Sombre

Chapter 16

I don't see Preston for the next week. He moved me back to our bedroom and sent maids to help me. I am anxious because I don't know what he's upto. My bruises are fading and this only terrifies me. When I saw myself in the mirror for the first time , I ended up starving myself to sleep. There were long red gashes all over my body. He didn't leave one space empty . The scars are still there and I can't bear to look at them.

Serena , the maid enters her room with a tray of bread. She has a big smile on her face and I can't help but smile back. She is the sweetest woman I've ever met. I didn't believe it when she said she was 46, even though she's elder than me , her skin glows like a 20 year old girl. She brings the tray over to me and starts feeding me even though I'm completely capable of eating on my own.

When I woke up in this room , my body seemed to be paralysed. I couldn't move  my body, hell I couldn't move my finger. Serena helped me with everything. I will always be glad for her.

I watch as other maid enters the room and sets a red dress on the bed along with some heels. She leaves and I give Serena a questioning look.

" There is a party tonight. Sir wants you to be ready by 7. " She says

I look at the dress . It's the most ugliest dress I've seen in my whole life. There is no way I will wear something like that. It's so skimpy . Even though I loved wearing dresses , I never had enough nerve to wear something so revealing. It had a V neck which went down till the upper belly. If I moved the wrong way , everyone might get a good show of my tits.

I keep it aside and scan my wardrobe. I remove the black backless dress and decide to wear this instead.

...

I wipe the tear and try to apply as much concealer as I can on my back and arms. I didn't realize that wearing a backless dress meant that all my scars would be on display. My hands shake as I try to apply it on my back.

The maids frantically knock on the door but I don't let them in. I was supposed to be ready at 7 but I'm sure I wasted 15-20 minutes in just crying .

I flinch when the door slams open. Preston strides towards me and before I can scurry back , he slaps me hard. I almost fall down on my face but he grabs my arm and hauls me up again. I flinch when he raises his hand again to slap but instead he lets me go.

" What are you wearing?" He asks

"I..

" I don't remember sending this dress !"

" It's too skimpy , I can't wear that"

I can't dare look him in the eyes so I look at his shoes instead. He doesn't say anything and the silence bothers me more than anything. Before I can comprehend what's happening, my dress is torn and I fall flat on my face. I shakily raise my head and look at him.

"When I tell you to do something, you will fucking do it !" He bellows

I look at my torn dress and cry. I don't even want to go to this stupid party. I would rather stay locked up in this room.

" Stop crying!" He shouts and I try to muffle my cries.

He hauls me up by my arms and makes me stand, " Now go and wear that fucking dress!"

I quickly find the dress and put it on . He watches as I try to fix my makeup. My mascara has run across my face and I wipe my face not bothering to put anything on . I look at myself in the mirror and see the harsh black marks on my chest and breasts. I apply some concealer there and hastily wipe the tears. No matter how much I try I can't stop crying.

" Stop crying or I will give you a bloody reason to cry!" He yells again

I nod and after a few seconds we both go outside. I'm perplexed by the view. Everything is decorated elegantly. This doesn't look like the house I was staying in. I fascinatingly look around.

" Stay near me and don't go wondering around. I'm going to warn you, a lot of people know what you did so you better don't leave my fucking side!"

I nod and my mood instantly sulks. When we step downstairs , every eye turns towards us. I faintly hear Preston say something to everyone but my eye catches everyone in the room and I notice a look of disgust on most of their faces. It scares me that a lot of looks  are from men. Women are busy drinking and gossiping amongst themselves.

I stay at Preston's side . A man and a lady come towards us and shakes Preston's hand. I notice the faint mark of the women's lipstick on Preston's cheek. They both pay me no glance. They talk to Preston for a few minutes. When they walk away , the man whispers in my ear , " whore" and I flinch.

My face goes red with embarrassment and I look up at Preston.

" Get used to this" he says and my heart drops.

I eat the pasta in front of me . I have no appetite. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves except me. I kept moving the pasta around in the plate. Whenever I got warning looks from Preston , I took tiny bites of it . My stomach felt queasy and I feel anxious. I eat as much as I can and when Preston gets up , I follow him .