I Am My Father's Gambling Collateral

Two

ELENA'S POV

I stood still as if I had just seen a ghost. My heart kept hammering against my ribs and my head, as heavy as what I had just seen. I couldn't hold my thoughts together. I felt like my world fell and totally shattered.

I wasn't done with the grieving, the grieving had even just started, and now this?

“You're a bride now, Silas said. We're going to my car, and you're going to start earning back the debt.” His hand shot out, his fingers bruising my arm as he tried to pull me toward the gate.

I hesitated and all of a sudden, I didn't know where the courage came from. I looked Silas in the eye…

My father never told me about any gambling debts, and he could never use me as a collateral for his gambling debts. I said, with an obvious pain in my voice as I swallowed hard down my throat, while looking him straight in the eye.

“That was the only addiction he had; gambling. I thought to myself. I can remember that caused a lot of issues between him and my mother before she finally left, and now this, this is what he wants me to remember him for? All these thoughts run through my head.”

“You spoiled little brat, how dare you talk back to me?” Silas said. He was furious at that time, and he had a look that could kill.

You are my collateral, and I'll be going back with you. A debt is a debt and your father had a deal. Silas signaled his boy. “Pick her up," he gave the orders.

I started to struggle with him. I saw the look on Carlos’ face, he looked scared and lost, there was little to nothing he could do. As I continued struggling with Silas’ guard, a car drove in.

“Let her go!” The voice sounded grand with authority as the person stepped out from the side of a willow tree. He looked tall, strong and in his well-tailored navy blue suit which fitted his muscles perfectly. He looked younger than Silas and his suit cost more than my father's entire funeral.

For a moment, I forgot I was struggling for my freedom and I started drooling over him.

“I have paid the debts,” you can let her go now, Silas. She's mine now. He said calmly with full confidence. The “human collateral” is also mine now.

“She's mine now?” I thought to myself, when did I become a commodity that could be purchased without my consent. “Father, I really didn't expect you to be so careless, what will become of me now?” Am I being saved or did I just find myself in more trouble?

Silas immediately recognized the young man standing in front of him. Julian Dominic. The name rings a bell.

The struggles stopped, and I was tossed over to him like a piece of cake. Silas drove off with his boys, and he said a word to him. “Make sure I don't see her alone, I'll have my boys watching out for her, this isn't over."

“This isn't over…,” the word kept ringing in my head as I stood confused and lost in my thoughts. Who are you? I asked without hesitation.

“I am your savior, and you're mine now." You should be grateful for that, he said, while walking towards me. I give you an hour to go back to your father's mansion and pack up the most important things you need. I'll send my driver to pick you up in exactly an hour. You're moving in with me, he ordered, sounding grounded and distinctive.

“An hour?!” I exclaimed!

How do I pack my whole life in an hour?

If you stay any longer than that, whatever you face will be your consequences. He entered his car and drove off.

The driver arrived, and we headed back home with Carlos. The drive seemed longer than usual. I sat in the back seat feeling nervous and I couldn't control the movement of my laps. My body kept shaking as I remembered the scene that just took place at my father's funeral. I've never felt more confused in my life…

The driver kept looking at me from the rearview mirror, but he couldn't say a word to me.

“Hurry and move the car a little faster!" I yelled out of fear.

I couldn't believe my life was just about to end, and I'd end up in an unknown world, where I don't have freedom of my own and I can't tell what the future holds for me.

The drive home was a short, silent and fearful one. I wasn't prepared for what was ahead of me. The grief, threat and the unknown world of a stranger that just claimed me from nowhere… How will I cope with all these? I was deeply lost in thought when Carlos' voice cut through my thoughts, dragging me back to the present.

“Madam, Madam…” I immediately snapped. We're home now, he said.

I've never felt more reluctant in my life. Carlos was a gentleman, he held the door for me as I stepped out. I couldn't believe who I saw.