After 2 hours of driving the limo breaks screeched
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRREEEEEKKKK HISSSSSSSSS"
The limo came to a slow stop. The man in black looked out the window and grumbled, "We're here." Marigold covered her face as tears flooded the palms of her hands, overflowing out the sides. The man in black mocked, "You're ridiculous." She glared at him screaming, "The only one here that's ridiculous is you." She buried her face back into the palms of her hands and the man in black scoffed. He swung open the passenger's side door on his side and grumbled, "Get out of the car." He swung his feet out of the door, planting them into the gravel, stood up, poked his head back into the car, and shouted, "Get out of the car." She cried, "Take me home now!" Her tears started dripping down her arms and she began to shake. The man in black slammed the door on his side, walked over to her side door, and swung the door open. He shouted, "I don't have time to play foolish games with a foolish woman." She looked at him with tears rolling down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and shouted, "I hate you, I hate him, I hate you all. I'm not leaving this car." He grabbed her arm, dragged her out of the car as she tripped on the gravel, stood her to her feet, and shook her while shouting, "Where do you think you'll go huh? You belong to a powerful man! You act foolish, like you have choices and options. You will fall in line or I will put you in line myself." He dragged her across the gravel by her arm as she covered her face with her other hand, slapped her hand down from her face, grabbed her cheeks that were soaked in her tears, and turned her face to look at the 7 story beige brick and gray stone castle style mansion. He growled, "Look at this, look at what you have and you still dare to cry like a fool. If I had half of what you had do you know how happy I would be? You're the envy of every woman out there, to be the wife of a wealthy man is every girl's dream. To be taken care of, why do you have to be so stupid? Why do you have to act like this isn't what you want? This is what every girl wants." She pushed his hands away, breaking out of his grip, dropping to the ground. She stumbled to her feet while screaming, "This is not what I want. I didn't ask for any of this and I don't want it, I want to go home." He grabbed her arm as tight as he could, pulled her closer to him, and spinned her around showing her the sandy brown stone wall with a black metal gate door that sat 30 feet away from them but surrounded the entire mansion. He mocked in a joyful tune, "Where will you go, how will you escape? The only way out of here is through the gate which is guarded by security and has video cameras attached to it. Your own father doesn't even want you. You'll be on the streets, living like a beggar, and it'll be even easier to track you down and bring you back. There is no place for you to go where you won't be found, you belong to a Billionaire now! You are the wife of Mr.Bax." She pulled out of his grip and yelled, "You can't keep me here against my will!" She tried to run towards the gate but before she could take a step the man in black pulled her hair, yanking her down to the ground. He crouched down to her level, grabbed her arm, and stood her to her feet mocking in the same joyful tune, "You are ridiculous Marigold, just ridiculous. Such a shame… You are such a beautiful woman and yet you choose to be so foolish." He dragged her towards the house as she drug her feet. He snarled, "Come on, Mr.Bax is waiting," as he continued to drag her to the house while she tried to fight him off. He dragged her to the mansion's tall dark brown door, opened the door, and threw her by her arm inside. She stumbled in tripping down the two platform stairs onto the white marble floor face first. She looked up and round her to see two sets of off white marble stairs that had dark brown wood and rose gold railing and that wrapped around the room and led to the second floor hallway balcony, white doors on the second floor that led to different rooms and places, an open off white rectangular column doorway space that led to the living room on one side, another open doorway space that lead to a light beige hallway, a crystal chandelier that hung in the center of the room, and lime white walls. The man in black slammed the door behind him.
BOOM, ERRRRRK, SLAM
The sounds of the slamming door shook the house. He walked down the steps and pulled Marigold off the ground by her arm. Tear soaked wet strands of hair covered her face, he brushed her hair back, and squished her cheeks with his scarred hand saying, "Look your best, you're about to meet a powerful man." He walked her up a flight of stairs as she stumbled behind him, down the second floor hallway, to a large gray colored wood door with a golden pull down handle. He opened the door and threw her to her knees inside the 4,000 Sq ft office. In the office sat Mr.Bax (Beau's dad) in a light gray work chair at a black desk that had drawers. Mr.Bax's office also had a gray bookshelf that had different books on it and covered the entire wall off to the left side of him, a light gray rug that sat on top of the polished light brown wood floor, circular lights that were built into the ceiling, a large wall to wall window that was on the wall behind him and had sheer light gray and white curtains, a dark gray couch that sat in front of the bookshelf, a light gray modern cushioned chair that sat in front of his desk, and a modern black two tier side table that sat next to the gray chair and had potted plants on it.
She stumbled to her feet to see Mr.Bax sitting with his feet up on his desk and a smug smile on his face. She saw a gold metal name tag, a white laptop, and a stack of vanilla colored folders sitting on top of his desk. In his hands he held a folder the same color as the folders on his desk. He put his feet on the floor, opened the folder, and read out loud, "Marigold Kelp, age 19, height 5'4, weight 130 pounds, lives with her father in a two story home that was left to her by her mother who died of kidney failure when she was only 5 years of age, got her first job at Straw Cafe to support her father who wants to retire early but doesn't want to work for it. She's the only living kin of her father Arnold Kelp and her mother Alana Kelp also known as Alana Night. I also see Marigold that you're a hard worker graduated top of your class with a 4.0 GPA but never went to college despite all the scholarships. I wonder if it was because your mother died or because your own father is a deadbeat who needs you to take care of him." Marigold jumped in her skin and said, "How did you find all of that about me?" Mr.Bax chuckled saying, "Oh I have my ways, I'm a very powerful man. When I want information I get it, no questions asked." Marigold said, "What do you want from me? Why did you do all of this when you can have whoever you want? Why do you want a girl you've never met to marry you an elderly man? Is it because you're a sick man who wants a sugar baby because he's too desperate to live alone or is it because no one your own age will even give you a second glance because you're a foul, perverted, disgraceful old man." Mr.Bax smirked saying, "A foolish woman you are… Foolish, with a foul mouth yet as beautiful as a delicate flower. Unique like a beautiful snowflake, as fragile as a stained glass window yet hard headed like a rhino. You think I want to marry you, no… I wouldn't dare marry a poor girl, that is beneath me and you are not my kind." Marigold snickered, "Not your kind but you kidnapped me… are you not Mr.Bax?" Mr.Bax said, "I'm Mr.Bax but I'm Mr.Bax Sr. and you are going to wed Mr.Bax Jr. he is my son and his name is Beau Bax. He is one of the richest men in the world and most eligible bachelor in the country, everyone wants him and paparazzi can't keep their cameras off of him." Marigold scoffed, saying,"Funny never heard of him in my life, he must not be all that famous or all that wanted." Mr.Bax said, "Or maybe it's that you can't afford T.V. to watch him." Marigold snapped back saying, "Or maybe it's you're delusional and self centered and the only 'T.V.' he's on is the one in your head." Mr.Bax slammed his hand down on his desk and said, "I don't know what my son sees in you, but he wants you to be his wife." Marigold said, "Well your son is as delusional as you are. I won't be forced into marriage." Mr.Bax put his hands on his desk, slowly stood up, and said, "Marigold Kelp will you be such a stupid woman and reject my son? Do you realize you as the wife of a Billionaire will be set for the rest of your life. You'll never have to work a day in your life, you will have everything you could possibly desire… Butlers, maids, expensive clothes, hand bags, etc… Will you be foolish and turn this offer down?" Marigold said, "I'll have everything but my freedom… My freedom is important and being stuck in a loveless marriage for money is not how I want to spend the rest of my life." Mr.Bax said, "Who marries for love nowadays? You'll have money and that should be enough." Marigold said, "But I won't have my freedom and I won't have love. How could you possibly think that a marriage could ever last if the two don't even love each other. That's just a disaster waiting to happen, a complete dumpster fire of a marriage. Beau will never be happy with me, in a marriage if we're not in love. Money can't buy marriage, money can't buy love… I'm sorry Mr.Bax but you can't buy my love and you can't buy my freedom. Those things are priceless and I won't let you or anyone take them from me." Mr.Bax laughed and said, "Are you not the same Marigold Kelp that gave up everything including her entire promising future to support her father not because he has some sort of disability but because he was and is too lazy to work? The same father that sold you to me for 10 million dollars. You gave up your entire life, all of your dreams just to be sold like property. You talk about freedom, how you can't be bought but even you had a price Marigold which was the love you so desperately wanted but never got from your own flesh and blood, your own father who gave you away in a heartbeat and he didn’t even hesitate to do it… Hmph, I've been trying to make you feel more human because a blow like that would and could hurt anyone's pride, making them feel like less than a human but I guess there is no reasoning with you, so I will put it like this… I bought you, you are my property to do what I please and I want you to marry my son, so that is what you'll do and if you refuse, if you dare defy my orders well… It would be a shame if that 10 million dollar check was reported as stolen, a forgery and grand theft are felonies… Poor Marigold only wanted to see her father happy so she stole the check, forged my signature, and thought I wouldn't notice." Marigold scoffed, saying, "You and I both know that never happened, have fun trying to prove that in court, I'll just expose you as the pervert you are." Mr.Bax chuckled saying, "I do believe I have a witness to your desperation." The man in black chuckled while saying, "I first hand witnessed Marigold's desperation. Working a job for a measly 10 dollars an hour, Marigold was so tired she just couldn't help herself." Marigold looked at the man in black and Mr.Bax said, "Yes and I do have your files where you gave up everything to help your father. You see Marigold Kelp, the one thing you'll learn about me and about having real money is the power you hold with it. I'm a Billionaire and I can buy anything. Witnesses, judges, jury, etc… You won't believe the lies you can get people to believe when you have money. See I have all the cards in my hands and you have nothing. This is my world now that you're living in. She looked at Mr.Bax, tears filled her eyes as she said, "How will you be able to convince anyone that I had stolen the check? I don't have access to any checks that belong to you or your son." Mr.Bax chuckled, saying, "Money, persuasion, and oh you must not know the car you rode in today belongs to my son Beau and in a land where only money matters that'll be enough to get you convicted of a felony crime." Tears rolled down her face and she said, "You'll ruin my life." Mr.Bax said, "No, the only person who is going to ruin your life is you and your stupidity if you deny my order. So will you still be foolish and deny my son your hand or will you take his hand and live a wonderful life as an heiress?" She looked down as her tears dripped onto the floor and he smiled saying, "Looks like I have a deal." Mr.Bax looked through the folders on his desk, pulled out a marriage certificate and contract that had been signed by Beau, and walked over to Marigold saying, "Beau has already signed them so once you sign this everything will be finalized." She looked up at him, snatched the papers out of his hands, and said, "I won't sign anything until I get it in writing that the check is not forged… I want a receipt right now or no deal." Mr.Bax walked over to his desk, pulled out a piece of paper, wrote out a receipt, and signed it saying, "Not like you have any sort of power or leverage in this deal but I admire how smart you are so I'm willing to do it, I can tell why my son likes you so much." Mr.Bax held the receipt in his hand and said, "Well Marigold Kelp here is your receipt, signed just for you." She walked over to him, reaching for the receipt and he yanked it back saying, "You'll get this, as soon as you sign the contract and license." She slammed the license and contract onto the desk looking at Beau's signature already signed on them. Mr.Bax handed her the pen he had saying, "Once you sign this, all your dreams will come true. Think of it just this morning you were poor getting ready to start working for 10$ an hour to support your father and now you're an heiress and will never have to lift a finger to do anything ever again." Her body began to tremble as she signed both papers, her tears soaking both sheets. Mr.Bax smiled, snatching the sheets away from her, saying, "You are now Marigold Bax. This is a wonderful day and a dream come true just for you." She covered her mouth with her hand as her tears began soaking it. Mr.Bax scoffed, saying, "A woman like you should be happy to marry a man like Beau. This is your dream come true and your chance to have whatever you could possibly want without having to struggle. You should be happy, this is your Cinderella story." She covered her face with both her hands sobbing, unwilling to speak. Mr.Bax grabbed her arm and said, "Be happy, you now have everything you want and your life will be better." She mumbled, "But I won't be free…."
Marigold looked at Mr.Bax and said, “Are you happy now? You’ve taken everything from me.” Mr.Bax scoffed, saying, “Don’t be dramatic, you now have a better life. Nothing was taken from you, only given to you. You should be thanking me for taking you from your pitiful life and giving you a bigger and better life. A life you can now be proud of.” Marigold said, “You’re delusional and self centered. You’re a miserable and lonely old man.” Mr.Bax laughed and said, “You say miserable, I say rich and happy. Now that you have access to all these new riches you will soon understand that money is the best thing to have in this world.” She cried, “You’re sick, sick and disgusting. I would choose to be poor any day over having all these riches.” Mr.Bax said, “Well then you’re a fool.” Knock, knock, knock The knocking at the office door silenced Marigold and Mr.Bax. Mr.Bax said, “Come in,” and a man in his 50’s walked through the door. The man wore a white button up shirt, a dark green sweater
Angela looked at Beau and Marigold staring at each other and said, "Goodness you two look like you've seen ghosts." Marigold looked down and said, "U-uh," Nathaniel interrupted saying, "She's just staring because she thinks Beau is handsome. Isn't that right Marigold?" Marigold gripped her dress while Beau stared at her thinking, 'She's my wife… she's so beautiful but she's way more quiet than she was this morning… I wonder…. I wonder what my father has done to her. How can she go from being so witty and bold to being timid and shy?' Nathaniel said, "So my boy, how did you get production sales up?" Beau ignored his father, continuing to stare at Marigold fidgeting in her seat. Nathiel said, "I've never seen you so distracted in my life Beau," but Beau continued to ignore his father. Angela looked at Marigold starting to shake and said, "I know you're in love Beau but stop staring at her, you're making the poor girl nervous." Beau quickly looked away and Nathaniel said, "Oh nonsense, h
An hour passed and Marigold’s cries became quieter and quieter until finally silence hit the hallway. Beau pressed his ear to the door no longer hearing Marigold and thought, ‘At least she stopped crying, but I can’t allow her to continue being miserable like this.’ Beau sat on the floor, the back of his head pressing up to the door, and thought, ‘I never imagined my father would do something this cruel, this isn’t what I wanted… I should’ve never agreed to allow him to find me a wife to marry, I should’ve never signed the marriage certificate… The pain and fear she must feel, to be completely stripped from her home, not knowing where she is, but losing everything… I have to fix this now, for her sake…’ Beau pulled out his phone calling his father. He put his ear up to the phone hearing the phone ringing. BRIIIIIIIIING BRIIIIIIING BRIIIIIIING Beau’s phone rang until it reached Nathaniel’s voicemail. Beau hit the floor with his fist and thought, ‘PICK UP you’ve already dragged me int
Marigold stood by her window watching Beau's car fade in the distance and the black gate door close, slamming shut. She thought, 'I have to move and I have to move fast if I want to get out of here, but how can I make it through the gate without being detected?" She rubbed her chin with her hand and thought, 'If I can stay low and quiet enough, maybe I can stay hidden outside from any security… The only thing that's really lit up is the gate itself, not the entire wall. I can stay hidden in the shadows by the gate and wait until they open the gate for Beau, when his car pulls in I'll have to hurry and stay low but I'm sure I can sneak by without detection. Now the security person's station is on the left side of the gate, so I'll have to stay on the right side of the gate and make sure I stay on the right side of the car so I don't get seen… Alright… I need to get changed.' She looked through her clothing pulling out a solid black pair of high waisted jeans, black tank top, and a blac
At a gas station pump, sitting in his white sports car that had a black interior, sat Beau dialing up his father on his phone. He put his phone up to his ear, hearing it ring, until it reached Nathaniel’s voicemail. Beau tossed his phone on the front passenger's side seat, rested his forehead against the steering wheel, and said, "He's avoiding my calls, thinking I'll let this slide. UGH! This is ridiculous! He should have never tried to buy me a wife. Now all she is, is miserable and it breaks my heart." BUZZZZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZBeau looked over at his phone to see it vibrating. He quickly picked up his phone and looked at the screen to see Carls calling him. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and answered his phone saying, "Yes." Carls said, "Master Beau, you are needed at home." Beau said, "Home? Why are you at my house? I thought your shift was over already." Carls said, "I left my house key, but there is a bigger problem. So please Master Beau come home at on
Beau walked back to the guest bedroom (that Marigold was in) thinking, 'What did I just do? I lost my temper in a way that I almost never do but… Seeing what he did to Marigold killed me. I just couldn’t control myself. The fact that he would do that to a woman is bad enough and that alone would have made me knock out his teeth but the fact that he did this to Marigold… If Carls wasn’t there to stop me… I would have turned into a completely different person. I would have gone too far.’ Beau stood at the doorway of the guest bedroom (that Marigold was in) and saw Marigold sitting down, hunched over, covering her face while she cried. He walked over to her, kneeled down to her level, and said, “You don’t have to worry about Trad anymore, he’s gone for good…” Marigold stuttered, “I-I w-was so em-embarrassed and y-you just o-over powered m-me.” Beau asked, “What are you…” Marigold slammed her hand on her chair’s armrest, looked up at Beau as tears ran down her cheeks, and interrupted him,
4 days later Knock, knock, knock, knockMarigold was awakened by the sounds of knocking at her door. She pulled her purple covers off of her head revealing her messy bed hair covering her face. She pushed her hair out of her face and mumbled, "Come in." ERRRRRRR EEEEEEEK Carls opened the door holding a shiny gray metal tray of food. On the tray there was a fork and a knife sitting on top of a white napkin, french toast on a plate, orange juice in a tall glass cup, a small cup of syrup sitting on the plate (that had french toast on it), and two strips of applewood smoked bacon on a saucer (next to the plate of french toast). The breakfast aroma filled the room. Carls said, "Good morning Miss Marigold." Marigold sat up stretching her arms and saying, "Good morning Carls." He walked over to her bedside, handing her the tray of food and asking, "Did you sleep well?" Marigold answered, "I slept okay… Thank you for breakfast." She dug into her breakfast while Carls said, "Well I hope you
5 weeks passed and Marigold continued to ignore Beau and his attempts to talk to her. Beau stood in his father's office wearing a white button up dress shirt, black dress pants, a dark brown leather belt, and black lace dress shoes. Nathaniel sat at his desk looking at Beau. Nathaniel said, "So Beau, how's married life treating you." Beau glared at Nathaniel saying, "She absolutely hates me. She won't even speak to me. All because you forced her to marry me." Nathaniel said,"She's still bitter about that? Honestly the child needs to get over it. What's done is done and we did her a favor. She should be thanking us." Beau said, "We didn't do anything. You forced her to marry me against her will. You took her out of her home and didn't give her a choice or say in the matter." Nathaniel said, "No, I gave her options." Beau said, "You blackmailed her into marrying me. That's not options." Nathaniel said, "I gave her options and she chose the better option. If you ask me I say we saved he