"Tiany, they're waiting for you."

It was Michelle, my manager. I liked her, actually. She was kind and really smart, but she didn't understand a thing about me.

"Just a sec!" I shouted from in front of the mirror.

Michelle didn't gaze any further and left me alone in the dressing room. Yes, I was alone. I always needed time to be alone before all of the acts I had to put on stage.

I stared upon the reflection of myself in the mirror. I curled my blond hair with my finger, twisting it in the air and playing with it for a while.

They said my appearance was like a goddess. They said I was as beautiful as a perfect female could be. They were wrong.

"Green eyes, smooth, blond hair, freckles you might as well be a supermodel," Said Ellen when I was in her talk show.

I looked upon that mirror and I saw a desperate lady who had nothing. I had nothing!

"You're famous, beautiful, talented, and definitely rich. Everyone would literally die to be you." It was easy for Graham Norton to say things like that.

"You're nineteen years old and you got three Grammys already! Do you consider yourself to be as well-known as... like Billie Eilish or Harry Styles?" Stephen Colbert's question kinda bothered me, though I quite fond the man.

What is fame anyway? What is happiness or beauty or wealth? What is all of that when you have nothing at all?

"You're literally a perfect human being, Tiany." James Corden laughed after he said that. I did not.

I wasn't perfect and I'm still not. I'm the opposite of perfect.

"Jesus, Tiany!" Michelle burst into the dressing room again.

"Alright, alright!"

When I finally emerged, ten thousand crowds cried and cheered. They screamed my name. They shrieked and pushed each other to get closer to the stage. They took a thousand pictures every second, and they clapped, and some even fainted.

I pressed the microphone to my lips. "How you doin', Jakarta?"

They screamed even louder. This last city of my tour was probably the craziest and most crowded after Rio.

"It's awesome to finally be here, standing in front of you welcoming folks. You guys are amazing!"

But that wasn't bullshit. The only two things I loved about my past life were my fans and my sister. Without them, I would've already hanged myself.

I picked the accoustic guitar and started singing. It was rather pointless because their screams were louder, but it was still exciting.

And we sang. We sang until the whole city was rocked by those loud sound systems.

Backstage, I was so tired when my sister hugged me. They were still screaming for my name, spraying me some praises and compliments and 'I love you's.

The flight felt like ages until we finally landed back on the States. Two days later, my sister and I could finally jump to our bed in our apartment in Nashville.

Everything was boring. Every channel only aired breaking news and reports about this incoming pandemic or some shit.

"Seems pretty scary," said Ashley, my sister. "If this thing is real then you might have to cancel the next tour."

I slumped to the bed next to her. "Ash, this shit is of course exaggerated. Media is always like that."

"I guess you're right."

"There is nothing to be worried about, Ash. We're going to be fine."

But it wasn't fine. It was far from fine.

And to worsen my mood, my phone buzzed.

Shit.

"Who's that?"

"Dad."

I picked the phone.

"Hi, Dad."

"Tiany, are you home?" This meant only one thing: he was about to visit me. Fuck.

"I am. Just finished the tour so..."

"Yeah, great, great. Yeah, Tiany, I want you to meet someone tomorrow. I'm flying there tonight with Mr. Dawkins. This is about contracts and stuff."

Dad needed money, basically. He always did. I was his ATM, his money generator. It was last week since he 'stole' fifteen hundred dollars from me. I didn't really care about giving them to him, but the fact that he only saw me as a cash machine destroyed every sort of feeling I had to him.

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh great. See you!"

"Bye, Da-"

And he hung it without waiting for me to finish my sentence. He didn't even ask us how we were doing.

"The usual?"

I didn't answer her. Every week I was haunted by his attorneys and colleagues asking me to sign things I didn't want to sign. Every week he read me these fake proposals and necessities, entertaining me with future investments. He thought I was dumb.

"I don't think we should listen to him anymore, Ash. I can just call a lawyer and sue him."

"He's your own father- our own! What will everyone think when they see that you sue your own parent?"

And to even worsen the situation, which already was a nightmare, my phone rang for the second time. It was Mom appearing on the screen this time.

"Wuz up, Bitchie darlin?"

"Mom? Hello?"

"Gucci, darling! By me fucking Gucci! Melbourne is so fucking hot, dude. Americans are lazy as fuck! You're a good kid are you, fucker kid?"

"Mom, you sound drunk. Is Frank with you? You should call him."

And a man's voice emerged after that. "Superstar? Heyyyy It's Frank fucking Angelo fucking speaking, dude. I dreamt about you, baby girl! How you sleep in my sight... You should call me daddy sooner or later. Fucking fuck! I have a superstar daughter! Fuck me."

In a flash, I pressed the red button and threw my phone away.

"Shit!"

In my rage, I stood and started smashing everything with my fists. Pain and anger grew inside my brain again like an unstoppable disease, a destructive cancer which destroyed everything it ever touched. Every cell in my body crawled. Hearing that fucked up motherfucker saying my name like a girlfriend and then stating that I would be his daughter was just as stinging as it could be. Disgusting.

"That fucking Frank Angelo. I would rather burn myself than to ever let his disgusting finger touch my hair."

Of course my face reddened.

And of course behind me, Ashley wept like a little girl. She just heard monsters speaking to her sister. Of course she would weep.

I completely lost it when that fucking man talk, but I had to remember that Ashley wasn't an adult. I ran to her and hugged her tightly with my still fuming hands.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ash."

"I'm scared, Ti. What if-"

"Ashley, I will always protect you. Don't you worry, alright? I will always be here for you. I will never let those people touch us. Not again. Not ever."

Ashley's red face jellied on my chest, drenching my sweater as she rubbed her eyes to me.

Ten o'clock precise was the time when Ashley finally fell to her deep sleep. I wished she had a decent dream.

I quickly snatched my phone and went out of our room. The lift dinged after I touched it and it brought me to the top floor. I hurried up to an undone loft. No one could hear a thing here.

My fingers were so fast and so precise. I dialed Dad hurriedly as my head was burning with anger.

"Tiany? What-"

"Dad, I'm done."

"What? Done what?"

"I don't want to be your cash grab no more. You and I are done! You hear me? Done!"

There was a noiseless air before he answered. "Who do you fucking think you are? You're my daughter, and as a daughter you have to submit and answer only to me! I'm your fucking father, Tiany! How fucking ungrateful you are. I raised you, I fed you, made you into a famous fucking celebrity as you are now. You are nothing without me!"

I didn't listen to a word he just said. "Dad- James. Sorry, but I don't want to see your face tomorrow."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Tiany!"

"I said, I do not want to see you and I don't want to see your stupid friend! We're done! We're nothing!"

"Tian-"

I hung up.

I stood there, in the middle of an empty loft. Dry paint and cloths surrounded me like an army of Nazis preparing to kill me. I could've just picked a rope and choked myself to death. But I didn't.

The first teardrop to ever fall from my eye that night was for my life for its treachery and for every horrible thing that had befallen me. The second came out a second later. It was for my sister, whom I always loved, whom I always cared. She was my soul, and I was her guardian. She was still a kid and I was sorry for her to be living in this shit family.

Messages and What's Apps flooded my phone after that. A hundred chats tumbled down to one another every second. All of them were from Dad, and they were all filled with curses and filths. The last message destroyed my last empathy to him.

'I will fucking destroy your career! I will destroy you and your sister's miserable lives. You two mean nothing to me. You two are rats. Filthy! Disgusting!'

My I-phone fell to the floor.

My head, on the other hand, throbbed. My heart pumped twice as hard as it was a second ago, charging every stem of blood to my head. They all crashed there, inside my brain. I was about to explode. And I did.

I screamed as loud as I could. Tears dropped and sweats sopped my body utterly. I ran to the wall nearest to me and punched it as hard as I could. Blood came out of my fist, but I did it again, and again, and again, and again until the wall cracked and so did my bone.

My energy failed me, so I dropped down beside the now red wall. My stomach felt sick and twisted. I puked a large amount of food to the ground beside me, but I did it while crying, and crying, and crying.

I grabbed my blond hair with both my hands, and I pulled them as hard as ever. I needed pain. I needed to feel something, but even pain didn't register. Nothing did. Only anger. Only devastation.

My hand reached for the phone lying on the ground a couple of feet away.

"Michelle..." My voice was terrible. I was still trembling and weeping.

"Tiany? Are you okay? What's happening?"

"Michelle!" My tone was high. I startled her a bit. "I need your help."

As you can probably tell, I was angry, sad, disgusted, and conflicted all at once, so my voice could say. Michelle worried about me, but as I said, she would never get it.

"O- of course. How can I help?"

"I need you to hire some securities to protect me and Ashley in our apartment."

"What? Why?"

See?

"Michelle, please. My father keeps blackmailing me, and my mom's abusive boyfriend is closer to ever marrying her. Please, don't let those freaks touch me. I'm scared, Michelle."

"Oh dear. Of course. Of course, Love. Don't you worry, okay? Don't be scared. I will... I will take care of everything."

"Thank you, Michelle."

And then I dwindled down to the floor. A large wrecking ball just fell upon my body, crushing me down, breaking my bones.

But that was just the beginning of the nightmare.

The real one was ought to come.

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Artwork from : DeviantArt on Pinterest