Chapter 107 Nowhere To Go

Chapter 107 Nowhere To Go
Was it the right choice?
Would they accept me?
I didn’t know. 
All I knew was that I needed support. Any maybe, just maybe, they would embrace me? Parents couldn’t be that cruel, right?
By the time I stood on the porch of my childhood home, my breath was coming in gasps.
I knocked desperately, my bandaged hand throbbing against the wood. 
The door opened. My mother stood there, her eyebrows instantly drawing together in a look of surprise.
She observed my disheveled hair, my freezing form, tilting her head in confusion.
“Alyssa?” she frowned, stepping back just enough for me to enter the foyer. 
“What on earth are you doing here at this hour? In this weather? What happened?”
“Mama…” I sobbed, my knees buckling as I reached for her. 
She caught me instantly, pulling me into a side hug, pushing the hair from my face away.
“Please. I need to stay here.” I whispered, holding her tightly, “Vince... Vince did something horrible..”
“Horrible and Vince?”
My father walked out of the study, holding a glass of scotch, his expression hardening the moment he saw me crying. 
“What are you talking about? Did you two have a fight?” 
“It wasn't a fight, Papa!” I shrieked, clutching my chest as the heartbreak took over.
“He.. he is lying! He is acting. He is not what he shows.”
His frown deepened.
I held my hand out to him, my lips shaking, “Please, I just need my old room. I just need a place to be away...”
“That’s what you said about Ken too. Have you ever thought you are the problem?” Father replied harshly, stiffening my whole being.
My eyes went wide, still not expecting him to remain so cold after months. 
“What…?” My throat dried as I shook my head rapidly in denial, “No, no, no, you are getting it wrong, Papa…” 
My parents exchanged a concerning look. My mother’s grip tightened on me but there was no sympathy in Father’s eyes. 
Only an irritation.
“Alyssa, grow up,” my father stated coldly, setting his glass down. 
“Do you have any idea what Vince Lysander does for you?” He began to growl.
“He pleaded with me to forgive you. He brought his Uncle. Does everything.”
Without a warning, he roughly pulled mother away from me. 
“And you stand here speaking ill of every man you meet.” 
I froze, staring at him through my tears. 
“Papa... he ruined me. He bought my misery, he is acting. Did you not hear what I just said?”
"Every marriage has its secrets, darling," my mother sighed, bringing her hand to touch me but Father didn’t let her.
“Vince loves you. What he had not done for you?” She tried to be optimistic. 
“Your father has stopped hindering your work ever since Vince requested him. We have seen. He truly wants the best for you.” She tried to smile, which only pierced my heart.
“No! He does not!” 
“Enoough. Stop badmouthing Vince. Stop being so ungrateful and go back to your husband, Alyssa.”
"I am not going back to him!" I yelled, the horror of his indifference slicing my soul.
“Let me stay!.... Please?”
“Absolutely not,” my father boomed, his voice echoing fiercely in the foyer. 
“You will not bring scandal to this house, nor will you jeopardize our standing with the Lysander empire over your emotional tantrums. I won’t ruin my friendship with Andrew for you.” He declared.
His eyes were already in the other direction, refusing to look at me. I looked for compassion.
“If you've run away from your husband's house, you can turn right back around and go fix it.”
“You're... you're kicking me out?” I whispered, my voice cracking completely. “Again?”
“You should have thought about that before you walked out on the only person who cares for you,” my father countered coldly, turning his back on me and walking back into his study.
My mother sighed, reaching into the closet to pull out a spare coat, tossing it into my arms. 
“Call a cab, Alyssa. Go home to your husband. Don't be foolish.”
Before I could even speak, she gently but firmly pushed me back out. I stared for the next few seconds. Another wave of heartache overwhelmed me.
“May no child get parents like you.” I growled, roughly wiping my tears.
They both froze. My mother looked down, my father stopped in his tracks. 
Yet none of them bothered to reply. 
My steps retreated as I ran back to the car, the sob emerging from my very heart accompanied by a stream of tears.
I stood in the darkness, the freezing rain starting to fall again, clutching the coat to my chest before throwing it away. 
I looked down the empty, dark street. 
I had no family, no friends, no companions left.
No… in fact, I had abandoned them for Vince.
I had absolutely no place left in this world, except the gilded cage built by the monster who owned me.
No…
I won’t go back to the cage. I won’t go back to them either…
I won’t give up this time, I won’t be defeated. To clear my mind, I checked into a five-star hotel.
Staring at the massive bank account I managed to hold because Vince had encouraged me to take over my work and rebuild my image. 
‘If I hadn’t done that… I would be empty-handed.’
The room was suffocating. Outside, the thunder was roaring, I was staring out of the window, only remembering the promise.
“Looks like you love storms.” 
“Oh, I do...”
His voice wouldn't leave my head. 
Driven by a hollow impulse, I bypassed the elevator and walked straight out onto the hotel’s open-air rooftop terrace. 
The downpour drenched me within seconds, freezing rain soaked my hair to my toes. 
I stood right at the edge of the railing, praying the thunder would overcome the noise in my soul.
“Ma'am! Ma'am, you can't be out here!”
I didn't turn around as a hotel staff member sprinted, holding a large umbrella. 
“Please, step inside! The lightning is getting dangerous!”
“Leave me alone!” I screamed, refusing the umbrella, letting the rain freeze me, “Just let me stand here!”
“Ma'am, it’s a severe weather warning! You’re going to get hypothermia! Come back to the lobby!” He reached out, his hand catching my soaked sleeve.
“I said don't touch me!” I violently wrenched my arm away, glaring at him with blinding rage that made him step back. 
“I just want to feel it! I want to understand how he could love something so destructive!”
“You're not making sense, miss! Please—”
Not wanting to be disturbed anymore, I pushed him and ran away.
Away… far away.