"Andrew, when can we go home?" Ella asks absent-mindedly. Unlike Melissa, she hasn't been allowed to get out of her room even once. The four walls are what she is confined into and have to stay there until Melissa learns to behave.

"You are not going home and neither will she. This is your home." I declare. They both have to accept their reality. Ella at least listens and is quiet but Melissa shows no fear.

"Ella listen to me, if you want to share or just talk about anything I'll listen to you. I don't want you to get hurt too." I try to show some kindness. It's not like I like these girls staying here out of their will. I still understand that Blake needs Melissa but Ella is just bait to keep Melissa in control.

"Hurt too? What does that mean? Did you both hurt Melissa?" She asks in desperation. Her eyes are filled with tears, tears of sadness. I didn't even tell her about what Melissa is going through and she has started crying. I don't wanna know her reaction if I tell her the truth.

"No, I just meant she is mentally tired of staying here. It's not like we hurt her." I lied to her, and that too a big lie. Melissa sure is acting strong but I can see the fear lurking behind that confident face of hers.

"Please don't lie to me, Andrew. Let me meet her, please. Please." She keeps pleading but I can't let her meet Melissa yet. At least not now, when her hand and arm are so badly bruised.

"It's already late, so have some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." looking at her healed leg, I tell her to rest by pulling the duvet over her body and leave the room.

************************************

Melissa pov:

"Don't you dare do anything, Blake." I say sternly and in response, he pulls me closer, enough for our lips to brush each other.

"Really Melissa? Do you think you can stop me?" He mocks before smashing his lips on mine. My eyes widen while he closes his eyes and dances his lip around mine. I feel disgusted and I can't let him exploit me like this so I dig my nails into his hand but it doesn't work so I dig them on his face directly.

He winces in pain and pulls back his face only to get a hold of my hands in one large hand while the other stays put behind my neck. His hold on my neck tightens as he pulls me closer one more time.

"I told you. You can't stop me." And with that, his lips make contact with mine once again. I squirm to get out of his hold but he keeps strengthening his grip on my neck. My bruised hand feels like burning. It hurts a lot. Tears run down the sides of my face. I have no other option now. My head and hands are under his control, and now my only source of defense is my legs.

He leaves my hand only to pull me onto his lap and within a snap, he gets a hold of my hand once again. How does he manage to do everything while still eating out my lips hungrily? My hands are behind my back and it hurts badly. My bruises are only gonna get worse because of him. He bites my lower lip for entrance but I strongly deny it.

He grabs a handful of my hair and makes me whimper in pain, "Aaah!" And with this, his tongue gets the entrance and it roams all into my mouth. His tongue explores every corner of my mouth before he playfully decides to fight my tongue with his. Although I don't move my tongue, he keeps attacking mine with his, and in the end, I give up and decide to fight. Obviously, not with my tongue but with my sharp teeth. Oh, I love my teeth so much right now! In a quick second, when his tongue danced into my mouth freely I decided to bite it harshly. I feel the metallic taste immediately and Blake finally pulls out his tongue and makes some distance between us. He hisses in pain and I smirk proudly.

"Told you, I can." I mock. Before he could get a hold of me I jumped out of his lap onto the floor.

"Ya sure, you can. But only after I succeed in my plan." He laughs, making me realize that he did kiss me for so long. And then bile started rising my throat.

I run to the bathroom and throw up. Blake follows behind and strokes my back gently with one hand while he holds my hair in a light grip at my back with the other.

"Are you alright?" He asks, concerned.

"Only if you didn't kiss me, then I would have." I taunt and he looks slightly hurt but then replaces it with his cold look.

"Just because you're not well I'll let you off with your punishment." He says sternly as he crouches down to get a towel.

"Wasn't that kiss my punishment?" I ask out of curiosity. Well, that's what he always does to me in the name of punishment. He enjoys himself as he tortures my lips till they go numb.

"Well, that doesn't count as punishment, baby girl. It was just for my fun." He jokes and hands me the towel.

I pat dry my wet face and gape at the choice of his words. Fun? Seriously? Does kissing someone without their consent look like fun? He is seriously twisted and is in dire need of a doctor's help. Only if he approached me after I became a doctor. I'd have treated him myself.

Thinking about becoming a doctor and then looking at his face shatters my already broken dream into a million pieces. There's no way I can go back to achieve my dream. A tear slips down my eye as I think about what more my cruel destiny awaits for me. His touch on my cheek while wiping my tears brings me back to reality which is no less than hell for me.

"Okay, I'm sorry. It was selfish of me to kiss you when you already went through so much." He takes a hold of my hand as he gently, very gently trails his fingers over the bruises.

"Come let's get you treated now." He says as he takes me to the bed and sits me down before disappearing back into the bathroom. He comes back in a minute with a first-aid kit in his hands.

Gently and softly he tries to put the ointment on my bruises, but every time he does I wince in pain.

He looks up at me since he's kneeling on the floor while I'm seated on the bed. He mouths me a sorry before trying to apply the medicine to my arm.

"You know what, today I was angry yet happy to see you talking to my dad."

I look at him puzzled. And so I ask, "Why? I mean I did talk back to your dad. Oh but yes he deserved that and I'm not gonna apologize for my behavior." I clarify myself in case he would also ask me to apologize.

"No no, I'm not asking you to apologize. I really mean it. Nobody in our house has ever talked back or even questioned him. But you, my fearless woman, surely fought him well." He appreciates me and smiles genuinely as our eyes meet.

I feel good as he called me a fearless woman although I wish he just removed the word my from that particular remark. I share with him a small smile although I feel proud of myself even more now.

"You are very strong, Melissa Anderson. And I hope you never change."

For the first time, I've heard him call me by my full name and now that I hear it, it kinda feels weird.

"Your mother is nice," I tell him and he flashes me a smile at my comment. A smile with sadness. So I ask, "What's the matter? Isn't she nice to you?"

He quickly answers, "No, that's not the case. She is really nice. I love her but it's just that we are not allowed to meet by our wish. Only dad gets to choose the day we meet." He looks away from me, breaking the eye contact we had for a few seconds.

"Why?" I ask. I really wanna know why that is the case. I mean which child in the world needs a parent's permission to meet their other parent?

"He thinks we'll become soft if we keep meeting her. She is gentle and warm-hearted unlike us." He answers, now looking down.

"What a shitty father!" I blurt out and realize what in the world I spoke loudly. So quickly correcting my mistake I apologize.

"I agree." He says as he laughs, making my eyes turn big and my mouth hangs low. Did he agree with what I said? Whatever, if he's okay with it then it's good for me only. So we laugh together. And then my heart skips a beat when he tells me, "Your wounds are treated. And see you didn't flinch even once."

"Did you just try to divert my attention? I mean was that all fake just to-"

"Nothing here is fake. Nor my love to you and neither the talk we had just now. It's all real, my baby girl." He says patting my head lightly and walking off to the bathroom to place the kit back.

I feel my hair edging as I still try to process what just happened right now. It stings so bad earlier but now he had applied the ointment throughout the bruises and yet I didn't realize. It feels unreal.

"Enough of your talks and thinking. Go to bed, I'll join you in five minutes." He says more like commands.

Still dwelling into my thoughts I lay on the bed with a duvet providing me with some warmth. And then after five minutes, he joins in and I start to feel hot. His body radiates so much heat but he still cuddles me from the back and sleeps.

"Please Blake. Your body radia-"

"I know, baby. You tell me this every night. But sleep now. I'm too tired." He cuts me off and nuzzles his face into my neck. Every time he would hug me from behind, place his hand on mine at my waist and sleep, but this time he place his hand beneath mine on my waist and let me rest my hand on top of his because of bruises. He takes care of every small detail about me but that won't make my heart flutter. Maybe if he let me and Ella go back then I might reconsider giving him a chance to start everything normally. But I don't think that's ever gonna happen.

"Tomorrow you can go to the garden area." He gives me a goodnight kiss on my shoulder before dozing off to sleep.

"Thank you," I mumble slowly and drift off to sleep.

Only if I knew what terrible things awaited me in the garden.

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A/N:

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Bits of fluttering romance and dark romance.
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What's gonna happen in the garden?
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I bet no one would guess right ;)

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