Contract Husband.

I do, but I don't.

It was 12 midnight, the bell had already rung to signify the dreary hour. Immediately Rosalind heard the bell she jumped up from the bed, she ran towards her window and open it wide, she looked around for any signs of people or guards.

"Coast's clear" she whispered, she immediately took out a maid outfit from her wardrobe and put them on immediately, she then dragged out a box from the wardrobe, she carried it over to the window, looked around once again, threw the box down and closed her window immediately.

"Now let's get moving" she smirked as she walked out of her room. Immediately she slowly opened the door, she scanned the hallway for any signs of family members or anyone who could recognise her, then she began to walk to walk gracefully through the hallways, she walked her way to the main entrance and carefully opened it, just as she was about to make her glorious exit from the house, a voice called out from behind her.

"And where are you going?" The voice asked.

"I'm returning to the maid's quarters madam" Rosalind answered calmly, slightly turning her head to avoid any form of suspicion.

"Alright, have a goodnight" the lady said as she made her way into one of the rooms.

Rosalind heaved a sigh of relief as she pushed the door open and made her way out of the house, "Martinez, I'm coming" she whispered.

"Oh my love, I though you wouldn't make it" Martinez said as he ran towards Rosalind, he was all smiles, his beautiful blank eyes shown brighly under the moonlight.

"Oh Martinez, I cannot keep you out here you know" Rosalind said as she fell into his arms. Martinez grabbed her closer, caressed her curly hair and drew his face closer to hers and kissed her passionately, Rosalind grabbed his hair as she moaned softly.

"My love the carriage is here, let's hop in and leave this place, there we can be together" Martinez said panting heavily while he still had his arms around Rosalind.

Her eyes sank immediately, she drew herself away from him, "I can't follow you my love" she said softly.

"But why? We planned to run away tonight" Martinez asked, disappointment written all over his face.

"I love you Martinez" Rosalind sighed, "But my family is in ruins, if I run away with you, my family would fall, I am the only one that can redeem my family" she continued.

"You are going to marry him aren't you?" Martinez asked.

"Yes my love" Rosalind answered.

Martinez became upset, his eyes sank, his lips trembled.

He looked at Rosalind who stood in front of him, her eyes filled with tears.

"Rosalind please, don't do this, I need you and I know you do too" Martinez pleaded as he took her hand.

"Martinez please understand, I'm sorry" Rosalind said as she swung her hand out of he's.

Martinez sighed, "Well I guess you don't have a choice, go Rosalind, I'll leave town tomorrow, do take care" Martinez said as he hoped on the carriage and took off immediately. Rosalind stood there as she watched him disappear into the darkness, she just stood their not knowing if she made the right decision, tears began to fall from her eyes as she stared into the darkness, her breathing began to get heavy, she had cried so much for a day.

"It's for the family, it's for the family" she continuously chanted in a bid to console herself.

It was a very bright morning, the sun was already up in the sky but there seemed to be a problem, no one had seen Rosalind, the Blanco household was in a frenzy, Sir Alberto threatened everyone with everything within his power if he couldn't find his daughter, Ma Bertha on the other hand was in tears, she continuously prayed to the heavens to bring her daughter back to her. Then suddenly Rosalind entered the family mansion, luggage in hand through the gate, "there she is!" A maid announced and everyone rushed out to know if it was indeed true, when Ma Bertha saw her, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards Rosalind, Rosalind in turn ran towards her mother.

"Oh my baby, I thought you were gone for good" Ma Bertha whispered as she hugged her daughter.

"I came back for you mother, and for the family" Rosalind whispered back. The maids ran to Rosalind and took her luggage from her, Rosalind and her mother proceeded further towards the large house.

"Rosalind go to your room and freshen up, then come down to meet your father and I" her mother said as she diverted towards another part of the house, Rosalind sighed as she took the stairs which led to her room.

Rosalind got to the living room door, she took a deep breath and opened it up and as usual, her father and mother were together, but this time, they were both playing chess. Immediately the door opened, the elderly couple stopped their game and turned towards the door, Rosalind walked gracefully towards them until she was close enough.

"I'm sorry I tried to run away" she said.

"It's okay, at least you are back" her father muttered.

"And I have decided to marry the suitor betrothed to me" Rosalind said. The face of her parents lit up, her father stood up and hugged her tightly, as tightly as possible

"Thank you Rosalind thank you" he said. But Rosalind said nothing her heart still ached, she lost the chance to be with Martinez, the man she loved, she risked living a cold and lonely life forever with this man she never knew, but at this point she couldn't do anything or even turn back time, she had sacrificed her happiness for the safety of her family and that little fact was what kept her sanity intact.

"You would be marrying Victor Hernandez, the heir to the Hernandez family and the Duke of Madrid" her father said softly.

"Ohhh, okay" Rosalind said in a low tune. Sir Alberto looked at his daughter, her pale face and empty eyes grieved him, he couldn't stand it so he looked away.

"I know this isn't what you want" Sir Alberto said.

"I am only here and agreeing to all these because of the family, I will be very irresponsible if I leave my desperate family which had groomed me for many years to fall into the hands of hooligans who seek to destroy it" Rosalind said, her voice stronger than ever, "if this is the price I must pay, I'll do so unconditionally" she continued.

"Lord Victor would be here tomorrow by noon, he is interested in meeting you before the union, please be at your best" Sir Alberto said, Rosalind simply nodded and excused herself from the living room.

"I don't know if this is a good idea" Ma Bertha said to her husband.

"It's the only choice we have Bertha, I trust Rosalind, she is a strong woman, she will pull through all of this" Sir Alberto answered.

"Rosalind dear are you ready yet?" Ma Bertha asked as she paced back and forth in her daughter's room.

"Patience mother, I'm still taking a bath!" Rosalind yelled from the bathroom.

"Alright my dear, I will be waiting for you down the hallway then" her mother said as she exited the room,

"Lady Miranda!" Ma Bertha called.

"Yes my lady?" a middle aged slender woman answered as she hastily approached Ma Bertha.

"Take some maids and dress Rosalind up when she is done with her bath, remember she must look perfect" Ma Bertha ordered.

"Yes my lady" the woman nodded and Ma Bertha walked off. Ma Bertha kept walking round the house ensuring everything was taken care of and the maid's were not slacking. In about an hour, Rosalind stepped out of her room, she wore a simple but elegant red ballgown, her hair packed up and her face was radiating in a glow of a noblesse. When Ma Bertha saw her coming through the hallway, she hastened her steps in order to meet with her daughter.

"You look beautiful my dear" Ma Bertha said.

"Thank you mother, I guess your lady in waiting did a good job" Rosalind said.

"Shall we?" Ma Bertha said, stretching forth her hand.

"Yes mother" Rosalind replied as she placed her hand on her mother's. Just as the two women were about to go down the stairs, one of the maid's rushed through the stairs towards Ma Bertha.

"They have arrived my lady" the maid said softly.

"Very well child, off you go" Ma Bertha said and the maid took her leave.

"It is time my dear" Ma Bertha said as she turned to Rosalind. Rosalind smirked and then took in a deep breath, "I'm ready" she whispered.

Victor Hernandez and his escorts made their way into the mansion's large living room were the family was already waiting.

"Welcome Lord Victor, it is an honour to have you" Sir Alberto said and the rest of the household bowed. Victor smirked as he approached, he was no doubt a fine man but in a different way. He was quite tall and muscular, he had cat like eyes, his lips were slender and pink, his skin was a bit pale and his black hair sat well arranged on his head.

"Oh don't be so modest Sir Alberto, it's wonderful being in the Blanco household" Victor said as he shook Sir Alberto. "So, where is she?" Victor asked as he looked around impatiently.

"Patience my lord, she'll be here this instant" Sir Alberto said. Just then Rosalind and her mother walked into the living room, their entrance caught Victor's attention immediately, he stared as the two women gracefully walked towards him, his eyes following every step they made.

"My lord, this is Rosalind Blanco, my daughter and your future bride" Sir Alberto announced.

"She is indeed as beautiful as I heard she is, she takes after your handsomeness Sir Alberto" Victor said as he looked at Rosalind from head to toe.

"Oh my lord you are so modest" Sir Alberto giggled.

"And my dear it's an honor to meet you" Victor said to Rosalind.

"The pleasure is all mine my lord" Rosalind answered with a bow.

"Sir Alberto if you don't mind I'll love to walk with Miss Rosalind in the garden I saw behind your mansion, I would love to talk with your daughter, I hope that is okay by you?" Victor asked,

"Sure my lord, you can" Sir Alberto smiled.

"My lady shall we?" Victor said as he stretched his hand.

Rosalind nodded and gave him her hand and the two walked out of the living room.

"The roses in this garden are beautiful" Victor said as her stared at the roses growing at the end of the garden.

"Yes we grow a lot of them, my mother loves roses" Rosalind said as they both walked through the garden, Victor smirked.

"You are just what the words around said you are, you have grace and elegance of noblewoman, the beauty of a goddess and the bravery of a prince, I also heard you are an excellent archer and horsewoman, and from our little talks, you are well learned" Victor said.

"And you are a celestial beauty I must say, your prowess is known in all of Madrid" Rosalind giggled.

"And I also heard you are a very stubborn woman, I must say, I hate it when a woman is being difficult with me so, you will have to drop that character of your or I will break you" Victor said. Rosalind stopped in her tracks immediately and so did Victor, she smiled, turned to Victor and moved very close to him like she wanted to embrace him.

"Now listen to me, I am only standing here with you because my parents want me to, but I won't stand here and listen to you threaten me" Rosalind said while she stared at Victor directly into his eyes, he smirked again.

"And you do know very well that speaking to me in this manner could jeopardize our marriage plans right?" Victor asked boldly.

"If you are going to cost me my peace of mind and dignity, I would gladly jeopardize it, my mother raised no fool and I won't become one in an arranged marriage" Rosalind protested.

"Very well Miss Blanco, let's head back" Victor laughed. Rosalind left him and walked towards the mansion. He watched her and smiled to himself, "she is indeed fiesty, this marriage would be quite interesting" Victor said to himself as he walked behind Rosalind.

"Did you two have a wonderful time?" Ma Bertha asked as Victor and Rosalind stepped into the living room, she and Sir Alberto were entertaining Victor's escorts when he and Rosalind stepped into the living room.

"Of course we did, your daughter is quite, something" Victor said as he looked at Rosalind who in turn, glared at him.

"Rosa and you?" Ma Bertha called out.

"He is quite wonderful" Rosalind answered nonchalantly.

"Gather round everyone I have announcements to make!" Victor announced, everyone in the living room gathered together to hear what he had to say.

"I talked with the king few days ago and I put in good words for our beloved Sir Alberto, the king was impressed and decided to bestow him with the title of Earl, this would take place after my wedding to Miss Rosalind" Victor announced, everyone in the room cheered.

"And for the second announcement, the gifts I bought Miss Rosalind was too much to carry, so I ordered my servants to bring it here on or before tomorrow morning" Victor continued.

"Thank you my lord, your gestures are much appreciated" Sir Alberto said as he stretched out his hand.

"It's okay, anything for my future bride and her family" Victor smirked as he shook Sir Alberto.

"And least I forget my beautiful Rosa, I would stop by after two days" Victor said.

"Why is that my lord? Rosalind asked.

"We need to discuss our marriage plans, and I like your company" Victor smiled.

"Ok my lord, I'll be waiting" Rosalind said as she took a bow.

"Alright then, do take care Miss Rosalind" Victor said as he headed out of the room with his escorts.

"What do you think of him my daughter" Sir Alberto asked when the visitors had left.

"He is such a show off" Rosalind spat and headed out of the room.