His Runaway Queen

Chapter 1

Effie

My name is Effie Rosabel Kelly Collins, and this is my story. For the past two years, I have been going by the name Rose Kelly. I am trying to keep anyone from being able to find me. When I left Russia, I was using my actual name, Effie Collins. As bad as this is going to sound, my mother doesn't know my full name. My dad and grandma were the ones who named me because she didn't want me.

It's been two years now since I ran away from Russia. I was utterly heartbroken when I boarded the plane and left to head back to the States. I expected my mother and her husband to treat me like s**t and abuse me. But I didn't expect that the man that I loved was just playing me and using me. I'm still not sure what the hell he got out of stringing me along.

The only thing that I can figure out is that maybe they suspected that Egor, the stepdad, had been going behind their backs trying to make moves and take over. The guy that he had been working for really creeped me out. When he was around, I locked myself into my room. And if I heard them coming to my room, I would grab my go bag and sneak into the tunnel.

I was only ever around the guy the first time that he showed up at the house. I was still just sixteen, and I overheard him telling Veronica, the mother, and Egor how much money that they could get for me. And all they had to do would be to tell my dad and the cops that I just ran away and no one could find me.

Thankfully, I was smart enough to get that all on video on my burner phone and send it to my dad. That way, if something happened, and I went missing, he could give it to the cops.

After I heard that conversation, I really didn't trust them, but there wasn't much I could do about it. So If I knew that he was coming to the house, I would either leave or hide.

Then I had met Leo and thought that I finally had someone in Russia that I could trust. I felt so much better when I was with him.

I even loved to spend time with his family. He only took me around them a few times. I was only ever around his dad briefly, but from what he said, his dad was trying to find his missing sibling. From what I understand about it, they didn't even know that he existed until recently. And once he found out, they all started to look for them. Leo said that they were told the baby was a boy years ago but because of lies saying that it died. They're not really sure if it was a boy or a girl.

I spent time with his mom always treated me like I was one of her own. That's what hurt me the most about leaving Russia.

Alena was always good to me and when I was there, we would do stuff together. I had even confided in her about how my mother took me from my dad when she had never even wanted me. I was able to talk to her about a lot of stuff. And as much as I hate to say it after I heard what Leo said to his brother and that girl. I started to wonder if she was just nice to me because he was using me.

I hated that I felt that way because Alena was always nice to me. Before I left, I sent her a text telling her that I was leaving and why. I also thanked her for always being there for me and being more of a mom to me than my own ever was.

I had written all the numbers in that phone down in a notebook before I factory reset it and then left it there. So I had her number if I decided to call her or text her. I did get another phone when I got back to the States so that I could send her a text occasionally. I had a layover in California and I bought a phone from there so that if it was tracked, that's where it would show up.

Egor and Veronica thought that they were so smart to give me a phone that they could track. They also thought that they could listen to my phone calls and read my texts as well. It just goes to show how stupid that they both are. My dad is a computer genius and was able to access the phone and fix it so that nothing I did on it would show up to them. The only things that they could see were calls and texts that were sent to me. Nothing more and nothing less.

I did have my ways of keeping track of what was going on back at the house of hell in Russia. And I know that they have been trying to find me. They have even gone to my dad's house looking for me. It was a waste of time because by the time that they showed up there, my birthday had passed and I was legally able to be out on my own.

A judge even told Veronica and Egor when they took Dad to court over me being gone, that I was now eighteen and old enough to leave their house. There was nothing that they could do about it.

Because they were trying to push the issue to get me back at their house, Dad outed them. The judge asked why they were trying so hard to get me back there when I was of legal age to be on my own. As this was a different judge from the one that they had paid off, he couldn't figure out why I was with them in the first place. He even said that I was old enough to decide which parent that I wanted to live with at sixteen and it made no sense that the other judge would make me go with them.

So Dad told them what he did, and why they wanted me back. His lawyer even showed all of the proof that he had that showed why he wanted me.

When the judge heard the conversation about them wanting to sell me and say that I ran away, Dad said that he was pissed. Dad told the judge that although he didn't know where I was, he knew that I was ok because I'd been checking in with him. Dad told him that I let him know after my birthday that I had left from out there because I didn't feel safe. That I was safe and planned to stay that way. But that I didn't tell him where I was going.

I think that the judge understood why Dad said that. Because if he didn't know where I was, then he wouldn't have to lie under oath. And technically, he didn't know where I was at. All that he knew was that I was in Texas.

With the video that Dad had of Egor and that guy talking about selling me, the judge was able to put Egor in jail. It didn't last long because he was able to get out with help from his lawyer. But he now knew that if I went missing, he and his buddy would be the first places that they looked.

The judge also granted a permanent restraining order against Egor, the guy, and Veronica. That way, none of them could come around me. And the way that he worded it, they couldn't even send someone who works for them or otherwise around me. If anyone of their people or someone that was hired by them came close to me, they would all be in jail.

Dad said that there is an investigation into girls going missing and they think that these guys are responsible for it. So he gladly filed a special restraining order to save me from them.

Once I turned eighteen, I had access to a trust fund that my poppy and nanny left for me. They were my mother's mom and dad, and I loved him so much. He didn't get along with my mom because of how she treated my nanny and I. Nanny was the love of his life and he didn't like it when anyone was mean to her. For years, mother was always mean to both of them and then we found out why.

My great aunt, my nanny's sister, had lied to my mother and told her that she was actually her daughter. That my nanny kidnapped her from her because she lost her baby. That was so far from the truth. It was actually the other way around.

My great aunt was pregnant at the same time as nanny was and when she lost her baby, she tried to steal my mother from her but was caught. She told them that they would pay for it and then did by turning my mother into a b***h and turning her against them. They did two DNA tests with two different companies to prove to her that she was their child. But she still took that aunt's side. Even though they didn't have anything to do with her losing the baby.

So when they passed away, I was left everything that they owned. Because she legally separated herself from them, Veronica didn't get anything. She tried to contest the will, but it did no good once it was proven that she legally separated herself from them. They also made sure that their wills were airtight, so that she didn't get a penny of their money.

My Poppy came from money. His family had a very successful business. His family owned an IT company and through it, is how my dad and mom met. My dad was a computer nerd and was smart as hell. He got a job straight out of college at Poppy's company. Mom latched on to him right away. Even though she didn't want anything to do with my Poppy and Nanny, she begged them for a job. And then she never wanted to work when she was supposed to.

Since Dad worked for the company for years, he ended up being the COO of the company. Poppy put into the will that Dad could run the company as the CEO until I wanted to take over if I wanted to take over. But I own the company.

I was smart just like my dad and Poppy, but I didn't want to run the company just yet. I wanted to open my own bakery just like my dad's mom, my grandma Octavia.

Poppy put it into his will that when I turned eighteen, everything would be left to me and it couldn't be signed over or transferred to anyone. Anyone except any future kids that I might have when they turned twenty-five. The only reason that I got it all at eighteen was because my Poppy knew that I was already taking college classes. Mom thought that I was going to the high school still, and I was. But I was taking all college classes.

When they tried to advance me through the grades and let me graduate early, my mother said no. She didn't think that I was that smart. But Dad knew the truth and worked with the college to have me do my schooling online. I sat in the library and worked on a laptop during the day.

When I moved to Russia, I told my mother that the school agreed to let me finish my work online. Which they technically did, since I was already doing it online. But Dad talked to them and explained what was going on, so they knew where I was doing my work from and why.

My Poppy knew about me being in college because when I left, he was still alive. But a few months before I ran away from Russia, I got the call that both he and my nanny had been killed in a car accident. Dad said that it was supposed to be an accident, but they didn't think that it was. It was being investigated because everything about it was too fishy, as he said.

Since I got the money when I turned eighteen, I snuck back home and signed everything that I had to, to get it. Then I transferred it to an account that had my new name on it and Dad made sure that it wasn't traceable. That way, no one could find me.

When I got to Texas, I picked a town to settle down in. I found an apartment that I could rent month to month and then started to look for a building that I could buy for a bakery.

Thankfully, the one that I found was huge and had a four-bedroom apartment above it. The bottom part of the building was perfect for a bakery. I put an offer in on it and it didn't take long for me to get it. I contacted a construction company, and they got started on renovations pretty fast for me. It only took a few months, and I was finally able to open up.

There were a lot of surprises along the way over the past two years. But the biggest surprise was my tiny little nugget that I was blessed with. Leo and I had only ever slept together a couple of times, but one of those times. But one of those times, we must have had a condom break. Because as I was trying to get my bakery open and settle down into a new town all alone, I suddenly found myself pregnant.

My little nugget was a big blessing to me. And although my dad and grandma were excited for their grandson/great-grandson to get here, they knew that they couldn't move down here yet. But one person could.

My mom knew nothing about my best friend. As far as she knew, I didn't have any friends. But Dad knew Dove and knew her parents. Dove was a few years older than me, but we had been friends for years. Her parents lived beside my grandma and her dad worked at the company with my dad. He was just in a different part of it.

Dove went to college for English because she wanted to be an author. So now that she was one, she could work from anywhere. When she heard what was going on and that I was pregnant, she packed up and drove down to me.

I was so thankful to have my best friend with me again. I had missed her so much and was glad that she moved to live with me. If it wasn't for her, I don't think that I could've made it these last two years. She's my ride-or-die best friend. If I had to hide a body, she would be the first person to grab a shovel to help me. Which is a good thing because before it's over with, I may end up needing to hide one. Especially since I'm pretty sure that I saw my asshole ex in town a while back. Let's just hope that he stays away from here so that he doesn't find me.