Tristan POV:
Waking up, I check my clock and it was almost 10 in the morning.
Fuck! I was supposed to wake almost 3 hours ago.
Stress has been working it's way up in me since I have been trying to find who is messing with me and my company.
The gathering was later on today, and I still needed to drive to the mansion, which was over 5 hours away.
After leaving Chicago, I went to my mansion in San Franciso. I still needed to make sure everything was perfect back at my residence in Los Angeles for the gathering today.
I got up and took my shower, and getting dressed in my business attire.
I skipped breakfast this morning, and headed towards the office in my home.
A few moments after I reached my office door, I received a phone call from my Arthur.
I gave him instructions to make sure Alina attends the gathering today, and I also needed to know if she accepted or not. I answered the incoming phone call.
Wasting no time, and getting straight to the point, "Has she accepted to attend?" I asked.
"No, I messaged her the information and informed her that she has to attend, no saying no but she made it completely clear that she will not be attending no matter what I say or do. I tried calling her after that, but she blocked me." He replied.
Bitch!
I have no time to waste on her and her moods.
My patience is really being tested now more than ever, with all the circumstances in this situation.
I don't have time to make her understand that she will be attening.
Asking and Inviting her was the simple, nice, and easy way of getting her attend. But what did she say? She decides to say NO!
Now I have to deal with this?
She should have accepted, but no she decided not to, so this time I won't be nice to her.
Of course she didn't know I am the one holding the gathering, but she still refused.
Well since she doesn't want to attend out of her own free will, I will make her attend.
She will soon understand she doesn't get to decide what's undebatable.
"Don't waste any more time on this situation. Go straight to her home, and make her attend. If I have any troubles from here, It won't be good Arthur! Am I making myself clear?" I asked him.
"Yea man, I'll make sure she attends." He assured me.
"Good, and don't forget the dress." I told him.
"I will bring the dress." He said again.
With this, I disconnected the call and got ready for the drive to LA.
Alina's POV:
When I opened the front door, the smile on my face instantly vanished.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him in a cold tone.
"Well maybe if you would have answered the phone and accepted the invitation, I wouldn't be here would I? He asked me with a huge smirk on his face.
Oh I wish I could wipe that ugly devilish smirk off his face!
He has no right to show up here at my home!
I did what I did for a reason, and I really wished that he would respect that and leave me alone, but no.
No matter what I do, I can never get peace.
How dare he act like I am supposed to listen to him.
I had every right to decline his demand.
He should know out of all people, I would never listen to him or go anywhere with him or his family.
"Stop acting like I am supposed to listen to you. Maybe you should have left me alone, don't you think? Your presence and your family disgust me. I will never abide by your demands!" I practically screamed at him.
My headache I tried hard to stop this morning has successfully come back with the presence of this fool.
"For a broken girl like you, you sure do have a big mouth. All talk and no action." He sneered.
Continuing his declaration, I just stood there glaring at him.
"You don't have an option or any say in what I tell you to do. In your situation, The best thing for you to do is to listen to me if you don't want issues with me. I for sure will tell you right now that you do not want issues with me, Alina. I might have seemed too soft on you, but you have no idea what I am capable of. Your issues and the situation that happened with my uncle, cousin, and your father is nothing. You think your in pain now, that you can't face or be in any more pain? Well don't flatter yourself dear. The suffering you will endure will be unendurable if you don't listen to me."
Wow, what an asshole of a man!?
All I could do was stare at him with utter silence and shock.
I am completely far-fetched with his statement.
I was not afraid of him nor his connections.
Does he honestly think he can convince me or scare me into listening to him?
I don't fear him or his family.
The only thing I hold towards him and his blood is complete requital and extreme loathe.
"If you think I am afraid of you, then you are stupid. I am far from scared of you. You cannot try and threaten me, because I don't fear anything you tell me. Nice try, but your little plan on scaring me into listening to you didn't work. That plan is now out the window for you" I smirked at him.
"Oh my dear Alina" He started. "You are such an intense woman. I don't care if you don't fear me, but you should. My message to you just now was a warning, a warning of what will happen for your insubordination. So, I suggest you listen or I will make you listen, and you don't want that, I promise you will not like what will happen at all. So just listen for a chance in your life and stop defying me." He told me meekly.
What he just told me was such an understatement.
I would care less about his message or warning to me.
He doesn't understand, he can't break me any further. My heart, my mind, and my soul has suffered so much, that anything that happens now is nothing.
He might think he can hurt me worse than I already am, but he is very wrong.
I am done being tore apart, I have already been ripped, and I learned to live with it. So now, nothing he or anyone else can do to make me suffer more than I already have.
"No, I will never just listen to you or anyone for that matter. I am 24 fucking years old, and I will not be instructed to do anything. Don't think you have any more power than I do!" I shouted at him.
I didn't even realize I was still standing at the door holding this displeasing conversation with him outside, until he pushed me back and just allowed himself to walk into my home.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? I didn't allow you to walk into my house! Find yourself out, you bastard!" I yelled again.
He just grinned at me, as if what I just said was nothing.
"Who do you think you are just walking into my home? My home! If I didn't allow you in, that means you can't come in. How dare you just push me aside and come into my house? Out Now!"
This man was really trying my patience. He aggravates and provokes me purposefully, looking for some reaction from me. I literally just want to go ballistic on him!
Standing inside my home with his arms folded and a big ass grin of his face, he only said two words, "Make me", and those simple but hellish words were enough for me to literally loose my calm.
If looks could kill, he would surely be dead by now.
It's obvious my face was steaming of anger. And the thing that irked me more was the fact that he enjoyed every second of it.
Resentment isn't even close to how I feel about him.
For a second, I was stupid to even think I could make him leave me and my house.
I actually thought fighting him would make him leave, when it just entertained him.
My punches and slaps were nothing, since he was well-built.
All my attempts were in vain, and he easily held me in place, stopping my attempts and resulted in me struggling to get free from his rigid and tight grip.
"Let me go, you asshole!" I shrieked, while still struggling to free myself.
With this he said, "Stop opposing against me, and I will let you go"
"I won't stop until you leave me!" I told him.
"Well I guess I won't be letting you go anytime soon" He said back.
After a few more minutes, I started to feel his grip getting more tight around my wrist, causing me to feel an utmost sting of pain.
"Ok-okay fine, I will stop, j-just let m-me go!" I yelped.
"And you have to attend the gathering" He added.
Fuck, I hate him! How dare he use this as a way to make me come to that gathering I know nothing about!
Even though I would love to tell him never in my life will I accept, his grip on my wrist was extremely painful, and all I wanted at this moment was for him to let go of me.
So, as much as I didn't want to do this, I agreed to go with him to the gathering.
"F-fine I w-will g-go to that stupid ga-gathering!" I screamed.
Waiting a few moments, he noticed my desperate orbs pleading for him to release me, and finally he did.
"Perfect!" He beamed.
Ugh! I literally want to slice him in pieces for what he did!
He is such an asshole for doing that!
He practically did this on purpose, just so he can get me to agree with him.
My eyes were almost poking out of my eyelids, and my face was radiating deep red of anger.
"Fuck you" I simply told him, and with that I made my way to the kitchen, stomping my feet on the floor like a kid who didn't get their way.
"I will kindly ignore your remarks, plus you can say whatever you want now that you will be attending the gathering!" He laughed.
"Don't get too carried away you moron" I sneered at him.
"Whatever. The gathering starts in a few hours meaning you don't have a lot of time left on your hands. How about you stop jeering and protesting, and get ready." He advised me.
There is no way out of this! I slapped my forehead in frustration. Not only do I hate him for making me go, I hate myself for being so weak into accepting to go to this damn gathering.
Don't blame yourself Alina! It's all his fault. You had no choice but to accept, he was literally trying to remove your wrist from your body. My subconscious assured me.
Yea, I guess i'm right, but whatever.
"Earth to Alina!" Arthur waved his big ass hand in my face, trying to remove me from my daze.
I rolled my eyes at him in exasperation. "What do you want you pestering asshole." I asked him coldly.
"You were zoned out for fuck's sake. How about you stop trying to irritate me with your despicable remarks, and get dressed. Time is not your fucking friend, Alina!" He loudly informed me.
Get dressed? What the hell am I supposed to wear to this gathering?
"I don't know what to wear" I simply told him.
"Oh, don't worry. I figured you'd say this, so I brought you a dress to wear. Don't you dare waste more time refusing my offer." He demanded.
Since the moment I woke up this morning with a hangover, today has been such an awful day. I never signed up for any this, but I guess the pen wrote my name of the list anyways.
"Whatever, hand it over" I complied.
Now, I am just noticing that he had a dress in his hand this whole entire time. How did I not see that?
Oh you were too busy arguing with him on you going to the gathering. My subconscious reminded me.
"Here take this and go get ready. You have 2 hours to get dressed, and that's it. You can't spend any more time getting dressed, for you have to drive with me for the next hour to reach the mansion where the gathering will be held." He enlightened me.
Oh hell no! There is no way I am driving with him alone for the next hour!
"No, I will not be in the same car with you for a whole hour!" I started again.
"Yes you will, and you have no say in this so stop refusing." He continued. "Now take this dress, go upstairs and get ready." He told me once again.
"And what will you do while I am getting dressed?" I asked.
"I don't trust you to leave you in my home while I get dressed. If you don't recall, I didn't want you in my home to begin with."
"Don't worry about me, I won't do anything. Until you are finished getting ready, I will be simply waiting for you on the couch. I have a phone call to make anyways, so please go now." He tried to assure me.
"You better not follow me, or do anything in my house while I am not watching, or I will literally kill you!" I screamed at him.
"I won't, now go!" He said equally harsh.
Groaning at him, I snatched the dress away and marched up the stairs towards my bedroom.
I don't trust him alone in my home, but what other choice do I have?
I swear he will be the death of me.
Once I reached my bedroom door, I went inside and took another shower.
I already took a shower when I woke up, to cleanse myself. It helped with my hangover, somewhat, but now I just feel disgusted.
I stayed in the shower for about 20 minutes, washing every single part on my body.
After I finished cleaning myself I went to the mirror and started to blow dry my wet hair.
It took me almost an hour for my hair to dry all the way, but once I was done, I took out my curling iron and started to curl my hair.
Once I finished my curls, I made my way to my bedroom.
My room had a lot of space, including a makeup section. I used my makeup session when I go places important, like work.
Sitting down, I applied my face cream that helps protect my face from makeup, before starting.
This was only a gathering, so I don't need to do anything special or over the top with my face.
Realizing this, I only applied concealer, a little blush, mascara, and lip gloss.
I look at myself in the mirror, and saw that my makeup was good.
Getting up, I walked towards my closet to retrieve some undergarments.
While doing my hair and makeup, I was only in a towel.
I have been upstairs for over an hour and a half, and I just know Arthur will scream at me at any moment now.
Arthur.
I haven't heard a word from him since I went upstairs. I wonder what he is doing downstairs?
I would take a peek, just to see, but I am not even dressed yet.
Calm down Alina. Just relax, he is not doing anything downstairs. Plus, he informed you he had a call to make, so don't worry. Nothing is happening, just continue getting ready for this stupid unknown gathering. My subconscious reminded me.
I assured myself that everything is okay, and finished collecting my undergarments.
Once I have done that, I walked towards the dress Arthur gifted me with. He wants me to wear this dress to the gathering.
No matter how much I don't want to admit this, the dress is actually very beautiful.
It was a Black Estee Long Sleeve Mesh Party Dress, and it was elegant and perfect.
I put on the dress, followed by a pair of Charlize black satin ankle strap heels.
Looking in the mirror, I would say I looked beautiful.
The dress, the shoes, my hair, and makeup all looked perfect together.
I don't know anything about this gathering, so I hope this isn't too plain, or too dressy.
I will have to ask him about this gathering, and why is it so important for me to attend.
"It's been 2 hours, we should leave now!" Arthur yelled from somewhere downstairs.
"Coming!" I yelled back.
I grabbed a purse for me to hold my phone, keys to my home, and a few other things before heading downstairs.
The moment I walked down the stairs, I immediately checked my entire downstairs, just to make sure everything was the way I left it.
I don't trust Arthur, and if I don't check, I won't know if anything has been messed with.
I looked around and didn't see Arthur anywhere.
Where is he?
"Arthur" I called for him.
Looking around I couldn't find him.
I continued to head towards the kitchen until I almost bumped into something, or someone.
When I looked up, I saw Arthur in a suit, looking at me.
"Oh there you are. You look stunning by the way." He told me.
I wonder when he changed into a suit? When I left him downstairs, he was wearing casual attire.
"Whatever, don't stare too hard." I warned him, rolling my eyes.
He just smirked and walked pass me.
"Let's go, smart mouth. I informed you that you only had 2 hours to get ready, but instead you took 2 hours and almost 20 minutes. We need to leave now if you want to make it on time." He advised me.
"One, I don't have a smart mouth. You just aggravate the hell out of me. Two, I am a woman, and everyone knows it takes more time for women to get ready than men. Don't hold it against me that I spent an extra 20 minutes. And plus, I don't even want to go to this gathering, you are making me. So, if we do end up being late, I would care less." I enlightened him.
"Whatever, let's just go."
"Wait, you still haven't told me anything about this gathering besides the day, time, and where it's held. I know nothing about this gathering, nor do I understand why it's so important for me to attend. I am completely unknown to this information. Please do help me understand these reasons before we leave." I asked of him.
"Alina, it doesn't matter. I will tell you once we get in the car, I will not allow you to waste any more time than you already have." Arthur said.
"Fine." I groaned, once again rolling my eyes at him.
I locked the door behind me, and made my way to Arthur's Black Maserati Mc20.
I can't believe I am actually attending this gathering, and I can't believe that I am allowing myself to be in same car with him alone.
He opened the door for me, and I got in. "No need to act like a gentleman, I for sure know you are nothing close to one." I told him.
He just ignored me and closed the door, making his way to the driver's seat.
Once he got in, and we both buckled up, his car started and he started driving.
"Now will you tell me the reason?" I asked him.
"What?" He asked smiling.
"You know what I am talking about. Don't act stupid"
"I have no idea what you are talking about" He smirked.
This moron! He promised to tell me what the reasons were when we got in the car, and just for a moment I actually believed him. I knew I can't trust a damn thing he or his family says or does.
"You know what, continue to be dumb okay! After this gathering, don't even dare to come near me again." I screamed at him.
"We just got in the car a few minutes ago, and we are already fighting. How fortunate." He replied.
How fortunate? He started it by making me attend a gathering I know nothing about!
"Don't you dare pin it on me and act like it's my fault, because it's not. It's your fault. You started this the moment you started stalking me."
Ignoring me, he just laughed and continued driving.
His entire attention was on the road, completely ignoring me.
I knew this was a bad idea.
I really should have stuck to no, and not even bother to open that damn front door.
Sometimes I wonder if the situations I always find myself in is because of me.
I hate my life, and everyone who ever made my life hell.
I decide to stay silent and just look outside the window, deep in thought on what my life is.
*An hour later*
It has been almost an hour and a half since we left my home, and I really wonder what's taking us so long to get to whatever this gathering is.
This whole entire drive was in complete silence after our not friendly banter.
After a few minutes, I started to see a huge luxurious house, or mansion, filled with cars and security.
Is this where the gathering is?
I wonder why it's so full of people and security.
If this was meant to just be a gathering, why do this make me feel like I will be crowded?
And Because of Arthur, I still don't know what I am doing here, and why I need to attend.
After finding a place to park in this crowded place, the car stopped.
"We are here, are you ready?" He asked me.
I slowly shook my head in no, but he obviously took this as a yes.
"Let's go", he told me before opening his door and making his way out of the car.
I just took a deep breath and sighed, assuring myself that everything will be fine.
It's obvious in my features, I am freaking out in frustration.
Not only am I anxious, I am still extremely confused.
Before Arthur could open the door for me again, I opened the car door for myself and got out.
Arthur tried holding my hand, but I quickly moved it, not wanting him touching me.
I was highly uncomfortable, and made distance between me and Arthur while walking towards the mansion.
The moment we got to the gate, we were stopped by security guards.
Just a few seconds after they noticed Arthur, they quickly opened the gate for us to enter.
Still walking, we made it to the big doors of the mansion and walked in.
Once we walked in, I noticed this place was filled with people.
The interior of this mansion was very elegant, making it obvious everything in here is expensive.
I looked lost the moment I realized how crowded it was.
Arthur was right beside me, but my anxiety was over the rooftop.
"Follow me" He told me, and I did just that, not wanting to get lost in the unfamiliar place.
I had no idea where we were going until I saw we were heading towards a very expensive leather couch.
After sitting down, Arthur informed me that he needed to go do something and he will be right back.
As much as I hated him, I knew no one here. I didn't even know where I was, and I surely don't want to be alone in this huge place.
I tried my best to get him to understand this and not leave, but unfortunately it didn't work.
He left, and I was all alone.
There were others sitting on the same couch as me, but they paid me no mind, like I was invisible. Somehow I wanted to be just that.
*15 minutes later*
Checking my phone, I see it has been over 10 minutes since Arthur left me alone, and I have no idea where he decided to run off to.
I wonder where he is, and what he is doing?
Getting up from my spot on the couch, I started to walk around looking for Arthur, and praying I don't get lost.
This mansion was hella huge, and there was no way I was going to locate him in here.
The Mansion was filled from top to bottom with people.
How was I supposed to ever find him?
Still looking around, I turned a corner, and finally saw Arthur.
Sighing, I was making my way to him when I noticed him with company.
And among this company, I noticed a familiar face, causing me to pause and stop right in my tracks.
How could I forget him? He killed my father.
His face was engraved in my mind, refusing to forget.
I instantly knew exactly who he was, and he was staring right at me.
Tristan Turner, that's exactly who he is.
I was froze not knowing what the hell to do.
My mind said run and never look back, but my feet felt heavy, like they were stuck to the ground not allowing me to move an inch.
The moment I saw him, the only thing I felt was pure anxiety, sadness, and most of all, Rage!
My eyes were glued to his, mines not able to move.
Not only was I frozen in place, I couldn't register or process anything.
In the blink of an eye, my day just got 1000 times worse.