- Ace King -

I woke up in a different room than the one I was previously in. I could hear yelling from the other side of the door, and like the time in the kitchen, I heard Mindy and her father's voice.

"Why the hell do I have to do it!" Mindy yelled.

"Do you want me to do the same thing I did to her to him?" Mr Summer said rather calmly. There was a pause before I heard Mindy mutter a no. "Good. I don't want you to fucking talk to me like that again. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," she replied.

I could hear Mr Summer's heavy steps fade before the door opened. Mindy walked in, and my eyes widened when I noticed tears forming in her eyes. She closed the door before locking it. She didn't see me at first, but once she wiped away the falling tears, her eyes landed on me.

Her eyes went wide with surprise, and she ran to the washroom that the room provided. I stood up from the ground and for some reason, I walked towards the bathroom door. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that there was something I could do to get Mindy to get me out of here.

Even if she is a bitch.

I softly knocked on the door, but there was silence. So I knocked again.

"What do you what?" Her voice was hoarse, and I could hear her slight sobbing.

"Are you... crying?"

What the fuck Ace!? Of course she crying!

"I'm not crying. There's just something in my eyes."

"Don't play dumb with me, Mindy. You're fucking crying. It's obvious."

I heard her cry even more, and that made me wonder if I really am that much of a bad person. I leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door as she continued to cry.

I wanted to get out of this damn house. But knowing that the place was surrounded and I didn't have any sort of weapon with me because I lost my previous gun, there was no way I could make it out of here.

As Mindy started to sober up, I waited for a few muon before softy knocking on the door.

"You okay?"

"Why do you care?" she snapped back immediately after I asked. "You want me to tell you how to escape, don't you."

"Duh."

"Well too bad. I'm not saying anything," she replied.

I groaned and place dry forehead on the wall. I don't even know why I thought Mindy could help me.

"Why can't you think about others instead of yourself for once?" I harshly said. I didn't care if I hurt her feelings anymore. She can rot in hell for all I care. I just needed to get the fuck out of here.

"Everything I do is for him," I heard her say, breaking my chain of angry thoughts. I heard suffering before the door opened. I looked inside and saw Mindy on the floor, her right side leaning against the door.

"The only reason my father married my mother was to take over the company that her father gave her. My father had never loved her. But my mother does. And she'd do anything for him," she confessed.

"He's not my real father. He and mom adopted me when I was ten years old."

A small smiled appeared on her face as she continued.

"I had a brother and a sister. Twins, to be exact. They were five at the time. Their names were Annie and Austin."

Annie. The name that was engraved on that grave. I knew Mindy had a sister, and I knew that she died, but I never even bothered knowing the name. But I also didn't know she has a brother too.

When she spoke again, her smile dropped to a frown.

"We lived in separate orphanages, so when they adopted me, they didn't know about my siblings because I never told anyone. I never talked about them. I wanted them to forget about me because I knew they'd be better off without me in their lives when they got older."

She started to cry again, and I really didn't know what to do. When Mia cries, I'd hug her close to me, whispering sweet nothings in her ear until she calmed down. If that didn't work, I'd kiss her forehead and stay like that for a few seconds before her cries started to calm down.

But she's not Mia. And I can't stand when people cry.

"But my father found out, and secretly adopted them behind my mother's back. Mother only knew about Annie, not Austin. My father saw how much I cared for them, and he took advantage of that. He said that if I didn't do what he demanded me to do, he'd hurt them."

Mr Summer really is a sick man.

"It wasn't anything bad. He just told me not to tell mom and to make sure that I did everything in the house. But then, when we moved here, he heard about you. How your father's a billionaire. And he wanted that."

Mindy wiped away her tears, and she looked at me with empty eyes. There was black surrounding her eyes. What do girls call is again? Mascara?

"He told me that if I didn't get c-close to y-you, h-he'd—"

She burst into tears again, but I knew exactly what she was saying.

He'd kill one of them.

"I-I tried to s-stop him, b-but it was to l-late," she sobbed. "H-He s-shot her in front of A-Austin and I."

"I had to pretend that I didn't care about her death. But there were so many nights I cried as the memory kept replaying Every second I closed my eyes. I tried so much that even a bit of makeup wouldn't cover it. So I had to put more than needed."

My hatred for Mr Summer grew for the words Mindy had said. Mr Summer killed a young girl in front of their eyes. And I don't even think he regrets it.

"Everything I was told to do, I obeyed. I even dyed my hair blonde because father told me that he hated my black hair before telling me to change it. When I entered high school, that was when father told me to get close to you again. But this time, h-he threatened that he'd shoot Austin."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"He's downstairs. Locked up in chains. He's been here for years. Father never lets me see him, but I know he's alive."

"Mindy, you have to tell the police."

She shook her head. "I can't risk losing him because I made the wrong decisions. Father will know and he'll shoot him."

My eyes widened when Mindy moved towards me. She was crying as she bowed her head that rested on the floor.

"Please, Ace," she begged. "You have to listen to my father and marry me, or else he's going to kill Austin."

"Mindy—"

"I know you don't like me. I've always known. You love Mia. Everyone knows. It's been clear since day one. And I hate myself for bringing you into this mess, but I had to."

I signed and kneeled down as she continued to cry. I hesitantly patted her head until she slowly started to calm down. She began to sit straight, wiping away her tears with her hands before looking at me.

I really don't know what to say. This girl just confessed her biggest secret. I don't even know how I feel about her. Should I hate her or should I pity her?

"So, will you do it?" Mindy asked after a moment of silence. I could see the desperation she had in her eyes.

Shit. I don't know what to do. I didn't want to marry her, but what about her brother, Austin? If I didn't do this, that's bastard will kill Mindy's only family. She fucking begged me to marry her for his sake!

"Everything I do is for him."

And everything I do is for Mia. She means everything to me. I would do anything for her. She was the only person I would bow down do. I would die before I let anything hurt her. And I'm not with her. I don't know if she's hurt or not. I don't know if she's safe.

All I know is that this whole messed up situation will eventually get her hurt because she was brought into this. If marrying Mindy means that Mia wouldn't get hurt, then there's only one answer I can give Mindy.

"Fine. I'll do it."

••• - ••• - •••

Yes - comment where and what.

No.

Yes.

No.

Comment here if you don't care.

- Theo James

- Francisco Lachowski

- Stephan James

- Tyler Clinton

- Jacob Bixenam

- Faze Banks

- Alex Pettyfer

- Blue Smith

- Cole Sprouse

- Logan Lerman

- Nick Bateman

- Chace Crawford

- Marià Casals

- Lily Collins

- Olivia Giannilli

- Amandla Stenberg

- Alissa Violet

- Daniella Campbell

- Amanda Cerny

- Blake Lively

- Thylane Blondeau