Chapter 25 Freedom?
The next day Kate slept in late because of the exhaustion from the previous night and as usual, she woke up alone. She could still smell his arousal on her body and so she headed for a quick shower before grabbing breakfast.
Kate maintained a stoic expression as she chewed on her food mechanically, while thinking about the events that happened last night.
He spanked me like a child.
He made me beg for release.
She could feel anger bubbling inside her but she didn’t know which made her angrier – The way her body longed for his touch or the way he manhandled her.
Her eyes absently landed on the painting that he bought for her during the auction. She could feel tears burning the back of her eyes because somewhere a voice inside her whispered like a ghost ‘you will never be free like those birds’. Swallowing the lump of sadness along with her food, Kate let salty tears decorate her face. All she had done in the past few years in silence was crying and for some reason, it gave her a bit of relief.
“Wonder what he is up to today” She sighed as she washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror before gathering her books for studying.
‘Hey....how is my Rapunzel feeling in her tower today?’ Kate’s phone buzzed with a message. She had managed to put her old sim card into a new one because Quisito broke hers last night.
She looked closer at the message alert and immediately a smile touched her face because it was from Emily. Emily was her only long-distance friend with whom she shared a bond on the basis them being in the same grade. They also helped each other in studies. Kate could still remember the first day they met. She was surrounded by body guards when she went to college to get admission and every one gaped at her like she was an alien, except for Emily. Despite the intimidating presence and body checkup of her bodyguards, Emily was thrilled to befriend Kate. But unfortunately, due to security issues, Kate was forced to take classes from home but their friendship lasted. Emily was well aware of Kate’s isolated life and always found ways to cheer her up.
Kate laid on the bed on her stomach and raised herself on her elbows before replying ‘I’m doing fine...how is everyone at the class by the way?’ She hit the sent button but her chin wobbled at the thought of what she really had to say.
I’m being blackmailed by my father’s friend and he took my virginity. I don’t even know what freedom is; Trapped inside all these walls...sometimes I feel nothing but numbness. I’m not alone but I feel lonely. I don’t remember doing anything terrible enough to suffer such a fate. If you can...if someone can...then please help me...
‘We are leaving for class trip in 2 days’ Emily replied, jerking Kate out of her inner dilemma.
‘Where to?’ Kate typed back with an ache in her chest because it was an irrelevant question, given her tragic situation.
‘We are visiting a lake house in Australia and have plans for camping in the mountains. At this time of the month, we might have sighting of falling stars.’
Tears welled up in Kate’s eyes when she read the message because that was the last straw. It was because she knew that no one in this world was more interested in stargazing than her. Her mansion was stagnant and the only thing that changed was the sky. Even though she had access to a huge part of the sky, she had always wanted to observe the stars from a different location.
Suppressing her agony, she replied ‘Cool...I hope you guys have fun...’.
Emily must have sensed Kate’s pain because immediately, she changed the subject. ‘Kate...check this one out. It’s made of sapphire just like you love. It’s on display at a shop about five minutes away from your residence. I think you should definitely go’
Kate’s eyes instantly brightened up when she zoomed in on the screenshot attached – A rose flower finished in sharp edge cut sapphire. Crafts with diamond was another one of her obsessions, but she only enjoyed watching them from a distance, rather than buying.
‘Thanks...I’ll try to go’ she hit the send button. Keeping her phone aside, she turned to lay on her back and stared at the ceiling, lost in the thought of how to get to the jewelry shop.
May be....I can ask Quisito to take me.
What more can I possibly lose...?
Kate got up from her bed and went to search for him in his room but he wasn’t there. She asked one of the maids about his whereabouts and was told that he was in the garden. Without wasting a second, Kate ran down the stairs to meet Quisito, who was talking to someone over the phone, his back turned to her.
“I need to ask you something.” she said and he immediately turned around to face her.
“Not now” he mouthed waving his hand and went back to talking on the phone.
“But I need to ask this now” she shouted stubbornly, making him glare back at her.
What part of ‘not now’ did she not understand?
“We’ll talk later now leave” he warned in a serious tone but she was not going to back down easily. She was hell-bent on making his life way more miserable than her life, which he had messed up.
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me” she stood her ground, arms crossed in front of her chest, her eyes shooting daggers at him.
Quisito’s jaw flexed when he looked at her determined face.
“I’ll call you back” he spoke into the phone. When he cut the call and walked over to Kate with long strides, all the courage she managed to muster up a few moments ago disappeared into thin air.
“What do you want?” he rasped while folding up his sleeve up to the elbow, revealing his veiny arms. This act of his almost made Kate forget everything she rushed down there to ask him but she forced her eyes back to his face and wet her lips before answering
“I want you to take me to the diamond display across the road. They have this crystal craft that I love to –”
“I’m taking you nowhere” he curtly denied, even before she could finish her sentence, making her anger brew.
“Why can’t you take me?...you got...what you wanted right? You blackmailed me and even took my virginity...and all I’m asking for is to see a display...” her voice was merely a whisper towards the end, sadness clogging up her throat. She had very less control over her emotions because it only takes her less than ten seconds to go from being angry to a crying mess.
“I won’t take you there because I can’t afford to have you pull some stunt and burn that business to ground”
Kate’s jaw dropped at his justification because even though she had done crazy things in the past, this time she genuinely wanted to see the exhibition.
“I promise...I won’t pull a stunt. I really want to see the sapphire...it’s beautiful...” she tried to sound honest.
“If you can walk to the store on your own, without the protection from me or my men then you can go. Because I’m not risking any lives for your imbecility”
“I’m just asking you to.....wait...YOU ARE LETTING ME GO?!” her eyes lit up like that of a butterfly’s that just escaped the clutches of a spider web.
“WITH OUT PROTECTION” he added, stressing on each syllable because he thought she hadn’t heard him clearly. But that wasn’t the truth; she was not actually concerned about her security.