Daliah's POV

FLASHBACK

I was about to sleep and was walking towards my mother's room to say goodnight.

'Whatever. I'll say goodnight to Dimitri too.'

Just as I was about to knock on the door, I heard the sound of a muffled scream. You couldn't have heard it if you weren't right in front of the door. My mind raced, thinking about if I should open the door or not. I was worried about mom so I plucked up the courage and opened it silently. The sight that awaited me made my blood run cold.

Mom. Pushed against the wall. Dimitri. Forcing himself on her.

He pushed his lips on hers and forcefully opened her mouth to slide his tongue in. Mom tried to struggle, only for him to grip her neck and push her further against the wall. He started unbuttoning her shirt, and mom kneed him in his gut. That held him off for a second.

Only a second though.

"YOU BITCH!" he roared and slapped her. Hard.

With a cry of pain mom fell to the ground. All the while I was standing at the doorway, watching. Frozen in shock or fear, I didn't know. But when he slapped her, I snapped out of my trance.

"Mom, no!" I yelled and rushed towards Dimitri, picking up a bottle on the nightstand. Before he could react, I banged the bottle on his head. He grunted and held his hand to his temple. Blood was already flowing out of it but I couldn't care less.

I went over to mom who was trying to get up. Just as she was about to take my outstretched arm, I felt a searing pain in my gut as he kicked me away from her.

I let out a cry of agony.

"DALIAH! GET OUT OF HERE!" Mom screamed at me. I hauled myself to my feet and watched as Dimitri ripped off her shirt and pushed her onto the bed. Then I suddenly clicked. I grabbed mom's phone and called the cops.

○○○○ ◇ 911 what's your emergency?

>> Hi, th-this is Daliah from 3rd Bluebell Street house n-number 15. My mom is being assaulted b-by my step father D-Dimitri Rossi p-please come quickly!

◇ Don't worry Daliah, we're on our way. Just hang in there we'll be there as soon as possible.

>> Thank you. P-please hurry! ○○○○

I cut the call and looked up to see mom in just her bra and underwear. Dimitri was taking off his shirt. I had to do something. Quick. I had to stall until the cops arrived.

I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and ran back to the room in record time. Dimitri had just finished taking off his shirt.

"STOP RIGHT NOW OR THIS KNIFE IS GOING IN YOUR CHEST YOU MONSTER!" I yelled and pointed the knife at him. My mom's eyes had panic and fear in them. Dimitri's eyes also held a bit of fear and panic. Good.

He raised his hands submissively. "Now now Daliah. Aren't you taking this a bit too far." He said, his voice dripping with honey yet slightly quivering. I jerked my knife in his direction. "SHUT UP!...Mom come here." I said and she stumbled to my side.

Just then, the front door banged open. I had left it open after calling the cops. "Is Daliah here!?" a voice yelled. "Here!" I called out from the master bedroom. There was the sound of heavy footstep and 3 men in a police uniform came in. Mom had put on a robe by then. Dimitri's eyes went wide as a man stepped forward, handcuffs dangling from his arm.

"Dimitri Rossi, you are arrested for sexually assaulting a woman!" He said. Dimitri took on his most innocent expression and shook his head.

"No, no, officer you have got it all wrong. I'm completely innocent. I think the heat got to my daughter's head, isn't that right, buttercup?" He said in an overly affectionate tone.

"If the hand mark on that woman's face says anything it's that she was forced to be intimate with you and that is against the rule, so you're coming with me." The policeman said firmly and started walking towards Dimitri.

All of a sudden, Dimitri's whole demeanor changed as his lips twisted into a cruel smile. "Well, well, Daliah. You're certainly stupid. Jumping in to save your mother. Calling the cops thinking that it will change the outcome of this. But for the record, I didn't want this to happen." He said. "Alright enough chit chat now com-" but the officer couldn't complete his sentence as Dimitri leaped towards me.

"DALIAH!" Mom screamed, and tried to run towards me but ended up falling on the ground.

It all happened so fast.

In one swift motion he had grabbed the knife from my hand, pushed mom to the wall and wrenched the knife in her gut. No sound came out of her mouth. Her face filled with pure shock as she slumped to the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the wall.

"MOM!! NO!" I screamed, tears flooding my vision, as I felt my insides being squeezed.

Dimitri laughed and turned towards me. "You're next you pathetic little-" but he couldn't complete his sentence as all three policemen lunged at him and knocked him unconscious by hitting him on the neck. His unconscious body thumped on the ground and the first policeman cuffed his hands.

But I didn't focus on them. I just rushed towards mom's crumpled body on the floor and cradled her head in my lap, a river flowing down my cheeks. The officers had already called an ambulance. I applied pressure on her wound and spoke to her in a soothing voice.

"It's okay mom. You're gonna be just fine. It's all gonna be okay. He's gone now. Please just stay with me." My voice was breaking a little and the tears were not stopping. Mom reached out her trembling arm and wiped my cheeks with the back of her hand. "Don't c-cry Daliah. I need to give you something." She croaked.

"Shh... it's okay. You can give it to me later when you're all good okay?" I whispered. "N-no. I need to give it to you now. Can you please fetch the r-red box from the nightstand?" She said, her lips trembling. I hurriedly got up and brought the velvet box.

"There is a necklace inside it. Always keep it with you. It will protect you." She said in a serious tone. Then a faint smile appeared on her face. "Alessio gave it to me when we had you. He said that it will keep me safe if he wasn't there." Her smile turned bitter. "After he died, I never wore it again. Now I want you to have it." She opened the box with shaking arms and reached out around my neck. After attaching it, her hands fell.

It was so simple yet the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. A black diamond teardrop outlined with gold. The chain was long and I tucked it under my shirt. "Thank you so much, mom. It's beautiful. I'll never take it off."

She cupped her hand around my cheek. "Daliah. Always remember that Mom loves you. More than anything I ever have. Stay safe-" As soon as she said that, she started coughing violently, blood coming out of her mouth. Her head slumped back and her glazed eyes stared straight ahead.

Just then I heard the doctors rushing out of the ambulance and coming over to my side. They checked her pulse, one, two, three times hoping for a hint that she's still alive, still there. But....there wasn't any. The doctor turned towards me with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry, we were too late." He spoke and laid a comforting hand on my shoulder.

All the while I had sat silently, not believing the reality. But when I heard those words, they confirmed my worst nightmare.

She was gone. Mom wasn't there anymore. My mother was dead.

As the truth was revealed, I went insane, not able to believe it. Or rather, not wanting to believe it. I shook her body.

"Mom! Hey no, come back! Don't leave me like this! I-I-" I broke down into a fit of sobs.

I need you.

END OF FLASHBACK



^^^^ The Necklace (but the teardrop is smaller and the outline is gold)

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A.N:- HEYYYY ORANGES!! 🍊🍊 So.....we reached 40 READS!! OMG YAYYYY!!! Like i promised, here's prologue part 2 which marks the end of the prologue lol.

Daliah's life sucks, right? Dw it'll get better soon ;) So NOW the actual chapters begin and they might be a bit lengthy but thats because i have no idea where to end them :\ I will upload chapter 1 when we reach 50 reads OR i will update when i get a comment from one of you before that. Depends hehe :) Please lemme know if you spotted any mistakes in this chapter. I will delete your comment after correcting it. Add this book to your library, tap the star if you liked the chapter and please comment and tell me what you think! I'll see you in Chapter 1!

See ya! :D Akuto <3 _________________________________________