Chapter Twelve

Talia's POV:

This place was a sin. Whosoever owned this club must have a wild imagination. All the furnishings came in dark colors. There were grey drapes here and there separating private booths.

Seminude dancers on the poles, twirling to loud music. Honestly, I feel for those dancers. They shook their bodies in a way that, I thought, would break. To worsen the situation, they wore those thin, right clothes that could rip at any moment.

The men here were so disrespectful, touching and checking them out like they were some shiny commodity that could be bought. That was irritating to my sight.

There wasn't much I could do then to avoid their attention and have a great time. Even though I was barely an adult, I hated it when a supposed grown-up behaves like a pervert.

After the shots, we danced. The two guys who bought us drinks danced with us, but we gradually slipped away from them. 'Sorry, guys, our interests were on some other cuties.' Stella was fast to find a group of college rich kids with an interest in photography, and we mingled with them.

She began a conversation with one of them and seconds later, they were engrossed in whatever they were talking about. I simply smiled.

It was good to see Stella connecting with someone apart from that overrated crush of his. Meanwhile, my bladder felt like it was going to burst anytime soon, so I had to go free myself in the ladies. So, I left them and went to answer nature's call.

On my way back, my vision felt fuzzy. It must be a result of the shots I took, so, I asked the bartender for a glass of water. I drank all the content immediately and felt better once the liquid met my dry throat.

As I was about to leave, my eyes met a pair of piercing green eyes. He was sitting on the other side of the bar, hiding in one of the private booths, away from all the craziness. And he was staring intensively at me. I stared back.

I couldn't help it. He was the most handsome man I'd ever seen. His hair was dark and curled slightly. His face was hard and masculine, each feature perfectly balanced. Straight dark eyebrows over that straight pointed nose and strikingly soft eyes.

A mouth that begged me to kiss them. Red rosebud lips above a well-chiseled jaw. I blushed madly as I observed all those striking attributes of his. He stood and walked to me.

As he rose, I noticed that he was a very tall and well-built man. His broad shoulders showed off his hard work of working out consistently. He was physically fit and towered over me. As he got close to me, it didn't take time for me to realize the only other person that I had seen with the same features.

What was he doing here? Was I in trouble? I felt warm inside all of a sudden. To further confirm my skepticism, he showed off his possessive character. Acting as if the world was his, and, I was an invisible part of that world that he could do whatever with.

Sensing that it was best to stay out of trouble's way, I turned and made my way through the crowd. My hands were trembling, and my heart was pounding in my throat. I needed to leave, so I yanked Stella and made her drive me home.

As we were walking out of the club, I peeked back and saw him again. He was still gawking at me. His gaze had darkened and even at that far point, I felt the heat of danger emanating from where he stood—something that made me shiver.

*****

A few weeks later...

I always knew that my grandmother disliked me, but today she showed that she didn't just dislike me, she hated me so much. She knew very well that I was writing my finals today, actually not just my finals, it was my ticket to freedom.

Something that I have been dreaming of since I could understand words. But, she decided to drop a bomb on me.

It was 6 AM, and I was taking a long bath after cleaning the yard and house for 2 long hours. I always woke up early to handle my chores, but today, I had a different energy. Instead of the usual agony and tears that I worked with, I worked with excitement and happiness.

Since my grandmother had me, her slave girl, she made it a point of duty to be untidy. Recently, she has been having her good-for-nothing friends over. Who would spend hours and hours smoking, littering the place, and chattering about unproductive things? I wonder why she kept that circle of friends.

I was the one who suffered the result of the party as if I had even been part of it. Of course, joining them wasn't even an option. They hated me, and I didn't like their presence either.

"You lazy girl, hurry! We have guests," my grandmother barged into my room without even knocking. Well, she never does. I wouldn't expect her to start doing so overnight.

"Almost done, grandma," I sweetly told her.

"You need to hurry. They are very important people that can't be kept waiting!" she yelled at me.

Gosh, this woman could be humiliating. She could see that I was getting ready for school after the long, straining hours of doing strenuous house chores.

"Grandma, please, I am almost done. Five more minutes," I begged her.

"You're so worthless," she left, slamming the door. It banged so loudly that I thought that the hinges had come off. Well, if it does, I could always fix it. I was the one who put this one after waiting endlessly for her.

I hurried, tossing my schoolbooks and writing materials into my backpack. I hope I don't forget anything important due to being in a rush. And besides, why was she even dressed up? When was the last time I saw her dressed up? She wasn't one to dress up unless when showing off to her so-called rich friends. Now, I was curious. I scrambled out, so I could see her guests.

Quietly with a thumping heart, I walked to meet them and the atmosphere changed. There was something about the man in a black suit seated in our embarrassing living room.

They are powerful and very handsome, I must say. Even my loud grandmother was quiet. I walked into the room, all eyes on me. I sat next to my grandmother. I greeted them. The young man smiled and greeted me, but the other one just nodded, looking around the house with a disgusted look. So rude. We sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Talia, I have something to tell you," my grandmother said to me in a usually mild tone

Okay, something huge was going on here. My grandmother has never spoken to me in a kind manner, not even when I overwork myself and break down just to make her happy. Not even when I came out top of my class. Not even when I saved up from the little jobs I did to get her birthday gifts. Never.

"You got us into this, the best you can do is to deal with it. Besides, this is the first time you are going to prove useful since you were born." She whispered into my eyes.

"Ma'am, you need to inform her quickly," the other young man said, annoyed.

"What's going on here?" I gather the courage to ask when my grandmother stared in silence.

"Can you tell her already? We don't have all day" the arrogant young man said.

"David, relax. Will you?" said the kind young man.

So, his name was David. He was handsome and could pass for a model. What a shame that all that beauty was a waste because he was rude.

"Well, Talia, these gentlemen are here because…" my grandmother went mute again and didn't finish the sentence

I just kept quiet and waited for an explanation of what was happening.

"Mr. Robert has decided to buy this entire slum and build a shopping more with the land. So, everyone living around here has the ultimatum to move out in less than twenty-four hours, or they will be moved. As for you," pointing at me, "he has paid handsomely to own you," David stated.

I was sitting here hoping it was some kind of sick joke. Nothing they said made sense to me. It was simply words that I couldn't understand. What does arrogant asshole mean by, 'paid handsomely to own you?' I pondered in my head.

Noticing my confusion, "Talia, it means that you now belong to Mr. Robert. He bought you from your grandmother." The kind guy explained.

Now, this was a joke. Thank you, grandma, for putting up a clown show in honor of my last day in high school. Scoffing, "how is it even possible for someone to buy another person?" I asked. Turning to my grandmother, "grandma, they are not serious, I hope."

Sneering, "shut your mouth, child. It is exactly what you heard."

I don't have time for this. I was going to be late for school. Abruptly, I stood. What kind of grandmother would sell her grandchild? I know that she hates me, but, to go to this extent? This was simply inhumane.

"I don't belong to anyone. Take that message back to whatever jerk that sent you!" I screamed in anger. "And I am leaving for school," I told grandmother in particular and walked out with the plan to run away and never look back at the back of my mind.

After all, I have been planning to do so for a while. Was just waiting for the perfect opportunity. With this, there was no need of waiting anymore. I can't belong to anyone. Besides, it was only a psychopath that would have such a scheme.

I walked out the gate. But there were men in black carrying big guns. What has my grandmother done? All the neighbors were looking in the direction of our house. I tried to run, but I couldn't outrun the men.

They stopped me as I screamed my lungs out while struggling and thrashing against their hold. I hoped that someone would call the police or be brave enough to help me, but none of that happened.

I do hope that this was an episode in my fantasy world and soon, someone would tap me or, grandma's annoying loud voice would call my name and wake me up back to reality.