chapter 4
1337 Words
Peggy
"WHAT the hell happened, Peggy?" my Mom screamed over the phone. "Your father is furious!"
My nudes were all over the internet, Captioning my father as irresponsible and unqualified to run for the election in the morning's news post.
I knew this would happen. Right from the moment that bastard started to take photos of me. He used it against me but for what reason? I don't even know him.
"Mom, you have to calm down. That's not me I swear," I denied, biting my fingers nervously.
"Come back home, Peggy Adams. Your father wants to have a word with you," My mom said before the line went dead.
This is it. I am so screwed.
How did I let this happen? Why now?
I quickly grabbed my things and left the hotel room I had slept in and rushed back to my campus apartment.
My best friend Emily braced me with the news as I walked in.
"What happened, Peggy?"
"I don't know. I f****d up real bad." I ran my fingers through my hair and cursed under my breath.
"This is bad. We have to clean this up before the whole campus finds out." She panicked even though she was not the one on the news.
"That's if the whole world doesn't know about it already. I...my Mom called me a few hours ago and she wants me to come home." I told her my greatest fear.
She grabbed my arms and looked straight into my eyes. "Let's elope together. I can ask my Dad for help and find a nice island we can live in forever." I was moved by her concern and tempted to accept her offer but that would only get her in trouble.
My father was the worst man to fight.
"I love you, Emily. But I have to go. I promise, I will come back." I grabbed my backpack, containing my important documents and travelled back home.
Once I arrived at the Manor my parents lived in, my stomach tied into a twist. The ghostly vibe of the atmosphere reflected the doom waiting for me inside that lifeless gigantic mansion.
"Welcome home, Miss Peggy." my father's butler greeted, holding out the entrance door for me.
I responded with a nervous nod and went in. The first place I headed to was the living room.
My parents were seated on the sofa, my father's face cold as ice.
"Mother... Father..." I paused as vase flew past my face smashing against the wall behind me. A piece cut my cheek open and blood slipped down staining the collar of my top.
I stood still holding my breath as my heart raced with a speed that would cause anyone a heart attack.
"How dare you?!!" my father thundered with a harsh voice.
"Forgive me father." I dropped on my knees, shaking under his cold gaze.
My mother remained silent watching as my father threw more breakable items at me.
This was my horror. An abusive father who would kill me for any mistake caused to his detriment.
After he was satisfied with the amount of wounds he had left on my skin, he sighed and stepped on my left hand.
"You will fix this. Do you understand me?" he pulled my hair so that I could look at his angry face.
"Anything father. I will do anything to fix the mess I caused."
"Of course, you will.You don't have a choice," he pushed my head with a force that made me fall onto some broken pieces.
"You will marry Aaron Steinfeld." he declared.
I had no idea who Aaron Steinfeld was and I wasn't ready to marry any dirtbag my father was pushing me to.
"Yes father." I responded even though I had plans of running away to stop the marriage.
"Get her prepared." He ordered and I realized that he was getting me married today.
"Papa, wait. Please, You can't do this to me. Give me another chance, Papa. I promise I won't make another mistake." I cried as some men dragged me away.
I was forced to wear a wedding dress and taken to a marriage center.
While no one was looking, I slipped out of the room and ran for the exit door. As I ran, I failed to notice the figure in front and bumped into it.
I hit my butt hard on the ground and tried to get up when a hand extended to help me.
"Where is my lovely bride running to?" The person asked and I looked up with horror in my eyes.
The man I was getting married to was the same man I had a one night stand with. The very man who released my nudes to the public.
"You monster!" I yelled, as it was the only word that I could think of.
"Monster? Sweetheart, I only show that side when I am in the bedroom. Right now, I am the angel you need." He grabbed my arm and began to drag me back to the registry room.
"Let me GO!" I screamed, fighting for my freedom but it was all in vile when he brought me before my father.
"Mr. Adams, your carelessness would have cost you more than the crisis you are facing currently. Why was my bride running off without anyone noticing?" He asked with a dreadful dark voice.
"It will not happen again. Now that you are here, the marriage can now proceed," my father muttered, disregarding my tears.
"Over my dead body will I marry this man," I declared from the deepest part of my heart that burned with hatred.
"You don't have a choice, sweetheart. And trust me, you won't want your words to come to pass because even in your grave, you will still be tied to me."
"Please disregard her tantrums. Youngsters these days have no idea what they say. She is just like a five year old crying candy," My father said, pacifying the man before him.
My Mom bent down to my level and wiped my tears with the tissue in her hand.
"Do as your father says, Peggy. It is the only way we can survive,"she muttered, her voice restrained from breaking down. I understood what she meant but couldn't bear to marry a man I do not love.
"Mom, please help..."
"Shush, the marriage is about to start." She stood up and went back to my father's side.
In the end, I was forced to marry a stranger. A monster I had experienced firsthand last night.
"It was nice doing business with you Mr. Adams."
"Just keep to your words as you promised."
My father and...I couldn't call him my husband because I didn't marry him at my own will. To realize that my father used me as a business chip made my heart contract with hatred for him.
Once my parents left, he threw me a condescending look and walked away. I followed him behind, having no where to go now that my parents had married me off.
"It was you wasn't it? You broke your own part of the deal." I grabbed his arm from behind, stopping him from taking another step forward.
"Don't you dare touch me you disgusting brat," he spat out with a voice full of spite.
I stumbled back from him shock by his changed attitude.
"Now listen to me carefully, I didn't marry you to make your life a sugar cloud full of sunshine and candy. You are a collateral, a chipping bargain that will live under my rules, have my babies and if I tell you to die you die. A business chip has no right to anything not even your life," he gritted out the coldest and most hurtful words I had ever heard in my life.
"Why? Why do I have to suffer like this?" I questioned him with tears of frustration running down my eyes.
"Because you are your father's daughter, Gabriel Adams. My sworn enemy."
To be continued...
- Writer
