Chapter 7 You Belong To Him Now

•ISABELLA•

The next day, while Antonio was out to work, I sneaked out of my room and asked Melo to drive me to the mall for shopping.

He hesitated and wanted to call 'his boss' to explain to him that I wanted to go out and if he was allowed to drive me.

"I am his wife, Melo, and I want to go out."

"Yes, ma'am."

He swallowed as he slipped his phone into his pocket and led me to one of Antonio's cars, and we got in.

He looked at me sternly before starting the engine and driving off.

The truth was, I wanted to go home and see my father.

For two nights now, since I was sold to Antonio, I couldn't sleep without having nightmares of that night.

I had so many questions for the man who I thought loved me unconditionally.

When we got to my home street before the road to the mall, I stopped Melo from driving.

"I need to go and see someone before you take me to town."

"But ma'am, this is the street to your house," he looked puzzled as if I was never allowed to see my father again without Antonio's permission.

"Yes, so?" I rolled my eyes and got out of the car before Melo could answer.

"The boss said -!"

I slammed the door and headed towards my house. I stood at the front door and heard loud music inside.

It was so strange that my father had managed to move on without me as if I were a stumbling block in his life.

He was already celebrating that I was no longer in the house, and he no longer needed to tolerate me.

I took a deep breath turned the doorknob, and went inside.

When I got in, it was a party at 10 AM. Half-naked women were walking around the house.

I peeked through the living room and saw men and women I couldn't recognize.

Some were sleeping on the floor and couch and wasted. It was clear that there was a big party last night.

I released an exhausted sigh and went upstairs to my father's bedroom.

I knocked on the door and waited for him to open up. But when I heard nothing, I turned the doorknob and walked in on my father with two women on either side of him sleeping.

I couldn't believe that he was already spending the money on women and alcohol.

'That piece of shit sold me. He took away my freedom and gave me away to a monster. He doesn't deserve to be my father.' I thought to myself as I went toward the bed to wake him up.

He needed to know how I felt for everything that he did to me. For shattering all my dreams for his gain.

"Wake up!" I pulled off the covers from their feet and tapped my father on his foot.

The women beside him groaned as they woke up. "Keep it down. We are sleeping."

"Get up, Father!" I yelled.

When he flipped his eyes open and saw me, he pretended to be startled and looked under the covers to see if he was naked.

I rolled my eyes, turned around, and waited for him to get himself together so that we could talk.

"What are you doing here?" He asked when he was finally dressed, leading me outside of the room so that we wouldn't wake his girlfriends.

"You don't regret what you did?" I looked at him when we got to the nursery that was opposite his room.

"Did he come here with you?"

"Is that all you have to ask? You just sold me to Antonio, father, and that's all you asked me if I came here with him? What do you think this is, huh? A happily ever after union?"

"I had no choice, Isa."

"You had a choice to keep me away from that monster!" I snapped.

"You had a choice to say no to his demands! You had a choice to send me off to college just like my mother would have wanted, but no, you wanted to use me to pay off the debts that you made!" I cried.

"Isa -"

"You sold me, father. And look how you're spending the money now... You're free while I am a chained bird in a cage. You get to be with whoever you want while I get bound to Antonio. It's not fair."

For a split second, I saw compassion behind my father's eyes and thought that he wanted to apologize for how everything turned out.

I thought that he was going to hold my hand and tell me that I was still daddy's girl and that he would do everything in his power to get me back, but he suddenly frowned.

"You belong to Antonio now, Isabella, go. Don't ever come back here and forget that I am your father. We both know that our family died the day we lost your mother, and you and I can never get back what we used to have." His cold words felt like a thousand knives in my heart.

I could not believe that he was the one saying this to me. I waited for him to say that he was joking.

I waited for him to burst into a laugh and say it was all a prank and that we were always going to be a family.

He was my father, and I was his daughter. How was I going to forget that he was the reason I was born?

"Father... I am Isa, your daughter. How can I go back there and forget you? You're supposed to tell me how sorry you are that you sold me. You're supposed to say that you will do everything you can to bring me back home. I want to come back home," I cried.

My heart was shattering inside me, and I felt so weak.

"Your home is with him now," he answered as he looked behind me.

For a moment, I thought that he was looking at me, but he was looking at someone who was behind me.

And when I turned around, it was him.