MARRIED TO HELL AT FIRST

“Why the bloody hell are you on my bed?” Bianca is knocked out of sleep mercilessly by Liam's blunt words that slap her face. The anger-laced as well as confounded words, sound completely unknown and unreal to Bianca's ears. It was their wedding night, a night that had to be spent surrounded by joy and blissful moments. Since the starting point when they had arrived at the house together, Liam had disappeared, having poofed away into thin air. And now he stands in front of her, his voice growling. " I ask you again, lady, what the bloody hell are you doing in my bed?" Liam bellows, his eyes gleaming with raw contempt and revulsion. Bianca trembles with an instinctive fear, struggling to find words. "I'm in bed Liam," she is able to say, her voice barely above a whisper. "Today was so exhausting, I went straight to bed.". " You sure got some nerve! Huh? Now you get your filthy self off my bed this minute and onto the floor, that's where you'll be sleeping from now on!" Liam bellows. Bianca, who sits there gaping in shock and silence. in fear, races frantically off the bed as fast as she can, struggling about wildly. She races for the couch, her heart thumping wildly inside her chest. Liam glares at her amusedly. Clicking his fingers, he utters, "Are you as deaf as you are foolish? onto the floor!” He yells, "From today, you will always sleep on the floor. I do not want to see you even an inch close to this bed, talk more of sleeping on it" Bianca drops to the floor at once, moving quickly and obsequious. Her wide, pure fright eyes struggle to catch his ugly stare. Trembling and helpless with fear. Smiling sadistically, upon his lips, he reclines, contentedly on the bed. Already half-asleep, he utters the words, "senseless woman,” his voice a soft whisper, as sleep seizes him completely. Bianca, still stuck in one of utter astonishment and disbelief, looks at Liam as he slips into a deep sleep. She silently weeps, remembering how she ended up in this predicament. Marriage to Liam Smith. Her thoughts wander back to the turning point that altered everything—the day she heard, surrounded by her parents, of her marriage to Liam. She had come back from the New York Fashion Academy, bursting with hopes for her professional life and autonomy. But those aspirations had hardly begun to gain traction before her mother's soft palm reached up towards her own, and her father cleared his throat rigidly. “There is something we need to talk about," he had said to her, his tone laced with desperation and finality. "You are marrying Liam Smith, son of billionaire Fredrick Smith," he continued. For a moment, Bianca had hunted for her will and tongue to talk. She simply could not bring herself to get over her ears. "What! I will not accept this marriage! You cannot marry me off like this, Dad. I am not a commodity! She stood, shocked still, her eyes wide on her father. "This is the 21st century, Dad. An arranged marriage?" she was able to get out, her voice trembling. Her head spun with the storm of emotions crashing through her… she just couldn't believe what she was being told. What the result was however, was not haggling but a choice already made. A cash payment for a debt her father could barely repay monetarily—but in herself. Liam Smith. Son of the Smith fortune. Suave in public. Cold, evil, and taciturn behind closed doors. They had met only once before the wedding, when her and her parents called at the mansion home of the Smiths to make contact with the Smiths and also make the preliminary wedding arrangements. She could simply feel the coldness and detachment etched on Liam's face. Not wanting to stay tongue-tied there, she had to talk. "Not a word the entire evening. Don't you wish to talk about anything with me? We must get acquainted with one another in a small way at least before the wedding, I suppose," she said laughing. "Now you do notice, lady!” "Now that my temper has been roused!” Liam snapped back at her, changing direction at once. "I have no idea what in the world you and your hi-jinx parents have all schemed up with my dad, and I don't care! "he snapped. "I merely want you to know that if you do go through with this wedding, I believe it would be the worst mistake of your miserable life. Look at me," he said, taking a few steps back for emphasis to gawk at himself. "How could I possibly wind up with someone as naive as you? Listen, I got a woman I would like to spend the rest of my life with, and I would like to think you’ve got someone somewhere too…" he continued. "Well, if you do not, do not even consider that you and your greedy, gold-digging parents would secretly infiltrate our lives to—“ "Enough”! Bianca cut in shock, silencing him in mid-sentence. "I won't let you speak about my parents like this. Your father is the villain; he is the one who came up with this marriage just because my father owes him money." "Well then, make your father pay the disgusting debt, or better yet, he can go to prison. Why do I need to get involved in all this?" Liam growled at her. Fine," if you don't want this, then you may as well relate your feelings to your father," Bianca replied defending herself. "I would not have you call me foul for something I know absolutely nothing about!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, holding back tears. Presently, Bianca's gaze continues to linger on Liam. Her fear is still very much visible as she glares. With desperate silence, she grabs a spare blanket off the couch and drapes it over the cold floor. Stepping to bed, the hard floor is a bitter contrast to the comfort she desperately desires. With sleep completely eluding her, she grabs her phone and discovers a list of missed calls from her best friend Dannie who happened to be her bridesmaid at the wedding earlier today, and a follow-up message that read: "Girl, where have you been? We need to talk, it's important." What could be so important? Bianca thinks.