She wanted to scream, she couldn't even whimper. She found herself frozen, as if time couldn't move forward for her, but everyone else kept moving. Her white hair... he had used it to drag her up so many stairs. Her hands... they couldn't even move him. Her legs... bruised and broken, they would takes weeks to heal and require months of rehab before she could use them again.
Nurses and doctors visited her everyday, psychologists came and went, but she was stuck in her trauma, it wasn't something she could simply grow out of. Her mother seemed to be the only one stuck with her, both shocked by the events. She didn't have a real relationship with her mother until then, she now saw her mother more than she ever had.
One day, she woke up, it was late in the night, she had had trouble sleeping but no one really knew about it. She noticed that her mother was outside talking to a tall man that looked like... She felt her heart beat rise, sweat began building as her face heated up with fear. Was that... him?
She crawled out of bed, and slid into the wheelchair, she didn't make much sound and they seemed to be in a heated discussion, thus they didn't notice the sounds. She rolled close and pushed the door slightly agape, she stared in horror as she noticed the similar hair, the similar features, the similar nose.
"AHHHHHHHH! GET AWAY! STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" her screams filled the air as she frantically tried to run away, through the sanitary, grey corridors. Her mother turned, tears falling from her eyes as she ran after her daughter. Her father stood their in shock as he watched her run from him in desperation. He had underestimated the trauma on his daughter, guilt welled in his heart as he saw the mother assure her daughter. He felt guilt when he saw her tears, her trembles, her terrified eyes.
This is my fault, he thought. And it was. What father would stand outside as he heard his daughter scream in terror, hold back a crying mother, let his son commit incest, rape and assault. He had gone too far to stop now, he had to break her and bend her to his will, he had to sell her to save his soul.
Diana's mother, Abigail, turned to her husband, walked to him and slapped him. She turned her head and smiled at her daughter, "See, he's harmless." she managed to say. Diana calmed down, her hands stop trembling as much, she felt calmer. It wasn't... him, it was her father.
She wheeled in closer, hiding behind her mother, she peered at him nervously. "Leave. We no longer owe you anything. If we ever see your face again, I will kill you with my own two hands." She snarled at him before wheeling her daughter back into the hospital room, her white hair swishing behind her, she was more powerful now than she had ever been. "Gregory, leave us alone before I tell the police what you did too." Diana turned to her mother, what did her father do?
"No." A voice echoed behind them, startling both women, making her mother turn around in anger.
"No?" Her voice shrilled as she slowly staggered to the man. "What do you mean by 'No.', you watched as your daughter was raped, you held me back as I tried to save her, you stood there without flinching as she screamed. And now, now that she's passed through hell, you can stand here and tell me 'No.' when I tell you to leave us alone?"
"She's my daughter t-" Slap! "Stop sla-" Slap! "Abigail there's nothing you can do if she chooses to do what I say, is there?" He snarled as he held Abigail's hands, she struggled against his grip and became much more stressed as he continued talking, "Diana." She flinched at hearing her name, "If you want your mother safe, marry James Richards."
"No! Diana don't worry about mum, I'll be fine. Don't do as this man says, please run away." But both knew that Diana was stuck. Even if she didn't marry James, she couldn't move until her legs healed, her mother wouldn't have that much time.
"You watched as my brother raped me? Why?" Diana's small voice hit the couple's ears, both froze and realised what she had heard. Abigail too wondered why, why did he have to take it so far? She recalled she heard the screaming, until there was silence, and the moment there was silence every person began to move. It was almost as if he had awaited that moment to save his daughter, Cedrik was arrested, but her daughter was lost too.
"I needed to tame you." was his excuse, he pushed Abigail away and stepped to his daughter. "What's your choice?"
"I will marry him, but you will give mother back to me once I have a child." She placed stress on the 'will', she only had her mother. He nodded and they shook hands, a child that had only just turned fourteen, sold to marriage already.
But her nightmare had only begun, she had not even married James yet, she hadn't even met Alisha yet.
Alisha wanted to get out of this nightmare, she could feel everything Diana felt, all the pain and suffering. She knew it was real, she knew that fate was playing a trick on her, but she wouldn't forgive Diana even if her past was so messed up. It didn't matter, did it? Does her past justify her murdering Alisha's baby? Can it explain that action?
Alisha didn't want to know anymore, she knew that the more she knew the more she would falter from her resolve. She reached out, trying to break out of this mold that she had been forced into. She thought of that grey box, she tried to find it, reaching and grabbing.
A small crack, with a mysterious white glow appeared on her wrist, she knew that it was working. Her eyesight became hazier as she imagined the grey box, soon, she could visualise it completely, cracks had covered her body.
"Diana!" James' voice shouted at her in excitement, forcing her back into her nightmare as she stared at a young version of her father. The cracks gone, she had lost control of her body and thoughts again, she was Diana.
James looked incredibly handsome with his curly black locks and soft features, his terrifying aura hadn't been established yet, instead he seemed to look like a cute puppy. Alisha was shocked at seeing her father look like this, what had happened to him that had changed him into the annoyance he was today? (Work and well...) He looked infatuated with Diana, who was fifteen, a year younger than him, he was holding an orchid, beautiful and violet like Diana's eyes, like Eliza's eyes.
He was taller than her, and he placed it on her ear, he faltered when he saw her flinching at his touch. He didn't know why she didn't like being touched on her head, but he still smiled at her, his beautiful fiance. He swore to himself that he'd never make her cry (lmao nope), that he'd be the reason for her smiles.
No one knew about Cedrik, no one knew about Diana, all everyone knew was that Diana had popped out of nowhere. The brilliant ice queen of the Elites, the wildcard that had turned the tables and was marrying into the Richards' family. Though they weren't the richest, they had a huge influence politically and in the underworld. James stared at her and wondered how such a beauty could exist, he couldn't wait until she was his, until she finally accepted him.
But after a year, James noticed that there was no improvement, he noticed that she was not just scared of him, but other men too. He became curious, even though he knew it was wrong, he became greedy to know everything about her. So, he hired Sherry Thomas to find out about her past. He froze reading her file, raped by her own brother? Couldn't move her legs for months? Sold into marriage...? He became terribly sad, he never realised how terrible people could be until he read the file. She must not even love me... he thought.
Little did he know, his love and cute nature had placed cracks into her stone heart, it was beating again. She could feel her fingers, and smell the moist smell of fresh wood, she had begun to smile for no reason and was imagining a happy future with him. She knew that she hadn't gotten over her old scars, but if it was James, she was willing to try again. She wanted to come clean, tell him about... that man, her father, everything. She was fuelled with hope.
She sent him a text, the first time she had ever initiated a conversation with him, he was also shocked, but he was devastated too. He felt like he had fallen for a statue, not a human or a wonderful ice queen, he had been given a dead piece of meat to marry. He still met her, his feelings dim while hers danced in the rain.
"James, you look wonderful today." She grinned, making his face hot, he felt his palms go clammy as always, she was so beautiful.
"As do you." He responded courteously, not his usual response, making Diana nervous.
"Um, I wanted to talk to you about us, our futu-" She was interrupted.
"Don't worry, I know you don't love me. And I don't have any interest in you either. So let's just call it what it is, a fake marriage." His heartless words stabbed her heart, but they hardened it with every syllable. Her face became as pale as her hair as she stared at him, glassy eyed.
"What?" She managed to spit out as she wondered if any of his words in the past month were true, was it a scam all along?
"I never planned on staying loyal to you, but since you have a fear of men, I assume you'd stay loyal to me... won't you?" She felt his glare on her and she nodded quickly, she felt tears build up and couldn't show them to him. Did she do something wrong? Why was this happening to her?
"But we need an heir, so once a month we have to sleep together until we have one." He quickly added in as she began to stir to leave, she got up, and her gaze sent an arrow to his heart. He could see the pain in her eyes, he assumed it was at his infidelity, it hurt her pride, he assumed. But his own heart seared with pain, he felt like he had injected himself with poison, but he watched as she walked away slowly. He hoped she'd turn around and tell him that she loved him, she cried and hoped he would stop her and tell her he was joking.
They separated with heartache, neither one deserving it, but both receiving it regardless.
Time passed, James became known as a player and Diana's reputation never changed, everyone seemed to think that she remained unaffected. Every time she saw a photo or saw him kiss a woman in front of her, her heart would burst with pain. Even through the stone walls, it still beat for James. She couldn't stop loving him, even if he had broken her even more, even if he made her the joke of Elites. Why would a stranger love her when her own father couldn't? she thought, and it was true, her father did not love her at all. There was no room in his heart for love.
She was nineteen when she was married, she kissed his lips for the first time and her heart almost leapt out of her ribcage, he noticed her deep blush but his heart had long left her. He felt the need to own her, and now he did, his trophy wife and perfect marriage had been established, he would have her that night.
She wasn't looking forward to her wedding night, it was one she had always dreaded, she was scared of men and sex, scared of the pain. He knew why she would be scared, thus he decided to be gentle. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her in such a way, he wasn't a monster.
But he had truly conquered her heart that night, his gentle touches and kisses made her feel comfortable, made her realise that she didn't mind sex, it helped her get over so much trauma. Of course, there was so much pain left in her heart, he knew that the next month he'd still have to remain gentle, but over time he knew that he could get rougher.
Who would have known that she would get pregnant after only three months? A young baby boy, one that would never be born.