MY ETERNAL

Pain

Eda POV:

Pain.

A splitting headache.

I slowly awoke in the dimly lit hospital room, my head throbbed with a relentless pain that seemed to echo my racing heart. Panic seized me as I struggled to remember what had happened. The last fragments of memory were a blur, a car hurtling towards me, and the crushing fear that I was surely about to die.

I gingerly pushed myself up into a sitting position, the sterile sheets rustling beneath me. My eyes adjusted to the soft light, and I became aware of a presence beside me. An elderly man, his features etched with lines of experience and a piercing intensity in his gaze, watched me closely.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a raspy voice, concern etched across his face. "You passed out on the road"

I managed to croak out a weak, "Yes," before my curiosity got the best of me. "Who are you?"

The man's lips curled into a wry smile, revealing a hint of mischief. "I'm the man you now owe $2 million dollars to," he replied cryptically.

I blinked, trying to process this bewildering statement. "What? $2 million dollars? For what?"

His eyes locked onto mine with an unwavering intensity. "You ruined my favorite car," he said, his voice laced with a hint of resentment. "I swerved to avoid hitting you, and I crashed into a tree. My most prized possession was destroyed."

I was dumbfounded. "I don't have that kind of money," I stammered, my heart sinking.

The man's expression darkened, and his voice turned menacing. "Well, my dear, you better find a way to get it, because if you don't, I'll make sure you regret it."

I wondered who the man was. But I know he had no right to threaten.

"Sir, thank you for saving me, but I'm afraid you have to leave before I call the nurses to throw you out"

"This is my hospital dear" he chuckled

A chill ran down my spine.

"It seems to elude you who I am dear, let me introduce myself. I am Saint Cassano, most might say I'm the most powerful man and few might argue it's the president of this country. But one thing is sure Miss Clawthorne, you are better off pissing the devil than getting me angry. And right now Miss Clawthorne you seem to be treading on a dangerous ground."

Don Cassano, a name that sent shivers through my body.

If I wasn't sure before now I was. I am in big trouble. Never in my life would I have ever envisioned crossing path with Don Cassano never less making him angry. He was known to all as the most dangerous man in the country. He was telling the truth quite all right, I was better off pissing off the devil than making him angry.

In that moment, I realized I was trapped, entangled in a web of danger , with no way out. My heart pounded as fear and desperation gripped me, and I knew I had to find a way to escape.

Fear gripped me tightly as I begged for mercy, my voice trembling in desperation. "Please, sir, I can't possibly find $2 million," I pleaded.

But my pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. The man's eyes remained cold and calculating as he stared down at me, unyielding. He issued a chilling ultimatum, "Three days. That's all you have."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized the impossibility of his demand. I had to speak my truth, even if it meant facing his wrath. "Even if you gave me a year, there's no way I could come up with that kind of money," I whispered, my voice filled with hopelessness.

His response sent shivers down my spine. "There is another way," he said with a sinister tone, a glint of malice in his eyes.

I couldn't hide my confusion and fear. "What... what is it?" I stammered.

He leaned in closer, his breath cold against my ear as he revealed his twisted proposal. "Marry my son."

I thought he was joking, but the icy seriousness in his gaze told me otherwise. "Your son? I've never even met him, seen him..."

My words trailed off, and the weight of his ultimatum bore down on me. The man's voice was low and menacing as he retorted, "Choose carefully, my dear. Death is the only other option."

Dread washed over me as I realized I had no choice. I had to accept his terms, no matter how absurd they seemed. "No, I choose life," I whispered, my voice quivering.

He leaned back, a cruel smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Good. You will prepare for your wedding, and I expect to see you after you've fully recovered. Remember, there's no running away from me. You cannot outrun my rage if you dare to infuriate me."

I watched the old man's retreating figure, leaning on his cane,

What had just happened? Was this some surreal dream, a twisted joke ?

Only two hours ago, I had been breaking the ties of one marriage, trying to find my own path, and now, here I was, thrust into the possibility of another union, one I had never even imagined. It was as if the ground beneath me had shifted, and I was left grappling with a reality I couldn't comprehend.

I lay there in the hospital bed, I couldn't escape the sense that my world had been upended. What lay ahead was unknown, and all I could do was brace myself for the unexpected