Wrath

Renée felt troubled. She was making her way home on foot which was already unusual for her. She felt anxious yet relieved to go home after a hard day at college.

The rumours surrounding her and Rocky's sudden break up were driving her crazy.

By the third period, everyone was talking about how she cheated on Rocky and how she was pregnant with another man's child. What was bothering her was who had ratted her out in the first place. She didn't want to believe that Rocky would do such a thing but nobody else knew this information apart from him and Anara. She'd never thought that he could stoop so low.

No one felt that it was important to point out that Renée had been drinking a lot more than usual that night. That didn't excuse her behaviour in any way but she hadn't been her usual self. In all honesty, Rocky had never known how to satisfy her needs.

But Dante sure did.

She let out an exasperated sigh and cursed her stupid hormones for being able to see the bright side of this situation.

Renée knew exactly how her parents would react when they found out the truth about her break up with Rocky. Her father would go ballistic and her mother would be disappointed but her anger would be nothing compared to her father's especially seeing as he was out of the country. They weren't even supposed to find out because of the abortion but now this bombshell would be dropped leaving her in a mess.

Rumours like these were easily spread but she just hoped that they hadn't found out yet. She'd have preferred it if she could have been able to explain herself. Though what was there to explain? She'd made a mistake and she knew that but maybe if her father hadn't been so secretive and pushy then she wouldn't have even thought about doing such a thing.

She was certain that he didn't care about her happiness. His main concern was his empire and how he would do anything to stay at the top. He was the type of man to even sell his mother for something better in return.

The number of stares that she had received today had also been out of the ordinary for her. She normally prided herself on the fact that everyone's eyes would be on her when she walked down the school corridors. They all wanted to be her from what they saw. But this time they didn't want anything to do with her. They all judged her on her unfaithfulness towards Rocky because although he was the son of a mafia leader he was incredibly sweet. All the girls wanted to make Rocky theirs and now they had the chance to do that. She hoped that they wouldn't make the same mistake with him like did.

She nearly tripped over a packed suitcase sat near the doorway as she unlocked the door with her key but didn't think twice to wonder why it was there.

She remarked that the house was quiet. That thought alone made her feel uneasy as it was out of the usual. She couldn't even hear the servants and workers rustling in the kitchens like they normally did.

She silently slipped her shoes off and tiptoed her way towards the stairs but before she could take another step, a voice cut through her thoughts,

"Don't take another step."

She froze and all the hairs on her neck stood up when she recognised her father's cold tone. What was he doing here? She was sure that he was supposed to be in Cuba for another two weeks. What had caused his trip to be cut short?

"Dad." She said spinning around so that she was looking at him. She didn't know how to feel as she stared back and he probably picked up on her uncertainty by wrapping her in his arms.

The gesture was nice but somehow it felt forced. Almost as if he didn't want to be this close to her but he did it anyway.

That should have been the first warning sign for her but she ignored it and allowed him to lead her down into the basement.

"I've got something to show you." He said and she accepted his words.

An unknown emotion wormed it's way into her stomach as they got closer and closer to where the garage was. This part of the house was a lot more quieter and cut off from anyone else and she felt her heart rate increase.

It's a trap.

She soon realised that she was right to be wary when her father led her to the garage where all his precious cars were stored and her eyes landed on Dante who was lying on the ground, blood pouring out from his mo

She turned around to look at her father as if to ask if he knew but it was quite obvious to her now. With a wave of a hand, she was grabbed by two of her father's men who restrained her by placing her arms behind her back with a stronghold. At the same moment, her father's men continued Dante's beating and she winced every time a punch was thrown. She eventually had to close her eyes because his screams and cries were piercing her ears. She was wallowing in guilt and she was yelled at to open her eyes. Her father seemed to be enjoying how he was torturing her without even having to lay a finger on her.

She tried to fight her way out of the men's grip but she was pulled back hard and she winced knowing that her arm would bruise later.

"Dad, you can't do this." She begged but her plea fell onto deaf ears. "If you want someone to blame then blame me! Just leave Dante alone."

His eyes locked with hers then and a cold smile made its way onto his lips and she felt thrown off by his reaction.

"Oh don't worry I haven't forgotten about your role in this. You'll live but I can't say the same for him." He said pointing a finger at Dante whose whole face was now unrecognizable.

"This will be a message for the rest of my men that I take loyalty very seriously so if any of you even think about touching one of my daughters again then you won't live very long like Dante here to see it." He directed the last part to his men as a threat that they all knew was far from empty.

"No! Let him go, it's not his fault Dad," She screamed trying to get out the men's hold but that only caused them to press down tighter. She needed her dad to listen to her. He couldn't kill Dante but she knew very well that he was capable of doing that. Her father ignored her once again and she began crying because she felt so helpless.

There was nothing she could do to save him.

She watched as Dante squinted an eye open and her eyes landed on his bruised and bleeding lip and swollen eyes. What had they done to him? She had done this to him.

"This is all my fault," She cried.

It was bad enough that she had broken Rocky's heart but now Dante was going to die because of her. She wanted to hit her head against the wall because of how inconsiderate she had been. She had been fully aware of the consequences when she slept with Dante and he even allowed her to walk away but she didn't. Now she had to deal with the repercussions and it sure did hurt. She wished now that he had walked away because she'd never get to see him again. She'd gotten so used to his presence around the house; he'd always been there whenever she needed him. He was the best friend that she'd never had. She could talk to him about things that she'd never have had the guts to mention to Rocky or any of her "friends".

"Forgive me." She mouthed to him and he responded with a slight nod to say that he had.

"Don't forget me." He mouthed back and she felt her heartbreak into two at his words. He was saying goodbye and she couldn't look him in the eyes anymore so she looked at the ground instead.

"Take him to the dumping ground. You know what to do." Her father ordered and with that, they dragged Dante's battered body away.

She already knew what was going to happen to him and she squeezed her eyes shut knowing that those were the last words that were to be exchanged between them. She should never have dragged him into her messy life and now it had cost him his life.

"Who even told you?" She hissed. She already knew that Anara wouldn't tell but how could she be so sure?

The thing about betrayal is that it always came from the people you least expected making it so much more painful.

Her father didn't answer her question but she was answered immediately when her eyes met Rocky's. They stared at each other, trying to see who would break away first and as she expected, Rocky turned away from her eyes. She could see the guilt biting away at him and she hadn't felt so angry before in her life at somebody.

He took a few steps towards her and she knew he was going to come up with some sort of lame excuse as to why he had snitched but before he could open his mouth, she spat at him showing how she felt about him.

She felt her heart sink even further when she watched her mother and sister being pushed into the garage. Anara's eyes met hers with panic written in them when her eyes landed on the two men keeping Renée back. Mum looked from Renée to Dad with shock and confusion as to what was happening here. But at the same time, Renée knew that there was nothing that her mother or sister could do to save her from her father's wrath.

With a nod of the head, Renée was pushed onto a chair and she felt her arms and legs being tied to the chair. This was the moment when she came to terms with just how cold-hearted her father could be and how his empire was everything to him. He wouldn't let anyone or anything stand in his way of achieving his goals. Even his daughter.

"Why are you doing this Dad?" She gulped.

"You had one job." He seethed pointing a finger in her face, " All you needed to do was stick to the plan: keep Rocky happy for the sake of both our companies but you had to fuck that up just like everything in your stupid life!" He punched her straight in the jaw and she felt tears well in her eyes as the pain hit her hard.

She felt fear rise up within her because she knew just how unpredictable her father could be at times like this.

"Do you want to know why I did it?" She confronted. Despite her fear, Dad's words had also triggered anger in her. " I did it because I wanted to feel free for once in my damn life. This is my life, Dad! Not yours! You've had your nose in what I do for far too long and I've had enough of it.

I'm sick of it- we all are!

If you even paid attention to me then you would have seen that-"

Her rant was cut off by yet another punch in the jaw and she felt the blood rise in her cheeks.

He stepped away from her and her eyes widened when she watched him quickly unbuckle his belt before wrapping it around his left hand.

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but I know one thing for sure. I didn't bring up a slag in my household." He growled and it was at that moment when she felt the rough leather of his belt touch her skin. She instinctively yelped in pain and felt all the hairs on her neck rise at the sensation. A part of her deeply hoped that he would have mercy on her but Mark Rivers didn't have mercy in his vocabulary.

It felt like ages when he finally dropped the belt and she was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. She couldn't even count the number of times that he had whipped her with the belt and she could feel blood trickling down her body from where the buckle had hit her.

She'd never screamed so loud in her life and she hadn't felt so vengeful towards a person. It pained her to think that the person who had hurt her the most was the very man who had fathered her. It was then that she learned that she had never known what a father was because when had her father been there for her when she needed him?

Mark Rivers was only a name to her and she felt no connection towards him though what had been there to start with?

She could still hear her mother and sister's screams ringing in her head.

She watched the man that she had grown up with putting back on his bloodied belt as if he hadn't beaten the living daylights out of her moments before. He looked her over once more before disappearing from her sight.

She felt relieved when she felt the cable ties being cut off her ankles and wrists and she stood up shakily. She felt like her legs hadn't been working for ages and as she leaned down to grab her already packed bags, she felt the fresh whip marks writhe against her skin. She groaned but set her mouth in a firm line placing her backpack on her aching shoulders.

She picked up her suitcase and shuffled it out of the garage and the doors were opened by the guards. She began walking away in the opposite direction of the house she had spent her whole life in but she didn't feel anything. She couldn't even stop the tears dropping as she thought about the fact that she had nobody to help her. She was pregnant, scared, and hurt.

She could never be the same again.

"Renée, wait!" A voice called out and she turned her head realising that Anara was running after her. Anara ran into her arms and she winced at the raw pain but held onto her tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed into her hair, " I'm going to miss you so much, Renée."

"I don't what I'm going to do without you," Renée said truthfully. She placed her arms on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. She didn't realise how long she had depended on her and she had been the only one to support her when she found out about her pregnancy.

"You've always been so much braver than I ever was." Anara hiccuped. Renée wiped her tears away and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"We'll find each other again. Even if I don't want this to be goodbye." She responded. "I hope you'll be happy here."

She walked away from her older sister but Anara didn't make any move to stop her from walking away. She didn't want to drag anyone else into her mess. She meant every word that she said because she deserved happiness.

Renée wasn't so sure about herself but she only knew that things could only get better from here. She had no home to go to and although she was badly hurt and pregnant she didn't have her father breathing down her neck anymore. She could finally have a chance to live the life that she wanted.

That didn't make the fact that her father had disowned her any less painful. It hurt a lot but that was what Mark Rivers did. He hurt everyone but especially the people who cared about him most. He was just too heartless to care.

Even Pa had died loving him and at that point, Renée had hoped that her father would change. But he continued to neglect his mother to the point that her father imposed a ban on his family to not visit her. It had been ages since she'd last payed a visit or even spoke to her grandmother and she hoped that she was doing well.

That thought stayed in her mind and she painfully slowly began walking off in the direction of the train station.

By the time she reached her destination, she was panting and sweating from carrying all her possessions.

Feeling hopeless but a little better, she made herself comfortable on a bench perched outside the station entrance. She used her backpack as a pillow and pressed her suitcase against her side. She was fearful that someone would see her heavy bags and would try to thieve them.

As she tried to get to sleep on the cold bench, she felt like a nobody, it was almost as if she didn't matter. People were walking past her, not even sparing a thought or a few words to the broken girl who lied on the park bench.

She realised that she had been doing the same thing for the majority of her life- ignoring people. Thinking that she was queen bee just because of what her name stood for. She didn't even want to belong to her family anymore. She didn't need them anyway yet she still couldn't stop crying as she thought about what they had done to her.

She had lost everything. She had no home, no friends, no family, nothing. She didn't belong here. She didn't belong anywhere. She shouldn't be here.

If anyone should have died, it shouldn't have been Dante. She deserved to go into the crusher, not him. She deserved to have had her heart broken. She'd ruined everything for herself and for those around her. She'd broken Rocky's heart and now Dante was dead because of her actions.

She hadn't felt so abandoned before.

If only she could go back to her sweet 16 and erase it all. She would never have done it if she knew that this would've happened to her.

She lied there with a tear-stained face and a broken heart before she allowed herself to slip into the darkness.

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