Chapter 8 It Hurts

Caroline called Liam; the call took a while to get through. Liam

finally answered the call and Caroline started screaming at him. “You piece of

shit! How could you lock me in the car? Come here and get me out!” Liam calmly

responded, “maybe you need to spend the night there as punishment for insulting

me and for not doing as I say.”

            “What is

wrong with you? I don’t have to do anything you say! Let me out!”

            “I would let

you out, but you have to learn to not be so stubborn.” He remained calm while

Caroline was furiously insulting him in her mind. “Come and let me out, you

asshole!” Caroline was so pissed at Liam. “If you calm down and stop screaming,

I will go get you.” Caroline took a deep breath and said, “I’m calm now. Get me

out.” Liam got up from the chair in his study and said, “okay, I’ll go.”

            Minutes

later, Liam took off his sweater and undid two buttons of his shirt. He rolled

up the cuffs from his shirt and went to get Caroline. Liam arrived at the black

SUV and opened the door for her.

            When she got

off the SUV, she raised her right hand and tried to slap him, but he grabbed

her right wrist. She tried to get free but failed. She then tried to slap him

with her left hand, but he also grabbed her left wrist. Caroline tried to get

free but still failed. “Let go of me!” Caroline shouted. Liam grabbed Caroline

and carried her over his shoulder. Liam carried her all the way to his bedroom

as Caroline struggled to get free from his grip.

They entered a dark room that was

dimly illuminated by the light of the full moon, coming through the window.

Liam tuned on the lights and walked over to the canopy bed with Caroline over

his shoulder. He threw her on the soft mattress. She tried to get up, but he

pushed her back down. Liam took her heels off and threw them on the ground. “What

are you doing? Let me go!” She cried out. He grabbed her and turned her around.

He unzipped her dress and threw it to the ground, as well.

Liam turned her over and leaned in

close to her lips. Without touching her lips, he whispered, “you’re going to

learn to stop being so stubborn.” He took off his belt and tied her wrists with

it to one of the wooden poles of the canopy bed. Caroline struggled to get free.

Liam got on top of Caroline and kissed

her lips to stop her from continuing to struggle to get free. He separated from

the kiss and removed his shirt. He continued to kiss her and then he took off

his pant and proceeded to **** her.

After a long while, Caroline was so

tired, she was about to fall asleep. Liam freed her wrists and she closed her

eyes and tried to sleep. Tears streamed down her face. She promised to never

shed tears in front of anyone, but she could not hold them back any longer. He

had taken advantage of her, yet again.

Her wrists were red with the mark

of the belt. Liam was not done her just yet. He wanted to punish her more. He

kissed her neck and made his way down to her shoulder. He bit down on her

shoulder so hard, that it left a mark. “Ow it hurts!” Caroline whined. Liam

smirked. “We’re not done yet, princess.” Caroline was woken up from the bite. Liam

continued to kiss her neck and then kissed her swollen lips. Then he went for

round two.

Caroline woke up at noon, she woke

up in the same bedroom where Ricardo styled her. She assumed that this was her

room and that Liam had carried her there. She tried to get up but struggled a

little, the when she got of the bed, she fell to the ground. She managed to get

up after gathering some strength, but she was still weak on her legs. She

staggered on her way to the bathroom. She filled the tub with water, threw a

bath bomb on the tub and took a bath.

Forty minutes later, she came out

of the tub. She dried herself and walked to the floor to ceiling mirror. She

looked at herself in the mirror, apparently the only mark she had was the bite

mark on her right shoulder.

Caroline went to the walk-in closet

to see if she could find something to wear. The closet was filled with designer

clothes. She walked around the closet looking through every drawer. She walked

to the countertop island in the middle of the close. Through the glass on the countertop

she saw lots of jewelry divided into different sections.

On one section were wrist watches

on another section were sunglasses, necklaces, rings, and earrings. On the last

section were jewelry sets. There she saw the matching necklace and earrings of

her ring.

She kept looking around and stopped

to admire the high heel section. There is nothing that fascinates her than high

heel stilettos. Next to the high heel section, were other shoe sections and the

handbag section. She kept looking around and found that the clothes were

organized by season. She picked out the outfit to wear for today.

Caroline let out a sigh of relive

when she remembered it was Sunday. “Thank God I don’t have to go to work

today.” Even though she is the boss, she still prefers to go to the office, but

Sundays are her rest days, or at least most of the time. She picked out an

outfit and got dressed.

Once she was ready, she walked out

of the room and went to the kitchen to have lunch. Caroline walked into the

spacious white kitchen. “Good afternoon, Miss king,” greeted Mrs. Spence. “Good

afternoon…” Mrs. Spence walked up to Caroline and introduced herself. “We did

not get a proper introduction yesterday. I am Mrs. Spence. I will be at your

service. Mr. Sabbatini told me this morning that you are the woman of the house.

If there is anything you wish to change, please let me know. If you have time,

I would like to discuss the menu with you.”  Caroline politely declined, “thank you. But I

do not think that there is anything I wish to change. In regards of the menu, I

don’t think that there needs to be any changes made.”

“I’m almost finished preparing

lunch, I will server your food in a second.” Caroline nodded and asked, “where

is Liam?”

“Mr. Sabbatini had something to do,

but he should be back for lunch.” Caroline nodded. Then she looked around the

kitchen. “Does Liam live here alone?”

“Yes, Mr. Sabbatini has been leaving

here by himself for four years.” Caroline hummed then commented, “I noticed

that there are more stairs…”

“Yes, they lead up to Mr.

Sabbatini’s study and the observation deck.”

“Is there anything else up there?”

Mrs. Spence chuckled. “Well, of course, there is another living room and there

is also a great room. And of course, I cannot forget about the library… you

see, Mr. Sabbatini loves to read, he spends most of his time when he is free in

the library.”

After Caroline asked Mrs. Spence

for a cup of tea, the kitchen became silent. Caroline had been sitting on one

of the tall chairs in front of the kitchen island. Mrs. Spence handed her a cup

of raspberry tea. Mrs. Spence commented to break the silence, “you must be very

important to Mr. Sabbatini.”

“Pardon?” Mrs. Spence explained, “Mr.

Sabbatini seems to be quite fond of you… He has never let a lady live here. Much

less decorate a room. Did you know that Mr. Sabbatini picked the decorations in

your room himself? As well as the clothes in you close. Of course, he had the

help of hired professionals.” Caroline sipped her tea and responded, “I did not

know that.” Caroline looked at her phone to look at the text notification she had

just received.

“Hey, Care Bear.” Caroline replied

to her best friend’s text message, “hey, Teddy. What’s up?”

“Not much. I’m just bored.”

Caroline texted, “are you doing anything today?”

“Yes, I have a date with Jennie

tonight. But if you want to hang out, I’m free this afternoon.” Caroline messaged,

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the café near my penthouse in an hour.” When she

finished messaging Sebastian, she texted Persephone to invite her to the same

café.

When Mrs. Spence finished preparing

lunch, she set the table in the dining room for Caroline. Before going back

into the kitchen Mrs. Spence politely spoke, “Mr. Sabbatini will be here any

second to join you for lunch.” Caroline nodded and looked at the food in front

of her.

Once she was alone in the dining

room, she picked up her spoon and tasted the soup Mrs. Spence prepared. She was

not able to put the spoon down. She was famished. They always say that the

first meal of the day is the most important. Caroline was sitting alone on the

table enjoying her food when Liam stepped inside the dining room. Caroline did

not even glance at him.

Mr. Spence walked inside the dining

room to serve Liam his food. She placed his plate on the edge of the table, to

Caroline’s right. They were eating in silence, neither of them said a word. To

break the silence Caroline said, “I’m going to my penthouse when I’m finished. I

have to get some stuff from there.” Liam volunteered, “I’ll take you there.”

Caroline declined, “No need, I can call my chauffeur.” Liam gave a quick glance

at Caroline then looked back at his food. “Suit yourself.” His voice sounded emotionless.

Caroline finished eating, she grabbed her phone and left.

In the car, Caroline called Charles,

her cousin. “Hey Chuck, I need you to do me a favor.” Charles answered, “sure

whatever you need, cuz.”

“I need you to look into someone, Liam

Sabbatini.”

 “Why? Who is he?” Caroline responded, “this is

not the first time I have asked you to find information on someone.”

“Do you want information or dirt on

them?” Caroline chuckled. “I want whatever you can find.” Charles let out a

sigh. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Chuck.”

“Anytime, Care… I have to go. Bye” Charles

hung up the phone. Caroline arrived at the café where she told Sebastian and

Persephone to meet up. They greeted each other and then took a sit on the armchairs

by the window. “I’m so glad you guys agreed to come.” Caroline was happy to see

her best friends. She has known them for a long time. She trusts and loves

them. Caroline met Sebastian in kindergarten and Persephone in middle school. Persephone

replied, “sure Care, anytime.”

“There is something I need to share

with you guys.” Sebastian leaned back on the armchair and spoke, “what is it

Care Bear? Spill.” Persephone added, “yes, it sounds like some important news.”

Caroline took a deep breath and said, “well… I got married.” Caroline showed her

ring to Persephone and Sebastian. They were in shock; they could not believe

that their best friend got married and did not even tell them about her

wedding. “When did you get married? And why did you not invite us?” Persephone

asked.

 “Yesterday, everything happened so fast. I didn’t

even have an actual wedding… but I’d like to keep this a secret. I’m only going

to be married to him for a year,” Caroline explained. “Who is he? And why did

you marry him?” Sebastian asked. He was concerned for his best friend. Like

best friends, they did not keep any secrets from each other, so it was quite

shocking for Sebastian and Persephone to find out that their best friend is now

married. “Who I got married to is not important-.” Persephone interrupted,

“what do you mean?”

“Sephie… I know you are concerned

about me-.” Sebastian interrupted, “well, of course. This is so unlike you,

Care Bear. You would never keep something like that from us and we know it

isn’t Christopher. So, who did you marry? Why didn’t you tell us about him?”

Caroline let out a sigh, “it was because of my dad.” Caroline used her father

as an excuse, she did not want to tell them what the real reason was.

“I’m only telling you this because

you guys are my best friends. And can’t keep anything from you.” It seems best

friends do keep secrets after all. Caroline spoke, “my dad arranged me to get

married for a year. Since this is not the way I dreamed of getting married. I’d

like to keep it a secret. I don’t want anyone else finding out about this.” Sebastian

and Persephone nodded. They decided to respect Caroline’s choice of not telling

them whom she married. They trusted and supported her for choosing to keep her

contractual marriage a secret.

To chance the subject Sebastian

spoke, “I wanted to tell you guys that I have to go back to Canada for a bit.” Persephone

looked at Sebastian and asked, “how long are you going to stay there?” Sebastian

answered, “not too long, I hope. I am only visiting my mom for a few days.” They

spent an hour talking then, Persephone and Sebastian had to leave. Caroline

walked to her penthouse which was a few blocks away.

When Caroline arrived at her

penthouse, she was greeted by Susan. “Hello, Miss King.”

“Hey Susan.” Susan handed Caroline the

document she held in her hands. “What’s this?” Caroline read the document and

said, “you’re resigning?” Susan clarified, “I am retiring, Miss King.” Caroline

stepped closer to Susan and gave her a hug. “Thank you, for serving me all of

these years.” Susan had already packed all of her stuff and was ready to leave.

“Goodbye, Miss King.”

“Your last payment will be added to

your account.” Caroline spoke before Susan got on the elevator. “Thank you,

Miss King.” Caroline smiled bitterly as the elevator door closed. Caroline walked

to the living room and sat on the couch. The quiet penthouse made her heart

ache with lonesomeness.

Looking depressed and lifeless, she

got up from the couch and decided to gather the things she need. Caroline

looked everywhere for her laptop, she searched like crazy, then she remembered

she left it at work. She grabbed her white Louis Vuitton tote bag and placed

the things she needed inside the tote bag.

When she finished gathering her

stuff, she grabbed the key necklace from her vanity, placed it in a red jewelry

box and stored it in the hidden safe she has in her closet. She called her chauffeur

and went back to Liam’s place. She went straight to her room and put her bag on

the bed. She suddenly heard a knock on the door. “Come in.” Liam entered her

room and asked, “why did you take so long?” Caroline turned around to face him

and answered, “I met with my friends for a while at a café and then I went to

grab my stuff.” Liam was about to leave when Caroline stopped him. “Hey Liam,

can I use your computer? I left my laptop at work.” Liam agreed, “fine, I’m

going out or a while.” Caroline nodded and Liam left her room. When Caroline

finished organizing her belongings, she went to Liam’s study to use his

computer. Liam left his computer unlocked before he left.

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