"I cannot fucking believe you!"

The maids and servants of the Russo household covered their years as another scream was delivered. It had been like this ever since Freya, the beloved, entered her teenage years. Three years of hell.

Alberto walked into the kitchen, and his daughter followed him, red in the face with anger. Her red hair was twisted into the messiest, and poofiest bun. It had taken her nanny nearly six hours to braid it into an elegant hairstyle, with complicated twists and knots.

The servants and maids and cooks saw the look on Alberto's face, and promptly left. They didn't dare to eavesdrop.

Freya took a seat on a stool, threw her hands on the kitchen islands, and before she could prepare to throw another insult at her father, Alberto turned around and held out a finger. He was done.

"That boy was twenty-one. Twenty-one! You're sixteen, Freya. You are not permitted to fuck a man anywhere!" His mouth felt dry. All his protecting, all the background checks he'd done on people, all seemingly for nothing.

"I loved Simon, Dad," she said, breathing hard. Her hands were shaking, and suddenly the room felt hotter. She saw nothing but her dad, and she felt like throwing a pan at him.

Alberto snorted. "Loved him, huh? Sweetheart, do you know what we call a sexual relationship between a grown ass man and a teenager? Pedophilia!"

Ignoring the pedophilia part, almost as if the word didn't exist in Freya's vocabulary, she said, "You didn't have to hurt him!"

"I sure as fucking hell dead, Freya. Listen to me now, Freya Russo. I will not allow any person, man or woman, to take advantage of you as long as you're living under my household. He's gone. Fired. Reported." Alberto turned around, and faced the last picture taken of the family before his wife died. He'd promised her he'd keep the family together.

Freya stood up, and with tears running down her face yelled, "I fucking hate you!"

"Yeah, well, I love you, Freya. Believe me, he wanted nothing more than sex from you."

She shook her head, and marched right up to him. "You don't love me. You're always off on business trips, and you don't let me leave, or get a phone, or do shit around here! He understood me-"

Alberto cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I do not object to you fucking anyone as long as it's illegal, Freya. You and I both know that."

Freya wiped away her tears, and turned to leave. Of course he had to bring up the instance where he caught her having sex with her teacher's daughter. Mellie. Her teacher had yelled, and cursed at Freya and dragged Mellie out of the household. It was a shame. She wasn't a complete garbage teacher. She actually knew her math.

Alberto had been calm. Freya had been only fourteen, and she was tired of having no friends, of being so guarded all the time. As she was now.

Over the years, she had her fair share of flings. Some of the people that worked for her father lived in the Russo household with their children, in entire separate part of the building she wasn't permitted to see, but they were allowed in any part, as long as they were friends of Freya. Most children were actually children, and the closest person to Freya's age was ten.

Freya stomped up the stairs. Bob smartly stayed out of her way, and attempted to stop Alberto from following her. "She's only growing up, sir."

Alberto scowled, hating that he agreed with Bob.

Freya slammed her door shut, and leaned against the door, heaving sobs. It wasn't fair. She loved him, she loved him, she loved him. He didn't know him, and he didn't know her. It wasn't fair.

She grabbed her stuffed unicorn, thrown carelessly on the floor, and hugged it to her chest. It was the only part of her childhood she had kept. Everything else, not to her knowledge, had been burned.

Books stared back at her. A whole library was set before her. Every book was brand new, and there were thousands of books. She had read all the books. Alongside the books was a box housing hundreds of jewels that probably cost more than the average house all together. They were gifts Alberto paid back to her in apology. She hated them sometimes. They were a reminder of the time he spent absent.

A knock on her door. Ignored. Another. Ignored again. The third knock forced her to get up. "Leave me alone," she said, annoyance apparent.

"Sweetheart, can we just talk?" Alberto felt regretful yelling at her.

She rolled her eyes and collapsed on her bed. "Fine. Make it quick."

Alberto walked in with a box. Freya knew it was another attempt to bribe her, and try to erase what happened.

"Freya, everything I do is for you. You can hate me all you want, and I'm fine with that. I'd rather keep you safe more than anything. I know you're growing, and you're angry, and you're infatuated with this boy. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry because he took advantage of you. Sweetheart, I don't want to be the one to break your heart."

But he had been the one to break her heart, rip away all her happiness, and now he took away Simon from her. Sure, it could've been just for sex, but Freya didn't care. At this rate, she'd end up being with a fictional guy in a fictional world, all in her head.

All was silent. Alberto cleared his throat, and prepared himself. "I've been a bad father the past couple of months. I leave for months at a time, and even when I'm here, we don't do anything. I don't blame you for acting out. In fact, I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"Dad," Freya said. She played with the unicorns purple ears. "I just don't get why you had to beat him up. I didn't like that." She hated seeing her father play the cruel part around her.

"Well, there are two kinds of people in this world, Freya," Alberto said, pointing at her stuffed unicorn. "Can I borrow it? Thank you." He stood up, and grabbed the nearest gargoyle from her gargoyle collection. "There are people who will love you. Some for a reason, some for not. Some will only like you, and some will not care for your existence. Those people? They will not hurt you for no reason, if at all."

He tossed the unicorn back. Waved the gargoyle. "But the other people? For no reason at all, they'll tear you apart, and take advantage of you. Use you. Exploit it. Some of them do it because they hate it, others out of their own sick desire, and others for no reason, Freya. No reason at all. I fired him not because you were with him, but because this sick fucker took advantage of you." He set the gargoyle down, and sat next to her. "Do you understand now?"

"Well, how do you know?" Freya asked, leaning against her headboard. "How can you be so sure, Mr. Know-It-All?"

Alberto let the comment slide. "Well, sweetheart, there's actual footage of him telling his friends how he was going to fuck you, use you, all to get to your room, and dig around for anything worth selling. Not to mention, because it so wasn't obvious, but he's also a fucking pedophile!"

Freya's eyes welled up with tears again. "You're lying," she spat out. She was shaking again. Out of anger or the excess coffee she had, she wasn't sure.

Alberto shrugged. "Fine. I'm not afraid or shy to show you proof, you know."

Silence settled between them once again. Alberto patted her shoulder awkwardly while she sniffed, and wiped away the rest and last of her tears.

"What's that for?" She asked, pointing at the box.

"I figured since I spend so much time away, you might want to keep in touch with me."

Freya rolled her eyes. "You can't buy me again, daddy. You can't buy the time you lose with me."

Alberto shrugged. "If you don't want it, I could always give it to someone else-"

"Wait, no." Freya yanked the box out of his hand.

Alberto smiled as she took the phone out of the box, fiddled around with it. He stood up to leave. "You gonna be okay?"

"If you would give me back my boyfriend, I'd sure as fucking hell be dandy."

Alberto rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Well, he's gone." He turned around, "Goodnight, sweetheart. Enjoy your present."

Freya threw the unicorn at the door when he shut it. She hated him so much sometimes. He was so hot, and then so cold. She picked up the remote, and turned on her stereo, cranking it to the highest volume possible. She knew her nanny would march in soon, demanding she keep it down, but she didn't care anymore. She was sixteen. Why should she have a nanny that bossed her around?

---

"Mr. Russo, I assure you, my son is fit for this job."

Alberto tipped his head back, and swallowed the last of the whiskey. He looked out the window at his farm, weighing the options. "You know I don't like having families working here, Bob."

Bob had been sitting in Alberto's office for the last hour, practically begging him to hire his son in order to replace Simon, the previous, and now dead, servant.

"How do I even know your son is qualified, Bob?"

"Sir, have I ever let you down? Ever? I've been working for you for the past twenty years. I've seen people come and go. I've always had your back. I would not offer my son if not for the fact that I know he's fit for the job. He's a very obedient boy," Bob said, swelling with pride.

Alberto thought it over. "Fine." Bob's face lit up in a smile. "But I want you to know that you're responsible for keeping this boy in check. One screw up, and that boy of yours is gone."

Bob stood up, and shook Alberto's hand excitedly. "Deal. Thank you so much, Mr. Russo. This really means a lot to me."

"Yeah, no problem." Alberto opened his drawer, and took out a gun. A new gun, of course, as the last one had been burned. Destroy evidence has always been his motto. "I have business to take care of."

——

Freya lay on her bed, listening to the hushed voices coming from downstairs. Her nanny was complaining about her. The cooks and servants seemed to be sympathetic.

She took out her phone, and fiddled with it. She liked this present. Her dad had limited her to only one contact, his, and had disabled the camera app, but other than that, she had free reign. Freedom to do anything.

It excited her that the possibilities were endless here. She was surprised that he had even given her a phone to begin with.

She shut it, and placed it next to her bed. It was only a matter of time before he completely disappeared on her again, gone on another business trip to do whatever.

With the stereo turned off, and the lights dark, all sound had come to a still, hushed conversations now a mere whisper left behind. It was in this quiet that Freya would ponder the possibilities, of what laid beyond this house, beyond the sheltered walls she'd grown up with.

Possibilities of meeting movie stars, like Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe going off to college in another place that wasn't this, wherever she was. She didn't even know which country she was in. Or maybe even meeting a guy or a girl and experiencing the blissful parts of life.

Freya's eyes widened, and she snatched her phone from her bedside, sitting up with a sudden idea in her head.

She had over five million dollars to her name.

She was allowed to use it at any time, for anything.

She would use it to get out of here.

—

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to vote, and leave a comment.

Where do you think Freya is residing in? A lavish country in Europe? In the Amazons of Brazil? Somewhere high in the mountains?

Next update will be either this week or the next.