Out of the corner of my eye, I glance out the window. The car is driving through rough terrain in an area unfamiliar to me. The relief from Dyk’s words is fading. In its place comes fear, because now I understand everything. And I know… he hates me for everything, even for what I haven’t done. He can do anything he wants with me… I'm a nobody to him.
— You should have just—, the man collects himself and pushes me away, as if I were garbage, — seduced Timur and married him! I picked a decent option for you! But you didn’t take advantage of it. You ruined it! — he says sternly. — Now you'll fix everything!
I don't respond. Fear and joy are battling in my head. They intertwine like a vine, creating something terrifying, to be honest. I’m happy because we aren't related. I'm afraid because Dyk must have confessed a secret that mom was keeping, knowing how much I hate him. I’m panically trying to come up with a plan to escape, to get out of the place where Volodymyr is taking me, whatever it may be. However, the fear, the same one I haven’t felt in so long, is gripping my stepfather’s neck with fingers and taking away my breath.
I don’t respond to the man's words. I press myself into the seat and try to memorize the route we're taking. I don't know why. However, I understand that I will try to escape at any cost.
Suddenly, in the silence of the car, a phone rings. It's mine. The music blares throughout the cabin. I notice it noticeably irritates Dyk.
— Should I answer? — I ask quietly.
The man looks at me mockingly.
— So you can tell your brothers where you are? Oleg — he addresses the driver, — throw the bag out the window.
The man behind the wheel doesn’t ask questions; he immediately follows the order. In a second, the little bag is gone from sight and left somewhere on the road.
I turn away. I look out the window and repeat to myself over and over that everything will end well. It must end well. After all, I’ve only just started to live in this world… I've found love, friends, affection…
The car turns off the bad road onto an even worse one. Probably, if I don’t hold on, I could imagine I'm on a trampoline. Only Dyk is ruining everything.
Fields turn into forests: thick, colorful, unfamiliar. But I don’t lose heart. If I do, I will surrender. And I don’t want that.
Another half hour passes and my stepfather's driver—how nice to know he’s not my blood—stops next to a trailer that looks like those where construction workers live. Rusty, old, dilapidated—just like I want to see Dyk!
— Get out, — he barks at me.
The door locks deactivate, so I can unlock them. As soon as I step outside and sink my soles into the mud, I begin searching for escape routes. I know which way to go. It’s just a matter of how to put everything into action. And then… suddenly someone might pass by and take me in their car?
Despite the plan I’ve devised, adrenaline mixed with fear pulses in my head. I watch the driver open the trailer and Dyk, who is watching me closely.
— What are you up to? — I ask dryly. Hatred creeps up my throat toward the man across from me.
— You’ll see, — he smiles smugly.
It makes me sick. I’m surprised he didn’t seem so repulsive in childhood, and I wished to hear praise from him. It turns out he has hated me all along… simply because I’m not his daughter, not from him. And then, probably, hatred for me became a shared bond with my mother. The man got what he wanted and realized it didn’t satisfy him.
— How am I supposed to fix everything in the woods? — I say with emphasis.
The trailer’s door unlocks with a loud sound. I flinch and look into the dark entrance.
— Precisely so that everything can be fixed, you need to be in the woods, my daughter, — he carves out. — Welcome to your new home.
My heart races. Thud-thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud. There’s a moment. Now. Either I go into the trailer, or I run deeper into the woods.
My brain chooses the second option. I whip around and start running. But I don’t even manage to count three heartbeats before I’m shoved from behind, and a heavy body crashes down on top of me.
— Don’t move, — the driver’s voice rings out.
— Let go!
— Sweetheart, — sounds mockingly above me, — you’ve gained quite a bit of courage lately! Into the trailer with her!
The driver lifts me and forcibly shoves me into the dark trailer. He handles me quite carefully, yet he leads me to the very back and sits me down on something like a bench.
— Sit.
He leaves and locks the door behind him. The lights go out. Tears well up in my eyes, but I don’t allow myself to cry. I have to hold it together. I should have run earlier. I shouldn’t have been watching as they opened the cage, I should have run while they both were distracted.
Behind the metal walls, I can hear the voices of the driver and Dyk. I stand up and move closer to the window with the bars, which is boarded up with wood or something similar from the outside.
— Take a walk, — Volodymyr tells the driver.
I hear footsteps, and over time they fade away. And then the honks and the first words from my stepfather:
— Hi, Vlad! Guess what’s in the trailer behind me?
Unfortunately, I can’t hear what the Saint replies, but I’m glad the call is to him. Subconsciously, I understand that Dyk will demand shares, or a wife or son back, attempting to blackmail Vlad with me. Because of this, a tiny, minuscule part of me is afraid. Afraid that the Saint will refuse everything, because it was revenge for Milana, and to return everything now… would mean he lost this fight. This game. I’m afraid there’s a chance he’ll leave me here in the dark, face to face with a monster who pretended to be a father my whole life.
Gradually, the voice of my stepfather fades. Step by step, it gets further away, so I have to return to the bench. Tears still well up. I find it strange that I’m not shocked by my mother’s husband’s actions. It’s as if I have been waiting for something like this my entire life… As if I knew that the day would come when he would behave even worse than before.
Time drags painfully. Nothing and no one can be heard outside the trailer walls. It gets cold. My limbs go numb, and my body shakes. I stand and start pacing from the wall to the bench, feeling my way, but there are no other options. I want to warm up somehow.
In my thoughts, chaos reigns. I hope for Vlad and at the same time fear that it’s in vain. So I try to find options for my salvation on my own. I think about how to behave, what to say to avoid being here for an eternity.
Suddenly, the door unlocks. Dyk stands in the doorway with a displeased expression on his face.
— Your husband is quite a complicated man, — he begins slowly. — Imagine, my daughter, — mockingly, — he didn’t agree to trade you for shares.
Something prickly and disgusting clenches my heart. He didn’t agree. He didn’t agree… He didn’t agree. How could he? This is what he has been doing lately. Revenge is what it all started for. To drown Dyk, Vlad offered to make me his fiancée, then wife. Of course, he won’t give the shares back to get me.
— And what next? — I ask breathlessly.
— We’ll help him, — he steps closer.
I back away. I know what’s coming. He has done this to my mother many times. And to me, just not as often. My heart pounds with fear and anticipation of pain. I can’t even muster the strength to fight back; I won’t have enough strength.
— No need, — I raise my hands in a defensive gesture, palms facing Dyk.
— We need to, Yuliana. — he carves out maliciously. — You earned this primarily through your lies! You misled me with Timur and Vlad! You turned me into a dog in “AMB”! You and your mother took a part of the money, the house, and even the remaining shares! — he hisses hysterically.
I can’t react in any way; Dyk grabs my hair, now knowing exactly how long it is, and flings me against the wall of the trailer. The breath is knocked out of me. For a moment, I can’t catch my breath, only clutch my stomach and slide down the wall, opening my mouth like a fish.
I get onto my knees and lean on the floor with my palms. I whisper:
— Please…
— Please?! — he barks. — You've been ruining everything in my life for nineteen years!
A kick to the stomach makes me flinch. I fall to my left side and assume a fetal position. I want to protect myself from the blows as best I can.
— Smile, my dear! Your husband is about to see you in all your glory.
A flash and the sound of a camera. Dyk is photographing me. Then he leaves the trailer, leaving me on the floor.
I don’t cry. My eyes are so dry they start to hurt. And there’s no blood anywhere, like the last time he hit me. However, my body feels broken. My brain records everything, contemplates, searches for something to grab onto to force me to stand. But my body… can’t.
I don’t know how long I lay on the floor, hugging myself and suppressing the pain in my stomach with my last strength, trying not to howl. I don’t know what will happen next. I worry about my mother and brother, hoping Dyk won’t do the same to them. I worry about Milana, hoping he won’t take advantage of her, because Vlad didn’t react to me the way my stepfather wanted… And then, darkness descends.