"You are going to marry Joffrey next month, Devon. The families have already talked and planned the wedding months ago. Why the sudden disagreement, dear? You said yes a week ago."
Devon just looked sadly at her snow-paled mother from her pink bed and shook her head in defiance. She agreed then because her father forced and threatened her that he would kill her best friend but now that Ariane is dead, there's no enough reason for her to blindly follow them.
"Mom, you exactly know why. I had no choice. Dad squeezed the hell out of me. He would kill Ariane!"
Melena sighed and sat next to her and stroked her long black hair which Devon got from her side.
"Marriage is not so much a bad thing, daughter. I married your father when I was 23, the same age as you now. Joffrey is a lovely man for you and he likes you during the family gathering. I saw the spark in his eyes. He will take care of you."
She can't help but feel her bones tingling in disgust upon remembering the lust she read in his eyes that night as if he would automatically feast on her the moment they will be alone together.
"You forgot that he begged father for my hand just because of my face. Dad loves you truly but we all know Joffrey is a cruel man. He's notorious for physically hurting his girlfriends. Mom, do you really want me to be wed to a man like that just because of a brewing alliance?"
Melena stood up, her patience slowly eroding.
"I would gladly hand you to him and to anyone than be caught up with a man like Daemon. This conversation is over, Devon. If you want to still enjoy the favors of your father, then be a good child and obey him. Marry Joffrey. I won't tolerate any objection."
Melena walked out of the door and left Devon in a state of panic. Pulling herself together, she thought of any way, anything that she could do to get out of the situation.
She lied on the bed, took out her phone from the pocket of her jeans and call Elise, the only remaining one who can help her now. After talking with her friend, she began packing a small bag filled with some clothes and cash to last her a month. She's sure her family will scour the whole state looking for her the minute she's gone so she should be somewhere preferably on the other side of the planet by then.
Going against the wishes of her father, the leader of one of the surviving mafia groups in the country, will get her punished. Gestoni Farrows knows no family and blood. He will raise that gun even to his youngest child and only daughter.
"Mom said she would willingly give me to Joffrey and anyone other than Daemon. Well, I say I don't like both of them. I will marry no one."
Daemon is the leader of the rival of his father's group, the one her father wanted to take down so badly. Several emissaries from both of the groups went to and fro to offer peace talks to stop the ongoing war between the two but none was ever successful.
Some suggested her to be wed to Daemon to which her parents resolutely contested. As a consequence, the wedding with Joffrey was rushed as if Daemon would really think about marrying her.
Everybody in the district knows that he is in a love and hate relationship with Maddy, a senator's whore. Rumors has it Daemon assumed the position because of her.
She didn't go out to the dining hall for the dinner that night. A maid brought her food to her room but she didn't eat anything. She's busy plotting a way to escape.
"I cannot let myself be this way forever. There is a way. There must be a way for me," she said to herself and rose to see the moon deep into the night.
Growing up in a family full of boys, Devon has to be the yes woman in the house together with her mother who can't seem to say no to his husband. Her life revolved around pleasing everyone especially her father who only eyed her as a human being that will strengthen the stronghold of the mafia group to the 16th district by marrying her off to Joffrey, her father's one devoted friend and the number enemy of Damon Druft, the cold and cunning leader of the Magista group.
"If only I am a little bit stronger. If only I am more powerful than I am now then I will not definitely be forced to marry. If only I..." She stopped when an idea hit her.
"Wait a minute." She ran back into the bed and got the yellowish piece of paper inside her favorite pink pillow. She read the embossed number on the paper and bit her lips.
"This could be my last resort, my last chance. I don't care if this is betrayal to my own family. They have already betrayed me the moment they ignore what I really want to do in my life."
With the paper in her pocket, she went out of her room and quietly slipped out of their house amidst the darkness of the night. She carefully repeated in her head the images of the blueprint of the house so as to prevent herself from getting caught. When she is on the road, she breathed hard and put on the hoodie to cover her head and face. Afterwards, she hailed a taxi and asked the driver to drop her on the address written on the paper. The man recognized the place and glanced at her.
"Miss, do you really want to go to this place? You know there are many women and children disappearing in these places. I could bring you back to your home," the man said in his most concerned voice.
Devon shook her head hard. "I know that many women are disappearing here but I also know that that place could be the most secured place for them. Bring me to the Alley 56. I need to meet someone there."
The taxi driver just nodded and drove away. Devon is afraid by the way she curled her hands on her lap but she shove it back to her head. She will not waste time entertaining thoughts like that. She will try this opportunity and wish herself luck.
After paying for her fare, she hurriedly run to the gate of the lone building in the entire Alley 56, a flourishing commercial building by the day and a black market at night.
A big man with a beard stopped her from going inside. He blocked her and pushed her aside. "Hey, little children are not allowed inside. Go home, kid."
"I'm not a kid. I'm an adult and I need to enter. I need to meet someone inside. Let me."
The man chuckled and scratched his head. "Ah, another one of those teenage girls who wants to date with her boyfriend inside. Listen gal, this is not a place for you. Go tell your boyfriend to meet you in a park!"
"I told you I'm not kidding. Let me inside. I need to see someone."
"And who will it be? Daemon?"
"Yes!" she blurted it. "I need to see him. I need to talk to Damon."
He laughed. "Our boss doesn't just talk to anybody. Go home."
"I am not just anybody." She removed her ring and gave it to the man. He inspected it and when he saw the eagle insignia carved on the ring, he looked as shocked as ever.
I took off my hood and looked at him intently. "I'm here to see Daemon Druft. Tell him that the daughter of Gestoni Farrows wishes to see him now."