RAYNA'S POV
I ran out of his room as fast as my legs could carry me. Never in my life did I feel this violated. I felt dirty and tainted. I ran into my room, shutting the door behind me before dashing into the bathroom and turning the faucet on, letting the hot burning water make its way down my body.
I scrubbed as hard as I could but nothing seemed to be working. I just couldn't erase that feeling of being abused.
Not even the pain of the physical abuse I went through all my life measured up to this.
I didn't know how long I stood under the shower for God knows how long, but by the time I came to my senses, I was staring at my very pink body in the mirror. I looked like overcooked meat.
Absentmindedly, I made my way to my bed and curled up underneath the bedsheet in pain. Tears dropped from one eye into the next before flowing down to the bedspread.
This is the life my family condemned me to.
"-na… Yna… Rayna!"
I jolted upright on my bed and looked around, before falling back on the bed and curling into a ball, waiting for the ice-cold water to be splashed on my body. I waited for what felt like hours, but nothing came. Instead, I felt the soft touch of a woman's palm.
"Rayna, are you okay?"
My eyes opened as I heard the familiar voice of Lucia.
"L-Lucia?" mi called out gently, realizing it was all a dream.
"Yes." I heard her respond. But with the tone of her voice, I could hear her confusion.
I sat up gently, a bit slower than the first time, and looked at her, taking note of her worried expression. "You missed breakfast and I was getting worried that you'd miss lunch too."
I squinted my eyebrows, staring at the curtain blocking any form of sunlight from entering my room. "Breakfast?" I asked.
Lucia smiled gently and walked to my window, pulling the curtain away.
I winced and shielded my eyes from the bright light of the day.
"You must have been exhausted last night." She said, fixing the curtain before walking back to me.
I blinked continually until I could accommodate the bright rays of the sun. "Yes, I'm so sorry about that."
I didn't try to explain to her that the immense headache I got from Noah pulling my hair while taking his pleasures from my mouth was the reason for me falling asleep till this hour.
Speaking of Noah, "Is he still here?"
Lucia shook her head, "He is barely around in the morning. He doesn't come home very often either but he's been home at night twice in a row."
"Well, he must be homesick," I said with a smile.
Lucia chuckled, "I doubt that."
I pulled the blanket from my body before hastily pulling it back to cover my body, forgetting that I slept naked.
"Uhm… I…" I looked down, my cheeks turning red with embarrassment.
Lucia burst out laughing and that made me feel even more embarrassed, "Don't worry dear. I've seen enough in this old age of mine." And with that, she walked out.
I immediately got out of bed after she left and went to the bathroom.
I didn't know what my chores around the house were since Noah hadn't told me but that didn't mean I wouldn't work. What if he came back and got mad at me and punished me again?
I shivered as I remembered what he had done last night.
I quickly devoured my lunch and stood up to help Lucia out.
"What are you doing?" Lucia asked and I turned to look at her with a rag cloth clutched in my hand that was suspended in the air.
"Cleaning," I replied because to me the answer was very obvious.
"Why? That isn't your job." She said with a slight frown, not because she was angry but mostly because she seemed confused. Even I was confused at this point.
"It isn't?" I asked.
"No, if it was, Mr. Gold would have told me about it." She responded.
My back straightened and I exclaimed slightly, "Oh!" I looked around the house, "Then what exactly am I supposed to do?"
Lucia shrugged like she had no idea. After that, she collected the rag and said, "Perhaps you can ask him if he comes home tonight." And with that, she chased me back to my room.
I prayed fervently, hoping that he wouldn't show his rat face but he did. Noah truly came home that night but I never went out to meet him. Instead, I waited for him to summon me in my room, my eyes constantly flicking to the wall clock that was ticking. I didn't know when I slept off but when I woke up, it was morning again and Noah wasn't home either.
I was shocked that he hadn't tried to do anything to me. I wondered if it had to do with me not going against his stupid rules or because I hid in my room.
I decided to hide in my room every time I heard him come in and for a whole week, that trick worked, until it didn't.
I woke up feeling bored, tired, and depressed. I decided to myself that today would be the day that I'd ask Noah what he wanted me to do in his house, but I'd have to wait till he came home at night.
So I went downstairs to meet Lucia and tried to convince her to let me work before I lost my mind.
"Please. Mr. Gold won't know a thing. Just let me help you a little. I think I'll run mad from doing nothing all day."
Lucia looked like she was about to disagree but I pressed further and she finally let me tidy up the living room. I was very excited and within minutes, the living room was sparkling.
When Lucia saw it, she praised me and that encouraged me to do more. So, with the dusting brush in my hand, I turned to make my way upstairs.
I froze as I heard the door lock turn and beep, watching Noah walk into his house in the middle of the day, and he looked pissed as hell.
Oh no!