Two days.

That’s how long I stayed locked up in my bedroom packing my things in silence and preparing for my departure.

I ate nothing and barely survived but now the previous emotional wounds did not hurt…I was numb.

Soon a knock came.

“Athena?” Jessica’s voice came sugary sweet.

When I didn’t move to answer, the door creaked open anyway.

Jessica stepped in like she owned the place.

“Sister, I know you have been… going through things but.. it’s my birthday, and everyone’s asking where you are. You have to come and greet guests because even if father is angry with you…you are still his daughter.”

I still said nothing and continued emptying my wardrobe.

“Athena… Please? I’m just trying to keep the family together.”

And then another voice followed

Deeper. Colder. His

“Where are you going? Why can’t you act normal once-”

“You are my servant not master, no need to forget your place.” My words sliced through the atmosphere like a dagger and Xander froze for a second, his face devoid of emotions as he looked at me.

I hadn’t seen him since that night. The night he sold my legacy like it was a clearance item.

“Miss Athena you have everything.” he said finally in a formal tone. “The Valcruz name…the fortune and legacy. You don’t need to compete with your sister or bully her.

The least you can do is show up for one night. Just behave.”

I laughed.

It broke out of me bitter and raw and more painful than a sob.

Behave?

Jessica sniffled, acting innocent. “Xander, you are my sister's bodyguard and friend so please help me…I just want Athena to come downstairs. Everyone’s talking…”

I turned my face away.

If I looked at either of them another second, I was going to scream.

“Get out, I will be there.” I said finally, my voice hoarse and dull.

Because the only thing worse than being broken…was letting them see it.

The ballroom glittered in soft pink and gold, walls dressed in roses, chandeliers dripping light like liquid sugar. Laughter floated like perfume, thick and sickly.

And then I heard him.

My father.

Laughing.

Proud.

“So, the Thorne heir himself chased after my Jessica!” he beamed to a circle of men in tuxedos. “Xander Thorne, of all people. I always knew my daughter was special!”

Someone asked about me.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Athena?” A wave of dismissal passed over his face. “She is a troublesome child. Not like Jessica. She is incomparable with that well behaved child and is always in conflict, always needing attention.”

I froze. The words sank their claws in my throat. Still, I stood there in the shadow of the marble column, invisible but listening.

Then Jessica’s voice rang out over the mic.

“Everyone!” she sang. “I want to say something before the cake!”

People gathered, drawn like moths to her manufactured glow.

She smiled sweetly, her gaze sweeping over the crowd until it landed on me. She beckoned me forward like I was part of her little act.

“I know things have been… tense…” she said, voice soft and saintly. “But I want you all to know…that I and my sister have made amends.”

I blinked.

She turned to me, eyes wide with false vulnerability. “I am sorry to make you angry and jealous sister, my intention was never to compete with you no matter how much you hated me I have always looked upto you…. because at the end of the day, we are sisters.”

The guests murmured.

Jessica smiled like she had just performed a miracle. “I just want us to be a family again. Don’t you, Athena?”

My lips parted, but I had no voice.

She turned back to the cake, slicing it elegantly before lifting the first bite.

“To my sister.” she said sweetly. “May she one day find peace and purpose.”

She stepped closer and offered the fork to me.

I didn’t take it.

Her whisper reached only my ears: “That’s the last thing you will ever taste as part of this family bitch. First your mother was thrown out and now is the time you follow her. Your father is not your own, your ex-fiance is running after me like a man in love and even your bodyguard whom you loved has chosen me above you… ”

My eyes were bloodshot red and yet I did not wish to give Jessica the satisfaction of making a fool of me thus I spun on my heel, ready to walk out of that golden hell.

And that’s when it happened…my dress tugged strongly and then..

SNAP!

Air hit my spine like ice.

Gasps tore through the room.

The weight of silk slid down my body in a merciless wave as my dress slipped down half my body making me partially bare- my breasts visible.

I clutched the fabric to my chest too late.

Cameras flashed instantly.

A low whistle cut through the silence as men openly gawked lecherously.

My arms shook as I tried to pull the ruined dress back up, but the clasp was gone. A deliberate cut which was clean and cruel making me kneel on the floor with tears in my eyes.

Behind me, Jessica gasped like she was the one attacked.

“Oh no, sister!” she said, hand flying to her lips. “Athena… why would you do something like that? Is this for attention again?”

The crowd turned.

Their faces melted together…shock, curiosity, disgust.

And then…

He moved.

Xander.

From the edge of the room, his gaze locked onto mine. Cold. Distant as he came forward and yet didn’t shield me.

He shrugged off his jacket like he was shedding pity and then dropped it at my feet.

Not on my shoulders.

Not around me.

At my feet. Like it was a choice.

A gesture that said: ‘Cover yourself. You have embarrassed us all.’

I knelt and grabbed it with shaking hands teared tumbling down my eyes in absolute devastation, pulling it over my trembling frame.

The room fell away in blurred edges and muted laughter as Xander guided me toward the exit.

No words. No comfort.

Just pressure at my elbow like I was some clown to be escorted out quietly.

We reached the bathroom that I rushed inside clicking the shut behind me.

My back hit the cold wall, and I slid to the floor, the marble biting into my bare thighs as I clutched Xander’s jacket around me like a makeshift shield. My breath was ragged, hands trembling, shame crawling up my spine like fire ants.

Hot tears trailed down my eyes as I felt like it was better if the earth would open up to swallow me whole.

Then I heard Jessica’s crying voice outside.

“W-Why would my sister do it?!”

“They way she acts…” Xander said coldly, his voice low and clipped. “Like it means nothing. Like stripping in front of hundreds was a performance she was proud of is something an innocent person like you will never understand Miss Jessica.”

Then came the words that pierced my heart like knives.

“I can’t believe a woman could act with so little self-respect.” Xander muttered. “Who takes their clothes off like that? For what…attention? Sympathy? A moment in the spotlight?”

I stared at the floor feeling like the walls closed in.

“I mean, she’s always been an attentionseeker framing you and acting like a…prostitute.” he continued outside. “But tonight proved it. No woman with dignity would do something like that. She exposed herself in front of everyone.”

The words were bullets.

One.

After.

Another.

He truly thought I chose this. That I planned the humiliation. That I wanted eyes crawling over my skin, wanted to be less than human in front of a ballroom full of people.

To think I loved this kind of man and gave him my heart?

I was full of regrets.

Loving him was the biggest mistake of my life.

Inside the bathroom my breaths came in shallow bursts but with the last of my strength I stood up trembling.

In the mirror the woman who reflected back was hollow and broken but her eyes were ablaze.

Pushing the bathroom door open, I got out with my dress wrapped around me tightly.

Xander’s body stiffened as he saw my mascara streaked eyes with his arms folded, jaw clenched as he stood beside Jessica…Watching.

Waiting.

And for a moment a doubt emerged in his heart…what if I didn’t meant for the wardrobe malfunction to happen?

That can’t be true.

“Miss Valcruz.”

I walked past him without giving him any reply and in the very next moment, I peeled off his ink black jacket before dropping it in the big thrash can at the side, right in front of him.

Silence cracked as Xander’s mouth parted slightly, a flash of something in his eyes…was it confusion? Regret? Annoyance?

I didn’t care anymore.

“Miss Athena” The butler who had been part of the estate since my childhood came running, his voice worried.

“Paul, what happens to insolent servants who gossip behind their masters?”

“They are punished, Miss Athena?”

I didn’t answer Paul. My heart was no calm… It was burning with hurt, rage and sorrow.

I turned.

And without a flicker of hesitation, my hand flew.

CRACK.

The sound of my palm meeting Xander’s cheek cut through the hallway like a gunshot. Louder than the ballroom music, louder than Jessica’s dramatic gasp that followed.

Xander didn’t flinch. He stood frozen, the mark blooming red on his skin.

His jaw clenched.

But I leaned in, my voice shaking, low and full of venom.

“Who the hell are you to decide my worth?” I hissed. “Who gave you the right to determine my character and then call me… that?”

My voice broke, but I didn’t.

“A prostitute? Really? After everything I gave you…after every time I protected you..you humiliate me like this?”

His eyes shifted with a flicker of guilt like he wanted to say something. But I wasn’t done.

“Out of everyone who’s ever hurt me… you?” I whispered bitterly, stepping closer, my breath trembling. “You are my biggest regret because even a dog never bites the hand that feeds it but you…you are worse than a dog.

This house has never been a safe haven and the woman whom you are chasing so desperately..you have no idea who she is but you are a fool who will never believe it, not until she makes you fall to the depth of hell!”

Xander’s eyes that always remained calm and indifferent now lightened with some sort of shock as he called.

“Athena..”

I turned around and left.

At that moment when I finally made it inside my room completely breaking down recalling the humiliation.

My mind spiraled as with trembling fingers I clicked on the latest news on social media thinking that all of it without a doubt will be filled with evil words about what happened at the party today….of how my body was exposed.

I would be make a joke of the century.

At that moment my phone buzzed.

[Anonymous: No pictures, no traces, no news….not even a single thing will leak outside.Those who wronged you today, remember their faces.

They will pay their debt in blood.]

My tears paused as my eyes widened as I read the message again and again before hurriedly opening the news channels.

[Breaking News: Media House CV goes bankrupt.]

[Breaking News: Famous News reporter Jason Barrew accused of sexual assault, court ordered immediate trial.]

[Breaking News: Valcruz Princess Jessica Valcruz’s business venture in America fails terribly, loss of ten million dollars.]

There was not even a single mention of the incident today, the reportors who flocked to take my pictures were either suddenly in prison accused of serious crimes or ….dead.

I took a sharp breath before a shock registered across my face.

This anonymous helper…it must be the work of Spanish Mafia.

Of Killian Arrows..

But why?

The next morning arrived in silence where the servants were all aware of what happened yesterday and did not know how to approach me at all.

In an eerie silence I sat at the breakfast table, flipping through a magazine and eating my breakfast.

“The Arrows empire has said that they will not wait anymore, in three hours they will send someone to fetch you.”

Just like that a folder passed to me by my father who sat in front without a word for half an hour, his own food left untouched.

[TRANSFER OF ASSETS

SHARES: Athena Valcruz - 30% Valcruz shares

COMPENSATION: $50 million

PROPERTY: Seventeen estates.]

“I-I didn’t knew that you were going to marry Killian Arrows. Your grandmother suddenly made the transfer official and informed everyone just today.” he said softly. “I-I don’t hate you Athena, if you be a little more obedient-”

“I will not be here anymore to stop you from bringing your mistress home so go on and bring Jessica’s mother here with you and give her my mother’s place.”

Mason Valcruz flinched, the death of my mother was a sore subject and everyone acted as if she never even existed.

“With this we are no longer father and daughter Mr Valcruz. I am cutting off all our relations so live well with your mistress and daughter.”

My tone sliced through the atmosphere making him open his mouth before if was clenched shut.

His shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t argue.

At the threshold of my room, Xander stood like a shadow refusing to leave, that slap would have made him rage for I dared to lay a hand on the heir to the Thorne empire but my words from yesterday made him feel as if he had crossed a limit…for that he took the slap without any complaints.

Xander’s eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the boxes, the folded clothes and the empty perfume trays. His voice came low, frustrated when he saw picture albums thrown into the thrash along with silly journals that I used to write about my life.

“Athena you could have at least told me you were leaving. Now I have to wrap everything up in a rush.”

I didn’t respond.

“You always do this.” he muttered, frustration brewing. “No warning. No schedule. Just disappearing like the world is ending. What’s going on, Athena?”

I folded my last scarf and placed it gently into the trunk before facing him fully.

“I am leaving for a vacation.” I said, tone void of emotion. “You don’t have to follow me anymore.”

His brow furrowed, voice rising with disbelief.

“What are you talking about?” He knew I had a troubled medical history, having panic attacks and a fragile body so how could I be left alone without any supervision?

“We had a contract Athena, its my duty to follow you 24/7 and protect you from any sort of harm-”

“And yet you have failed. I don’t trust you to protect me anymore so the least you can do is follow my orders.”

At that moment I handed him a small velvet box wrapped in navy ribbon.

“Bring this gift to Jessica from me.” Xander opened the box and his body froze as if I had slapped him hard.

In it was the key of the jewelry chest the heiress of Valcruz family was given at childhood as a recognition of her status.

“This chest? I remember you crying when Miss Jessica wanted to even see it, claiming that you will die but never hand it over…… and now you are giving it away?”

“I was foolish to think such things holds any value, since Jessica likes it so much, she might as well have it.”

Xander looked at my bare face and stark black dress that covered every inch of my skin, no jewelry and nothing like the fiery dresses I used to wear.

I almost looked….unrecognizable.

For a second…just a second his mask cracked and his heart felt uncomfortable like a bad premonition.

His eyes trailed over me like he was seeing a ghost or maybe watching someone slip through his fingers while still standing in front of him.

“You can send me the location where I have to join you..” he said stiffly. “I will give this to Jessica first… and then come to you.”

He stood there searching my face for an answer that wasn’t coming. In silence I dismissed him.

“Go.” And he did.

An hour passed and I was standing infront of the cemetery, a private jet humming with quiet readiness behind me.

My mother’s photo reflecting on the stone as I laid down beautiful blooming red roses…a color she loved.

“Mom, I am getting married to the man called devil and yet it feels half not bad.” I spoke gently, tears streaming down my face.

“I used to believe love looked like Xander but it was an illusion that I have discarded completely. From now on I will be happy no matter what.”

Five missed calls from my grandmother Victoria Valcruz reflected on my phone, seven from my biological father and more than hundred messages from my younger brothers who chose Jessica as their ‘favorite sister’ for I was just ‘too strict’.

[Xander: When are you leaving?]

[Xander: When is your flight Athena?]

{Xander: Send me the address.]

I smiled before taking out the sim card from my phone and tossing it aside, cutting all contacts with the so called family.

The pilot tipped his hat. “Miss Valcruz, we are ready for takeoff.”

I stepped into the aircraft without hesitation.

Farewell.

I no longer need you follow me Xander.

For I was leaving for ever.