Marrying my high school bully

Melissa

The sun shone brightly, the atmosphere bubbly and charged, but my feelings were the direct opposite as I worked on packing the rest of my clothes.

It was past one pm, and it gradually dawned on me that in less than three hours, I’d be leaving California for Mexico. Mexico was a nice country, but I wasn’t sure it would be nice to me if Dexter wasn’t there.

What could I do about it?

Nothing!

The doorbell jingled, so I dropped the last pair of black shoes I’d selected as I didn’t know what event I might be attending, even though I planned to stay indoors throughout my visit there.

My chest tightened since I wasn’t expecting any visitors, then I shook away my suspicion, reminding myself that if it was Leonardo he wouldn’t be coming directly through the door.

I took a peek at the peephole and found a man standing beside a bike with a box, causing me to frown.

It was strange to see him because I didn’t make an order and I wasn’t expecting anything from someone else. But then, my eyes caught a glimpse of the bouquet of roses, glued beside the box and excitement swelled within me.

There was only one person who could pull this off.

Dexter.

He could have brought it himself, but I guessed he liked to be spontaneous sometimes, so I happily opened the door and signaled the delivery man to come over.

He carried the box along and the scent of the roses drifted to my nose. My cheeks heated as I anticipated Dexter’s arrival.

“Please, sign here.” His voice had an eerie familiarity that made my knees weaken.

My hands trembled immediately, but I refused to let my fear show, so I steeled myself and collected the pen from him. Quickly I signed that I’d received the package, and hurried to get inside but I was restricted by the cold metal that was pressed against my neck.

The delivery man pushed closer, his breaths which smelled of alcohol fanned my neck, inciting a stomach upset within me.

“You thought you could escape me, stepdaughter?” He growled, his tone mischievous and dark.

I gulped as rivulets of sweat ran down my face, while I leaned on the doorway.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” I hollered, hoping that my tone came out stronger than I sounded. “You are a wanted criminal, do you think that this is the best place to be right now?” I questioned as my heart thudded fast.

“I should be worried about that, not you, my darling, so go ahead and open that door before I do something nasty to you.” He threatened and I obeyed.

If I wasn’t pregnant and Lilly wasn’t at home, I would have fought him. My only hope was in the nanny who was preparing lunch in the kitchen.

His hold on both of my wrists was painfully tight, as he led me to the wooden chair and asked me to sit. I tried to be stubborn and I regretted it immediately as he sent a punch to my back.

A wail flew out of my lips which I tried to hold back, but it was of no use because Lilly’s light steps reverberated on the stairs, causing me to hiss loudly.

The last thing I wanted was for the psychopath to meet her, but it was happening right now and I couldn’t do anything because he focused on tying me up like a common criminal on a stake.

He dusted his hands after he was done, flashed a sinister grin at me, and then directed it to Lilly who ran towards me. “Now that I’ve got you all tied up, we’ll go into a question-and-answer session. I’m sure it will be fun.”

Anger burned within me as I glared at him. Dexter would be back soon, but how long would it take for the man I called my stepfather to hurt me?

I gritted my teeth, ensuring that my scowl was obvious. “I’m not answering any of your damn questions, and if I were you, I’d run away with my tail between my legs without looking back.” I snarled and Lilly flinched. My heart sank as her fear became evident. “Please return to your room, honey.” I pleaded, but she shook her head and leaned on my thighs.

He chuckled mockingly and tapped the butt of his pistol on his palm.

“There’s something that you are yet to realize, and that is the fact that I did my due diligence before coming here. You don’t know how hard it has been for me to live, constantly looking out for the cops so that I wouldn’t get caught, and that is all because of you.”

“No, don’t blame me for your misfortune, Leonardo.” I countered. “You’ve always been a greedy scallywag who doesn’t want to work hard for anything. You are mentally unstable, and till this very moment, I regret the day my mother decided to marry you.”

He bared his teeth at me, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. He drew closer to me, his aura threatening and scary.

“Oh, Lorraine, you shouldn’t have called me unstable.” He cackled, walking around me leisurely still playing with the gun.

I kept my gaze trained on him while working on the knot of the rope he tied me with. Along the line, my muscles began to ache as the knot proved difficult to loosen.

“What are you going to do?” My voice was sharp and void of fear.

I was even surprised at my audacity.

His brows arched as he reached for the box that was supposed to be for me. Then he yanked it open with so much force that the liquid content from a transparent bottle spilled out.

He hissed in annoyance and picked up the bottle.

“I didn’t want it to happen this way, but you brought this upon yourself.” He snickered.

I stared at him in confusion as my heart plummeted with fear. “What are you talking about, Leonardo?”

“I wanted this to be slow and steady, but you just had to spoil my plans. I’ve got a lot of things mapped out to do to you, and my body is charged with excitement so there’s only one way you can escape from this trap that you set for yourself. Do you want to know?”

Lilly was with me which meant that I had to tread carefully with him.

“I want to know.”

“It’s simple, stepdaughter. Withdraw the case against Emilia and me, and I’ll disappear from your life for good.” He clicked his finger and I scoffed.

My lips stretched into a doubtful smile. “You really think it will be that easy to fool me, huh? Emilia is already paying for her misdeeds, and it’s just a matter of seconds before you join her as well.” I quipped.

His snicker transcended into a full-blown scowl as he waved the bottle at me. “Don’t you care to know what is in here?” His tone had a chill edge to it.

“I don’t care.”

He shrugged, then uncapped it properly and spilled the content around me. “This is the punishment you get for being so stubborn. In your next life, you won’t joke with me.” He smirked evilly and produced a lighter from his pocket.

I gasped, my eyes popping with the realization of what he was about to do.

My heartbeat spiked as I struggled to loosen the rope. His cynical laughter filled the air as a flame from the lighter flickered.

“No, Leonardo, don’t do it. You’ll hurt your Lilly.” I cried, “I know that you hate me and trust me, the feeling is mutual, but consider your granddaughter.”

“Of course, I will. That’s why I’m taking her away after your body is burnt to ashes.” He chortled and flung the lighter towards the flowing chemical.

The house went up in flames instantly, as the pungent odor emanating from the liquid mixed with the smoke brought a choking sensation.

The thick black smoke formed a haze and spread around the living room while I coughed. Then I realized that Lilly wasn’t with me anymore.

My eyes darted around until I found Leonardo dragging her out of the house with her screams resonating to the roof.

“Don’t take her anywhere!” I yelled, fiercely struggling to untie the rope, but it was too late as he had already made his way through the door.

A warm hand touched my shoulder and I flinched as the nanny cut off the ropes with a razor blade.

“Why didn’t you do something?” I hollered at her, my breaths bursting in and out as I fumed.

“You don’t have to be scared ma’am. The cops are around already-”

I didn’t wait to hear the remaining information as I broke into a sprint, wading through the fire that spread widely. As I ran, the memories of how he hurt me slipped into my mind, fueling my rage.

I’d gotten to the facade and then I halted as Leonardo’s back was directed at me with Lilly in his grip and a gun pointed at her head.