Chapter 109: The Past IV

Raven

I watched my father drag him out of my room, screams and tears filling the air. I was crying hard as he was forced out of my room. I wanted to run after him, but my mother pulled me back and slapped me hard across the face.

Then she shut the door and forced me to sit on the bed. I was panting as I stared at her.

Suddenly, she smiled and grabbed my chin.“ Listen to me, daughter, in a few minutes you’ll be called out to the living room to explain what happened…” she started.

" But mum...I swear nothing happened.” I cried, but my mother shook her head.

" No dear….this is what happened. He took advantage of you against your will.” She said, and my eyes widened in horror.

“ No ..no…he…” My mother shut me up with another slap. Then she pulled me close, forcing me to look in her eyes.

" What have I taught you, Rave?” She barked.

I was shaking like a soaked leaf.” That…that we must use what we have to get what we don’t.”

She grabbed my chin again.“ Good….now… We are going to get richer …. but there’s something you must do, Raven. You have to speak up for your family.”

I shook my head.“ No...mum. Please, it’s not what you think.”

She smacked her lips.“ It is what I think….you will say that that boy broke through your window and he raped you. Do you hear me?”

I shook my head violently.“ No ….no…he didn’t. I swear he didn’t!”

" I know he didn’t, sweetheart…don’t you want us to get richer?” She said, crouching down at the foot of my bed. “Don’t you want to go on expensive vacations?”

I stared at her in shock. What….what kind of mother is she?

“ Killian raped you….he touched you indecently, and you’re going to get the act right just like you’ve practiced in drama class. Do you hear me?” She hissed at me, and I flinched. “ You didn’t come out best for no reason. It’s time you put your acting skills to good use.’’

I was crying heavily, shaking my head. I can’t lie against him, not with something as serious as this.

“ I …I can’t …..” I shook my head, freeing myself from her hold.

She dragged me back and made me look at her.“ If you don’t, I’ll throw you out of the house. You won’t have anywhere else to go, no food, no shelter. You won’t have what you have now!”

Anger rushed through me, and I yelled at her. I’m fed up with the way she treats me.“ I barely have anything…. You barely give me anything! So there’s no use…I’m not lying against him, my mom, and you can’t make me!”

I meant every single word I said, and it earned me a hit and another and another and more till I couldn’t find my voice to cry anymore.

She locked me up in my room, came back hours later, and took my virginity with a vibrator. She forced me to use it on myself so that there would be proof of a forced penetration. I struggled with all the strength I had left, but with the help of our butler, my mother stripped me naked.

Then she gave me words to memorize. I don’t know how long I stayed in my room, probably days. I was already weak from hunger and her beatings, so when I was called to come out, I didn’t resist.

She had destroyed me too much to speak for myself. I followed the butler to the living room, where my parents sat. My mother was shedding tears, while my father sat there with a straight face. He’s the kind of man who does whatever his wife says–a simp.

There were two police officers in our living room along with Killian, his brother, and his parents.

Killian was staring at me, his eyes wide at how I looked.“ What did you do to her!” He yelled, rushing towards my mum, but he was held back by the police officers.

My mother looked up, her eyes red and watery.“ I should be asking you.” She pointed a finger at Killian, gritting her teeth.“You said you wanted evidence for my claim, am I right, Mr Markov?” My mother blurted, looking over at Killian’s father.

The old man nodded.

My mother turned to me.“ Go on, dear….tell them everything he did to you.”

I was staring at my feet, and I started talking. I said everything my mother had told me to…I didn’t have the strength or heart to say otherwise. I just want to go back to sleep and never wake up.

“ He….he came into my room through the window. Tied me to the bed and took off my clothes .” I stretched both my hands to show them the bruise around my wrist that my mother had put on a few hours ago.

I heard gasps, but I didn’t look up. I can’t face him.

“ I screamed…I told him to stop, but he didn’t. He stuffed a cloth inside my mouth to prevent me from screaming. He played with my breasts and slept with me.” I started sobbing, just like I had practiced.

Killian’s voice broke.“ What…..Raven?”

" It hurts….it hurts a lot.” I cried, then my mother rushed to me and pulled me into her embrace.

" You heard her right! Your son raped my daughter!” My mother yelled, more tears streaming down her face.

“She set you up for this, right? She forced you to do this, didn’t she?” Killian yelled. I could hear and feel the pain in his voice.

“ Look at me, Raven!” He yelled again, his voice cracking at each word.

My mother tossed a brown envelope on the table.“ These are the hospital results! If you don’t believe it, then take her to the hospital and run a test on her… my daughter has suffered injuries in her genitals because of this bastard son of yours!”

His father finally spoke.“ There’s no need to run a test. I know what my son is capable of.”

I lifted my head a little and saw the heartbroken look on Killian’s face as he stared at his father.“ D-dad…..why would you say that?”

His father didn’t even look at him.“ Arrest him and teach him a brutal lesson.”

The police officer went for Killian, and he tried to fight them off. “ No….I didn’t do it. I swear I didn’t touch her. Raven….tell them the truth.” He yelled.

I wanted to say something, I wanted to say the truth, but my mother gripped my shoulders tightly, and I kept my mouth shut.

" Raven!” Killian screamed.

I watched the colour drain from his face when I looked him in the eye and said nothing. The pain on his face was real.

“ Raven please…” he choked.

The police officers struggled with him, and when they saw that he was unyielding, they tased him. He let out a painful moan and fell to the ground.

They picked him up and cuffed his hands behind his back. He looked at me one last time with betrayal and hurt in his eyes.“You can’t do this to me….” He breathed weakly.

My lips trembled as I caught sight of a single tear that had escaped his eyelids just before he was taken away.

My whole body was shaking as I was sent back to my room. I lay on my bed,my pillow soaked from tears.

How do I live with this guilt?

What have I just done?

I overheard my mother say he would spend at least six years in prison but they could cut it down to three years if the Markov’s were willing to pay for damages and I guessed they did.

My mother got paid a couple of millions ,I don’t know the exact amount but I know Killian was sentenced to three years in prison and at the same time in a four year rehabilitation program. They said his mental health had deteriorated in the first four months in prison.

That was the last I heard of him. I never saw him again after that and his name was never mentioned in the neighborhood ever again.

But he was always in my heart.

Always.