BOUND LOVE

A Father's Love

She stared at herself in the mirror. She must have been sitting there for more than half an hour when she heard a knock at the door. She felt too tired to move or speak after everything she just heard, but she managed to walk towards the door when the knocks didn't stop. She opened the door slowly not bothering to ask who was there. Her father was standing on the other side of the door with worry written all over his face.

"What took you so long honey"? He asked her walking behind to sit on the cute pink sofa beside her bedside table. "Are you okay dear"? He enquirerd noticing her sad mood. But she just sat there on her bed staring at the gift Caspian had given her earlier.

She had opened the gift, it was a box of chocolates. She hated chocolates.

Looking up slowly she turned to face him, his skin looking old and frail from so much hardship. She loved her father, he was a very hard working man, although life hadn't been very kind to him. They weren't rich or wealthy like the Brown's but they survived, he made sure they did.

Her father always made sure she had something to eat each night before bed even when they had nothing. He strived to make enough money too to cover the treatment for his sick wife Rosa her mother who passed away from a very rare blood cancer.

He was very grieved when she passed, she saw father weep almost every night after her mom died. She was heart broken too losing her mother that way but she was even more broken for her father, who looked as though his world had ended. After weeks of mourning, he made a decision. He vowed to his late wife to take of their only child, Evie. Her got her ready, picked the little things they had and left for Atlanta.

Looking back at those sad painful days, she realized that they had indeed come a long way. She looked carefully at the wrinkle lines on his face, he was well into his fifties now. Though he wasn't as old as the Don but he looked liked he was. "How could you do this"? She asked him "How could you arrange for me to be married to Caspian"?

He looked at her ,sadness written all over his face. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. "Is this what you want for me? She continued "Did you sell me to the Don"? He opened his eyes wide in alarm "I would never do something like that Evelyn" he said calling her by her birth name. "Then what did you do"? She kept questioning him.

He looked at her lovingly trying to find the right words to express himself. "It wasn't my idea." He started. "When the Don expressed his interest in you for his son, I wasn't in support of it at first, I had always wanted you to live the life you wanted for yourself, I wanted you to have the freedom to choose who you would spend the rest of your life with, but look around you Evie, we now live in a mansion , you're about to graduate from one of the best schools in Atlanta, you have maids tending to you at your beck and call. You have a room all to yourself, you eat good food and wear good clothes, you are attended to by only the best doctors. I could never give you this life Evie, i could never " he looked down at his wrinkly hands.

"I promised your mother that I would take good care of you, that I would give you everything I couldn't give to her when she was alive and this is the only way I can. This is an opportunity for you to live a better life Evelyn. If i had refused the Don would have sent us back to the streets, I didn't want that, I couldn't bear to let us go back to the life we used to live, where I couldn't give you proper education or provide a good shelter for you to live in. I wouldn't have agreed to this if there was a better option". He looked into her eyes as if pleading for her forgiveness.

She just looked back at him, as if all her strength had been drained from her. "But why me"? She asked sadly "Why would he want his son to marry me"? "Oh dear Evie! He exclaimed moving to sit beside her on her bed. "You are beautiful and smart and intelligent, who wouldn't want their son to be married to the most beautiful girl in the world". But she knew he was just teasing her. Don Arthur was very rich, he could easily get a wife for his son from anywhere in the world and from even more respectable families. So why her? She thought. But she didn't have the strength for anymore banter, from what Caspian had told her, the matter had already been concluded and there's nothing her or even Caspian can do about it.

"I would like to retire to bed now, I'm exhausted" she said weakly. Calmly he stood up hugged her tightly and placed a light kiss on her forehead. He proceeded to walk towards the door, when he opened it, he held it and turned back to look at her, "I love you so much my child, I would never do anything to hurt you he said as he closed the door behind him.

Evie was more tired than angry. How could all of this have been planned without her consent. Even though she was just sixteen she still had the right to her life.

She walked towards the door, locked it properly and headed straight to the bathroom.

She prepared her bath water slowly, pouring in the scented bath wash that smelled like fresh roses. Gently she removed her floral gown allowing it drop down to her feet. She gently stepped into the bath removing her underwears while already sitting in the water. She threw them across the room not caring where they landed.

Laying down with her hair half inside the water, she allowed her mind wander. She couldn't help but imagine what her life would be like as the wife of a wealthy heir. She had so many questions. But something was quite clear, the Don was definitely hiding something about his son and he saw the arrival of her and her father as the perfect opportunity to secure a wife for his son, something he feared the son might probably not be able to do by himself. But why? She thought.

Well for now she is just going to act like she isn't bothered and try to find out what exactly is going on with the Browns, but with Caspian's coldness, it might be a very difficult task for her. In as much as she didn't care much for the wealth and power the Brown's controlled , making her father happy was something she was willing to take the risk for. She hoped though that it wouldn't lead to her doom.