Arranged Marriage: Beneath The Rumors

Chapter 7: Crying Won't Help

My dad has canceled the marriage between Mira and Lugard, and asked me to marry Miller Lugard," Lisa said, tears streaming down her face and her voice choked with emotion.

Deva was furious and heartbroken at her friend's sobbing. "What? Your dad did what? That man is heartless, prioritizing gain over your feelings and friendship," Deva said, her face turning red with anger.

"Is our plan still valid?" Deva asked.

Looking at the busy streets and bustling crowds, Lisa bit her lip and remained silent.

"Hello? Are you still there, Lisa?" Deva asked, observing the quiet phone. "Lili?" she called out, furrowing her brows.

"I'm here," Lisa said, gazing at the streets.

"If our plan is still valid, I need to start making arrangements for your travel as we planned before," Deva said with concern.

"No need," Lisa said calmly, biting her lip.

"What do you mean, no need? Are you out of your mind, Lili? Do you have another plan to escape?" Deva asked.

"No, I don't have any other plans. I don't want to run away," Lisa said, clenching her fists tightly.

"I don't understand. You don't want to run away. Are you serious? Do you know what you're saying? Do you want to stay and get married to that terrifying, ugly man we just saw?" Deva asked angrily.

"I have no other choice. It's my fate, and I will accept it. Even if I run away now, I have a feeling he will find me sooner or later," Lisa explained.

Confused, Deva furrowed her brow. "I don't understand. Does he know you or something?" she asked.

"I don't know. He may know me, but I've never met him. This is the first time I've seen what he looks like," Lisa said.

"Then why do you think he may find you if you run away from this unwanted arranged marriage?" Deva asked.

"I had the dream after our meeting at Casty restaurant. I felt trapped and helpless, like I was being pulled into a dark abyss. The beast's eyes haunted me, and I knew I couldn't escape. That's when I realized I had to accept my fate."

In the dream, I saw myself wandering in a deep, forbidden, dark forest. The branches of the twisted trees reached out like skeletal fingers, trying to snatch me as I passed. As I cautiously moved forward, I heard a low growl echo through the shadows. I was very scared, looking around to find where the growl was coming from.

When I looked around, I caught a glimpse of a pair of glowing eyes watching me from the shadows. Those eyes belonged to a mysterious beast. It emerged slowly from the shadow. "What?" Deva said, fear washing over her.

As the beast drew closer to me, its hot breath washing over me, it spoke in a voice that seemed to resonate deep within my soul. It was whispering in my ear, "You are mine, you are mine, you are mine," it hissed. "You can't run away from me. I will find you wherever you go," it said with its menacing voice.

I tried to back away, but the beast kept advancing. Its menacing presence filled my heart with dread. "I felt trapped, helpless," Lisa said helplessly.

Diva's eyes were wide open, her whole body covered in goosebumps. "This dream is so terrible and terrifying. That means he's a beast and he knows you, Lili," Didi said in fear, her legs going weak.

"That's why I changed my mind and decided to stay. Even if I escaped now, he said he would still find me. So, it's better I stay and face my fate," Lisa said, wiping the tears that were falling from her eyes.

Didi didn't know what to say again, since Lisa had made up her mind.

"When will the marriage take place?" Didi said with a trembling voice as she sat on the floor.

Lisa looked at the dark cloud, her beautiful, bright black and white eyes reflecting the starry sky. "Next week."

"What! Too soon!" Didi said, shocked.

"Yes, there won't be any wedding. We will just sign and get our marriage certificate, that's all."

Didi's eyes turned red. "I will call Emma to find out if she can do anything to save you from getting married to that beast."

"No need. If it's my fate, I will marry him. Besides, he's an incompetent man. He won't touch me, so I have nothing to be afraid of because he won't come close to me," Lisa said calmly.

Didi started crying. "Since you've made up your mind, I will follow your decision. But I want to save you from that ugly beast of the Miller family."

"You can stop talking about saving me. I will accept my fate. But please, can you stop calling him a beast? He's a human being and also somebody's son, even if he's ruthless. Let's just call him by his name," Lisa explained.

"Why should I stop calling him that?" Didi's eyes widened.

"Because he is a human being and also my soon-to-be husband. You are making me more scared when you call him that," Lisa explained.

"Oh, ok," Didi replied with only two words.

"Bye. We will speak later. I want to go downstairs. I am hungry. I haven't eaten anything yet today. I'm tired of starving myself," Lisa said, looking at her room door.

"OK, can we spend time together for these few days before you get married? I will miss spending time with you when you get married because maybe that guy won't let you leave his house," Didi said.

"Why won't he let me leave his house?" Lisa asked with a furrowed brow.

"Because he will think that you may run away and never return. So he will lock you up so you won't escape from him," Didi said thoughtfully.

Lisa started laughing. "Why would I run away? I won't run away unless he does something bad to me or wants to harm me, something like that."

Didi became happy that Lisa had finally laughed today and her bravery was super cool.

"I love you. You are very brave and always like to test the waters and fire, even from when we were still little, even in school," Didi said with a smile.

"Yeah, I like testing the fire and waters. So should my name be Brave instead of Lisa?" Lisa asked with a smile.

"Yeah, your parents should have named you Brave instead of Lisa," Didi scratched her hair. "But I like the name Lisa. 'Brave' suits your character and 'Lisa' suits your beauty."

"Lisa laughed. Are you confused? You don't know which name to choose from?"

"Yeah, the two names suit you. So I choose both names."

"No problem, but I like Lisa more," Lisa said, touching her rumbling stomach.

"Anytime you're free, you can call me. So we will hang out and spend time together," Lisa said.

"Ok," Didi replied happily before the call ended.

Hmm, Lisa breathed a sigh.

She walked into the bathroom and went towards the sink, turned on the water, and splashed water on her face before wiping her face with a white towel. She looked at herself in the mirror, touching her swollen eyes. "We should get ready for our fate. Crying won't help," she murmured. staring at her reflection in the mirror.