkness?

I continued driving as fast as I could, but only to find another car speeding up behind me. The moment I saw in the mirror that it was a black Ferrari F40, I already knew that it was Matt.

I opened my window as they were leveling at me and saw Kristoff, holding the lower roof of the car with his hair flying.

"Fcking slowdown, V" Kristoff shouted. Matt was driving the car while Marga, B, and Sammantha were in the back seat.

"Go home!" I shouted back as I looked at the road back again. Why are they here?

"V! You're fcking cool!" B shouted from the back window.

"Slow down!"