CHAPTER R: ESCAPE OPPORTUNITY
1909 Words
Chapter 4
ESCAPE OPPORTUNITY.
“You don't seem quite happy. Today is your big day; at least you need to put on a smile so you'd look good on the cameras,” Shirley, Elena's half sister, said with a smirk.
Elena glared at her, “So you expect me to be happy, right? When I'm forced to do something against my will. Why is your mother so wicked like this?” Elena voiced out in anger as she stood and stared at herself in the standing mirror in their bedroom.
“Hey, you don't talk about my mother like that!” Shirley retorted.
“Besides, my mother didn't decide on her own, but dad was a part of it too. Or, don't you want my mother to get well soon?”
“Since you love your mother's life that much, what stopped you from marrying Brian instead?”
Paw! Shirley slapped Elena on the right cheek.
“How dare you suggest that I marry a person with a shady lifestyle? Please, let's go. I don't want to spoil my mood before the wedding starts!” Shirley said and dashed out of the room.
Elena's eyes were wet with tears. She never saw this kind of humiliation coming.
She can't imagine that she's dressed in such an expensive wedding gown only to marry someone she doesn't and would never love.
Whenever she thinks of the three years of contract, she feels like it's going to last forever!
“Elena! What are you still doing there? It is almost time; please, the taxi is waiting to convey you to the wedding ground!” Her stepmother's voice came shouting.
Elena quickly cleaned up her tears and made out of the room.
“There, you and Shirley are using the Black Land cruiser, while your father and I, with the remaining well wishers, would use the two Corollas,” her stepmother declared, pointing at the cars that were parked outside with the drivers waiting in them already.
Elena didn't say a word and moved into the car with her long-trained wedding gown, while Shirley assisted her in holding the back.
The car was specially decorated, Elena’s face was devoid of happiness, while Shirley, her chief bridesmaid was celebrating out rightly, snapping selfies, for at last, a solution has been obtained for their family's bankruptcy.
“Sir, please, I'm pressed. I need to ease myself. Can you just park the car for a moment?” Elena asked softly as they drove through a lonely street.
“Madam, I can't possibly stop you here on the road. Please, just be patient a bit; we'll soon reach the wedding ground, and you can confidently use the convenience there,” the driver countered.
“Ouch! I'll urinate on my body if you'd not stop me here! You know what Brian would do to you if such should happen, right?” Elena threatened.
“Driver, just wait and grant her the request. This is her wedding day, so let her have everything she wants,” Shirley opined, causing the driver to match his brake and stop the car.
“Of course you know that I can't follow you down under this hot sun, right? I can't afford to have my make-up ruined by sweat, so please, be fast. We'll be waiting for you in the car,” Shirley said without any hint of respect that she was talking to her elder sister.
Elena got down and held the wedding gown by herself while she moved farther away to have some privacy before she'd bent down to urinate.
As fate would have it, Shirley and the driver were both distracted by their phones and not bothered to raise his eyes up to check on Elena.
“Oh my God! Where is she going? She has escaped!” The driver screamed the moment he raised his eyes and sighted Elena racing on the streets with her wedding gown.
“f**k! What are you still doing, driver? Let's follow her!” Shirley yelled in panic.
The street was quiet; it is not always a busy route, so vehicles were hardly spotted.
Elena was gasping as she ran; her breath almost ceasing, causing her to nearly collapse, when suddenly a speeding car drove by and almost knocked her off.
The angry driver matched his break and stepped out of the car in a rage, “What the hell are you trying to do? I almost killed you!”
"Please, save me, sir. They are coming after me,” Elena pleaded in tears, holding unto the man's knickers.
He was speechless. His high tone instantly subsided, and his frown gradually diminished.
“W–where were you going dressed in a wedding gown?” He stuttered.
He was hesitant at first, but when he saw another car speeding towards their direction, he guessed it was her pursuers, “Get into the car!” He shouted and opened the door for her, pushing her long-trained wedding gown inside before he got in and started off the car.
“What did you do to them that got them chasing after you like this?” He yelled at her as he struggled to speed off and escape the Land cruiser's sight.
“Please, just save me first; I'll explain everything later!”
He could see through the mirror how the other car was racing after them.
“You can't let them escape! She must marry Brian! Shirley yelled.
“I'm doing this for myself also. I'm afraid Sir Brian would not spare me a day if he hears this!” The driver sounded panicked.
Being an expert in driving, Elena's savior was able to run into a hotel before they got caught up.
Immediately they entered, and he slowed down and whispered something to a certain man that was richly dressed and strolling through the premises.
As they stopped at the car park, Elena observed that all the entrances to the hotel were shut, leaving only the exit.
“What's that sound for?” Elena asked when she heard compounding sounds of security sirens roaming around the building.
“I asked them to come and secure the place. Ensuring that no one enters from now until I say otherwise,” he explained.
“What have I gotten myself into? Who is this man that he can walk into an establishment and give strict orders?” Elena panicked in thoughts, but at least her mind was at rest when she knew that she'd been saved from those chasing after her.
What got her more perplexed was the fact that she's familiar with the CEO of the hotel, who is a famous personality and was always in the media.
Who then is this man that can give orders in another person establishment?
Like true couples, he helped in holding her wedding gown as they ascended the stairs to one of the rooms on the first floor.
Immediately they entered, Elena became restless, pacing back and forth the room. She escaped from a marriage arranged by her parents only to end up in a hotel room with a total stranger!
“Maybe she's right,” Elena thought. She was beginning to see reasons why her stepmother said that she's cursed.
The stranger sat on the bed and glared at her continuously. Both were silent, waiting for who would first raise a conversation.
“By the way, who are you and why were those people after you?” The stranger demanded.
Elena began to tremble at his hoarse voice. “I'm sorry for putting you through all the stress, sir. My name is Elena Ramson, and I was used as an agreement instrument by my family to marry an ex-convict because of money.”
Elena's statement welcomed some moments of silence in the room, his eyes fixed on her, with several thoughts running through his mind.
“Please, who are you, sir?” Elena stuttered.
“ He peered at her before saying, “I'm Henry Ferdinand.”
“Gosh! This man is damn handsome!” Elena exclaimed inwardly when she had eye contact with him. All her life, she has never set her eyes not to talk, having a conversation with someone with glowing skin and an admirable physique.
“Sorry, let me get my phone,” he said softly and took out his phone from his pocket, which was already ringing to pick up the call. “Bro, I thought we're friends, and we don't keep secrets! Why then did you decide to keep this one away from everyone?” The person on the other end of the phone asked.
Henry took down the phone from his ear, as if he wasn't sure who the caller was.
“Man, I don't know what you're talking about!” He remarked.
“Com'on bro. By the way, all thanks to the internet! At least no secret can be hidden forever,” the fried teased.
“Well, congratulations! I wish you the best!” he added.
Henry was totally clueless of the reason behind the congratulations.
Immediately, he went through the internet's trending news to have a glimpse of his friend's assumptions.
“Oh-my-gosh!” Henry exclaimed.
He just saw it! It was all over the internet already.
‘Billionaire Henry Ferdinand secretly married the love of his life!’
Pictures of him and Elena when they alighted the hotel went viral and tagged as ‘Hot news’.
Fortunately, the reporters only got the rear view of the couple, so Elena's face was not clear to the sight as she was still covered in her veil.
“Is there any problem? Elena asked softly
Henry peered at her for long, causing Elena to suddenly feel terrified.
“What's going on?” She asked again.
"Please marry me. We don't need to love each other. Two years of contract is enough!” Henry took out a ring from his pocket and proposed.
Elena was speechless.
“What kind of man is this? How on earth would someone be dressed in a suit and just be walking around with an expensive engagement ring just to propose to any random lady he meets?”
Without much hesitation, she stretched forward her fingers to get the ring. “I'd rather risk my life for a contract with a total stranger than the devil that I know already!” She mumbled.
As he scrolled through his phone, more comments were coming from the public: “Henry Ferdinand, please, we need pictures from your honeymoon.”
“Finally, the outgrown bachelor is married!” Some would say.
“Missing bride?” Henry mumbled as he spotted the trending news headline after his own. He took his eyes off his phone and glared at Elena.
Elena's heart throbbed at those dreadful looks, prompting her to move closer and glance at his phone's screen, only to see her photos displayed with the tag ‘Missing Bride’ and a cash reward of 100,000 dollars will be given to anyone with useful information that could reveal her whereabouts.
“Mr. Ferdinand, don't fall for that award and reveal my whereabouts to anyone, please,” Elena pleaded.
But how would Mr. Ferdinand keep it a secret when he's a famous personality and the public is waiting for him to unveil
the face of his bride?
What is the fate of his personality when the truth is finally revealed that he married someone's missing bride?
- Writer
