1 - Arranged Remarriage
“I've wasted a lot of money on this arranged party of yours, stupid daughter. So pick up your feet now and go before I destroy this house!”
The innocent little girl, crying in my arms as my father scolded us both.
Outside, many strange guests came to our house. All of them were men. Because today was my arranged ceremony that my father had secretly did without telling me.
“Dad, Sophia is still young. Can't you wait until she's 6 years old?” I pleaded, to my father who was already holding a knife in his right hand.
“I just got divorced, Sophia is still traumatized to have a new father. Please—”
“DON’T DARE YOU TALK TO ME!” My father snapped and pointed the knife at both of us.
“Jaxson divorced you because you're an illegitimate child in this family! And forget about Sophia. I don't need a whiny, useless granddaughter like her! I need a grandson to carry on my family!” he snarled.
“You must go to this arranged party, Isabella. Or do you want me to kill your useless daughter?” he threatened me with a knife.
“No, father. Don't touch Sophia!” I pleaded desperately.
I had no other choice. I hid Sophia, my little girl, in an empty room in our house. She was crying in fear, the trauma of my failed marriage still haunting her.
“It's okay, dear. Your mom will be back in a minute. You wait here, okay?” I said, calming her down.
“Mom, please don't leave me!” Sophia babbled through her cries. But I had no other choice.
I was forced to go to this arranged party so that my father wouldn't touch my little daughter.
I went to the party that was held on the front lawn of our house. My arranged party. As soon as I set foot on the steps, all the guests looked at me lustfully. I hated those harassing stares from the men my father had chosen.
They thought of me only as a woman in charge of giving birth, a child machine. Some of them even dared to touch my body, as if I were fresh meat tempting to the wolves.
“You're beautiful today,” said a blond-haired man, Hesse Crysford, the son of my father's business colleague who had been interfering with my marriage.
“I wonder. Why would Jaxon waste a beautiful wife like you? You're great, most successful Model in this town. If I were him, I'd have you locked up in a room. And enjoying your body every day.”
“Let go.” I gently brushed away his touch, trying to ignore his harassment. But Hesse insisted.
He forcibly pulled me to a group of men who were drinking. There, more men harassed me.
My father, he saw me.
He saw his only daughter being harassed, yet he was silent and continued talking to his business colleagues as if nothing had happened. Being ignored by him felt like he was selling me to a pack of hungry wolves.
At this party, even my father, no one considered me as human.
“Let me go!” I snapped again. Are they going to r**e me here?
“Let her go. Don't you see she's reluctant to be touched by you?”
A strange man came to my rescue out of nowhere, just before Hesse and his friends abused my body.
I was dumbfounded. He pulled my hands away from the men, protecting me in his arms. When I looked at his face, he was wearing a mask. Who was this kind of masked man who helped me?
“Who are you? Don't you know Isabella Grace is mine tonight?” said Hesse unhappily.
The masked man was silent. His right hand, however, thrust some sort of business card at Hesse. And just by that Hesse fell silent. The business card he saw made his face pale as a corpse.
“Y-you.” Hesse rounded in disbelief. “W-what are you doing here!? Hey! Come back now! You can’t be here! f**k!”
The masked man pulled me, away from them, making me curious about the business card Hesse was holding.
“Um, thank you for helping me,” I said. After taking me to a quiet place, I was finally able to talk alone with the masked man.
He was silent, looking at me from behind the jet-black mask. There was something familiar about his features. Why does it feel like I've seen him before?
He was tall, reminding me of my former husband, Jaxon Maverick. But Jaxon can't be here. He divorced me long ago, after accusing me of having an affair with another man.
“Your father invited me here,” the masked man said. “What I don't know is that he invited some asshole to abuse your body.”
“You're right,” I agreed. I can't believe someone finally stood up for me! “My father considered me a failed product. So he set up this matchmaking show to force me to remarry.”
“That's so sad,” he said. “Don't worry, I'm on your side. All you need to do is stay away from all those men, and stay by my side.”
He handed me a glass of red wine, for a toast. I fell silent in front of him. Even his voice was familiar to me. But I couldn't guess who he was. And could only gulp down the glass of wine without thinking.
'Wait. Why is my head suddenly dizzy?' After taking a sip of the red wine, my vision instantly blurred.
Something was strange. My body was suddenly hot, and my breathing was labored. It was like the drink had been mixed with something I didn't understand.
“You don't look well.” The masked man noticed the change in my body and supported me before I fell. “I'll take you to your room. It's not safe for you here.”
“W-what happened to me ...?” I said with my dizzy view.
He picked me up, carrying me to a special room that I didn't know about.
He placed my body on the bed and pinned me down from above. My vision was myopic, but I could see that he was taking off his mask. His face was smiling, as if he was happy to see me almost passed out under him.
I faintly heard a man enter the room, and speak to her.
“Did you poison her?” the man said. When I heard his voice, I vaguely recall that's my father.
“Of course,” said the man above me. “Everything was according to plan. Isabella Grace. She is ready to carry the future of my family.”
That man unbuttoned my shirt, pulled down my panties, and stripped me naked. The effects of the aphrodisiac drugs poisoning my body left me unable to do anything but accept his touch.
Strangely, I felt familiar. The man kisses my lips, the same way Jaxon did on our wedding night.
But there was no way this strange man was Jaxon, my ex-husband, right? And why was he working with my father?
As far as I know, my father never liked my marriage. Neither did Jaxon. And until Sophia was born, Jaxon didn't even touch his daughter.
'Ah, right. Sophia. I must save her. She's not safe in this house. I must take her away.' I thought a moment before my body was controlled by the aphrodisiac.
A second later, everything was dark. All I could feel was his touch, and his voice whispering in my ear. Just before I lost consciousness, whether it was an illusion or not, I seemed to hear Jaxon's voice in this room.
But it's impossible, isn't it? He's already with another woman. And he's already dumped me. He even accused me of cheating on him and didn't recognize Sophia as his only heir.