chapter 4

*Noami's POV*

There was only a second of silence in the room; then, it was as if the enemy dropped a bomb.

"You cannot do this, Naomi," Aunt said with disbelief, her face contorted by the stress. "This wedding is beyond your power to walk away from!"

I rose and took my suitcase, which was held up with my hand tightly, I gripped on the handle as though my knuckles turned white due to holding it that tight.

Yes, I did.

My tongue gave me a flawless intonation filled with coldness.

Aunt Mildred was burning with rage. She was trembling and pointed fingers at me. "If you do this, then I will take your father’s inheritance as the first thing."

I knew she was threatening me not to go Well, but I was determined not to allow all that to get to me.

Aunt Mildred had been my guardian since I was fourteen, ever since the accident that took my parents away and left me alone with nothing but memories of a vanished life.

For nine years, she had been the one to rule over and the decisions regarding my future.

But not anymore.

I took a long, hard breath, and saw myself carrying the full weight of my past everywhere I went.

"You can shove the inheritance down your ass, Aunty," I answered back without stopping to think.

Immediately I said those words, I felt a heavy slap on my cheeks. The slap rang with no sympathy throughout the room. It was a sound to which, justly or not, one can become accustomed.

I staggered, I was very surprised; my cheek felt burning; my heart was incessantly thumping against my ribcage.

I tasted blood.

But the blow is a minor part of the whole story.

What I found most surprising was—

For her, being violent was okay as long as it meant that I was in my place.

Rachel gasped beside her mother, eyes wide in feigned shock. But it was there, hidden behind the act, satisfaction.

"Mum!" Rachel shouted, moving closer. "How ungrateful of her! Just let me—"

She raised her hand to smack me, too, but I managed to grip her wrist in midair.

Definitely not today.

I threw her back quickly, hard, and she fell backward.

Aunt Mildred came in between us. "Enough, Rachel," she said with a quiet, strong authority, stretching a little the words she said. "If she pleads to go, let her go. But remember, Naomi—"

She marched ahead slowly, her presence seeming to cut off my very air. There's no place for you in this house anymore, not even at your father's company. From today, her lips arched, and she spoke the final word. "To us, you are gone."

Dead.

The term fell in the silence of the air like dust.

I thought I'd be hurt by all this drama, but strangely it didn't.

Nevertheless, this was not the most horrible moment.

Not after the way Alexander and Rachel had betrayed me.

I realized that Alexander was standing there. He was supposed to be my man.

He stood there quietly, watching everything, not even saying a word while I I was experiencing all that.

Coward.

I swallowed my emotions down through the tightness of my throat.

With my shoulders squared, I studied both of them.

Rachel was leaning back with her smug, self-satisfied grin.

Alexander dared not say a word. It was a weakness in him.

I gave a slow breath and reserved this moment.

Soon enough, however, I would make them pay.

I will be back.

I didn’t say it aloud, but I kept the promise deep within me.

Then, without another word, I just turned and left.

...

The air outside was very cold and sharp, I breathed in as the air can burn my lungs and seemed to fill it to the brim.

This is it.

Freedom.

Nothing, no home, no money, no hope.

I was left with nothing.

I walked toward where my garage was all of a sudden, I stopped.

Of course, it won’t be there.

I didn't own any car, not even one.

I was just disowned.

Everything I had ever known, the wealth, the privilege, the security, was locked behind that door.

I laughed for just a moment, with a hint of bitterness.

Yesterday night, I was on my way to make the necessary arrangements for my wedding.

Now I was standing on the sidewalk with my suitcase, trying to figure out where the hell to go.

I swallowed the lump that came in my throat and pulled my coat tighter around me.

I must get moving.

I should leave this place and get away from the scenery of life, which is no longer mine.

I carried my suitcase and moved away from the mansion, from my past.

I took the first step

Then another.

And only after that, with no looking behind me.

...

I walked for hours.

The city vanished from view, glowing street lights, honking cars, and people passing through their sanity, while mine had collapsed.

I barely felt the cold anymore, all I could feel is pain.

The treachery.

The disgrace.

The rage.

I walked deeper and deeper until my knees were numbing and were hurting.

Somewhere on the road, I came across a boarding place, and it was a wreck of a motel.

I stopped and found myself in a difficult situation for the first time.

“It's not like I had any other options.”

I dipped my hand in my pocket and saw a few crumbled notes that I had snatched while going out.

A meager sum.

But enough money for tonight.

I closed the door behind me.

The receptionist barely looked up as I handed over the cash.

"Room 206," he muttered, sliding a key toward me.

The door creaked as I pushed it open.

The room was interestingly filled with the smell of dust, which made it seem like it had never been cleaned. The bed was hard like it was made of bricks, and the wallpaper was already peeling.

The world that was outside was not what I was used to.

But it was mine, For now, at least.

I Sat at the corner of my bed, I put my head on my hands and closed my eyes.

Everything happened so fast.

In one moment, I was a bride to be, the next moment, I was a woman “with no home, no family, no future.”

I forced back the tears that wanted to drop and I tried to breathe.

I won't cry.

I couldn't.

Shedding tears meant I was breaking and I'm not broken.

Not yet.

Raising my head, staring at my reflection in the tiny mirror across the room.

My face was still very red from the slap.