Vengeance

Chapter 7

Ava's POV

I am getting married. To Arthur Hunt. On my 18th birthday.

This must be a nightmare.

But it wasn't just a nightmare I could wake up from. It was as real as the fact that my mother was killed in front of my eyes when I was just a child. Or the fact that the bastard behind it kidnapped me, brought me into his home as a winning prize and threatened to hurt my brothers if I ever tried to escape. And the reality was, I am to be married to a psychopath. I was sitting near my bedroom window looking out, engulfed in thoughts. It was getting dark. I realized I had been sitting there the whole afternoon. That was when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." I whispered.

I turned my head to see it was Martha. She had a pitiful expression on her face. I instantly turned to stare back at the window. Last thing I needed was pity. And that too from someone who had betrayed me, broken my trust.

"You skipped lunch, dear. You need to eat." She said, in her usual motherly voice. I scoffed internally. Her words that once soothed me, today, left a bitter taste.

"You knew! All this time, you knew what he had planned for me!" I seethed venomously staring out of the window, unable to face her.

"I trusted you! And you? You betrayed me! Why, Martha? Why?!" The tears had begun to well up in my eyes, blurring my vision. I stood up and walked up to her.

"Marry Arthur Hunt? Don't you know what kind of a man he is? He is no less than a monster, for Christ's sake! Don't you remember the number of times you had to save me from him? Don't you remember the times when he hit me, insulted me, not to mention, the times he tried to molest me? Have you forgotten about the bruises, the fractures, the nights I spent in dark locked rooms, or the days I went without food? You pretended to be my ally all this time! I shared my feelings, my insecurities with you. I was grateful for you! And today, I found out that it was all just a pretense. All along, you knew my fate, and still not once did you try to warn me, to help me. How could you, Martha? How could you do this to me?" I questioned her staring right into her eyes.  "Was all of this just a part of your sick plan? Toying with my emotions? Did you get what you wanted?
Regret and sadness was clear in her eyes. She sighed.

"I am just a housemaid, dear. There was nothing I could do to stop this from happening. Yes, I knew about the arrangement for a long time, but that too only because I overheard Master. Getting attached to you, caring for you, none of that was supposed to happen. I didn't plan any of it. All I'm guilty of is hiding the truth from you. But that was only because I couldn't see you hurt-"

"Oh but you have hurt me! You have broken my heart. If this was something bound to happen sooner or later, you could have warned me! I would have tried to find a way out of this! But you chose to hide the truth, you chose to betray me. Now I have to marry a man whom I utterly despise, within a week! And there is nothing I can do now to stop this wedding." My heart ached painfully in my chest.

"I'm so very sorry, Ava. I-"

"Stop! Just stop, please." I cried out.

"You broke my trust, Martha. I would never forgive you for this. Never" And with that, I ran out of the room.

I need to do something. I have to convince him to call off this wedding. I need to talk to Mr. Hunt. Even if I had to fall to my knees and beg him, I will. But I will never, ever marry that psychopath.

I was running towards his office with tears threatening to escape my eyes, when I bumped into something. Or rather, someone. And before I could lose my balance, two strong arms circled around my back and pulled me into a hard chest. I instinctively clutched the suit of the stranger trying to avoid my fall.
My eyes were tightly shut, my heart was racing and my breath, erratic. A distinct musky, cool cologne hit me.

"Are you alright?" I heard a deep masculine voice ask with concern.
I opened my eyes to find myself held by someone wearing dark grey suit, white shirt and a black tie. I slowly trained my eyes upwards and I sucked in a deep breath as soon as they met his silvery grey ones. I was simply mesmerized. His eyes were staring so intently into mine that I felt exposed. I was hypnotized by their depth and the patterns I could see in those eyes.
I watched them intently as they narrowed at me. That brought me back to reality.
I jumped out of his hold as he cleared his through. I took that chance to see him clearly. I looked at him from his head to toe. His jet black hair were styled, a frown creased his forehead, his eyes held confusion. He had a slight stubble beard, with a jawline so sharp, it could cut through diamonds. His crisp gray suit highlighting the color of his eyes and the Rolex on his left wrist, screamed richness.

"Are you alright, Miss?" He asked again, this time sounding worried.
"I-I am fine, thank you", I replied, quite flustered and intimidated by his attractiveness. But then I remembered what I had come for, which is why, without wasting another second I ran away as quickly as I could.

Instead of going straight to Mr. Hunt, I went back to my room, shut the door behind me, turned and pressed my back to it for support. My heart couldn't stop racing. I closed my eyes and hugged my left hand to my chest, trying to calm down. Regaining composure, I slowly went to sit back on my bed.

What was that? Who was he? Why did he affect me so much? He looked nothing less than a Greek god, but he also had this dangerous aura around him. 

I shivered at that thought. Of course, he must be dangerous. Every person having contacts with Mr. Hunt had to be as dangerous as him. After all he was the Don of the American Mafia.

Of course I knew about it. I've lived here for 13 years. I'm not blind or naïve. It's this fact I know about him, that has kept me from trying to run away from his hold. 'Cause I know he and his men would find me from any corner of this world. No one could save me. I was his prized possession. His 'Trophy', like he said the first day. It didn't surprise me when I discovered the truth behind all the money and power because in my head, he was already a devil, a villain. The tight security, the guns and the illegal deals- it wasn't too hard to guess once I was old enough. The people in this mansion only feared him, I doubt anyone ever respected him.

My brothers don't even know that I'm still alive. How would they, when I've been erased out of existence for the past 13 years.

I was given a phone eventually. But it was bugged by his hacker. All my messages and social media accounts were traced. I could hide absolutely nothing from him and his men. But I was glad to have a phone at least. I was not allowed to go to college to complete my education.

"You don't need to work in the future, so you don't need a degree either." He always said when I insisted on going to college. I thought he said that only because he planned to cage me for life. But now I know the true reason behind it. I was going to have to marry that shitface, good-for-nothing heir of the Hunt empire.

Mr. Hunt had various legal and illegal ways to earn money. He had legal hotels, nightclubs and financial companies at the face of it, to hide his illegal business of drugs, smuggling, money laundering, and I also suspect human trafficking. I learned to keep my eyes and ears open after I found out about the Mafia. I was quite observant and attentive when he had guests over. I liked to keep myself informed about his moves for my own safety. I thought maybe someday, it would help me escape.

The guy that I bumped into made me curious. I needed to know who he was and what business he had with Mr. Hunt.

Could he be a threat or a potential ally? I have to find out.