Autumn Frost

Chapter 11

Qiu Shuang's pov

Waking up beside my husband is one of the greatest thing I can ever imagine.

2 years ago, I wouldn't even think of marriage. But now here I am, lying in Grayson's arms, listening to his steady heartbeat.

<Flashback>
"First, before I tell you how I got this wounds I have a few things to tell you. But are you ready? This might, be too much for you to handle."

"Try me. " I said, determined.

This is it. This is the truth.

Grayson hesitated for a while. "Okay. "

"What you need to know is... Your father gave me your hand in marriage, because his business was going down the hill. He had invested a great amount of money in this project and, let's say it didn't end well. So he came to me for help and offered you to me. I'd like to apologize to you, for taking away your freedom but I seriously couldn't take my eyes off you, and since that moment I've been anticipating your arrival. And I was determined to make you fall in love with me. I guess I succeeded."

"Now the wives, they aren't who you think they are. I sort of, save them. Angelyn, her condition was slightly different from you. She was kinda, forcefully offered to me and her parents drugged and left her at my doorstep, unconscious. I have no idea where they are right now, I've sent search parties everywhere to look for them but I guess they wanted to abandon their daughter, so I've never seen them again."

"Zalika, she's an Egyptian bar waitress. She was an orphan here and had to work for money since the orphanage had not enough funds to raise the kids. There was one time where she fell asleep accidentally and her boss started hitting her and I was at the bar that time. So I brought her here to Los Angeles, and gave funds to the orphanage she had been staying."

"Odette was a beggar on the streets from France. When I first met her in France she was malnourished, really. You could see her ribs and the ragged cloth was hanging from her skinny frame. She never knew her family. She grew up as a beggar."

"If I hadn't bought Akilah from Africa I guess she would've been a slave right now. Yes, they still practice slavery in Africa. She volunteered to be a slave so without her, her family would've enough to eat. I bought her at the auction sale during my business trip to Africa."

"Lastly... It's Tovi. And this whole incident had to do with her stepfather. I helped her escape from family abuse. Took her away illegally and sort of bribed the forces, they knew my purpose why and chose to stay silent."

He stopped, thinking hard. I waited for him to continue.

"You know, " he started. "I've always doubted how did the both of them get pregnant easily. "

"I knew Odette is really pregnant, because there was this time where I was drunk and she...you could say she seduced me and I didn't knew what was going on in my head, but we did it. And honestly that was the biggest regret of my whole life."

"But for Tovi...she couldn't be pregnant. I'm pretty sure I've never touched her before. I was having suspicions until just now, Tovi's step dad came to see me. "

He took a deep breath. "He raped her. "

My hands flew to my mouth in shock. She was raped? My heart was swallowed with guilty. I never knew she was this unfortunate to the instance she was raped by her stepfather.

"Her mother don't know about it?" I asked in worry.

He shook his head solemnly. "Even if she knew she wouldn't care what that bastard did to her daughter."