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“It&#039;s already been agreed upon, you&#039;re getting married and that&#039;s settled.” My father lifted two fingers, “Two weeks, you&#039;re getting married in two weeks, so prepare yourself.” My dad dropped the bombshell after my return from the restroom break.<br /> I was speechless, that soon? That&#039;s unreasonable. I felt like a pawn, like a tool in all of this. I couldn&#039;t stand for this. I&#039;ll run away, I&#039;ll show them, they can&#039;t just impose what they want and I&#039;ll follow. I have to wait and bide my time then when no one&#039;s expecting I&#039;d make my move.<br /> I quickly texted Tanya, my best friend and Rhys&#039;s sister about everything going on and prayed she&#039;d come up with anything at all that could save me from marrying her brother.<br /> ————————<br /> “Married? Rhys? Two weeks? This isn&#039;t a prank is it?” I told her about what just transpired in my mum&#039;s office and she was bamboozled, just like any other person that just found out that their best friend was getting married to their brother.<br /> “Yes, married, and in two weeks, to Rhys, I&#039;m as shocked as you are.” I sighed, reclining further into my chair.<br /> “So what are you planning to do?” She asked, concerned laced in her voice.<br /> “I&#039;m running away, that&#039;s what.” I answered directly.<br /> “Where would you go?” She asked and to be honest I hadn&#039;t figured out where I&#039;d go… yet.<br /> “I don&#039;t know yet but I&#039;ll think of something.” I replied,<br /> “Okay, I&#039;ll talk to you later, I&#039;ve got to address something here.” and with that Tanya ended the call.<br /> I got off work earlier than usual, because I couldn&#039;t concentrate given the drama that ensued earlier. I went straight home, laid on my bed and deep in thought, I fell asleep, I fell asleep for God knows how long, only to be awakened by a knock on my door. I peeked through the peephole and found my mother standing before my door.<br /> What did she want? I glanced at the table clock on my nightstand and by the digits displayed I saw it was 10 pm. It&#039;s not like it wasn&#039;t normal for my mother to be in my room by this time but what&#039;s she doing here?<br /> I let her in, and her first question was, “How are you?”<br /> How was I? I couldn&#039;t believe she was asking me that.<br /> “What do you think?” I replied, as we stood in the middle of my room. “ I am being forced into marriage, and to Rhys of all people, Mother. I don&#039;t have a say in all this, I feel like a tool, a bargaining chip, that&#039;s what you and Dad see me as.”<br /> She replied “You know that&#039;s not true, you have to think of the business as well, not just yourself, think of us. As it stands we are deep in debt, not that the business is paying any of it, this is a way out of our current situation. Besides, how bad could it be? It&#039;s not like he&#039;s the devil himself.”<br /> I replied “He is, he really is, mum.”<br /> I couldn&#039;t believe my ears, how bad could it be? Was this really my mum sitting in front of me? She may have the same face, but her words do not match the personality saved in my mind.<br /> Was this how fast people abandoned their morals and values when in danger or peril, when given the easy way out?<br /> “You asking me how bad could it be is a bit hypocritical when from my point of view you chose dad, you weren&#039;t forced to get married to him, you told me how much you hated the status quo of big families and how they view women as nothing more than a bargaining chip, in order to expand their business empires. You&#039;ve stated, for years, your distaste for it and now you stand in front of me, trying to take me into accepting it?” I ranted.<br /> “This is different!” She exclaimed, her face turning beet red. She seemed sad, almost like she pitied me.<br /> “How so?&quot; I continued, knowing I just struck a nerve. “How so? How is this any different from the others? Are you just trying to justify yourself? Make yourself feel better?”<br /> “That&#039;s not it” she said now tearing up “You know that isn&#039;t it!” she exclaimed, her voice cracking in the process. “We don&#039;t have a choice, this is our only chance, we have to take it, or forever sink in the depths of indebtedness, we can&#039;t just pass up this chance, I know it&#039;s not convenient but you&#039;ll have to be a strong woman and stomach it, please.” She begged, a single strain of tear falling from her eye.<br /> After that first strain of tear fell, more strains followed and before I knew it, my mother was crying. All her frustrations came pouring out, it took a while to get her to stop.<br /> In order to make her stop, I finally told her that I&#039;ll think about it, at least rationally, her countenance did change, she stayed for half an hour more before leaving, she left me a paebaek on the table and disappeared into the night.<br /> I sat there looking at it with contempt, by the time she had left, I had already made up my mind. There&#039;s no way I&#039;m getting married to that man, but I can&#039;t let them know, I&#039;ll pretend it&#039;s alright, till I find a place to go.<br /> Patience is a virtue which I had nonetheless.<br /> -<br /> “Ugh, it&#039;s you!” I groaned, rolling my eyes as soon as I saw it was his figure in the room.<br /> “The feeling is mutual.” He replied sharply, turning to Tanya he muttered, “No wonder mum wanted me to come check in on you.” Even his voice irks out of me.<br /> Tanya sighed, “You two would make an insufferable couple.”<br /> I smacked the back of her head and she began to laugh for successfully triggering me with her stupid remark.<br /> “Why are you here anyways?” Tanya asked, rubbing the back of her head.<br /> He took a deep sigh and responded with irritation evident in his voice, “Did you not hear me earlier, or did you lose more brain cells?”<br /> This is the man I&#039;m supposed to marry? It doesn&#039;t help that we&#039;ve grown up together nor the fact that I&#039;ve known all his girlfriends and how he treats them all like trash. This guy had zero respect for any woman that wasn&#039;t his mother. I could go on and on for days about a list of reasons why Rhys was a terrible choice for any woman and his collection of red flags.<br /> Not sparing us another glance he left the room, slamming the door behind him. I fell back on Tanya&#039;s bed, palming my face, “Tanya I&#039;m doomed.” I cried as she took me into her arms.<br /> “There, there, I&#039;d offer to help you out but I don&#039;t have any ideas either, maybe you should just marry him, it can&#039;t be that bad, even if it is you could divorce him later.” She caressed my back and cooed.<br /> While Rhys is an arrogant and unfiltered idiot and I&#039;d never agree on anything he&#039;d ever say, he wasn&#039;t wrong about one thing- Tanya&#039;s brain cells are missing. How could she even say that to me?<br /> I got off her bed, grabbed my purse and left her room pissed with her following right behind me, “I&#039;m sorry, I didn’t think you&#039;d take it to heart.”<br /> “Yeah, of course you didn&#039;t.” I stormed past Mrs. Erion who had a confused expression on her face. Usually, I&#039;d traditionally greet her goodbye but today I didn&#039;t feel like it. It seemed rebellious and not like the good daughter I&#039;m supposed to be but who cares about being good when the people I&#039;m being good for are against my happiness.<br /> -<br /> It was 9:15 pm on my digital watch and I still sat on the bridge, not wanting to go home or anywhere that reminded me of home. Maybe, I could relocate here, buy a camp van and live in it, find a job, live a totally normal life. Even if it&#039;d be less than my life at home, it&#039;d be better.<br /> I heard footsteps approaching, who could be here by this time? It couldn&#039;t be a robber, could it? What was I thinking staying out here too late, and I forgot to bring my pepper spray with me.<br /> The footsteps came closer and closer and my heart kept beating faster. I palmed my mouth to avoid making a sound till whoever it was left while making a silent prayer that they didn&#039;t find me.<br /> “You know my life would be better if you don&#039;t do things that make it miserable for me.” A voice spoke from beneath the bridge and I recognized that irritation. What was he doing here?<br /> “What do you want, Rhys?” I groaned, rolling my eyes as if he could see it in the dark.<br /> “To drag you home with me.” He stated, his shadow still standing beneath the bridge.<br /> “How did you even find me?”<br /> “It was easy as pie, now get off that bridge.” He snapped.<br /> Annoyance began bubbling inside me, “You don&#039;t tell me what to do.” I hissed.<br /> I heard him take in a deep breath and in a low but pissed tone he threatened, “Cerise Huges, get off that bridge or I&#039;ll get you off of it my way.”<br /> “I&#039;d like to see you try.” Was my response and he made his way up the bridge. I shifted my position to make it hard for him to lift me off the bridge if he tried.<br /> But what he did instead was to push me off the bridge and into the water. The bridge wasn&#039;t high off the river and the river wasn&#039;t too shallow either.<br /> When I emerged from the water, I took in all the air I could because I had forgotten to take in air as I landed in the water.<br /> “Are you… crazy?” I yelled, in between coughs. “You could&#039;ve hurt me!”<br /> “Well, you&#039;re not hurt are you?” He asked, his tone void of any concern, almost like he expected I&#039;d be alright even after almost attempting to drown me.<br /> I navigated my way out of the water, and when I came to the surface, he was standing before me with his hands pulled out in front of him.<br /> “What?” I spat, glaring at him.<br /> “Your keys, I&#039;m not letting you get in my car dripping wet like that.” He sighed.<br /> I hesitated but knowing this psycho, he could do worse than shoving me into the water again, so I just gave him my keys.<br /> “You know life isn&#039;t all so terrible when you do as you&#039;re told.” He said, giving me a light pat on my wet hair.<br /> I followed him back to my car and he drove us back to his house.<br /> “Why are we going back to your house?” I asked when I realized he skipped the turn to my house and was taking the route to his but I was responded with silence.<br /> When we arrived, both of our families were present which was not an abnormal thing to witness but it was awkward given my current situation.<br /> I was chewed off for staying out too long and causing everyone to worry about me, it was even worse that I had my phone turned off. It was agreed that I&#039;d stay with the Erion&#039;s till the wedding incase I tried to make any decisions and by that they meant incase I tried to run away. Apparently, Tanya had told them of my plan to escape out of paranoia when she couldn&#039;t get a hold of my line.<br /> As I made my way up the stairs to the designated room given to me Tanya followed behind me.<br /> “Cerise, I&#039;m sorry I just had to… I was worried.” She apologized, yet again today.<br /> I turned to her, tears forming in my eye, “You&#039;re supposed to be my best friend Tanya.” With that I walked into the room, locking it behind me.<br /> I sat on the floor and cried silently. There had to be a way out of this, there&#039;s gotta be a way.<br /> The wedding preparations were ongoing and opinions were varied about it. The state of the preparations depends on who you ask. To my parents it was going smoothly. If you asked me, I&#039;d tell you that nothing will make me happier than the preparations being halted or something along those lines.<br /> Well, it was the penultimate day to the wedding, two weeks had flown by and to my dismay the wedding was tomorrow.<br /> These days I&#039;ve lost my smile, and everyday I walk around with this almost background feeling of foreboding, and I keep having these nightmares, and to top it all off, I haven&#039;t thought of a place that&#039;ll be out of reach from my parents to hide away, but the location doesn&#039;t matter, all I knew was that I had to run away.<br /> About a week ago I stopped staying at my house by obligation. I was moved to the Erion&#039;s residence, this was meant to “make us familiar with each other.” but we both knew that wasn&#039;t happening, after that incident at the bridge– to be honest, even if that incident didn&#039;t happen, I still won&#039;t go into this marriage smiling, that&#039;s just how bad this was.<br /> It&#039;s now or never, I&#039;m running away tonight. I told no one, not even Tanya, not that I don&#039;t trust her but she&#039;s been feeling too sentimental after ratting me out the other day plus I&#039;m in unfamiliar territory and walls have ears.<br /> -<br /> &quot;Goddammit!&quot; I cursed, unable to hold back the frustration that wracked me now. I clenched my palms into fists and punched the wall but I regretted it soon enough because my knuckles began to hurt.<br /> I plopped myself back on the bed before I continued to stare at the ceiling. The clock was ticking away and it was already past midnight. My wedding was just hours away. I had to make a decision and I had to do it fast. It wasn&#039;t fair because this was one decision that would change my life.<br /> On one hand, I was so happy that things would finally get better for me, that I would be free to make my own choices, live my life the way I wanted, and fall in love just the way I dreamt about it, but that meant I was going to leave the future of my family bleak. I couldn&#039;t shake off the feeling of guilt that had been gnawing at me like a gnat, since I escaped from Erion&#039;s residence. What would my parents think when they found out I was gone? I knew they would be worried sick.<br /> I remembered the way my mother had burst out crying as we argued about it, the pain that I saw in her eyes was something I&#039;d never seen in my entire life, and thinking about it made my heart twist. What would she think when she found out that this was the path I had chosen for myself? That would mean that everything they&#039;d dreamt about would crash, and my family business would go down the drain as well.<br /> Yes, it hurt when I thought about it, but I also figured out they were not considerate. They should be aware that I had feelings, and that I had a future for myself. Were they going to push that aside and throw it out the window? And were they going to do it because of money?!<br /> I groaned as the emotional pain cotinged to wrack my body. It was too much for me to bear. But that was the moment that the cons of escaping the marriage came to my mind. I tossed and turned as I thought about what could go wrong. What if the company went bankrupt? What if my parents lost everything they had worked for?<br /> The thought sent a chill careening its way down my spine. But then I thought about Rhys and the life I would have had to endure with him. The way he looked at me with disdain and unwavering disgust, the way he spoke to me like I was beneath him like I was an annoying insect that needed to be squared quickly.<br /> No, there was no way I was going back to that monster who pushed me down the bridge. What if I had hit my head on a rock and died? That would have been the end, and I was pretty sure my parents wouldn&#039;t have given two thoughts about it as soon as their palms were greased.<br /> I got out of bed and started to pace the room like a caged beast. I felt trapped like I was stuck between two terrible choices that would determine the rest of my life. Either way, there was a terrible downside that I didn&#039;t want to encounter.<br /> Go back to the wedding and live a life of misery with a man who didn&#039;t want to see you and probably wished you were dead, or run away and risk causing catastrophe to my family.<br /> I continued to walk back and forth and noticed the umbrella Rhys had given me on the floor. I picked it up, happy that he had let me go, at least. He wanted me gone, but in my haste to escape I hadn&#039;t asked if he would keep supporting my family.<br /> And to make matters worse, I didn&#039;t have his number. I knew I had to make a decision immediately because I wouldn&#039;t stay in this hotel forever. I took a deep breath and made up my mind. I would leave, but not for good. I would go to the next city and try to find a way to fix things from afar. I was not a horse that could just be sold off in exchange for money. I was way more than that and should be treated as such.<br /> The next morning after a troubled sleep, I packed my bags and headed for the train station. I bought a ticket for the train to the next city and waited anxiously for it to depart. As the train chugged along, I felt so relieved. I was finally doing something, taking control of my life without allowing anybody else to tell me what to do and what not to do.<br /> But the thought about my parents struck me again. I felt my guy churn uncomfortably and soon I started to feel dizzy. I staggered back, clutching my bag along with me before bumping into someone.<br /> ***<br /> RHYS&#039;S POV:<br /> &quot;Where is she!&quot; My mother&#039;s panicked voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders with a deep sigh. &quot;Don&#039;t worry, mother. I&#039;ll find her, I&#039;ll make sure she&#039;s safe.&quot; I said, trying to calm her down while acting like I cared even though I didn&#039;t care a bit.<br /> &quot;What about the police?&quot; She asked, she was all nervous.<br /> &quot;If we involve the police in this, she&#039;ll tell them that she&#039;s been forced into a marriage she doesn&#039;t want and I don&#039;t want any legal thing,&quot; I said before pulling out my phone to dial one of the men who was in the search party, looking for her. The whole time my mother kept talking,<br /> &quot;Please, We can&#039;t lose her. Not now, not when everything is at stake. Who are you calling? Can you talk to me, at least?&quot; I closed my eyes in frustration.<br /> &quot;Mother, can you please let me think? Her parents should be the ones talking like this.&quot;<br /> &quot;For God&#039;s sake, Rhys, we are talking about your wife!&quot; She reminded me, just in time when the man picked.<br /> &quot;Found her yet?&quot; I said into the phone. His reply was negative. There were no leads whatsoever, nothing at all. Which was just perfect. At least, she was smart enough to not leave a trace. I relayed the information to my mother and added.<br /> &quot;I&#039;ll go speak with somebody. He knows people who could rat her out&quot; I said and walked out of the room.<br /> I got in the car and drove straight to my house, happy that I had successfully escaped the bondage I&#039;d nearly got into. I got a bottle out of the cellar and poured myself a glass before sipping copiously while relishing the satisfaction. That was when my phone rang.<br /> &quot;Hi, Mum,&quot; I said.<br /> &quot;Where are you? She&#039;s back.&quot;<br /> &quot;Who&#039;s back?&quot; I asked, as my brows folded into a frown.<br /> &quot;Your wife, Rhys, she&#039;s back.&quot;<br /> &quot;My wife?&quot;

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