Caught in between

ALEXANDER

I chuckled as I stared at the papers right in front of me…

“The moment I’ve been waiting for,” I said to myself…

“At least no one would question my marriage well except my…” I was interrupted by those heavy footsteps of Mr. Robinson…

“Thank goodness you are here…I spent hours looking through this,” I pointed to the papers right in front of me.

“It seems to me everything is good to go…”

“Please tell me we now have everything we need,” I said to the personnel in charge of my father’s will.

The grey-bearded staff, Robinson, paused and stared into the air like he was expecting something to happen…

“Are you going to say something or what?” I reiterated.

“Everything is okay, Sir, but don’t you think the woman…” he tried to object, but I cut him short almost immediately.

“Don’t even… that’s entirely none of your business. I married her legally, and you can see it right there, so the processing should begin immediately or…”

“Of course, sir… everything willed to you by your late father will get to you shortly…” he said.

I smiled…”That’s more like it…If only I could even just pay her off for the act and not have her stay with me, but that wouldn’t be appropriate,” I thought to myself.

“It would be so obvious it was all an act…” I added.

“I don’t know what you are thinking, but there is something you should know… It's probably none of my business…”

“Speak and stop messing around with me, Robinson,” I lashed out.

“Inasmuch as I am happy about you finding the love of your life, you both have to get married for long enough for this to stick…your father’s stipulations in his will are quite concrete,” he said.

“You know he set up a body to make sure your marriage is as genuine as it should be and not something you fake out just to get access…” he added…

“Uhn?”

“Hold on…are you saying I could lose everything if I divorce my wife?” I exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, but yes, sir…so if you are planning to do that soon, you should reconsider…”

“And why should I do that? Ava is the love of my life, and why I married her is none of your business.”

“I don’t want to hear this trash anymore,” I said pretentiously as I watched him leave through the front door out of fear.

I bang my head on my forehead…”So I’m stuck with that thing from the streets…Gosh!!!”

Suddenly, my phone buzzed…

Mother? Definitely not picking this…”She must have heard of the marriage…” I muttered as I stared at my ringing phone.

AVA

My mind raced to and fro.

I could still remember how it all happened. The call, getting to see their helpless, cold body and uneven faces lying on those hospital stretchers.

The way the nurses looked at me like they knew I was doomed already.

Losing my whole family in a day wasn’t something I ever thought I would witness.

My hands became shaky that very minute, and I caught a fever.

I looked around. “Who could have thought this was where I would end up?”

“Uncle Greg wasn’t even willing to have any pity on my situation… he didn’t hesitate to kick my butt out, out of my own father’s home!”

I sighed….

My heart pounded continuously inside my chest as I replayed the scene in my head.

“I sure hope I haven’t gotten myself into a big mess accepting being here,” I muttered with a frown.

I looked outside the curtains, and the whole place was littered with bodyguards.

It sure does feel like a prison. I was scared to even step out of the house.

He doesn’t even act like we just got married. Hardly does he look into my eyes.

“Do I irritate him all of a sudden?”

“Or doesn’t he want me anymore?” I said, checking myself in the large mirror just at the edge of the room.

Suddenly I heard the door creak from behind me…I looked, but there was no one there.

“Pfff…Ava, now you are hearing things,” I scoffed out loud.

Another strange sound came through the door once more, and this time around, I became frightened.

“Who is there?” I spoke out in a loud tone.

“Alex, is that you?”

There was no response whatsoever. I stood still and kept staring at the door, but the strange sound had suddenly faded away.

The lavender aroma that came from the curtain's edges suddenly became absent, like its presence initially had to do with the peace and quiet.

The atmosphere became suspicious, and I just had the eccentric feeling that I was no longer alone in the room.

Before I knew what was happening, masked men barged into the room, screaming at me at the top of their voices…Kneel, bitch…kneel…”

My heart almost jumped out of my chest. Could these be the same men from the streets who were trying to rape me?

Could they have followed me here?

“Hel…help,” my mouth was held tight by one of them before I could make a shout.

A heavy punch landed on my face, and I fell to my knees.

“Fucking bitch. You charmed him, didn’t you?” One of the masked men asked.

Like I knew what he was talking about. I tried to defend myself, in words, of course, but my lungs were just too weak to utter even a sound.

Another hit landed on my belly, and I fell flat to the ground. At this juncture, I knew these men weren’t here to listen to me talk…they were going to kill me!

Heavy lunches and kicks landed on my soft, gentle body multiple times, and I groaned out in pain.

For some reason, it was as though my own voice sounded muffled to me, so I could barely hear myself.

Maybe this was it. The end of me. Perhaps I would meet my parents and sister in paradise.

Perhaps we could be together, and I would be free from this cruel world.

But on the other hand, I wasn’t ready to die. However, the pain was too much to bear…

How I wish….