CHAPTER 1

“Get back here!”

I hid under a table, my hands against my ears. The persistent banging on my bedroom door wouldn’t stop. It continued, and I could not bear it anymore. Splinters of wood flew from the door, landing at my feet as the door broke down. I trembled with fear, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

“What should I do? What should I do?”

Any moment from now, the door would be broken down by that animal, and then I didn’t know what he would do to me.

The banging intensified, causing even my bedroom windows to shatter, its pieces falling to the ground beside me.

I screamed and scrambled away from the glass pieces, not without sustaining little cuts from some of them.

The force of the knocks was so great it affected my window.

“Open this door! Open this door!” he roared.

I buried my head in my hands again, shivering from cold and fear. Should I open the door to face him? After all, he was going to break down the door.

I could see that the hinges of the door were almost loose. I looked around, searching for a weapon to defend myself. I didn’t find anything that could harm anyone to use in my shabby room. My eyes fell on my old blue comb. I knew there was nothing it could do, yet I grabbed it and held it close to my chest.

The door burst open, and in came a “ferocious creature.” He was very tall. His eyes were red with fury. His scary-looking teeth gleamed in the moonlight. He breathed heavily, overwhelmed with anger. His trousers had a tear, probably from when he fell down the stairs trying to chase me. He looked around.

He could not see anyone. I was under the bed, holding my breath and trying not to move or make a sound.

“Thessa kitty. Come out; I won't hurt you,” Bob Hardey, my half-brother, said, trying to make his voice softer.

I watched his leg move around my room. He was searching for me; I knew it. I could hear him scattering my shack of a wardrobe and throwing my clothes and things in different directions.

“I just want to talk to you!!!”

I did not make a sound. I closed my eyes, wishing that he would go away.

I saw his feet move towards the door. It seemed like he was leaving. But he stopped at the door and stood there, not moving.

What is he standing there for?

Sweat trickled down my forehead as I stared at his feet, wishing he would take another step and leave my room.

He placed his feet outside the doorway and closed the door. I heaved a sigh of relief.

But then the door suddenly opened, and the bed I was under was lifted and thrown away, revealing Bob, my brother's dreadful smiling face, looking down at me.

“Surprise!” he shouted, with a crazy expression in his eyes.

I screamed and got up, making for the door. Bob grabbed me by my hair, preventing me from escaping. Then he slammed my body against the wall. Pain resonated over my body as I lay on the floor, helpless and wishing for my death

Four years later

I was at a mall, looking at expensive watches in exquisite show glasses and wondering which one I would purchase.

“Would you like this one, madam? It's part of Rolex’s latest collection! I'm sure whomever you buy it for would love to have it!” the shop owner said.

I smiled and nodded.

“Alright, I'll take this one.”

‘I’m sure Victor would love this gift.”

It was me and my boyfriend, Victor ’s third anniversary. We had been dating for three years now.

I had made sure to leave work early and had ventured into the market, looking for the perfect gift to buy for my beloved boyfriend.

I bought a Rolex watch he had once shown me he liked on his phone and wrapped it in a gift nylon with heart-shaped designs. It took all my savings to purchase it, but Victor was worth it.

I then walked to my house, wondering what gift he had prepared for me this time. Victor had called me earlier, informing me he was on his way to my house and that he would wait till I returned from work. He had not mentioned our anniversary, but I knew he remembered. He would never forget such an important event, right?

I giggled, feeling ecstatic.

Usually, on our anniversaries, I would wake up to a long epistle of heart-warming love messages. Victor would call me, wish me a happy anniversary, and remind me how much he loved and wanted me forever.

But today, when I woke up, I received no love messages. He did not call me to tell me how much he loved me, which worried me. Had he forgotten?

I decided not to worry about it since Victor was trustworthy.

How wrong I was.

I stepped into my house, still thinking about what to wear, when Victor took me out. I walked up the stairs to the corridor where my room and step-sister, Monica, were.

As I walked past Monica's room, I noticed her door was open, and I could hear loud moaning and grunts. They sounded a bit familiar. I wondered what was going on in her room, and I glanced at it.

I was not prepared for what greeted me.

There in my sister's room, on top of my sister, was my boyfriend of three years, Victor . He was cheating on me with my sister!

I immediately entered the room. They were so engrossed with the act that they didn’t notice me come in.

I stood there, watching my sister grip my boyfriend's back tightly as he pounded into her, moaning his name.

My heart broke into a million pieces when I saw the horrible sight.

“Victor !” I screamed, making Victor panic and jump off my half-sister.

“Thessa…I thought your work does not close till….”

What?

“It's not what it looks like,” Victor said, reaching for his clothes and wearing them.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

“Victor ? Are you cheating on me? With my sister?”

Monica scowled as soon as she saw me, glaring at me.

“What the hell are you doing in my room? Who permitted you to be here?!” she shouted.

I looked at her and said nothing.

“Get out of my room, Thessa. As you can see,” said Monica, laying her hands on my boyfriend's shoulder, a smirk plastered on her face, “We have unfinished business.”

I looked at Victor , expecting him to say something, to push Monica's hands off him. But he stood still and let her run her hands around his body.

“Victor , what's happening?”

“I'm sorry, Thessa. Monica and I are together now.”

What? Since when? Victor and Monica?

I stared at Victor , tears falling down my cheeks.

“Victor , tell me it's not true.”

I didn't want to believe it. Victor loved me. He told me that. He whispered it into my ears so lovingly whenever we were together.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Monica shouted again, looking at me with disdain, “ Fucking whore. Do you think you stood a chance with Victor ? Just look at you. You don't deserve him. You are so ugly and useless compared to me. Why won't he choose me over you?! Or you thought he would marry you?” Monica said and cackled loudly.

“Victor ?” I called him again.

“Thessa, I'm sorry. But it's Monica I love now,” Victor said.

What did he mean by that? How could he say he loved Monica now when he still told me last night that he loved me?

Monica laughed again.

“You make me laugh, Thessa. You are worthless, and you will never amount to anything. You will never be as outstanding as me. You were just a mistake born out of a drunken night by your father. A bastard. You will only amount to a whore like your mother and…”

Before I knew it, I moved forward and landed a hot slap on Monica's face.

Monica screamed in pain.

She had a hand on her face as she looked at me with disbelief.

“Did you…Did you just hit me? Thessa! You hit me?!”

She was shocked.

Even I was shocked that I had hit Monica. Something I had never even thought of doing in all the years she had abused me.

Monica stood up from the bed, her face red with anger. She raised her hand.

I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact when my parents, father, and stepmother came running in.

“What's going on here?!” the familiar harsh voice of my father, Aaron Hardey, boomed into my ears.

I looked up, my eyes landing on his face.

Yeah, he had the same expression, alright. The hateful expression he had given me all these years, that of disgust.

“What is it this time? You little worm?” my stepmother added.

“Daddy!” Monica cried, “ Thessa just hit me!”

“What?!” Aaron shouted at me, “You hit Monica?! How dare you?!”

“Daddy, she barged into my room when I was with Victor and started to hit me!” Monica added.

She ran into her mother's arms and started to sob.

Aaron looked at me with anger. He stormed towards me and slapped me across the face. The impact was so heavy I fell to the floor. I held my throbbing cheek as he shouted,

“You pest! How could you lay your hand on my daughter?!”

But I was your daughter, too.

My stepmother looked from Victor to Monica.

“Mother! Victor and I were chilling in my room, you know like we used to. And this witch just barged in and started harassing us!”

My stepmother sneered as she glared at me.

“So what's the big deal there? You should be grateful she considered your boyfriend worthy. ” said my stepmother.

“I even thought this was worth my time,” said Father.

I looked from my father to my stepmother. Seeing as they were not surprised, it was obvious they also knew about this. Just how long had Victor been cheating on me with my sister behind my back?

“I’ve had enough of this child,” My father said, shaking his head, “I took you in, gave you a roof over your head, clothed you, fed you. And this is how you reward me? Pack your things, Thessa, and leave this house this instant.”

I looked at my father. He looked back at me.

So he was kicking me out again?

He had done this several times, and each time, I would fall at his feet, begging for his forgiveness and to let me stay.

They all watched me: my father, stepmother, and stepsister. They knew I would beg my father to let me stay, that I would apologize even when I had done nothing wrong.

But to their surprise, I got up from the ground, wiped the tears off my face, stared straight into my father's eye, and said:

“Alright, I will leave your house.”

My father had a shocked expression, but I did not care.

I left the room, entered, packed my things, and left the house.

As I walked out of the house, I could hear my family members screaming and cursing me.

“You will still return and beg to be let in at the end of the day!”

'You worthless girl can never survive on your own!”

“You are acting proud now, but don't even consider returning!”

I ignored all their words and kept going, tears flowing down my face, but I was determined.

My family had oppressed me for years, showing me hell, and I could not take it anymore. Today was the last straw.

I swung the gates of my father's mansion that night and looked into the street. The cold wind of freedom hit my face. It was dark, and it was hard, yet I stepped out and continued walking, clutching my old bag to my chest.

I had to leave. I had to run.

I walked down the street, away from that horrible place. I had no definite plan in my mind, no strategy or scheme. But I knew where to go. I knew where I should be, With the one person in this wide world who cared about me.