TAYLOR MACKENZIE

The days of my life had turned into a cold nightmare, I could still remember the crash, the ruin, everything. The day I lost my father to a terrible accident.

My name is Taylor Mackenzie, the daughter to the richest man in Italy, and the strongest mafia leader, Abraham Mackenzie. My grandfather was a wealthy man and controlled a great empire. My father took after him and also developed an empire so great. I grew out of wealth and had a beautiful family. However, everything started breaking apart when a woman showed up with a young boy just my age then. She claimed she had an affair with my father and the boy was the result of it. Father didn't deny it so he wanted to pay them off but she refused to leave, she refused to be paid off and wanted a place in our lives. Mom had a weak heart and suffered a heart attack.

Immediately Mom died, dad brought the lady and her son in after a DNA test was carried out, I could remember Jason then, he used to be quiet, innocent but now, he was a monster. He fought alot with dad, argued and his mother always took his side, I thought everything would die down, I thought we'd get over that stage. Unfortunately, we didn't.

Dad and Jason had a fight the night before the accident and I had a hunch Jason was responsible for the tragedy, but how would I face him? He and his mother had frustrated my life to a core, they want me out of the house, their space, everything.

I hated myself because I couldn't speak out, I couldn't voice out, everyone took their sides, my uncles, aunties. I was so alone.

I'm just like Mom, weak and vulnerable and I hated myself for it, I hate myself everytime.

I stood alone in the cemetery, tears streaming down my cheeks as the gravestones of my parents silently paid witness to my grief.

It had been a month since the accident that took dad away from me, and I would give anything to not be around Jason and his mother. I clutched a bouquet of fresh flowers tightly to my chest, the petals dampened by my tears. "Come back to me, please," I wept, whispering into the quiet air.

My legs got heavy and I knelt before the graves, feeling it's texture with my fingers.

Suddenly, sounds of approaching footsteps caught my attention, I turned to see my stepbrother, Jason, standing behind me with a cold and indifferent expression on his face. His presence felt more like an intrusion than solace.

I cleaned my tears, standing to my feet. "What?"

"Your tears won't bring them back, Taylor," his voice cut through the somber silence, devoid of any sympathy.

I looked up at him, my eyes pleading for some semblance of compassion. "Can't you just have a heart? He was our father," I whispered hoarsely, my voice choked with pain.

Jason's expression remained unmoved. "He's gone, Taylor. Crying won't change that."

I recoiled from his callousness, and sniffed. "It wouldn't still hurt to at least pretend to care, without him, you'd be-"

He didn't let me finish before his hand shot out, colliding with my cheek in a powerful strike. I recoiled from the slap, placing my palm on my hurting cheek as hot tears flowed from my eyes.

"What did you do that for?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"That's what happens when you say nonsense. That's by the way, I had a visitor earlier. He wants to see you."

I took down my hand, shaking my head as I wasn't ready to meet any of his mad friends. "I'm not interested in meeting anyone right now," I protested weakly, hoping he would at least respect my wishes.

However, Jason's demeanor hardened further. "You don't have a choice," he stated flatly, his tone brooking no argument.

Before I could protest further, Jason grabbed my arm roughly and began leading me away from the cemetery.

I was confused and frightened, who was this that I needed to meet. Jason never cared of introducing me to his friends, he didn't even let me come out when they came around, now he was pulling me to them, something felt odd.

Unable to speak up due to the slap from earlier, I stumbled along beside him. He opened his front door and pushed me inside, just when he was in, he drove up with full speed that I had to hold onto something for my dear life.

He drove in silence until we reached the imposing gates of a grand mansion that once belonged to my late father.

He grabbed my arm, burying his fingers into my skin with a deliberate intention of causing me pain. I whimpered, unable to make a sound. "Behave, or regret it," he warned.

He was the first to get down and I followed. A tall, imposing man, dressed impeccably in a dark suit stood by the entrance of the house, holding a cigarette.

He tossed the cigar aside on seeing us, a calculating expression on his face as he acknowledged Jason with a nod.

"Jason," he greeted coldly, his eyes shifting to me with an interest I found disgusting, he was literally my father's age or older. "And this must be Taylor."

Jason nodded curtly. "Yes, she's here."

Jason's answer caused my heart to pound in my chest. I glanced between Jason and the stranger, a feeling of unease settling in my stomach, I knew Jason and his mother wanted to get rid of me, however something about Jason and this strange man felt unease, unsettling.

"Hmm," the strange man observed me, "you don't look so bad."

"And a virgin," Jason said and I shot him a confused look.

"What's going on?" I finally managed to ask, my voice quavering with fear and confusion.

Jason turned to me, his face devoid of any warmth or concern. "Taylor, meet Mr. Donovan," he introduced with a hint of finality in his tone. "He bid on your head ten thousand million dollars."

My eyes widened in disbelief and terror. "What? My head?" My heart was racing now, what did he mean?

"You can have her, she did serve a good purpose anyway." Jason said.

He sold me.

Realization dawned on me, this motherfucker sold me. I was so done for, who was this old man, what would I become to him? What was happening?

I took a step backwards without their knowledge, my eyes scanning my escape route. If I escaped this episode, I would stay away from Jason forever, he could have everything, the property, the house, I just wanted a normal life.

When I was sure he wasn't looking, I sprinted to the door. My escape was short as a sharp pain hit the back of my head, I stumbled, meeting the ground in a heavy thud. My vision of Jason was blurry as he approached me holding a broken shar of glass, he smashed in on my head, son of a demon.

He squat down to my size and grabbed me by my neck, his grip tight and unyielding.

"Do you know what your escape would have caused me?"

I couldn't speak, I was gasping for air, I was struggling as my legs wriggled helplessly.

"Enough, Jason!" Mr. Donovan intervened and I was glad he did, I didn't want to be killed by Jason.

Jason released his hold on me and I sucked in a good amount of air.

"Take her," he ordered.

I couldn't struggle or resist, he had subdued me. I watched two burly men emerge from the shadows and approach me swiftly. Their hands closing around my arms, and their grip firm and unyielding.

I tried struggling against their hold despite my exhaustion as panic rose within me.

"Nice doing business with you," Jason said, a satisfying smile on his face. He turned to me, a wicked grin on his face. "So long Tay-tay, I hope you satisfy him enough. It's too bad I couldn't fuck you, he wanted you a virgin, if not, that hole of yours would be begging for my dick to fill it every minute."

I gave a weak smile and whispered. "I hope your dick gets chopped off."

"What was that?" He asked, leaning close with his ear close to my lips. Just when I was sure he was close enough, I bit him so hard that I drew blood.

"I said I hope your disgusting dick gets chopped off by a hungry bear, you bastard!"

Jason recoiled, looking surprised. He didn't see my outburst coming. However my excitement was shortlived as his fist collided with my face causing my nose to bleed.

At that point, my head spun around, I could hear an argument between the two men but couldn't understand what they were saying, Jason's hits were brutal, more like he really wanted me dead.

After their argument, I was dragged away by the men and thrown into a car trunk where I nursed my bleeding nose. Although I was in pain, I was glad I inflicted pain on Jason before leaving, I hope it leaves a scar, a painful reminder of what he did to me.