His Ex Wife

Chapter 21: My father

Flashback

Mariella had not stopped thinking about her first kiss after the incident that had occurred yesterday or last night if she put it correctly. When Iyan had dropped her back home, he had insisted she keeps her jacket even though it was already cold for him too.

The moment she had stepped on the threshold, she had been scared Rupert Lewis would already be there, waiting for her, but luckily nothing as such happened. Rupert had been in a deep slumber, and she had also quietly gotten into her own room, locking it just in case he did wake up, and she lied in her bed, unable to sleep.

She knew she was dragging it till too far but she had been drawn to Iyan, she had indeed felt it a few times that he understood her, without her having to say a word at all. She imagined if he really liked her that much, the blush from her cheeks refused to leave her alone with her thoughts and her cheeks heated up at the thought of his arms engulfing her, protecting her from the world while he held her still, kissing her.

The night fell and the day was already here, at 6 am sharp, the knock on her door startled her, bringing her out of her reverie. She realized she had not even slept all night.

“Out of the room, on the breakfast table,” Rupert yelled on the other end of the door.

“Yes sir,” she cried from in bed, her heart was in her mouth by now. Everything about Rupert Lewis struck fear in her heart, the kind of fear she could not get rid of, even if she wanted to.

She had no other choice, this was the routine she had to follow every day when Rupert Lewis was at home, breakfast at 6, news at 7 and leaving for work at sharp 8. At night, he was already on the dinner table at 7.30. He liked to follow the clock’s rules very strictly and made sure Mariella did too.

Mariella stood up, she felt a bit weak because of the lack of sleep, but still got up and brushed her teeth to reach the breakfast table that was on the ground floor.

Rupert was in the kitchen when she arrived at the breakfast table. It was a grand table that could easily accommodate more than 20 people at once. She took the seat as far as she could, on one far end of the table and waited. It was the rule of this house, the one who was in the kitchen could not be interrupted or else the one interfering would receive punishment.

And thus, one could easily make out that the rules of the house were made by Rupert for his own convenience and could be broken only by him- after all, who else knew about the rules he had made up anyway…

Mariella recalled the first time when she had come from Italy and tried to prepare breakfast for her father as a gesture of peace, after all, who else was she left anyway in the world but that had been her first mistake: entering the kitchen without asking Rupert. And the punishment that she had gone through, still made her heart sit every time she thought of it.

Indeed, Rupert had locked her in the cold freezer for 3 hours. That is just how he was, he reacted well and normally when everything went his way, but one had to let things get out of his control to see what he really was- sick to the core.

Rupert got out of the kitchen now, he placed the benedict omlette and some orange juice on the table and sat right opposite to her. She waited for him to sit down, no one could start eating until he did.

Rupert John Lewis was a man now in his fifties, he had not gotten married after his relationship with Mariella’s mother, Lucy. She had been the last woman he had been attracted to and he was heartbroken after she had left. He was still as fit as a fiddle, he really took care of his diet and physique, that was probably the reason he did not age much, his face barely had any wrinkles upon them and his nose sat sharp, like that of a wolf dog.

He swallowed a bite from his plate, his fork still in his hand and knife neatly set aside. He was observing Mariella now, she had been quiet and somewhat nervous today. He could tell looking at her body language. Something about the way she sat right now, in front of him made him want to throw her right now on this table and make her scream; the fear she felt, the way she trembled when he was inside her turned on the animal inside Rupert. But it was something else today.

“Anything on your mind honey?” he asked strictly.

His voice alone made Mariella jump up. She had really been lost in her own world of thoughts.

“No,” she said hesitantly and started munching her breakfast forcefully, she knew Rupert liked the plate to be finished, he did not tolerate wastage.

Her father did not say anything, but he kept an unflinching eye on her all the while she had been eating.

After their breakfast, Rupert insisted that he dropped her to school which she denied, but she knew that her opinion would not hold water. He was adamant and as soon as they got to school, Mariella was about to hop out of the car anyway, she could not bear the presence of this man for any further, it made her sick.

Right then Iyan appeared out of nowhere from amongst the crowd of the students lazily creeping their way inside the premises of Edmont High. Iyan could not sleep all night either, it was evident, his puffy eyes had big eye bags underneath them but the glow on his face was unmatchable to anything else in the world. He had been waiting at the gate for Mariella to arrive, though he did not have any classes today, but he just wanted to see her once before she got inside school.

But first, he got to see the luxurious Benz in which Mariella arrived, her father being the driver. From inside, Mariella had already seen him approaching and she prayed inside her mind that Iyan did not come this way, she did not want her father to know about Iyan at any cost.

But Iyan had already seen her, he made his way to Rupert’s car, smiling along. Rupert had been sharp to observe the boy very well, a teenager of around Mariella’s age, maybe older and the smile he had on his face let out all his feelings towards his daughter.

“Good morning sir, I hope you’re doing fine,” Iyan bent to the car’s open window on the side of the passenger seat where Mariella sat. He looked at her and smiled even wider, “How are you?”

Mariella kept quiet. She knew what a ruckus that would cause, her legs shivered thinking of Rupert’s wrath. Rupert’s face grew stern however seeing Iyan and he observed both of them for a long moment before speaking.

“Who are you I might ask?” he looked at Iyan.

Iyan’s face grew taut with consciousness, “I’m a classmate sir, I just wanted to show Mariella around and help her with a few subjects as well,” he explained, hoping it would work. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

But nothing was going to work in this case. Rupert knew the type of girl Mariella was, she would receive a lot of attention in schools and any other place she would go to, that was the reason he wanted to keep her just to himself, locked up in his cage for his own use- his attraction to her had been instant the moment he had seen her in Italy and he had decided that very day that she was his, only his.

“My daughter doesn’t need any of your help, you can go now,” he ordered Iyan, giving him an authoritative and threatening look. Mariella understood well enough what that meant.

Iyan looked at Mariella to see if she wanted to react to that but she refused to look up at Iyan, she knew she just couldn’t, what would she tell him anyway…Looking back at Rupert who was still stern upon his words and his death glare intact.

Assuming she just had really strict parents, he decided to leave but said to Mariella whose eyes were still glued to her feet, “I’ll wait for you in the library,” and went away.

As soon as the boy was out of sight, Rupert looked at Mariella and she felt her gaze harden upon her, he placed his hand on her shoulder and pressed it hard enough for her to wince out a soft cry and said to her, coming dangerously close to her, “No other love in the world is like the love of a father has for his little girl…” His hot breath fanned the side of her face and she kept her face down, a tear rolling down her cheek by now.

He caressed her sharp shoulder bones with his thumb and Mariella could not even help flinching. Her stomach turned in nervousness whenever the thought of him forcing himself upon her came back to her, it had happened that night after he had locked her inside the freezer, she could not forget that night even if she had wanted to.

He removed his filthy hands from her, and his fingers curved the staring wheel now as he looked straight and ordered Mariella, “Be home before 3.”

She nodded and got out of the car as quick as she could. The car stormed away with a ruffle. She felt weak standing on her own feet this time, she wondered if she even had the strength to go to her classes, her torturous moments inside that house came back to her, one after another and she just did not feel like she was ready to face all these children or most importantly, Iyan right now. She turned to the gate and went to the back garden of the high school.

There, she chose a small corner that was barely visible, she decided that she needed the bunk and the break from the classes today. She sat on the grass, in the shadow of a large tree and got her wooden notebook out. She started writing.

‘Dear diary,

If mom had been alive, I would have never been handed over to this beast…I wonder if she is still watching over me. But I’m not going to fail her, she wanted me to study well and go to college and build my own life- the circumstances might be tough right now, but I have to be strong, she was strong too, only for me. She kept fighting with a disease like leukemia to give me a better life, to provide for me, to be my strength and I have to do that too, I have to fight, to be my own strength…

Dear diary, I have to tell you about someone else, his name is Iyan. Iyan is my first friend in this place, he is really kind and caring to me, he makes me laugh too. Oh, how I’ve forgotten to laugh with a friend…What happened to Kathy still kills me on the inside, Iyan is my first friend after Kathy actually…I really like him. He’s smart and sarcastic and he seems a lot like me, lost and trying to find his way…’

“Do all girls do that?” she got interrupted by a voice that now stood right over her. She shut her notebook immediately and looked up to see Scott. He had a soccer ball in his hand and he turned the ball around his hand, while he watched her write in that notebook, of course, focusing on the ball, he could not quite notice what she was writing and neither could he read upside down.

“What are you even doing here??” Mariella shouted at him in exasperation and immediately started collecting her things to get up and leave.

“Why do you dislike me so much?” Scott asked her with a teasing smile.

Not looking up at him, she retorted, “Dislike is not the word, hate is, I hate you Scott,” she clarified now looking up at him. He was extremely irritating if he did not already know about this.

Scott’s grin just grew wide in return, he was so pleased as he answered her, “There is a thin line between hatred and love Mariella Lewis.”