Chapter 2
1176 Words
LILY
I shifted back, my body trembling.
They couldn’t do this.
“Maddy…she would never let you do this,” I whispered but they just shrugged.
What the hell?!
“How can you do this!?” My panic turned to pure rage. Did they not care?
Mr and Mrs Croft looked at each other and shared a sinister smile.
“Your daughter is missing! Does that not mean anything to you? Or is everything all about your quest for vanity?” I spat. I saw when Mrs. Croft raised her hand to slap me but I’ll be damned if I let her hit me again.
I caught her hand before she could bring it down. A gasp left her lips and the guards dragged me away from her.
“Maddy gave me that money freely! You can’t do this!” I screamed as the guards held me down. Mr Croft simply pressed some keys on his phone while Mrs. Croft massaged her wrist, her mouth moving with words I was no longer listening to.
I couldn’t agree to this. I had a mother who needed my care and above all else, I had a secret child. I couldn’t leave my little Anna.
As I struggled, Mr Croft brought his phone to my face and my eyes zeroed in on the video. A horrid gasp left my lips.
“All I have to do, is say the word,” he threatened and all form of strength escaped my limbs.
He had my mother followed. I watched in real time as my mother walked to the market, heard her voice as she greeted some people.
This couldn’t be happening.
I looked up from his phone to see a wicked smile on his lips. He was letting me know that he had all the power here.
“An accident? A car crash?” He trailed “And I’ll have your mummy dearest in the hospital with outstanding medical bills,” he finished and my guts turned to ice.
How did we get here?
Tears dotted my eyes.
“What is it going to be?” He asked and the tears leaked out of my eyes.
If I didn’t marry the stranger then my mother would be hospitalized. The thought of my Anna crying ferociously because her Nana didn’t come home. The bills that would crush me whole…
If I wore the gown then…
The guards released me but I didn’t move. My brain was turning in chaos.
What’s it going to be — Mr. Croft’s voice floated around my head.
“I guess you’ve made your choice,” he coldly said. The guards started to file out, my eyes went to the veil on the bed. The soft texture and the glitter catching the morning sun.
My vision was blurry. My hands were trembling and each breath was labored. I couldn’t put my mother and child at risk. I worked too hard with Maddy’s help to pull them out of hardship…I had come so far.
I turned my gaze just at the moment when Mr Croft was about to step out of the room.
“Wait” I whispered, my heart breaking. Wasn’t this betrayal? What would Maddy do if she found out what her parents were forcing me to do?
Mr Croft walked back inside the room, his body movement audacious and confident.
“Yes?” His voice like poisoned honey.
“I’ll do it,” I started then began to stand on my feet.
“But I want something in return.” I finished and his face turned sour.
Did he really think I was going to go into this blindly? He just threatened my mother with his power. If we were going to do this then I wanted to know he wouldn’t be able to touch me.
Less than thirty minutes and I was seated in the same chair Maddy had been in.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears, my breath was calm but my mind was in chaos. Was this what it felt being Maddy?
The dressers were done and I was still seated in the chair when Mrs Croft walked into the room without knocking. I sighted her from the veil through the mirror.
Her hand outstretched, a sealed envelope.
“Everything’s here,” she said and I tried to take it but she moved her hand away for a minute, holding my gaze.
“Just so you know…you are not Maddy. You’re only a place holder, nothing more. Do you understand?” She questioned but I refused to answer such question as I snatched the envelope from her hands.
She huffed and walked out, just before she closed the door, she looked back and sneered.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” she warned.
I held the envelope to my chest and tried not to cry. I had just traded my life for Maddy’s but at a cost.
I hid the envelope and minutes later I was hand in hand with Mr Croft, a small smile on my face as he had ordered me to do.
I walked to the aisle and found out that the so called stranger wasn’t even there yet. I tried not to show my panic.
He had to show up for the bargain to hold, if he opted out of the wedding before me then I would know too much and Mr Croft didn’t seem like a man who would let me or my family live with such an information.
I was panicking now, my nails in my teeth before Mrs Croft swapped my hands and I straightened my back. Luckily it was an extremely private wedding. There were no other people asides from the crofts and the priest.
I was about to ask them what the hell we were doing when the door opened. The light caught the shiny sleekness of his hair. His stride was confident.
At first, as he walked towards me, my brain froze. His stride, his hair… it reminded me of little Anna.
But why?
As he got closer, his eyes caught the light. Green orbs that were flat. I was taken aback by his beauty, the commanding aura he carried with him.
And yet, something about him was way too familiar. Like my body remembered him but my mind could not.
It wasn’t until he stood in front of me that my eyes widened. Panic clawed at my chest.
It couldn’t be. No.
“So glad you could make it, Mr Dominic Sinclair,” Mr.Croft said kissing his ass. That was the final nail to my coffin.
“Do you, Maddy Croft take Dominic Sinclair as your lawfully wedded husband?” The priest asked but my lips were trembling.
Five years ago, I had met Dominic Sinclair once.
A single tear streaked down my face and he frowned, his gaze was piercing, narrowing slightly as though he was trying to place a dream he couldn’t grasp.
How was I supposed to marry the man who abandoned me and my child five years ago?
- Writer
