Chapter 28

Valerie;

It was my first day at work and I was so elated that I couldn't wait to share the good news with my father.

It was nighttime by the time I got home and as I stepped on our porch, a confused expression marred my face.

The lights were all out...which was strange because Dad was supposed to be at home.

I pushed open the door, which was left quite ajar, quickly switching on the lights. He wasn't in the living room so I guessed he might be in his room. But my father was never careless enough to leave the door unlocked. We had a habit of locking the door from the inside, and any one of us who returned earlier would have to use his/her spare key to unlock it from the outside.

"Dad?" I called out, heading in the direction of his room.

Did he sleep off and forget to lock the doors? I wondered.

Getting to his room, I noticed the lights were also out. Strange as well. He always slept with the lights on.

I got the shock of my life that very moment when I pushed open his door and found my Dad lay, sprawled on the bare floor, unconscious.

I was confused and shocked, as I shook him repeatedly, hoping and wishing he had just fallen asleep on the floor and forgot to climb up to his bed. I was so scared I didn't know when I began to scream.

The neighbors rushed in. The paramedics were called as soon as possible and I watched as my Dad was wheeled into the back of the ambulance.

That night I thought I had lost my father forever. Worse, was when the doctors affirmed that he had taken a large dosage of chlorpheniramine, which led him to a cardiac arrest.

A suicide attempt. That was undeniable.

The doctor's words sent a wave of shock to my body. His hope of survival was little to none.

And I thought I'd lost him.

*****

My eyelids opened slightly, the smell of disinfectant and drugs filling my nostrils. I lay on my side for a moment, my mind filled with thoughts and fragments of memories of my father.

He had his lapses. He wasn't in a good place these past few years, but he didn't deserve to die.

All I could think about was how strong he once was...he tried so hard...so hard to be a father and a mother to me when my mother left.

She was his fated mate and I guessed there was only an amount of pain a mate could take.

Till date, I still couldn't understand the reason why she left, without a single word.

Everything spiraled out of control barely a few weeks after the suicide saga.

There was hardly anything I could do for him. I was barely in my teens when it happened...

I felt tears run down my cheeks as I thought of his last moment. How it must have been for him.

What he was thinking….if he had hoped for a chance to live...

Surely, Lorenzo must have tortured him beyond human sympathy. He did a pretty good job living up to his reputation.

I didn't trust he would have spared him even after I signed the fucking contract.

Besides, he had done pretty bad damage on him right from the first day I was dragged to his lair, all tied up.

The sadistic beast.

I sat up abruptly in the bed, noticing an intravenous line connected to my hand, attached to a drip stand beside me.

I grabbed a hold of it, forcefully pulling it out of my hand.

I heard the door open at that moment and 'He' stepped in. He was in the same black outfit he was putting on earlier, making him look like the beast he was.

His eyes were fixed on me, regarding me with a stern gaze.

"What are you doing?" He asked, coming closer.

Ignoring him, I stood from the bed, hoping to make my way past him. But the moment my feet touched the floor, I felt my head spin and my eyes went blurry.

My heart rate increased, and I felt like I was floating on nothingness.

After what seemed like a second, my eyes adjusted to the environment. Blinking them open, Lorenzo's face came into view, his eyes boring into mine, in what I could have mistaken as concern.

"Are you Okay?" He asked, his muscles arms holding me tight against him in place.

I pulled away instantly, but his hands held me back , "Valerie! You don't seem fine" You should lay back down."

The fact that he gets to impose every fucking little thing in my life still left me baffled. Even after the gruesome things I had faced while in his vicinity, he always finds a way to make things worse.

I didn't respond, and I pulled away from him again. I barely managed to, this time. Making my way to the door, he held my hand, until he was standing in front of me.

"Val...talk to me. Are you Okay. I need to know..."

"You don't get to ask me that," I said, as calmly as i could muster, "You have done way worse than I'd ever imagined, so please, get out of my way."

His brows creased as he stared at me, "You have every right to be mad at me. I..."

I snatched my hands from him, cutting him off mid sentence. I wasn't in the mood to listen to whatever it was he has to say, and I pushed open the door, and stepped out the room.

I made my way out of the clinic and I walked straight into the mansion. The house was empty and quiet, even the maids were nowhere to be found.

My legs moved toward the kitchen which was also empty and I felt my stomach growl at the aroma of freshly cooked food.

Glancing round, my eyes caught a rack on a slab where the utensils were kept, and I made my way forward.

I had no more will. Nothing left anymore. My life henceforth as 'his' plaything, in 'his' lair, was not about to get all rosy.

I had nothing else to live for.

The sharp edges of the kn!fe glinted in my eyes and I took it out. A tear seeped out of my eyes as I raised it up, closing my eyes as I brought it down on me.