I sat at the dining table and ate some stale bread while my mom peeled apples for me. As I recalled yesterday's events, I couldn't help but wonder whether it was all a dream or not. Mom had shown me not just pictures but videos she had taken of him and other people who worked for him, like my favourite celebrity ever, Ashley Jones.
Lucas Stone was the emperor of the entertainment industry. He is the CEO of Ash Management.
He managed most of the best entertainers ever, from models to singers to top-tier actors. There was no way I would miss that face; he was, after all, voted one of the most handsome faces every year after he started managing.
I looked at my mom unbelievably. How on earth did she fall in love with Lucas out of all people? I tried asking her several times yesterday, but I decided against it every single time. I mustered all the courage I could and asked her about it before I finally gave up.
"So, Mom, how did you meet Lucas?"
"One of his artists wanted a dress I made, but I refused to give it to her because she was nothing but rude, and he intervened", she said in a daze.
"That's it?" Of course, I expected more than that.
"Well, we were also classmates back in the day, when nobody really liked him. He was the weird, aloof boy everyone avoided, and he was bullied a lot, but then he went by Henry Brown. I don't think your aunt even remembers him. Nobody did. Turns out he remembered me-", she smiled at herself before continuing, "he said he was looking for me, but Sage said I didn't even want to see him. Can you believe that?"
Honestly, I could. Aunt Sage was nothing but an evil, disgusting person; even her own daughter and father could acknowledge that, but she couldn't.
She had always been jealous of my mom since they were children, but my mom was too kind to see that.
They both grew up in the same neighbourhood and regarded each other as sisters. Aunt Sage acted like the perfect elder sister for my mom, so she would get closer to ruining her reputation. My mom grew up as a Davidson, while my aunt married my mom's brother, Ethan Davidson.
Even though they both grew up in prominent families, my aunt hated the attention my mom had and started to create distance between my mom and the rest of the family.
It also didn't help that my mom was easily fooled and stupid concerning family matters when she was younger. She had trust and faith in them and her so-called best friend.
She met a jerk who charmed her so much that he ended up impregnating her at fifteen, and after he found out, he ran away with her savings. It was too late for her to have an abortion, and she ended up having me instead.
After this came to light, my grandfather cut off all her funds and gave her barely any allowance; it was just enough to keep us alive, but it didn't end our financial suffering.
She also never attended any university because my grandfather didn't want to sponsor her fees.
My mom started designing again after she realised that I was growing up and I couldn't afford the school supplies and fees with the allowance she was giving me. That was about a year ago, and now she was well known in the entertainment industry; she went by a nickname, Lilia, a name taken from mine.
And now here we are; even if Lucas couldn't pick us up, we could move away and start afresh somewhere else.
I looked at my mom with admiration; even if she wasn't the best mom out there, not everyone could bounce back from depression and start a brand all in about a year.
My mom left to finish some designs requested by a newbie boy group that is currently on the rise. I went back to the mansion to brew Jade's coffee for her. As soon as I entered, I heard loud music playing from upstairs, and I figured it was Liam and his friends.
I hurried to the kitchen and started brewing her coffee. I could have left the mansion to prevent any bullying, but she was the only person who attempted to speak up for me. She was like an elder sister I never had, though she couldn't completely stop everything because she was a girl; she still did her best to help.
It wasn't long before I saw my cousin Liam. He dragged me out of the kitchen and pulled me upstairs without saying a word. I knew I couldn't say anything against him because that would only get me beaten up.
"Whoa, you brought your hottie sister" They were all his new college friends who were only using him for his money, yet he was too blind to see that.
My cousins were about two years older than I was. We were in the same grade, so I knew some of the faces in this room; most of his friends were just as shit as he was. I prayed for them to let me go, at least just this one time, but of course, the universe did not like to see me happy.
I felt a hand slide up my skirt, and I tried everything I could to hold back the tears. Liam's friends always found a way to make my life a living hell.
I told myself that it would come to a stop sooner or later. I had come to learn that resisting any of their weird, perverted actions would cause me nothing but more bruises.
They acted like I was a disposable doll, a show they could watch anytime they were bored.
I hated them so much, especially those two, the sons of the Miller family, Nate and Logan Miller. Their family owned a cosmetics company, which brought in millions every year; they lived off it and had not lifted a finger in their life.
The eldest, Logan, was composed and had sharp and handsome features, which most girls drool over. It didn't help that he was very smart too. His younger brother, on the other hand, had a similar attitude to Liam; those three had been friends since they were younger, and I hated all three of them.
They had managed to strip me of all my clothes; the only thing left on my body was my underwear. I stood there crying as they laughed and played video games on their PlayStation, which was ironic considering how much they sucked at it.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Logan staring at me, his cold glare softened for a split second, and I questioned if it ever happened. I wondered what it meant: pity, maybe disappointment. What was I even thinking? I don't think I cared what any of them thought, including him.
It was especially cold that morning, and it didn't help that he had turned his air conditioner on. I had lost track of the time at that point. I was trying to distract myself from the pain in my joints, especially my knees. I fought so hard to keep up with what I was experiencing, but with my weak body, I couldn't.
I felt sharp pains as I fell on the floor, my vision was blurry, and my head was pounding against my skull. I heard shouting, but my head was too heavy to lift and check out what was happening. I didn't need to anyway; I already knew what that was.
Liam hated it when I didn't do what he asked; he hated the fact that I couldn't stand in the cold, air-conditioned room when I was practically naked. He also knew I had developed soft bones over the years, yet here we were.
Before I could make sense of where I was, I heard a loud whack echo across the room. My back burned from Liam's belt being whipped across my back.
This was the punishment for disobeying him. I knew better than to cry or defend myself; all I had to do was stay quiet till this was over.
He continued to use his belt on me as my back throbbed. I made an effort to keep my hands by my side and not reach out to touch it.
"Stop." Logan said, "This is getting boring, let's just finish the game."
I know deep down, Liam wanted to continue his torture, but also knew he had to make Logan happy. This was an unspoken hierarchy they had; the richest had to call the shots.
Liam swallowed his pride and sat down. When they were about to continue their game. I heard a gasp behind me. I slowly turned around and tried to prevent any movements that would cause me to feel more pain.
I turned to see Jade standing at the room's entrance, her mouth slightly open as she tried to say something, but she couldn't. She stared at my body from head to toe with disappointment and worry.
She immediately took off her coat and put it around me; it was long enough to cover me past my knees. She looked at her brother with disgust and shook her head at him and his friends.
"I'm pretty sure Dad will be impressed by your actions today." She said coldly as Liam's face grew from annoyance to fear.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened; in fact, it used to happen all the time. Since we were children, Liam would always find a way to beat me up. Once he hit puberty, it turned into a perverse one-sided game he liked to play.
I learned to stop resisting once he broke my arm to get me to comply. At that time, Logan and Jade helped me get treatment. Jade got Uncle Ethan to pay for treatment while Logan stayed by my side to help me get better.
Jade and Logan used to be friends, but they got into a huge fight, and that friendship ended that day. Nobody really found out what it was about. Logan had also really changed throughout the years, from a kind and caring person to someone who could not care about anything or anyone but himself.
During my stay at the hospital, I found out I had sustained a lot of injuries. Jade then told her dad about her concerns for my well-being. After that incident, he gave Liam a stern warning about his actions, and Liam backed off for a while.
It only started again after my mom had left, and Sage was also going to shadow Uncle Ethan.
Liam knew the consequences of his actions, yet he still decided to go through with them. If he had ever laid his hands on me, his position as the rightful heir to the Davidson's business would be under review.
The probability that Uncle Ethan also did that to only give Jade a chance was high, but Ethan was too dumb to figure that out. His pale face was probably because he thought he would get scolded once more not because he would get dethroned as the rightful heir.
"You wouldn't dare say anything against me to dare", Liam sneered, his tone was very far from his face; he looked like a scared little boy trying to put on a brave act.
"Just wait and watch." Jade threatened as she helped me stand up. She escorted me out of the mansion to the guest house. Our movements were slow and staggered since I couldn't walk without limping.
When we entered the house, my mom noticed us and immediately started asking questions.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked us repeatedly. She carefully examined my face and body for bruises, and tears welled up in her eyes as she continued to probe us with questions.
"I thought Ethan had warned him not to touch you again", she said, her voice shaking.
"I don't think we can do anything about Liam. I'm sorry, but I have to leave, I'm already late." Jade stood up to leave. I tried removing her coat for her, but she stopped me and told me to keep it.
"I'll talk to dad about this." She looked at me regretfully. At the end of the day, there was nothing she could truly do. She turned around and left the house.
My mom quickly left the room to find first aid to clean up my wounds. When she left, I noticed her designs on the desk; she was truly a talented person. She returned with some medication and new clothes I didn't recognise.
"I made these for you while I was away," she handed me the clothes she was holding. It was a shirt along with sweatpants. It looked simple but you could tell it was high end.
After she was done patching me up and confirmed nothing was broken, she helped me put on the clothes she had made for me.
"You look so pretty, I knew I had your measurements right." She showed me towards the mirror, and I looked at myself in amazement. I never thought I'd look this pretty in such simple clothing. I turned towards my mom with teary eyes.
"Your clothes are always so beautiful Mom."
The smile on her face was so bright it could light up a room. She put on a serious face when she noticed a slight bruise forming on my face.
"I'm going to get an ice pack for your face. Wait here." She said. I went to sit on the sofa and relax a bit. She brought the ice packs for me, and we both sat on the sofa for some time before she remembered she had to complete her designs.
It was almost evening, and I had stepped out of the guest house to get some fresh air and check where my mom had gone. She had left the house to prepare food for us, but she had still not returned.
The sky held dark, heavy clouds, I noted to myself to not stay out too long since my body couldn't handle the rain, especially when I was covered in bruises.
When I stepped outside, I saw an unknown car in front of the house. I also heard commotion from the house. When I stepped closer, I noticed someone screaming.
I quickened my pace when I realised it was my mom's screams. As I ran into the house, I felt the heavy water droplets on my skin. I saw my mom being dragged away by two men wearing hospital scrubs when I entered the house.
I tried my best to push them off my mom, and when I got her away from them, they all looked at me like I was crazy.
Jade refused to look at me, whereas her brother looked at me with a smug expression. Uncle Ethan looked tired of everything that was happening, and Aunt Sage looked furious that I stopped what was occurring.
"What is happening? Where are you taking my mom?"
"Can't you see things for yourself? Your mom obviously needs help, so I'm taking her to an institute where they can help her," Aunt Sage said with frustration, her voice laced with pretentiousness.
"What? No, she's not going anywhere. She's even gotten better"
"Better? Look at how she's acting right now! Just like that of a mad woman." Aunt Sage said as if she were pointing out the obvious.
"She's only being that way because you triggered her", I fought back. I shielded my mom from. Aunt Sage took a glance at my clothes and decided she was absolutely right.
"Just look at Lily's clothes, Ethan, her mother definitely stole them." She concluded.
That was the most stupid reason for sending someone to a rehabilitation.
"Dad, let's think this through, and what about our reputation-" Jade's sentence was cut short by the loud slap that could be heard through the house.
The only thing heard was silence and heavy rain that started pouring. My mom held tightly onto me, as a scared child would do.
"Know your place when the elders are talking." Jade looked betrayed by her dad; the other family members looked a bit surprised. After all, if it weren't for Jade's smarts and hard work at the office, the company might not have done as well this year.
I took advantage of the fact that they were all fighting and ran with my mom to the guest house. The rain was really heavy, and the cold bit into my bones.
I rushed for the door, quickly slammed it shut, and locked it. I dragged my mom to my room and locked the door there in case they broke through the main doors. I paced through the room, thinking of what to do.
I heard the men and other family members pounding on the door. I did what I could to ignore them and think of a way to get out of here.
Before I could come up with any solutions, I saw my mom struggling to breathe on the floor.
I quickly rushed to her side. I can't believe I forgot her asthma could be triggered by the cold. I kept looking around for something that could help. It was of no use; my thoughts were too many, scattered in my mind.
I took a risk and went out of my room to look for her inhaler. Luckily, they had not opened the door yet. The last time I saw a spare inhaler was when I went to get painkillers from the medicine cabinet.
I dashed to the cabinet, and I grabbed both inhalers I found.
When I went back to the room, my mom was barely conscious. I locked the door behind me and ran to her.
"Mom, I brought the inhaler, open your mouth a bit" I brought the inhaler to her mouth and forced her to take it.
After some minutes, she got a bit better, but she wasn't saying anything. The banging on the door had also gone quiet. I knew they hadn't stopped just yet, and I needed a way to get out of this situation.
Just then, her phone started to ring. I checked the caller ID to find that the person was none other than Lucas Stone. My mom was still not back to her senses, so I quickly picked up her phone.
"Hello….. Hello, is anyone there?"I couldn't stop my voice from shaking; I waited, but there was a pause on the phone.
"Who is this?" I couldn't believe Lucas Stone was talking to me right now. I snapped out of my daze and quickly replied.
"I'm Lily… Lily Davidson. They're trying to kidnap mom, I mean, Valerie," I choked out. It was better to just say it outright than to beat around the bush.
"What?" His cold voice almost scared me into hanging up.
"My aunt is trying to forcefully send her to a psych ward, and mom, she's not well"
"I'm on my way. Try your best to keep her away from them"
"Okay." He hung up the call. I wondered how on earth he would reach here on time; he didn't even stay here.
It had been almost thirty minutes, and I hadn't heard anything from Lucas or my family. My mom had also fallen asleep not long ago.
I suddenly heard footsteps from the hallway; it sounded like they were trying their best not to make any noise. I short right back up and tried to wake my mom up.
The door to my room burst open, and the two men from earlier went to grab my mom. I used my body as a shield to prevent them from taking her away.
She was startled awake by the noise and started freaking out again. They pulled me away from her and pushed me to the ground. Pain shot through my hand, and I looked down to realise my palm had scraped a bit of metal.
They pulled her back into the rain and tried to drag her into the car. Her screams could be heard from every corner of the house.
I cried and begged them uncontrollably to let her go, but it was of no use. They threw into the back of a white minivan and got ready to drive off, but before they could, two cars had pulled up in the driveway.
They both looked extremely stylish, but the limo stood out the most. You could tell by Aunt Sage's face that she wanted to confront the person blocking their path, but was too scared to cross anyone.
Before anyone could say anything, one of the doors to the Limo opened, and a tall man with features that looked like those of a Greek god stepped out.
I immediately recognised those features as belonging to none other than Lucas Stone..