My eyes are red and puffy from crying. I'm dressed in a grey dress, ready to be sold off like a piece of furniture. My life had take a wicked turn in a split second. I walk to the balcony as soon as I hear a car arrive. I look down from the balcony. It had to be him, Carrington. As though he can feel my eyes on him, he looks up. Our eyes meet. I look away and retreat.
"I'm glad you made the right decision." Judith says, barging into my room. I look at her, anger and pure disgust in my eyes.
"Shall we? We mustn't keep him waiting."
"Where is my father? Does he know what you've done?"
"Your husband to be is waiting, Princess."
As I arrive downstairs, the first person I see is a tall, well built man. He looked like he was in his late twenties. He had blue eyes, and was blonde, just like me. He has a blank expression on his face. He must be Carrington.
"Shall we?" The man accompanying Carrington asks.
"We shall." Judith responds, leading everyone into the study. I feel betrayed. I want to cry, but I control myself.
"Going straight to the matter of the day, I'm of the opinion that both parties are aware and approve of this union?"
Carrington nods. I can't bring myself to respond. I'm shaking, and I can feel the tears spilling out of my eyes. Judith rushes to my side. "Say yes, what are you doing?" She chuckles, "She's just nervous."
"Yes." I finally respond.
"Mr. Carrington, do you accept Ms. Richardson here, to be your lawfully wedded wife?" The man asks.
"I do." He responds, and I look at him, annoyed. I look away. It was so easy for him, getting married to someone he barely knew.
"Ms. Richardson, do you accept Mr. Carrington to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
I don't respond. I run my hand through my hair, frustrated.
"Ms. Richardson?" The lawyer calls. I look at him. I turn to look at Judith, who's glaring angrily at me. I close my eyes, remembering Rocky's touch, his lips on mine— how could I possibly betray him in such a huge manner? I think back to seeing my father, his pale eyes and facial expressions. He was really sick, and this was the only way out.
"I thought you said she was ready, Mrs. Richardson?" I hear Carrington ask.
"I do." I respond.
"She is!" Judith answers.
"Please, if both parties can sign this." Carrington signs. I sign.
"With the power vested in me, by the state, I pronounce you husband and wife."
"I have a meeting in two hours. It would be best if you take whatever you want to so that we may leave."
I turn around, disgusted. "I refuse to go anywhere with a wicked man like you. You may leave if you wish." I say, as I walk off. He grabs my arm. He chuckles softly. "I beg your pardon? We are married, and I don't intend on living apart from my wife. You are mine."
"Let me go." I demand. "I am not yours. Do you think I'm a piece of furniture that you own? Have you no decency?"
"You're mine. I bought you, incase you were wondering."
"I know. You left me no choice, you bastard!" I say, as I slap him. He lets go of my arm. He touches his cheek as he looks at me.
"Don't let me punish your family for your misdeeds." He says, and his words send shivers down my spine. He continues, "Get your things, and let us leave."
I pace around my room aimlessly. I couldn't stop myself from crying. I was having a terrible headache already. I had been trying Rocky's number but it wasn't going through. I quickly send him a text, but he doesn't reply either. "Why aren't you with your phone?" I breakdown, my cries intensifying.
"Mrs. Judith, where is your daughter? I live far from Croydon and it would take about two hours to get to my destination, so I must leave." I say to Mrs. Richardson, my mother-in-law. Her boldness and shamelessness amazed me. She was comfortablly seared, on her third glass of wine. As I watched her, anger ran through my veins.
"We still haven't gotten full control of our money and businesses. Do you think you can outsmart me?"
"One year. I have to be sure you and your daughter don't try anything funny. After one year, you may get full control. Now, please, call your daughter."
Mrs. Richardson had gone to get her daughter, my wife and it's been over an hour. I was already getting impatient. Could packing a few boxes take so long? As I'm about to get up, I see my wife and her mother descend from the stairs. Natalie was indeed, beautiful. The pictures I had of her did her beauty no justice. She had full lips, the perfect cheekbones and golden brown eyes. She wasn't too tall, but not short. Our eyes meet. She looks away. I can see the disgust in her eyes and anger in them. Her eyes were sharp and if they were daggers, I'd probably be long dead.
"I'd like to escort my father to the hospital before I leave." She demands as she walks up to me."No, you can't. I'll have some of my men escort him if you wish."She gives me a dirty look, "Don't you have a father? How can you be so cruel?" She asks, and I almost laugh. Father? I want to grab her neck and yell. Tell her that her father was the reason why I didn't have a father, a family for that matter. I chuckle. "I did, at some point." I answer, trying to calm myself. I continue, "But now, I don't and I certainly don't care about you or your father." The only reason why I was"You can't stop me from seeing my father, I will see him with or without your consent!""I'm your husband, Natalie," I say as I pull her closer to me, squeezing her arm, I continue, "and, you will do as I wish."There's so much anger and hatred in her eyes as she squirms, "In name alone
I glance at the clothes and look at the clock, it was almost nine in the evening. I was ready to go for dinner even though I was terrified. After dressing up and applying a thick coat of red lipstick, I head downstairs when I notice Carrington already on the dining, alongside the strange girl, Laurel.Carrington gets up and takes out my chair for me. I don't say anything but I give him the could shoulder and glare at him. I was petrified. He frowns slightly."Laurel, please, could you excuse us? Just a minute.""Yes, sure." She says, and I could swear she gave me a dirty look."Thank you, for wearing the dress I sent. I must say, it suites you."I chuckle softly, annoyed by his guts. "I told you to stop acting friendly with me. Stop pretending to be a good person, because we both know you're not."He sighs, "Look, Natalie, I really don't hat
I didn't know what time it was because I hadn't left the room since what transpired between Luke and I earlier on. I was curled up in my bed, with no tears left to cry. My mind drifted into thoughts about my father. I hoped he was doing well and recovering well. I missed him so much during these hard times. I wonder if he knew what my mother had done. If he knew that I had been sold off like a piece of furniture just to save our name and money. My mind drifts off to Rocky. Why hadn't he come for me? Did he hate me? It wouldn't come as a surprise after all, I did betray him.I had decided to take a tour round the house— if I was going to escape again, I needed to know every possible escape route. Luke's house was indeed very huge. There was a total of nine rooms and every room had a bathroom in it. There was a mini theatre on the second floor and beside it was a chapel with the statue of Mary in it. I had prayed there for a while, asking and b
Luke had offered to get me a glam team for my hair and makeup but I had refused, because I would feel more uncomfortable than I already was if he kept throwing favors my way.I am getting ready when the door opens. I look through the mirror to see who it is. It's Luke. There's total silence for a few seconds until I speak."What do you want?" I ask, still looking at him through the mirror."May I come in?" He asks. "You already opened the door, didn't you? Might as well enter." He enters, a box in his hand."What is it?" I ask. He opens the box and it's a ring. A very expensive, shiny, beautiful blue ring. I look at him, my face emotionless and his, hopeful."I realized that I didn't get to give you this because of the way things happened so fa—"You mean how you coerced me into marrying you?"He's quiet. He
Luke’s Pov"I asked you a question, Bart," I ask, wondering what it could be. Was he taking drugs?He gives a wide smile, "Nothing serious, sir." He replies, but I don't believe him. Naturally, Bart gave off an awkward vibe and his personality was negative. He always tried to play the good guy but any wise person could see through it. I don't believe him."I don't want you doing drugs or anything illegal in my home for that matter so get rid of whatever the hell it is you're on." I continue, "I need you to arrange a bouquet, a very huge bouquet of all the freshest flowers available and send them to my wife before noon, okay?" He nods.He looks agitated and sweaty but I ignore it and leave. I had a long and interesting day ahead."Good morning, Mr. Carrington." A female staff says to me as I walk the grounds of Carrington Enterprise
Beep Beep Beep, I hear, as I struggle to open my heavy eyes. The light is too bright, so I use my hands to cover my eyes."Where am I?" I ask, immediately my eyes land on Luke."You're in the hospital, Natalie." He responds and in a split second, memories start flooding my head. I touch my lips alarmed. I wasn't gagged anymore. I sit up and look at my legs. They were bandaged."I was kidnapped!" I say, my hand on my mouth. I look at Luke, "I was kidnapped, it wasn't a dream.”"I know. Do you remember exactly what happened? Where were you last night?" He asks and I freeze. Thankfully, Laurel enters at that exact moment and the attention is directed at her- something she must've been ecstatic about.I use the back of my left hand to wipe the nonexistent sweat on my face. What would Luke do if he found out I tried to escape again? Bloody hell,
Luke and I are seated on the dining as Laurel sets the table with our food."What's for dinner?" He asks and as I'm about to answer, Laurel begins to speak."Well, Luke, we were supposed to follow your meal plan today and we had already prepared that, but your wife insisted we make another dish even if I told her not to." SHE says, eyeing me slyly."Excuse me, Laurel?" I turn towards Luke, "Please, I didn't know you had a meal plan or anything- she didn't tell me anything."Luke looks at both of us back and forth, "Natalie, you should have asked. We have certain rules here.”I gasp in shock and utter disbelief. "I should have asked? I just told you, I did ask." I look at Laurel, "Why are you lying?!" I yell. "Luke, she didn't tell me anything, believe me.”Laurel is about to speak but Luke stops her, "Please, all I'm asking is th
Some weeks later. ..I feel ecstatic as the water pours all over my body. I squeeze my hair and rinse my face. The past few days hadbeen the best days of my life. I truly never knew that I'd be so content and happy with how everything started with Luke.Luke had made it more than obvious with not just his words but his actions showed that he truly loved me.I had also fallen in love with this man, but I knew he wouldn't believe me if I told him. He would doubt my motives and although it would hurt for him to doubt me, I would totally understand if he did because I had broken his trust severally. It was solely up to me, to prove to him that I wasn't going to run away again and that my feelings were sincere.Wearing a pencil skirt and a long sleeve blouse, I hurriedly brush my hair, side bangs. It was already Monday morning and Luke would le