Victoria tossed her head, not showing any concern that they had apparently heard a good part of what she said. As far as she was concerned, that was their goddamn problem.
“Victoria, my dear. You sure have grown into a fine young woman.” Mr. James said, coming over to give her a hug and peck where she was standing. Victoria received them rigidly, her posture giving off ‘I don’t know you vibes.’
“Now, I know you may not remember me, but I used to be your father’s best friend.” Mr. James continued.
“Yes, yes. We are best friends, honey.” Their father put in, a tad too eagerly. Mr. James put up one finger to silence him and he snapped his mouth shut as though someone had used a remote button to control him. Carol watched in surprise, wondering what kind of hold this man had over her family that made everyone, including her usually feisty mother bend backward trying to obey him.
“Don’t interrupt me, Donald. Now, as I was saying, your father and I used to be best friends. That is why I want you to get married to my dear nephew here, so we can all be one big, happy family. That is what my dear sister and brother-in-law would have wanted, God rest their souls.”
“What about what I want? Why is nobody talking about that?”
“You’re going to be well taken care of and be free to do as you like, depending on what is in the contract.”
“Contract? Why is nobody telling me any of what is going on?” Carol quipped, feeling like an outsider in her own home, but that was how she had always felt.
Mr. James ignored her and dismissed everyone. “Get some rest everyone. Tomorrow is going to be really hectic. My aunties and sisters are coming in for the wedding, so everything has to go well.” He said and beckoned to his wife and Sebastian who was busy with something on his phone for them to leave.
“I hope you feel better, Victoria,” Sebastian said, the first words he had said to his supposed wife to be since meeting her in real life. The words sounded as though they were coming from a marble sculpture, totally devoid of emotion or meaning. Even his face was devoid of the sincerity that someone who had spoken words like that should have. Having said those words, he nodded coolly at the rest of them and walked out of the house after his uncle. There was a tense silence after they left, which was broken by Belinda.
“Alright, dears. Please go to bed now. It’s already late.” She said, pointing at the wall clock to show them how late it was, as though they did not know how late it was.
“Is anybody going to tell me what is going on?” Carol asked the room at large and was not at all surprised when they all walked away without answering her question.
Deciding that she could not force them to tell her anything if they did not want to do so, she went up to her room to sleep.
****
Carol was shaken roughly awake the next morning by a frantic Belinda, who was babbling words that Carol could not understand. Her eyes were wild and her hair a mess, and she looked like she had just gotten out of bed.
“What is it again, mum? It’s too early for you to wake me up. Christ, it's barely even eight and the wedding isn’t until eleven.” Carol complained, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She had found it difficult to sleep last night, so it wasn’t a surprise that she was still feeling so sleepy.
“I’ve been cursed with an ungrateful child. I’ve been cursed.” Belinda cried, sitting on Carol’s bed and giving way to loud, wracking sobs of self-pity. Carol watched her for a few minutes, not sure if she should console her or not. She and Belinda did not have that kind of relationship.
“What’s going on?” She asked finally.
Belinda wailed for some more minutes, during which her husband came into the room and stood sheepishly by the door. Carol raised her eyes at him questioningly, but he looked away immediately. After some minutes, Belinda wiped at her eyes and said.
“Victoria has run away.”
“Oh,” Carol said, not sure what else to say.
“Yeah. Do you know where she could be? Did she confide in you or something?” Belinda asked angrily, although her eyes were still teary.
“No, she didn’t. In case you guys failed to notice, nobody in this house ever confides in me about anything, so I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I don’t know anything about her running away.”
“Oh, really? You don’t know anything?”
“Um, yeah? That’s what I just said.”
“Okay, then. Do you care to explain this?” Belinda asked, flinging a piece of paper at her. It was a note from Victoria and Carol read it quickly.
Hey everyone. By the time you’ll be reading this, I’ll be long gone. I’m sorry, but I cannot be the sacrificial lamb for the family. I have my whole life ahead of me, so getting married to a stranger and having a child is not what I want for myself at all. You guys should sort out your issues with Sebastian’s family on your own and not involve me in any of it. Also, help me thank Carol for helping me realize that I don’t have to be anyone’s doormat, nor do I have to marry anyone unless I want to. For now, you won’t be able to reach me, but I’ll get in touch once everything has died down. However, be rest assured that I’m safe. I’m sorry for any embarrassment this might cause the family. I love you all.
Victoria.
“Oh,” Carol said after she had finished reading the message.
“Yeah, oh.”
“Well, I don’t see what the big deal is. Sure, it’s going to be awfully embarrassing for both families, but from what I could see, there is no love lost between the two people who are supposed to be getting married. Sebastian looked bored with the whole thing, as though he was being forced, and so did Victoria. So maybe it is for the best.”
“He is a billionaire. No one can force him to do anything. Victoria just threw away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Are you sure about that? Something tells me there is more to this arranged marriage than meets the eye.”
“The pressing problem now is how we are going to find Victoria. James is not going to like this one bit.” Donald said nervously, still standing by the door.
As if on cue, someone knocked on the door of Victoria’s room. It was one of the maids.
“Mr. James is here.” She informed them.
“Oh my God! This is terrible…really terrible. What on earth are we going to tell him? This is all your goddamn fault. Damn you, Donald!” Belinda yelled at her husband, who cringed and looked away.
“I’ll just go and tell him what’s going on myself,” Carol said, coming down from her bed at last and proceeding to walk out of the room in only her nightgown.
“You will do no such thing,” Belinda ordered, wiping at her eyes and beckoning to her husband for them to go and meet Mr. James.
Once they had left, Carol hurriedly changed into more presentable clothes and hurried downstairs to eavesdrop on them where they were in the study. It was high time she knew what was going on once and for all.
Even before she got downstairs, Carol could hear the strong voice of Mr. James raised in utter displeasure. She could not hear what her parents were saying, but even without hearing them, she knew that they were trying to pacify him. It seemed they succeeded in doing that because he stopped shouting. Carol hurried toward the study and put her ear to the door, trying to hear what they were saying inside the room.“We can postpone the wedding though. We’ll find and convince her. I’m sure of it. All this is just cold feet, which is not a surprise considering the circumstances. Once she calms down, she’ll see reason.” Carol heard her mother say.“I don’t have the time or the patience for that. It was difficult enough convincing Sebastian to agree to this in the first place. He’ll gladly back out of the whole thing if he finds out that his bride has absconded. Are you absolutely sure that your daughter has run away?”“Yes. She left a note for us.”“Well, in that case, I’m afraid that there
The drive to the church was a tense one that seemed longer than usual. Carol sat stiffly in the backseat with her mother, while her father sat in the front seat beside their remaining driver. They had had to send the other two drivers away more than four months back. It was now everything made sense to Carol. Her parents were in serious debt. Looking at them, however, especially her mother, one would never guess. She was always clad in the latest, most expensive, and most fashionable clothes there were. It did not bode down well at all with Carol that they had to resort to using her as a sort of payment for their debt, but she could not let those bastards kill her uncle for something that he did not know about. Besides, she had no doubt that they would follow through on their threat to kill off the rest of their family. She only hoped that Mr. James would keep to his word and would help pay off her dad’s debt.
“You do have a way with words, don’t you?” He asked, in what sounded suspiciously like a mocking tone. “I’m sorry.” “You don’t have to be. My uncle is an asshole, even though I do love him. So why on earth are you married to me instead of your sister?” “Um, well. She…she ran… I mean, we can’t find her. We don’t know where she is.” Carol said, hating herself for the way her voice sounded so high and squeaky and the way she stammered. Sebastian wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, he was busy on his phone as he talked to her. What if he looked at her? She would no doubt curl up into a ball and die. “I can’t say that I blame her. I had the urge to do the same thing too.” Sebastian said in a sardonic voice. He did not seem to be particularly concerned, pained, or offended. Now that they were alone, a sudden thought that made her suddenly sit up ramrod straight sprung up in Carol's mind. Sex! What about sex? They were married for crying out loud. D
The car took Sebastian and Carol straight to the airport. The drive there was a quiet one, with both of them lost in their thoughts. Carol did not speak because she was tired and just wanted the day to be over, while Sebastian really did not know what to say to her. In a way, he felt sorry for her and could not imagine how she must be feeling right now. It was clear that she was the pushover of the family if she let them prevail upon her to marry a stranger in the space of some hours. He could not say he had been exactly shocked to see her walk down the aisle instead of her sister as he had sort of expected the stunt that the sister pulled this morning.Sebastian wondered what sort of hold his uncle had on her parents to make her consent to this, but he did not really care as it was actually none of his business. He would never understand what his dear uncle stood to benefit from his marriage to any of his friend’s daughters, but that was his uncle’s business, not his. All that m
“Gloria will show you to your room. I have to work. See you in the evening.” Sebastian said, and walked away to another part of the house, leaving her standing alone like a lost sheep. Carol sank into one of the comfortable armchairs in the large living room, feeling sorry for herself. It was clear that Sebastian did not want her here. The television in the room was off, and since she did not have anything to do, Carol was about to stand up to pick up the remote from the table and turn it on when a maid, from the looks of her, walked into the room.“Welcome, mistress.” The woman said, curtseying. “I’ll take you to your room so that you can rest, have a bath, and have a change of clothes.”“That would be nice, thank you. I’m tired and really need to get out of these clothes. By the way, it’s Carol and not Mistress.”Gloria, who looked to be about fifteen years older than Carol looked at her as though she was crazy and led the way up a grand staircase to a big and airy bedroo
Carol woke up by six the next morning feeling very refreshed. It seemed that the events of the day before had not even happened at all, but there was the diamond-crusted ring on her hand and the fact that she woke up in this insanely huge bedroom to remind her that it all happened and that she was now Mrs. Sebastian Jones. Stretching fully, she got up and went to take her bath, before changing into presentable house clothes and going downstairs to get breakfast. It felt weird, but not necessarily unpleasant having someone else prepare food for her. Usually, she just grabbed something to eat to and from her way back from work, as she could not cook to save her life, but now, there was someone to make meals for her immediately she indicated her desire to eat.This time around, she ate with gusto compared to the previous night when she lacked appetite. She was on her third piece of toast when Sebastian walked into the dining room all dressed in a suit. At first, he looked surprised
He took one look at her puffy eyes and an expression that she had never thought that she would see on his face crossed it. He looked guilty.“Hey, look. I’m sorry I said all that. I know this is difficult for you, but it is for me as well. I’ll try to keep out of your way and I suggest that you do the same with me so that we do not keep getting on each other’s nerves.”Carol nodded slowly in surprise thinking to herself that wonders shall never cease. She had not known that he was capable of offering an apology, but it was a good thing.“Alright. Later. I’m off to work.”“Okay. See you later. What sort of work do you do anyway?” She asked, knowing that he would not answer, and was not surprised when he walked away as though he did not hear her question. Carol sighed softly. She just hoped that he was not into the same line of business that his uncle was formerly into. The last thing she needed was for someone to come and threaten her or her family because of something he
Jessica Matthews whimpered softly where she was tied like a dangerous wild animal in a cage that could barely contain her. Her joints were stiff and her bones ached from where she had been folded into an impossible position so that she could fit into the cage. Looking at her, one would never believe that she had once been one of the most beautiful women in America. Now, she was all skeleton and bones and her dirty hair hung limply from her skull of a head.“Are you hungry yet?” The man guiding her asked, baring his brown and disgusting teeth at her in a sickening smile.“Yes, please,” Jessica replied humbly and feebly. She could feel the hunger pangs gnawing at her stomach as it had been doing ever since she got here. They had never given her enough food to satisfy her. Instead, they gave her just enough to make her live and suffer. She would have gladly killed herself a long time ago if she could, but she was watched and guided like a hawk and there was hardly a single