The Billionaire's Enslaved

Forcefully Taken

Melissa took a deep breath as they stood in front of the gigantic gate. It was the evening of that day and she was standing with her mother at the huge metallic gate of the Gomez courtyard that stood high and formidable.

On it were Gothic lettering that read: THE GOMEZ, and for a moment, Melissa could only stare in awe. The walls were high and mighty too, shielding the compound perfectly, so much that it was impossible to see what was going on at the other end. It felt like the Gomez family were in a world of their own.

"I guess this is it!" She let out a sigh, raking her fingers through her thick ginger curls. She had tried holding them up in a big bun but had decided against it last hour after so many fruitless attempt to have a smooth bun.

Melissa glanced at her mother when she got no reply. Lucy had been very quiet all through their walk there and Melissa wondered if she wanted to keep the silent treatment up.

She had spent most of the afternoon trying to convince her but Lucy had wanted nothing but for her to leave town for Aunt Myra's place. However, Melissa was done staying there. She couldn't imagine living there anymore. Aunt Myra had been nothing but awful; sometimes, she wondered if the nasty woman was really her mother's biological sister.

Melissa had spent so many years enduring the ill treatment but she was done doing that. Besides, she wanted to live in Cheshire with her mother. It had been years already. It was true Aunt Myra was way richer and they were poor but she was determined to do everything in her power to help her mother pay this debt.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Lucy asked, her hazel eyes scanning the environment. There was fear in her eyes and Melissa wondered why she was so scared of the Gomez family. Her mother had never been one to chicken out without making an attempt but here she was, shaking all over. Had she changed over the years? If yes, then why?

"It's gonna work, mom. I've got this covered. All you have to do is stay by my side. No one in his right senses will refuse to listen to us." Melissa stressed for the umpteenth time that day.

"Well, I don't think Jordan Gomez is in his right senses." Lucy mused.

"Who's this Jordan Gomez for crying out loud? I thought you said you owe his father some money not him? He actually has no business with us so you don't have to worry." Melissa sighed, grabbing her mother's arm and pulling her to one of the guards that stood by the gate. After explaining their reason for coming, they were finally let in, but with another guard ordered to escort them in.

As they walked through the open gate, Melissa marvelled at the vast sparse of land the Gomez family owned. It was about two acres and there were about twenty people walking up and down, doing one thing or the other. It felt like a whole different world and Melissa was amazed.

The courtyard was like a community of its own and there were three mansions at strategic places in the huge compound but the one at the middle stood apart. It was the tallest and biggest and it stood high and lofty. Above all, it was ravishing beautiful.

By the side of the compound was a big garage with about five vehicle parked.

Melissa's mouth fell open as she gaped at the beauty before her. It felt like she was in some kind of castle and when she saw a little girl run past with another child running after her, Melissa wished she could be little once again, free to run around with the least care in the world. No one told her growing up came with so much responsibilities.

With a heavy sigh, Melissa tore her eyes away from the children, concentrating instead on the guard walking ahead of them. He was taking them to the big building.

As they walked, Melissa found herself rehearsing all that she had planned to say:

We need more time. We promise to pay as quickly as possible. Just grant us more time.

Would this work? She wondered. She had heard about the Gomez family and how they were the richest in Cheshire. They owned the largest farm in Cheshire and so many companies, ranging from their wine company to a bread factory from the grapes, oats and wheat they cultivated.

They also owned a big livestock farm filled with cattle and fowls, and she heard they owned an orchard. It was almost like they planted everything and they were filthy rich.

Would the man of the house listen to her pleas?

"If you are gonna do nothing but sigh, then we should leave." Her mother piped and Melissa smiled, letting out a deep breath to calm her raging heart.

"I don't think I can ever get enough of this place. I'm awed everytime I enter here." Melissa heard her mother say and she chuckled, pulling the black strands of her mother's hair behind her ears. Her mother had barely aged and Melissa was glad for that.

"So now you're glad we came, right?" She teased and Lucy stroke her slightly by the arm with a small smile of her own.

"Wait here!" The guard interrupted their mother to daughter moment and Melissa nodded, watching the guard walk to a man who stood by the door of the big mansion, dressed in a suit. Melissa watched as he spoke with the man and with a nod, the man disappeared into the building while the guard walked back to them.

"You'll be attended to shortly. Just wait here." He informed, before retracing his steps back to the gate.

"Are you nervous, mom?" Melissa found herself asking, as she turned to her mother.

But Lucy chuckled.

"I'm too engrossed with the beauty of this place to be nervous. It's just like a palace." She commented, her eyes on the three maids who were walking into the opossite building, dressed in black dresses, a white apron, and a hairband of some sort. There were also four men offloading ripe grapes from the truck into a wide basket.

Melissa was sure they were taking them to the company to make more wine. So many activities!

"More like a castle." She said after a while. "It feels like — " She was about saying but her words froze in her mouth when she sighted three men walking out of the tall building.

They were all dressed in black and Melissa's heart began to pound in her chest when she recognised the man leading the way. It was the older man of that morning, the one who had pushed her mother to the ground.

He was looking even scarier with his camo and black body hug that clung to his body like a second skin, aligning every single muscle. He had a big frown on his face as he approached them.

Melissa glanced at her mother, immediately gripping her hand tightly when she noticed the fear in her face.

The atmosphere had changed, Melissa could feel it. People who had been chatting and laughing happily had now become very serious, quietly offloading the harvested grapes into a basket with no iota of smile on their faces.

Melissa found herself wondering if this was the Jordan Gomez her mother had so spoken about. It was clear he was greatly feared by everyone. Melissa could see it in their faces. She had thought it was the younger man from yesterday but seeing the older one walking to them, Melissa was sure he was Jordan.

The man finally stopped some feet away from them, the two men he had come with standing aloof by his side.

"Are you here with the money?" The man folded his arms, his biceps bulging out of the thin fabric of his shirt. His deep frown never left his face and his gray eyes were hard and blank.

Now that he was standing close to them, Melissa could see his features better. His eyes were a shade of gray with a hue of smokey blue and he was heavily bearded, so much that his lips were hardly seen.

"Well, about that. . ." Melissa cleared her throat. "We don't have it now but I promise — "

"Take the girl!" The man cut her off, ordering the men standing behind him.

"What? Which girl?" Melissa was confused. It sure couldn't be her he was talking about.

However, Melissa didn't have to rack her brain too much for the girl he was talking about because the men were already by her side and they wasted no time in grabbing her by both arms.

"Remember your promise. She's ours for now." The bearded man told Lucy and Melissa's felt her head expand at that statement. What?

"What promise? What - - what are you doing?" She struggled to speak. "What - - do you mean by I'm yours? I just asked for more time to pay the money. We'll pay you!" She yelled, pulling both of her arms from the tight grip of the men.

"Please, let her go." Lucy pleaded sadly but the stern looking man remained rigid. Instead, he scowled at the men and immediately, they held Melissa once again.

"Let me go!" Melissa screamed. "We will pay you what we owe. You have no right to take me anywhere. Are you out of your mind?" She kept screaming as they began pulling her away.

"Please. . . Please. . . Isn't there another way?" Her mother was now on her knees but the bearded man only said a few words to her mother before walking ahead of the men who held her; Melissa wondered what he had said.

"Mom!" She yelled, fighting with all her might as she was pulled away to God knows where. "What's going on?"

"Melissa!" Lucy had her arm outstretched as she watched her daughter being dragged away. Tears were now rolling down her cheeks as she stared at her daughter helplessly being carried away. Was this the right thing to do? Was there really no way she could get out of this mess without involving her daughter?

"I'm sorry, Melissa." She muttered, wiping the tears that had now filled her eyes. "Forgive me."

With that, Lucy retraced her steps out of the large compound. There was nothing she could do anyway.

"You crazy fool!" Melissa spat, kicking her legs in the air as she was carried away."

You're just an asshole, Jordan Gomez! You think you have the world at your feet? You should really shave your beards cus you look so ugly like some monkey. Do you hear me?" She blabbed but the bearded man kept walking without a glance back. It made Melissa look like a fool and slowly, realisation dawned on her: she was being separated from her mom even before she got the chance to spend time with her.

This realisation brought tears to her eyes and before she could stop herself, she was sobbing.

"Please, don't do this. We will pay back what we owe." She tried to appeal to the man she believed to be Jordan. "If we don't, then you can do whatever you wanna do. But please, give us one more chance, huh?"

It felt like her words were falling on deaf ears as the men kept walking like they couldn't hear her. Melissa felt helpless. She lifted her eyes to the sky, wishing for all this to be a dream.

But instead of seeing the sky, her eyes caught the image of a man standing at the top verandah of the second floor of the tall building. His arms were folded behind his back and he was looking directly at her with a subtle smile on his face.

Though the rays of the sun made her squint her eyes, Melissa could tell who it was that was smiling down at her. It was the younger man from yesterday who never got down from his horse and he had the same sick smile on his face.