Stripe 1

(Rachael's POV)

I stood looking through the window as I thought of what my days would be in this place. All I had done was wake up, eat, stare at my ceiling and sleep again. The boredom was getting serious, and it was slowly leading to depression because I still felt distressed over everything that happened to me.

I was still healing and no matter how many years it has been, I could still feel it like it was just yesterday.

"Master wants to see you," someone said behind me, and I didn't bother to turn around.

"Tell him I'm not coming," I replied flatly, not surprised by her uninvited presence in my room.

I could tell she wanted to say more, I could feel it in her slight movement behind me, but she instead walked out without murmuring a word and instead of getting worried by that, I used the opportunity to think about how to really leave here without getting caught.

I've spent my nights thinking about it carefully because I had insomnia and no matter how I tried it still won't go away, and this place wasn't helping. It only reminded me of terror.

I watched the sky silently, seeing how the sky slowly turned darker and how the moon shone even brighter. I sighed because I knew it was 8:00 and the perfect time to escape from this place.

Grabbing my veil, I wrapped it around my face and hurriedly walked out, rushing through the hallway, but I heard footsteps and quickly rushed to a corner to hide. I peeked and saw a few men walking while conversing.

"What's going on?" I heard a manly voice that was both deep and gentle. I wondered how someone could have both qualities, and so I turned just to find a man dressed in a suit. His whole presence was captivating, especially with his mesmerizing eyes and smooth skin. What caught me off guard was how good-looking he was.

What was he doing here? And did he work for that man?

"What's going on?" He repeated, and I snapped out of my thoughts, remembering I needed to hide from those gangsters.

"Please, help me," I rushed behind him quickly.

He looked at me with a frown and stood rigid on the spot, forcing me to look around for a better hiding spot. I spotted another corner, but it was a bit small to hide, so I hoped the stranger would hide me from them. He gave me a knowing look, then signalled for me to go over there and hide.

He locked eyes with me, reassuring me with his eyes as he passed me a small smile, or was it a smirk?

Upon seeing this gesture, I gladly went over to the place and hid.

"Is something wrong, sir?" I heard one of them ask him.

"No, why? Is there something wrong?" He returned the question and they shook their heads.

"Nothing, though I thought I saw someone here just now, or did you come with someone?" Another asked hesitantly.

"Are you looking for someone?" He asked straightforwardly which made me confused, and I decided to take a look and our eyes met and something flickered in his eyes before he acted as if he saw nothing.

"Have you seen someone?" They asked, straightforwardly as well.

"I guess," he replied, and I gasped.

He pointed at the place I was hiding before they could ask him.

Fuck! It was a trap all along.

They immediately walked over to me. "he…hey," I said, laughing nervously.

"The master has been looking for you," one among them said. I was about to ask him to go tell that master of his to go to hell when he said something unexpected.

"He said we should end your miserable life if you still insist." He added, forcing me to move from my hiding spot and followed him as they walked downstairs.

We got to the living room and I could see him sitting at a distance comfortably with his legs crossed.

"Here is her, boss," the man informed him, and he gave them a signal to go. The man nodded and walked away with his crew, leaving me alone with him.

I stood in absolute silence with his eyes that were stuck on me, making me uncomfortable, yet he said nothing and just kept staring.

"Why did you disobey my orders?" He asked in a cold tone.

I remained silent, not having the guts to reply because I could sense the air of danger around me and I knew any slight mistake I made would enrage him even more, and I'd end up like my father as he once promised.

"I believe I asked a question," he said with a harsh tone. I flinched and lowered my head in fear.

"I… I… I'm sorry," I stuttered.

"That's not the answer to my question," he drawled.

I gulped and nodded. "I… I was…"

"You what?" He urged impatiently.

"I… I was scared and I felt... I'm sorry," I found it hard to lie with his hot, scorching gaze on me.

He tilted his head to one side and narrowed his gaze. I was shocked when he stood up spontaneously and grasped my hand as he pulled me with him. I got to his room and pushed me inside before slamming the door.

My eyes widened when he locked the door shortly.

"W… What are you doing?"

"I asked you a question earlier, and you still haven't given me a proper reply."

I looked around for help as I tried to think of what to say.

"What should I do with you?" He asked more to himself.

"You said?" I asked with a creased face. He looked at me for a while and I could clearly see the rage in his eyes. He was definitely angry with me and I wondered why disobeying his order meant a lot to him, but I guess I was about to know.

"Stripe," I heard him say, and I quickly lifted my gaze to look at him.

"You… You said?"

"I said stripe and don't make me repeat myself," he ordered this time with a stern voice. My eyes bulged, finding it hard to believe what I was hearing.