I MARRIED A VEGETABLE; He's Dead To Me

“You brat. How dare you talk back to me?” Unity's scream could be heard as she descended the stairs to the living room where Mia stood. Edward had already taken a seat on the sofa. “I won't marry a man I don't know. Don't you understand?” Mia retorted as fiercely as she did. This is Mia Clarke. The first daughter of Edward Clarke of the Clarke family. Unity was the new wife Edward married years ago after the death of Mia's mother. Unity came in with her daughter, who was only a year younger than Mia. Since then, Mia's life at the Clarke residence has been a mess. Worse than a slave. “Edward, see what we raised. She doesn't even see us as parents and elders anymore.” Unity turned to complain to Edward, who was sitting on the couch beside them. “Don't ever say that. You're not my parent. After my mother died, you just waltzed into our home with your daughter. Don't ever say you raised me.” Edward's face showed his discomfort at Mia's words; he opened his mouth to say something but eventually closed it. “You always let this jinx disrespect me, Edward.” She always calls her a jinx. "Do you even consider me your wife?” Unity was red with anger. Mia's stance was firm. “I already have a fiancé whom I love, so I won't marry someone else.” Unity let out a dry laugh. “Fiancée, you say?” “Everybody knows I and David are a couple, and we'll be married soon.” With that, Mia turned to go. “It seems you don't want your mother to have peace even in death. I'll have them dig up her grave from the ancestral temple and throw it elsewhere.” Her words caused Mia to halt her steps. “You won't dare!” Mia was furious. That was her mom's unity she was disregarding. Unity was a bit shaken by the look in her eyes, but soon she regained her composure. “You think I wouldn't?” “If you don't believe me, then see this.” She clicked a few times on her phone, which she then showed to Mia. The screen displayed a video. In it, some men were digging up a grave. The scene was captured at Clarke's memorial home. “Make it stop!” Mia knocked the phone out of her hand. Unity gave her a knowing look. “You have just twenty-four hours to decide. Weigh your options carefully, Mia.” Mia looked at Edward with eyes full of hope, like he was her last resort; after all, that was his late wife. One that he had spent years with before her passing. She hoped he'd remember their good times together and make unity stop, but she was mistaken. Edward avoided her gaze. “Mia, this is for the family. The company needs saving, and only you can; otherwise, the company dies. Everything that you and your mother built would be gone. You wouldn't want that in your conscience.” “Dad…” She choked out. Tears shimmering in her dark eyes. It wasn't just guilt they were using; it was legacy, her mother's legacy. She should have known better than to place her hopes on her father. He valued money even more than family ties. Mia ran up the stairs. Unity didn't bother to stop her. She had gotten the reaction she required and with what was going on up there, she was sure that Mia would relent. As Mia passed by Erica's room, she heard sounds coming from it. Moans from a man and woman, precisely. That woman was Erica. Can't lie, Erica was pretty good at it. “Babe… Ugh!!” Mia stopped in her tracks when she heard the man's voice. The voice sounded like that of David, her fiancé. She instinctively stopped to listen. Their voices rose with passion as if they wanted her to hear. This time she heard it correctly. The man was David. “Ah!!” With a loud bang, she stormed into the room. It really was him. She had been praying she had heard wrong, but before her was David on Erica's bed. The couples were startled. David quickly put his boxers back on while Erica wrapped the surrounding blanket. “David…you…” she pointed at him, unable to find the right words to confront him. Erica quickly wore a smug look. “You didn't expect this, sister, did you? I promised I was going to take everything that belongs to you, and that includes him.” So that was it. Mia thought she did not understand why Erica never let her be. She had always coveted her things since they were kids. Ranging from clothes to shoes, toys, her father's love, and now even her fiancé, David. “David, why did you cheat, and with my sister no less?” She really did not understand. “Don't you know? Because he loves me now, not you anymore. He never had.” Erica answered instead. “Yes, she's right. I have fallen out of love with you. David said flatly. “I never loved you. I never did. I was only with you for the benefits it brings, and now you are of no use. You aren't even the esteemed first daughter of the Clarke family anymore.” “David, how dare you? Do you dare say that again, that you don't love me?” She yelled. “I have never loved you, Mia. What don't you understand? We're over.” David emphasised. “Bastard.” Mia slapped him, threw his ring at him, and stormed out. Mia ran into my room and shut the door. It was there that the dam broke. All the tears she had been holding in came rushing out. Unity's words echoed in her head. She vividly remembered her threats and the calmness her father exuded even when she threatened to dig out her mother's grave. Then she witnessed David's betrayal immediately after. “That jerk!” She spent three years of her life thinking she was engaged to David only to find out it was all a joke. A cruel joke. It was no wonder Unity's tone and expression were mocking when she mentioned that David was her fiancé and she loved him. She needed to protect her mother's legacy, and to complete that, she had to marry a man who couldn't even wake up from his long sleep. A man whose fate remains unknown. Mia didn't know how long she sat there crying, but she made a firm resolve. She wasn't going to let anyone ruin her mother's legacy.