CHAPTER THREE

Irene's POV

I walked into my room to find Ava sitting on my bed with a worried look on her face. She jumped up as soon as I walked in and rushed to me "Irene, what happened, are you okay, did he hurt you?"

"no Ava, I'm fine" I said trying to avoid her gaze but she turned my face gently to face her, she narrowed her eyes and gasped "your lips are bleeding, he hit you?"

"Ava, really, I'm fine. It's just a minor thing, I'm okay." she sighed and led me to the bed, we sat down together "Irene, you've got to be more submissive to Logan, you know he doesn't take kindly to disrespect. I don't want you to end up like Audrey, Talia and Mia...."

"he wouldn't do that to me..." I growled "stop it Irene, don't say that. Logan is pretty unpredictable. The man is crazy, the reins on his control can snap anytime and who knows what he'll do, please be more careful." I sighed, Ava was a wonderful friend, she's the only friend I have in this wretched place, the other girls hate me because they think I'm Logan's favorite, they said he gives me special treatment but really, I don't see anything special in the way he treats me, he's just a big jerk. I remember my first three weeks here after Logan defiled me, I would constantly weep and the other girls would mock me, some would tell me to grow up and do my job and stop being a big baby. I hated them all, I hated this cruel place, I wanted to burn it all down but then one day while I sat down crying on the bed, I heard a soft knock on the door. "Go away!" I screamed but instead of Logan's annoying voice, I heard a soft gentle voice "Irene? Can I speak to you for a moment?" I paused, blew my nose and told the person to enter "enter!" I said harshly and in walked a very beautiful lady. She had long blonde hair that fell in curly waves on her shoulders, she was tall, had the brightest grey eyes I've ever seen, she wore a very short and tight pink, off shoulder dress that complemented her pale skin and she looked within the age range of 18-20. "Hi, my name is Ava." I just stared at her refusing to speak. "can I sit with you for a while?"

"did Logan send you?" I asked frostily and she giggled, it was the sweetest thing I've ever heard "what? No, Logan didn't send me..."

"then why are you here? Are you here to mock me or tell me to do my job?" I snapped again. "No Irene, I'm not here to do that" she responded calmly. I stared at her with bleak eyes for a while and she smiled at me, it was a beautiful, warm, genuine smile. She sat next to me on my bed and for a while neither of us spoke until she finally broke the silence.

"so, how old are you?" I stared at her for a while before replying "thirteen" her eyes widened a bit but she quickly concealed it "do you mind me asking how you got here?" rage flashed through me and she seemed to notice it cause she spoke quickly "it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I'm not gonna insist or talk about it anymore if you don't want me to." another long pause

"how did you get here?" I asked slowly and a rueful smile spread across her lips "I was tricked actually. I came from a very poor family, I'm the only child of my parents, we lived on the docks living off grubs, my dad would go to beg and would return with pennies barely enough to feed anybody. Then one day, a man came to our place, he said he was from a modelling agency and that I had the talent and abilities to become a famous supermodel and that I'll be sent to a modelling school. My parents and I were thrilled, he paid my parents a huge sum of money and took me away." she shut her eyes tightly"I haven't seen them since then" when she opened her eyes again, they were moist and distant. I felt really bad for her "how old were you?"

"I was sixteen" she turned to me and smiled "I'm eighteen now. I don't even know what Logan did to my parents, I don't know if they're alive or not. I don't even want to think of what he would have done to them." we were quiet for a long while before I spoke again "my brother sold me" her eyes widened at my confession. "Our parents died when I was five leaving just the both of us, he's been the one taking care of me since then, I don't really know what changed or what exactly happened. One night, he wasn't around and some men came to kidnap me, they told me that my brother sent them. He sold me to them." I wiped my face "I idolized him, I adored him. My big brother betrayed me!" I started sobbing uncontrollably and she hugged me, patting my back and told me it's gonna be okay.

**********

Leo barged into my room. "get up and get out!" he commanded Ava and she did as she was told giving me a sympathetic look as she left I sat and glared at him, "this can't be good" I muttered to myself "what do you want?" I barked. "Logan wants you working now."

"now? But I need to rest today..."

"not anymore, so go get ready cause you've got customers waiting already" my eyes widened "customers? Then when am I gonna get any rest?"

"not this week that's for sure." he said with a smirk as he left the room. I clenched my fist, this was Logan's doing, he's probably using this to punish me but I won't give him the satisfaction of being miserable, I'll put on a brave face like I've always done. Pushing all my emotions down, I stood up and got ready for work.