marriage consequences

Episode 15: "Bound By Ink And His Rules"

Elena's POV

Then why are you here? he asked, staring at me.

I wouldn’t have replied, but I wanted him to see that I am doing it for my family, not myself. “Because my family needs it, and I don’t want them to be ruined,” I said calmly.

“Oh wow,” he said. “So you are giving up yourself and freedom for them?”

“Yes, literally. They are all I have got,” I replied.

“What a selfless show of love, Miss Elena,” he stressed.

My hands shivered as I held the pen and paper. Nervousness boiled inside me as I noticed his stare. Was he going to make me pay for shouting at him earlier? Why was he so harsh?

I flipped through the pages absentmindedly, but one caught my attention: the rules guiding this marriage. Rules? My eyes popped out.

“Read carefully,” his voice rang out. God, why was this so hard? I hadn’t even read the first page of the thirty-page document.

I saw a notice on the top: Failure to abide by any of these rules by the contracted will cause a two-year jail sentence.

“What?” I hollered.

“How could you write that only the contracted bears the consequences for a defaulted rule?” I shouted, anger written all over my face.

“Is that all you saw? Are you even learned? How could you make a fuse with just reading a line?” Adrian bellowed.

I lowered my head, scanning carefully. Another line: "The contractor will have to respect the contracted rules and boundaries".

So I had scolded him just for nothing. I paused, unsure whether to apologize or continue reading.