•Leiara•
My thoughts aren't even given a chance to find a proper ground nor am I given the liberty to see who it is as I'm being barreled down the corridor.
The drag is so rough my wrist is slammed against the door frame of the corridor, causing a wave of pain to seize my nerves.
The person, as I can see from their back is a female, manhandles my body.
She drags me through, mindless of my wounded ankle that explodes pain through my whole body.
"Hey wait! What are you doing?!" I try to resist, but my injured ankle and the pain shooting through me doesn't allow me do much.
I can't exercise my full strength while enduring such searing pains. Their grip is firm and bruising.
I can't think straight. Even if I might know who it is from their behind, the situation doesn't let me think.
We reach an open door to a room and the woman forcefully throws me inside.
I stagger in and land flat on my butt. It's painful but it brings a little reprieve to my ankle. When I try to support my weight with my hands, another wave of pain shoots through me from my wrist.
I'd hit it earlier and it seems to have gotten sprained.
Inside the room where I'm thrown, a group of three girls surround me. Clad in mini dresses that expose their thighs, they all stand with a confident poise.
Their gazes bear down on me with contemptuous eyes.
I don't know them. I've never seen them.
"Is she the one? The bitch seducing the men here despite being married to your cousin?" One of them asks in an irritated tone.
I tear my gaze from them and toward the door where the woman who brought me in still stands. And there, I meet Velviah, Colson's cousin.
I should've guessed by her deep red hair but the situation earlier didn't give me the chance.
But why? I've never had any problem with her. And she isn't someone who really cares about anyone.
Although in her mid twenties like me, she acts like a teenager in her rebellious phase.
"Velviah, what are you—"
Her gaze darkens and glares so intently at me, I'm taken aback. So much so that my words get swallowed back.
She hurries to me, crouches lightly and the next thing I know is my hair being yanked backward.
My eyes widen at the impertinence.
She stares directly into my eyes as she roughly pulls my head back by my hair and tug my face up to look at her.
"You bitch!" She cusses. "What are you looking for going around seducing the men here?"
Huh?!!
The question is so absurd my brain can't even register it to find an answer.
"As an already married woman, why should you dress so sexy? It should be us the single ladies gaining all the attention. This party is a way for us to get ourselves our own man but you ruined it!"
What is she on about?
"I've always hated this face of yours the very first time I saw it. But I tolerated it because you always dressed so dull and kept to yourself in your own corner. But what's this? I'm asking what this is about!"
She yanks my head further backward, causing my face to scrunch in pain.
"Stop!" I grab her hand with my unwounded one and yank it away.
What's with this insult? With everyone thinking they can do whatever they want to me!
I will not be tolerating this.
She is shocked when I yank her hand away. But I don't give her a break and push her away.
She falls to her butt, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Are you crazy?" I ask. "What's with all this nonsense you've been spewing? Treating me like some whore who's all about showcasing my body to men!"
My face twists in disgust.
Most women here are dressed in more revealing clothes than I am, but why is it only my dignity being questioned like this?
"Look here, Velviah. You might've forgotten but I'm Colson's wife. Other than him, I don't answer to any of you. You best treat me with the respect I deserve or you will not like it!"
I carry myself up to my feet with struggle. No matter how careful I am, the ache is inevitable.
My sprained ankle is already a big problem as it is, but now I've gone and sprained my wrist as well. No thanks to this family of mine, of course.
Even while standing, I can't stand straight. It's torture. My ankle seems to have been stirred and relapsed.
Velviah gets off the floor, her face contorted tightly in rage. With a simple nod to the three girls surrounding me, they close in and hold me in place.
I grit my teeth in pain as they pull my arms behind me to hold me in place, stirring the pain in my wrist.
"Let go!" I fight desperately but there's little I can do against three people.
"Hold still you conniving bitch! You're already married to Colson, the man almost every woman dreams to be with, yet you still seek to be with other men," one among them scolds.
Velviah walks up to me again, and this time, she makes sure to pull my head back with a tighter grip than the first.
"You even had the nerves to try and seduce the man I have my eyes on!" She spits to my face.
The man she has her eyes on? Who?
"Listen here Leiara, just because you were able to marry into my family with whatever tricks you and your father pulled, don't think you can act as you see fit!"
She yanks my face closer by my hair.
"Go back to being the dull, uninteresting person you've been from the beginning. Don't try to act cute or seduce people with your looks!"
They push me forward with practiced coordination so roughly that my wounded ankle buckles painfully and throws me toward the floor.
As I fall, I see a figure walk in just at the moment, and I fall flat on my stomach, right before the person's feet that I almost kiss it.
I snap my gaze up in shock and the very person before whose feet I've fallen, is none other than Colson.