??? More than a game ???
→→→ Beyond jilting ←←←
? Book twenty ?
? Iris’s standpoint {Hildegarde} ?
Knight poked me as he f0rç£fully ate my food. Anything I picked out to eat, he took and ate it for me. Knight had been annoying me all morning, from morning to afternoon, he had been annoying me. Indeed I was regretting it, he was extremely annoying. I wanted to follow Grandpappy to work, but he refused, f0rç£fully dressed me up, like dragged me to my room and wore me a dress himself. I have to admit though, his s-en-se of fashion was okay, uncomfortable for me but I planned on getting use to it. He wore me a black corset tube t©p with side rips, black mom shorts with white chain pockets, white corset knee high boots and a white silk jacket that flowed down to my bu-tt. He decorated my hands with some kind of juju beads and chains, adored my n£¢k with jewelries and f0rç£d a belly ring and white w@!st chain. He claimed that he wants me to look like a badas-s psycho, just like he is. Then he packed my black hair, don’t know the style but I looked amazing with it and the black makeup. First, I followed him to a ph0toshoot where I met some interesting people, moved to a public place where he did some autogra-ph signing, went to a studio and watched him rehearsed his new song after he introduced me to his crew members, director, manager and some other celebrities I never cared to know. Despite the annoyance, I had fun.
We were pres£ntly in a restaurant after his stressful practice, I hate his songs, so loud and noisy, but the only thing I love is the guitars, so cool! ‘Can you st©p eating my food and poking me?’ I whined.
‘Can you cut off my hand and command me?’
‘No…?’
‘Then no,’ I sighed, he wasn’t going to listen to me, he hasn’t so far. ‘Have you seen the pictures on the Internet? The ones of us? They think we are d@t!ngand says we are cute together,’ he laughed. ‘Idiots.’
‘Really? There are pictures alre-ady?’
‘Yes, but I’m sure you won’t know because you live a boring and miserable life, social media free. You are not even on WhatsApp!’
‘I am, or at least I was. Social media is a meaningless place to be, a waste of my valuable time, intelligence and strength. What do I have in common with godforsaken people trying to find a use to their miserably meaningless lives.’ I scoffed as I stirred my yogurt with the straw.
‘Ouch, that is cynical and a bit unreasonable. Social media is a good place to learn information fas-ter, get the latest news…’
‘Kill yourself over people that don’t know you exist, envy anyone’s pictures that is better than yours and become add!çts to something that will cost you everything good you should be doing.’
‘People that don’t know you exist?’
‘Take my ap@rtment for an example,’ I folded my hands on the table and leaned on it. ‘When I was still back there, there were three sisters who lived opposite my own ap@rtment, they were crazy fan girls. Everyday they would surf the internet for celebrities, made sure they buy whatever they wear, do whatever they did, act the way they acted and even copied their voices. If they weren’t doing that, they would be skrie-king over the boys. I remember the time some celebrity boy like that got married to Ella Briceno, Melody Bree’s older sister, those girls cried and mourned for one week, refusing to eat or go out because their crush got married. What about the girl in my former school, she cried her eyes out when Justin Bieber got married and the other woman at Melody’s ice cream shop, a cleaner who would always look at her with so much bitterness, why? Her father married her mother and had her and she loved her father who doesn’t even know that someone like her even exist. Tell me Knight, what use is that?’
‘Okay, I admit that there are a lot of bizarre people on the Internet that do crazy and obsessive things, but it is their obse-ssions that makes us stars. If no one do it, who then will be our fans? Admiration is sure to be there because you are seeing someone doing what you can’t do, living a dream you might have but don’t have enough resources or ideas or opportunity to. That is just the way things are, and not everyone is crazy, some just admire what we do and of course, our face…’ He ran his hand throu-gh his hair. ‘You can’t blame the good looking ones, or can you?’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Also, social media isn’t for just celebrities and fans, it is used for business as well, and you know that.’
‘Humph,’ I drank from my straw, closing my eyes to listen to just my thoughts.
‘What do to even want to be? What future do you see yourself having Hilde?’ I opened my eyes and looked at him, when Hans asked me that question, I couldn’t give him a reply.
>>>>>>>>>> Flashback <<<<<<<<<< It was after we went to visit my mother, he drove me to a lake for no reason. I didn’t question him, he reminded me that I was suppose to do what he says with no complain. I followed him as he led me to the lake, the people free lake. The golden yellow and pink sky shimmered down on the water, ma-king it glisten like diamonds on water. The sun was setting, the sunlight reflecting in the sky and redirecting to the water, it was beautiful. ‘This place is lovely,’ he looked at me with a smile, his charming heart melting smile. I looked away blu-shingly, his smile made my stomach and heart flutter more than the way my whole b©dy tingled whenever he t©uçhed me like the way he was holding my hand. ‘It’s my third favorite place to be,’ I looked at him curiously. ‘What’s your first and second?’ ‘My mother’s kitchen, just sitting and watching her sing as she cooks, dancing around like the world is smiling at her, like the world knows that nothing can ever take away her happiness. When I was a kid, I would always sit with her in the kitchen, just to watch the way she danced, the way she smiled and the glint in her eyes whenever she did it. Cooking is one of her hobbies, one she is brilliant at, one she does with so much pas-sion, enthusiasm and zeal. I thought she was a smiling goddess, the queen of happy land because her smile will always make you smile. You can never keep frowning or being angry when she is smiling, that is one of the reason why father loves and adores her.’ I could tell that he really loved his mother, she was the center of his world and if anything should happen to her, it would completely break him. ‘That is amazing,’ he pu-ll-ed me to sit by the bank of the lake. ‘You must really love her,’ ‘I do, I love her very much, more than anyone else.’ ‘I never had that relationsh!pwith my mother, she never liked me anyways,’ I shrugged. ‘What’s your second place to be?’ ‘On her be-d,’ he said sheepishly. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love it when I sleep beside her, it makes me feel safe and loved, like the most treasured being in the world. Whenever father was away and I around, I would sleep beside her all times, staying up most times to look at her sleep in peace, listening to her soft breathing…’ ‘Oh,’ I said with a smile. ‘My third place is here, sitting here and watching the sun set on the water, the diamonds floating on it and the sky-blue-pink beauty of the sky, it reminds me of no one else but her. My mother is like the evening sun setting on a lake or sea, a coloured sky taking in the breath of the sunset and k!ss!ngthe water with full glory. This place reminds me of her, feels like her.’ ‘Wow,’ I sm-irked, looking at him as he admired the water. Is it safe for me to see him as my own moonlight? Hans wasn’t the evening sun, he was like a full moon reflecting on a gentle sea, a night sky blessed with millions and millions of stars; tiny little diamonds. ‘Do you perhaps have a crush on your mother?’ He chuckled, his eyes still on the lake. ‘At first, yes, I did, I had a crush on her and wanted to marry her when I grow up but as I grew up, I changed that idea. I still think that de-ep down, maybe I still do, but I just love and adore her, that’s all.’ ‘Hmm, I don’t even know what to say,’ I said with a nervous laugh. ‘Then look at the lake and think of how peaceful it is,’ that I did. I focused on the lake, loving the beauty. (Then I hadn’t met his mother so I couldn’t see what he was seeing, but I knew that it was peaceful.) ‘What do you see yourself becoming Iris?’ He suddenly asked, breaking the long silence. ‘Huh?’ I turned to him. ‘In five years from now, who do you see yourself becoming? Your future?’ I couldn’t reply. What do I see myself at? What do I want to be? ‘You have never thought about your future before, have you, Iris?’ ‘No, I never saw myself outside saving my foster mother, outside trying to be the best Violet I can be.’ ‘My mother once told me that even though she thought she would die, she still had dreams, what she dreamt of becoming. She wanted a school as big as Dark’s, that was her dream, her biggest dream. Dad helped her achieve it, but it was hers. What I’m trying to say it that no matter how low you feel yourself to be, still have a dream or a career goal. Tell me Iris, what is the one thing that comes to your mind anytime you think of the future?’ Death, that was all that c@m£ to mind. I remained quiet, I couldn’t tell him that I alre-ady saw myself as dead before I cross twenty two, couldn’t tell him that I didn’t have hope to be anything or anyone meaningful in this life, that I was alre-ady a walking corpse when he met me. What would I have been if I didn’t meet Hailey, Lee and Hans? What would I have been if Melody didn’t accept my application to work as a p@rt-time worker? ‘Don’t feel like you were hopeless because de-ep down in you, you had hope, you had two dreams.’ ‘I did?’ ‘Seeing your mother healthy again and attending Dark Empire, those were your first and only dreams but it was something.’ But that wasn’t an excuse to the fact that I had no future. >>>>>>>>>> End Of Flashback <<<<<<<<<<
‘Hildegarde!’ Knight snapped, cl!çk!ng his f!ngersin my face. I shook my head and blinked. ‘Are you okay? You zoned out and suddenly started crying.’
I t©uçhed my cheek. ‘Oh, I see,’ I murmured. ‘I’m sorry, had a flashback to when someone asked me the same question.’
‘Who is he?’
‘He?’
‘The reason you are crying, who is the guy? Did you guys break up or something?’ They was no nee-d hiding it.
‘We never d@t£d, it was a fake relationsh!p…’
‘But you ended up developing feelings for him,’ he chided.
‘Yes, I did, and he sle-pt with my sister so it hurts.’
‘I tried to sleep with my ex girlfriend’s sister once, I was unsuccessful,’ he pouted. ‘I really wanted to fv¢k that boastful bit-ch.’
‘You can’t sleep with both sisters,’
‘I can, I have, and I will keep doing it. Now tell me, did he do it intentionally, drun!kenly or s£dûç£dedly…’ I bur-st into laughter, that was stupid.
‘s£dûç£dedly? Is that even a word?’ I laughed.
‘Ever heard of Knight dictionary?’
‘as-s,’ I laughed and rolled my eyes. He kept staring at me with a smile. ‘Fine, I think it was both drun!kenly and s£dûç£tatedly,’ I joked. He laughed loudly, his laugh was so loud it attra-cted the alre-ady attra-cted people. They had taken so many pictures I was sure the Internet would be fed with too much lies. Reporters were outside, being chased off by the cops. Knight surely loved commotion and attention.
‘I love that, added to my dictionary,’ he laughed. I was laughing too. ‘Okay, now let’s be serious. If your sister is Violet, then ignore it and don’t let her ruin your opportunity to be with someone you like. I know Violet, met her four times, and all four times, she tried to s£dûç£me.’ My eyes wi-de-ned.
‘We are cousins,’ I g@sped.
‘Humph,’ she shrugged. ‘She doesn’t care, she sleeps with anyone and everyone that catches her interest. We have some couple of male cousins, Violet have sle-pt with all. I just don’t un-derstand that bit-ch, what her problem is.’ He said with irritation.
‘Is she that bad?’
‘Bad?’ He snorted. ‘Violet is worse! She is a plague man must avoid, a disease. Violet is unstable, violent, dangerous, crazy and obsess. When she is obsess with something or someone, she will kill to get it. Even though Grandpappy never as-sociated with her, he set us up to watch and monitor her lifestyle. Violet is not just a bastard but a killer. Do you know how many cases Grandpappy have covered up for her? Use his authority to silent? Your father gives her too much freedom, raised her to be as rotten and black hearted as he is. She stabbe-d my girlfriend with a knife on the n£¢k and threw her down the balcony of my girlfriend’s house just because she couldn’t have me. Grandpappy might have found a way to make it look like an as-sas-sin’s work since her father was a politician, but she did it. I honestly don’t know why he keeps covering up for her, she deserves to be detained.’ He growled with so much bitterness and hate, clenching his fists ti-ghtly, so ti-ght his knuckles had gone white.
Was this really the Violet I was dying to be? A murderer, who-re and mannerless troll? What have I done to myself?
‘Won’t she kill me? For wanting to take Hans from her since she is obsess with him? Violet have always hated me, Violet have never loved me and was willing to have me thrown into a river when she was just a kid. What difference would it make now? She’ll kill me now I have taken her inheritance from her, taken everything…’ I said with fear, I hvgged myself.
What if she kills me?
‘The moment Violet tries something stupid, that is when she will know what it feels like to try and as-sas-sinate a queen. Don’t fear her Hilde, the moment she knows her pres£nce scares you, she will use it against you.’
‘What do I nee-d to do to become stronger?’ I whispered. ‘I want to grow to the level where I won’t cower in her pres£nce, won’t fear what she can do, feel much more powerful than her.’
‘You believe that she was never better, isn’t better and can never be better than you, believe that you are the one in power and control. Do you want me to give you lessons?’
‘Yes, plea-se give me lessons.’ I pleaded.
‘You look like a very good snob,’ I blu-shed and chuckled. ‘You are, a good snob and a no nons-en-se kind of person, right?’
‘I was,’ I sighed. ‘I don’t think I am anymore.’
‘Be that girl again Hilde, be that bit-ch that doesn’t care about what anyone thinks or say, be the girl with a heart of stone. To control Grandpappy’s empire, you are going to nee-d to be as strong as rock, ha-rd headed as a lion, wise as an elephant or so but soft hearted when nee-ded. You nee-d to be clever, bold, fearless, smart, intelligent, wise, stubborn but respectful and emotionless to those who deserves it. Do you un-derstand that Hilde?’ I nodded positively. ‘Then come on, we have a meeting with Grandpappy by six, we have two more hours to visit the shooting range.’
‘Shooting range?’
‘Yes, didn’t Grandpappy tell you?’ He asked sm-irkingly.
‘Tell me what?’
‘Your self-defense training begins from today and I shall take you to see your trainers.’
‘What!’
⚡ Hans’ standpoint ⚡
I glanced at slee-ping Violet, I docto-red her drink and food so she would sleep off. It wasn’t that ha-rd . The guilt of what I did was still eating me, I wanted to be done and over with, to stay away from her before I repeated the same mistake twice. The girls weren’t talking to me, two weeks of the cold shoulders was enough for me, mom and dad had become awfully quiet about something they want to tell me but was contemplating and Violet, the obsessive se-ductress was starting to win. Anymore day with her and I would fall. Since she always turned off the surveillance c@m£ras, it wasn’t ha-rd to get my pen drive to copy every single data sto-red in her father’s computers.
Ten more minutes to go.
Looking at her slee-ping form once more, I ran out of the office to her father’s room, time to get the diary I found a week ago but didn’t take. Violet was stupid enough to give me the pas-s codes to every room in the house. I punched in the code, opened the door and ran in to get the red box hidden inside his be-d. I saw the pages I nee-ded, I just had to get a ph0to of it.
•••••••••••••••••••• Violet ••••••••••••••••••••
I gro-an ed, someone was tapping and shaking me. ‘Go away,’ I m0@n ed.
‘Violet honey,’ dad called. I f0rç£d my eyes opened weakly, did I sleep off? Yes, Hans pet me to sleep. I was in my room, he must have carried me here. ‘Wake up, dinner is re-ady.’
‘Where’s Hans?’ I asked hoarsely.
‘Who’s Hans? The tutor? He alre-ady left, left when I was driving in.’
‘Oh, I’ll be down in a minute, just nee-d to call him.’
‘Violet, there is something I heard from my sister, she called and told me that my grandfather has re-adied the papers to be signed to his successor. I think you are going to be called soon.’ He said with a wi-de smile. I smiled back, finally going to own everything.
‘Well then, let’s be waiting for his call,’ he nodded in agreement. I picked up my phone in excitement and dialed Hans’ number while dad left. He picked up at the fifth ring. ‘Hans, guess what?’ I asked enthusiastically.
‘Violet, I really hate being the kind to do this but I want to, for the first time, I nee-d to.’ Was his reply.
‘What?’
‘I will no longer tutor you, I cannot handle your se-duction and bad behavior…’
‘What?’
‘Gosh Violet, sorry to say this but you are a very cheap who-re, one I can no longer stand. I have a girlfriend, remember? I want her to forgive me when she returns, not hate me. So from now on, you must stay away from me or I shall expel you from Dark Empire and have Victoria Secret terminate your contract. Don’t dare what I can do Violet, goodnight and goodbye.’ I blinked bemusedly, he hung up.
Did I hear him correctly?
I dialed his phone again, he hung up. My eyes watered, he wasn’t joking, Hans said that to me. That girlfriend, that snake; I hate her! I hate her! I hate her! ‘Dad!!!’ I screamed out. He c@m£ running in only two minutes later. I cried in his arms, explaining all that Hans told me, he broke up with me even if we weren’t d@t!ng.
‘You don’t nee-d to cry my sunshine, Hans is betrothed to whoever takes over Tobias, if she is a female. Once you become the legal successor, Hans will have to marry you whether he likes it or not.’
Again, hope wasn’t lost, he can still be mine
To be continued.