Mr. Brown’s orders. Novi ran faster, the ridiculous dress billowing behind her. She tried door after door, looking for a hopefully vacant suite she could hide in.
Locked, locked, locked. Finally, one opened. She burst inside and found a middle-aged couple in an extremely compromising position.
The woman screamed loud enough to shatter windows. The man scrambled for a pillow, his face turning the color of a ripe tomato.
What the? Get out. Get out. Sorry, my wrong room. Novi slammed the door and kept running.
Footsteps behind her, closer, louder. Another door. She grabbed the handle and pushed. An elderly woman in a green face mask and curlers stood in the entrance.
A tiny dog tucked under one arm. Her eyes went wide as saucers. “Intruder!” She grabbed a can of hairspray and pointed it at Novi like a weapon.
“Help! Security! This woman is trying to steal from me. I’m not stealing from anyone.”
Novi slammed the door and ran. The footsteps were right behind her now. Voices shouting, radios crackling.
One more door, please. Just one more. She grabbed the handle of the last door in the hallway, turned it, it opened.
She threw herself inside, slammed it shut, untwisted the lock, and that was how she came face to face with the most devastatingly handsome man she’d ever seen in her entire life.
Back to the present. Do you have any idea what you just made me do?
I I didn’t mean to. My allergies. Your allergies just forced me to lie to my uncle.
He ran a hand through his damp dreads, frustration radiating from every line of his body.
I told him you’re mine. What does that even mean? How am I supposed to explain that?
I don’t know, but I didn’t want this marriage. You should have fought harder. The words hit Novi like a slap.
Excuse me. You heard me. Zach’s voice was cold, clinical. You’re being forced into marriage and your solution was to run, to hide.
Did you try anything else? Did you stand up for yourself? Did you fight? You don’t know what I’ve been through.
Then tell me. He stepped closer and Novi had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.
He was so tall. What’s the worst your stepfather could have done if you refused?
Hit you, disown you, throw you out on the street? All of those options are better than marrying a man you don’t love, but guess you’re too pampered to take the rough way out and came to stress me out instead.
Novi’s eyes flashed. Two years of suppressed anger bubbled to the surface. You want to know what he did?
Her voice shook, but not from fear, from rage. He isolated me. He cut me off from every friend I had, every family member who might have helped.
He intercepted my mail, monitored my phone calls, controlled every penny I touched. He told me that if I didn’t cooperate, he would make sure I never worked in this city again.
He has connections, Mr. Brown. Powerful connections. And I have nothing. No money, no support, no one who cared enough to help.
She stepped closer to him, jabbing a finger at his chest. So don’t you dare stand there in your expensive robe, in your expensive hotel suite, and tell me I didn’t fight hard enough.
I fought every single day for 2 years. I fought until I had nothing left.
And today, today, I decided that if I couldn’t escape through the system, I would escape through the chaos.
So yes, I ran. Yes, I hid. And yes, I ended up in your bathroom.
But I am not weak. And I will not let you or anyone else tell me otherwise.
Silence. Zach stared at her. His expression was unreadable. Then his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and his jaw tightened.
My uncle is summoning us to the wedding hall, he said flatly. He wants answers.
Leave a Comment