I MARRIED A DEMON BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 4: A Punishment From Dad

JOANNA-ROSE

"Who was the man you brought home last night?" My stepmother asked as soon as I walked down the stairs.

I bit my lips, surprised that she knew about it. Had my moans been too loud, and did my dad know about it? These women might have told my father, and I knew what he was going to do. He might marry me off to the suitors that came for my elder sister Natasha earlier this month.

I had always been a replacement for her, and she took everything for granted. Natasha was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed, and she had a smirk on her face. My stepmom had the same look, and she seemed like she had finally found the thing that would get rid of me.

"Who knew that you were such a slut?" Natasha muttered. "You carried a full-grown man home and had your way with him."

"That never happened," I lied. "You didn't see properly; that wasn't me. I went out yesterday, but I am coming home now."

"Liar!" Natasha chanted. "You brought home a man and did dirty stuff with him. Such a waste."

"Do you have any idea that you should have been a replacement bride for my daughter since no one would ever marry you? There was no way I was getting my daughter married to our sworn enemy because of peace," my stepmom said.

"I am not getting married," I yelled, knowing fully well that if I get married to another person, I am going to die. That demon said it himself. "I have someone else in mind. I have someone else that I want to get married to."

I would rather marry the demon than marry someone else. He looked harmless; he doesn't look like he is going to kill me. I cannot get married to someone I know nothing about, and I can't get married to my father's enemy. That is going to be enough torture for me.

"You mean you want to marry the man from last night?" Natasha asked, a hint of mockery in her voice.

"There was no man from last night," I replied. "I want to pick a husband myself."

"You don't have the right to do that," my stepmom muttered. "You have to take your sister's place."

"They know I am a brunette, but since you are blonde, you will have to cut your hair to my length and dye it," Natasha announced. "You have both pretty eyes and pretty blonde hair."

"No," I argued. "I am not taking your sh*t."

Natasha jumped to her feet and approached me; her steps were slow. I glanced at her hand to see that she held a piece of scissors in her hand as she approached me. My heart skipped a beat. Was she going to cut my hair with the scissors?

"What are you doing with those scissors?" I demanded.

"Cutting your hair, of course," she replied. "I have tried to make my hair as pretty as yours, but it was all in vain. Now that I have the chance to ruin it, why would I let the opportunity slip?"

"It was the same hair that seduced my husband," Mrs. Miller claimed. "Although the maid's own at shoulder length after I chopped it off. It was amazing how your hair grew amazingly fast."

I knew I couldn't let Natasha cut my hair; it was just too cruel. My hair and my eyes were the only things I got from my mother. According to Mrs. Miller's words, there was no way I was going to let my hair be chopped off. I know Natasha too well; she was going to chop off my hair completely so that I would have to wear a wig on the wedding day.

She was just one step away from me when I heard my father clear his throat. I spun around to look at him; he was glaring at me like usual. That same look he gave me always I don't know when I glared back at him. That was the first time I had done that since the day I began to understand the things happening in the world.

I was neglected by him since I was a kid, and he never showed any signs of love for me. I knew now that he was here that he was going to ask Natasha and Stepmom to deal with me first before taking me to my punishment room, where he would punish me himself.

"Spit it out," I snarled before he could speak. "Tell me what my punishment is now."

I don't know where the courage came from, but I could trace it to the bond I had with the demon. I feel like he is watching me, and I have no reason to be scared of my father.

"You brought a man home?" My father questioned me. "You sneaked out of the house and brought a man home?"

I nodded. "Yes, I sneaked out and brought a man home. It's my life; I have every right to do whatever I want."

"You b***h!" Natasha yelled from behind me and kicked on the leg.

I fell to the ground, hitting my face on the floor.

"Such audacity to speak that way," Mrs. Miller muttered.

My father walked up to me and cupped my face in his hand as I tried to sit up.

"You have become such a slut," he slapped me across the cheek and threw a punch on my nose.

The punch literally broke my nose. I raised my hand to my nose and rubbed the spot he hit. I felt nothing, not a single sting of pain. I was used to it. I was used to his abuse and torment. What was my offense? being born and being unwanted when it should be his fault.

"No daughter of mine is going to be a slut," he said, slapping me across the face again.

"I was never your daughter!" I screamed. "You never counted me as your daughter; I was never yours."

"Glad you know, b***h!" Natasha said as she kicked me in the ribs.

Pain shot through my ribs, and I rolled over to hide it from her. She is going to keep on kicking if I give her the chance.

"Of course, you were never wanted; I never planned to give birth to you," Mr. Miller replied. "I hated you from the first day I saw you in front of the door."

I looked away from him, tears threatening to fall. My eyes were getting filled up, but I was blinking rapidly to stop the tears.

"I wanted to strangle you to death, but your b***h of a mother already announced your birth. It was going to be a stain on my reputation if I killed you, so I kept you. Now that I have the opportunity to give you away for so much torture to my enemies, You are going to die anyway."

He grabbed my hand and twisted it. "I wish I could cause you so much pain, but I have to let Natasha do hers first."

As soon as the words rolled out of his lips, Natasha swung into action. She lunged at me with the scissors in her hand. I dove away as fast as I could; she hit the ground with a thud. She could do any other thing to me, but she dared not lay a finger on my hair. She threw the scissors away and attacked me; her mother swung into action, and I could see stepmom gesturing for the three maids to join them.

I knew this was not a fight for me to handle alone, so I bolted in the direction of the door. I had no idea where I was heading, but I knew I needed to get away from them. Someone pulled me by the arm and slammed me against the ground. My shoulder connected to the ground, and I let out a loud groan.

Before I could try to get up, kicks hit me in every corner of my body. They kicked me everywhere so that I couldn't block the attack at all. The kicks were so painful, and Natasha made it her life mission to kick me in the ribs. I cried out in pain, hoping they were going to leave me alone, but they didn't.

"What the hell is happening here?" A familiar voice asked

The kicks stopped, and I slowly opened my eyes to see who it was. Soon, I found the three maids being thrown to the ground, their spines snapping into two. Natasha backed away from me and hid behind my father. I tried to look at my father's face, but I guessed my face was swollen, so I couldn't move my eyes properly.

He bent down and looked at me; it was Lestas. He came. He picked me up in his hand and carried me in bridal style. I held on to his shirt.

"How could you do this to her?" Lestas demanded loudly. "She is your daughter, isn't she?"

"You have no say in this." Mr. Miller said "You are not part of the family."

"She is mine!" Lestas snarled. "I was the man she sneaked into the house, Miller. I wanted to get married to her and not to Natasha."

"You mentioned Natasha," Miller said.

"I said blonde, green eyes, and tiny!" Lestas bellowed. "My brother asked for Natasha, not me. He doesn't want her anymore, and I chose Joanna-Rose. I am not giving a damn about this peace-making s**t. I am taking her, and there's still no peace between us. I am going to make sure I ruin you; mark my words."

I whimpered in Lestas' arms, and he glanced at me. "Are you okay, Tiny Ember?"

I shook my head in negativity. "My whole body hurts; my ribs are on fire."

"You are going to be alright, I promise you that," he whispered as if trying to rock a baby.

"Mr. Miller, if you want peace between us and don't want to face the wrath of the Fenris, you will have to hand over your first daughter to us. not as a wife but as a servant. The decision is yours."

I could hear gasping in the background as soon as Lestas was done talking.

"You have her, don't you?" Mr. Miller asked. "You have one of my daughters."

"She was never yours," Lestas corrected him. "Since she is going to be staying with me until the wedding, which is in two days, you better attend and at the same time give up your first daughter too. I can't think of what I am going to do to her, but I pray she survives it."

I looked up at Lestas to see him looking at me. "Let's go, Tiny Ember."

He walked out through the door with me in his arms. I let out a sigh of relief; finally, I was free from them and all their wickedness, and I couldn't thank Lestas enough.