Scars Of A Forced Marriage

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I look at Him. Already husband and wife, yet strangers to each other. He's looking at us currently with no expression. My father gets up and leaves the room, not before informing us that we are both expected at the reception. Area. I nod at my father whilst he stands looking at him.

Now that father is no longer in the room, I stand in my place a little awkwardly. And Leonardo just picks his clothes from the wardrobe and goes to the bathroom as fast as he can. After a few minutes, he comes back all ready for the reception and goes towards the dressing table.

And he's looking damn handsome. His hair is perfectly done, not a single strand out of its place; his shoes are shining. He had one of the perfect jawlines, and dressed in that tuxedo with the first two buttons of his shirt open. To keep it short, he's looking like a complete Lady Killer.

When he finally looks at me in the mirror, I realise that I've been staring at him since he stepped out of the washroom. Not knowing what to do or say, I look down while he puts on his deodorant, and a few seconds later, I hear.

" Ready? " He asks me.

'' Hmmm," I reply.

"Let's go then." He had already started walking out of the room when my eyes fell back on the bed and I realized that I had forgotten to wake Brian up.

Earlier, with the unexpected visit from my father and his surprise gift, the fact that Brian was also in the same room slipped out of my mind completely. "No.. Wait. Sorry. Actually, I forgot to wake my brother up. If you want, you can go ahead, or you can wait till he freshens up. "

Just then, his phone rings and he leaves the room while signalling to me that he's waiting for me at the entrance of the reception area.

In the corridor

Leonardo POV

" No, Parker! Do whatever it takes, but I want that contract.. By hook or crook. Parker, if that contract is not ours, then don't show me your fucking face ever. Am I clear enough!" Leonardo says in a quiet, dangerous yet determined tone.

Hanging up the call, my eyes fall on my right hand, there it is. The wedding ring.

Married..

But that's not how things are supposed to be. Marriage had never been on my To-Do list.

Yet. Here I am. Married to my business rival's daughter.

I had to marry her so that our business would expand and become the most powerful one, as desired by my father. For us, especially for Dad, our business is more important than anything else.

I married her for business, but why did she agree to marry me??

Someone that she knows absolutely nothing about. Why did she even agree to marry me?

Has she been forced into this? Or she just married me on her father's say?

Anyways...

No matter what the reason, now we are married.

And both our businesses will be combined and become the most powerful one now.

That's what only matters.

This wedding is just a compromise and nothing more for me!

Anyway, I should go to the entrance; she must be on the way with her brother by now.

Walking the corridor on my way to the reception area, I suddenly hear someone talking.

'' Thank God that this wedding has been accomplished without any kind of problem. I seriously thought that Elara would back out at the last moment, but thank god she didn't. Now, Mr Lorenzo will not be a threat; instead, he'll be a support to our business. " I see Jennifer say to Mike.

" Even I thought that Elara would back out of this wedding," Mike replies, looking a little lost.

" Well.. As you can see, MONEY can do many unexpected things. And don't forget that it's the money that made Elara agree to this wedding. I don't see any reason why she could have agreed to this marriage. "

" Hmm. I think we should go now. The guests must be waiting for us. After all, we are the hosts. "

" Absolutely dear.. Let's go. ' I stand there watching them leave.

She married me because of my money! And all this time, I thought that she was forced into this. Despite being the daughter of a billionaire, she married me just for money, it's not like that she's poor or a misfortune girl. Damn it... Her father is one of the best businessmen in this country and the richest as well. She already has so much money and luxuries, yet she isn't satisfied and wants more. That bloody gold digger. It means that all I saw earlier in her eyes was just a facade. And I almost fell for that. She again proves that women are only money-minded, bloody selfish, no matter how much money they have. But she's gonna be very sadly mistaken if she thinks I'm gonna let her take advantage of or abuse my money and status. I am not an idiot. And now I'm gonna make sure that she regrets her decision to marry me for my wealth!

My thoughts get disturbed as I spot her and her brother coming towards me.

Just look at her.. How does she act so perfectly? As if we actually had a love marriage, especially in front of her brother. How can she lie without flinching a single time in front of that kid..?? But you will never be able to fool me like that.

THIRD PERSON POV

" Sorry for being late. Shall we?" Elara says while looking at him

Leonardo just nods and can walk away when Brian stops him. " Aren't you two supposed to go in together?? "

The newly married couple looks at the little boy, surprised.

Taking hold of both hands, he puts them together and signals them to go in while he walks along with them with the help of his cluster. Clear by now that Bryian doesn't know the real reason for their wedding, Leonardo just plays along, not willing to upset him.

As the couple enters the reception, a few rounds of whistles, claps, and cheers are heard, and all approach to congratulate Elara and Leonardo. But as soon as Brian is out of their view, Leonardo yanks Elara's hand out of his and walks away. Elara is a little taken aback by his action, while the very few people who notice pretend as if they have seen nothing.

What happened to him suddenly? How can he do that in front of so many people? Is there something wrong? Elara's thoughts get disturbed as a young man approaches her, dressed in a designer suit, looking absolutely dashing.

" Hi. I am Roman. You don't know me, but I know you." The guy says with a smile while offering his hand. He gives her hand in his as he kisses it, and he continues. " Before you think that I'm flirting with you, lemme clarify things for you. First of all, welcome to the Lorenzo Family. I'm really very happy that we finally have a lady in our family. And secondly, I am Leonardo's younger brother. And now also your new brother. "

Hearing that, finally, someone is happy with this marriage, and at the discovery of this newly found bond, Elara smiles back at Roman. " Thank you for the welcome, Roman. It means a lot to me. And trust me.. I do mean it."

" I understand.. It's not like this is a normal wedding. I am sorry. Because of our businesses, you had to agree to this wedding. That you have been forced to be my brother's wife." Elara looks at Roman, surprised as he looks down at his branded, shining black shoes, a little guilty.

" Why are you sorry? It's not your fault, right!? " Elara says as she holds his hand, trying to make the situation easy.

Just then, they hear a voice on the mike. " And now, can we have the Bride and the Groom on the dance floor, please. "

A big round of applause is heard. Elara looks in the direction where Leonardo went, but he isn't here. While looking for him, her eyes fall on the exit of the room where her husband is currently. Here they are being called to dance while he is clearly leaving the reception party.

ELARA POV

He left! He just left without even turning back. Leaving me all alone here to deal with this embarrassment. What do I do now? I feel my cheeks heating up and turning red out of embarrassment as the speaker again requests the bride and groom to get on the floor, as everyone's eyes are fixed on me.

" Ladies and gentlemen, my brother had to attend some urgent work-related call, so I shall be dancing with my beautiful new sister. Can we have a big round of applause for the bride?" I look up and see Roman making this announcement to prevent me from being further embarrassed.

He approaches me and we start dancing to the song. "Sorry about this. Business is everything for Nick. He just doesn't see anything or anyone when it comes to the business. This time, it must be the same reason. With time, you will also get used to his behavior, just like me."

Roman says while dancing, to which I nod, knowing that he's trying to make up for the current mess both of our families are in. As the party goes on, the groom is still missing from the entire party.

Now the reception is over and I am taken to the entrance of the resort where a car is waiting for me.

It is supposed to take me to the location where Leonardo is supposed to spend the following week.

" Bye Dii. I'll love you and will miss you a lot." Brian says with sleepy eyes while hugging me.

"So will I. But the fact that I will not be with you doesn't mean that you can be careless. You promised me that you are gonna be a big boy now and take complete care of your legs till I'm

back."

"Yes. I'm a big boy now. I promise I will be careful."

" That's your younger brother, right?" I see Roman say as he approaches us.

"Yes. Roman, this is Bunn. Brian.. And Bunny, this is Roman, Leonardo's brother." I say as I make their introduction. After shaking their hands and then looking back at me. "Don't worry, Elara, I'll take complete care of Brian in your absence. Don't worry about him."

" How do you know about me!? Wait. I know. Diii told you about me. Right!" Bunny says innocently while I look stunned at Roman, as I am completely ignorant about him and his family, while he seems to know much about me and my family.

"Obviously, your Dii told me. Anyways, it's getting really late now, you two should leave now." Roman says as he spots Leonardo coming towards us. Saying bye to our families, I sit in the car while Leonardo is already in the car without even saying a single word to anyone.

We start our journey to our destination, which is still completely unknown to me. Currently, Leonardo is driving with his eyes and mind fixed on the road while I look out of the window, but I can see nothing due to the moonless night and the lack of proper lights on that path. Very soon, I feel my eyes getting heavy due to the tiredness of the day, with the wedding followed by the reception. And slowly I fall asleep.

" Get up. We are here." I hear a voice trying to get me out of my sweet sleep. I ignore that and continue sleeping. But the voice just gets even louder.

"You'd better get up right now or you can spend the remaining night locked in this fucking car.! I don't have any more time to waste on you."

By this time, I'm completely awake, and the look on his face is telling me that he's quite serious about what he just said. He just steps out of the car, and I follow him. We enter the place. Thanks to my sleepy self, I don't really notice the surroundings. At the reception, we are received by the manager who seems to have been waiting for us. One can easily say that the manager is very nervous with Leonardo's presence. I stand by Leonardo as he completes the formalities.

Currently, we are in the corridor heading towards the suite. Suddenly, his phone rings. He takes it out of his pocket, looks at the caller ID, and tells me. "Go to the room, I'll be back." He hands the room's card to me and leaves.

I continue to walk until I realize, after a few seconds, that I don't really know where our room is. And this corridor is full of rooms. Plus, at the reception, I didn't pay attention to what those people were saying. And there's no one here to help me out.

" What do I do now? Where to go? Maybe I should just ask him about where I need to go. Yess. That'll be good. I should just go and ask him." I say to myself.

I turn back and go in the direction he went. After walking a small distance, I spot him talking on the phone while running his hand through his hair in a tense way. As I approach him, I hear him say. "What do you mean by he's dead? Parker, do whatever it takes, but get that family out of there as soon as possible. I don't want them on my property."

I stand still at my place, shocked by what I just heard.

Dead! Who's dead? What's going on? Is there something wrong?

" That's not my fucking problem. I had already told him earlier to either repay me for my money or leave that house quietly. And what has happened now is not of my concern. I already said it to you, and this is the last time I'm saying this to you. In business, only the mind works and not the heart. You need to get tough if you want to be at the top. So get this sorted before I return... Otherwise, you'll have to look for another job for yourself. "

It was him. The man whom I saw at the resort is Leonardo. He made that man and his family homeless, and now that man's dead. Oh my god.

Leonardo sees me as he hangs up the call and looks at me with no emotion on his face, while I look at him, horrified with the new realization in my mind. "How can you be so calm? Even after knowing that the man is dead because of you!! Because you forced him to give you his house, you are doing a project. Just for money! How can you be so emotionless?"

He just continues looking at me and walks towards me with a dead serious look and anger in his eyes.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that. Stay away from me and my business. And such things coming from you don't sound good. I know very well why you married me. You gold digger! So spare me the drama. "

"Drama? What drama? If you think that you're gonna distract me from the main topic like that, then it's not working. That man died because of you!"

"I don't need to distract you. You are not important to me, so I don't have to explain anything to you.

It's not like I asked you to marry me.. You must definitely be having many options in your rich single guys list." He says as he comes closer to me, leaving no distance between us.

Pushing him away from me, I scream at him, angry at the fact that despite being wronged himself, he's accusing me. "This wedding was an option for you. But not for me! You really think that if given the opportunity, I would choose a beast like you as my husband!"

Enraged by my words, he grabs me by my shoulders and pins me to the wall behind me, and roars back at me. "Beast!? Right! Now this beast will show how cruel he can get! And what hell actually is like! And remember this is the first and last time you are using that tone with me!

( he takes out a gun from the back of his pants, he puts it against my head, and

continues while grabbing me by the throat roughly )

Because next time you won't be alive to regret..!! "