Roses Left To Wilt

Chapter 3

April 5th, 2014

The day they met.

Felix

"Felix!" My disgrace of an aunt, Mira called, "get ready, wear something nice, we're going out." She said bluntly, leaving before I could say a word in response. Where were we going?

We were in the plane for quite some time on our way to Chicago. After we exited the plane, we took a drive and finally arrived at a restaurant via a limo which wasn't anything new to me, but I still felt that something was going to go wrong. I felt my stomach turn over as I walked to the restaurant. I ignored the feeling and eventually, we entered the humongous restaurant. The decorations were beautiful, silky white curtains, black leather chairs, wooden tables dressed with cream-colored cloths with glasses and plates on top polished to perfection. It was somewhat...tranquil. Then I realized my "family" was there.

The smell of food hit me right in the face, my stomach grumbled and my mouth salivated instantly. The restaurant was surprisingly very empty, and the only people whom I saw was a family, with a little girl with long black hair sitting on one of the chairs, an old man with grey hair and wrinkles, and a few other middle aged women and men. The old man with grey hair walked up to Onruang with a big grin plastered on his face.

"Welcome, brother!" he yelled in enthusiasm, in a rather, high pitched voice. Onruang gave him a hug and they took a seat as we followed. I kept my playing with my fingers under the table, staring at my lap as the waiters and waitresses served the food.

"So Rick, I have heard that you have a daughter, and she is the same age as my nephew, correct?" Onruang said eagerly to the old man, not caring if it came out too straight forward.

"Yes, that is correct, although she couldn't come today. She has a cold." The man named Rick spoke with a confused frown.

"Well I have a proposal for you. It will make both of our companies very successful, and money will definitely be involved, but it won't be spent, it will be earned." Onruang said with a devilish smirk spread across his face.

"Money? Keep talking," Rick said, intrigued.

"Let's get both of them married. Join our companies. Become powerful together!" Onruang said, making me almost choke on my food, as anger filled my body.

"What?" I said, raising my voice a little, but both of them ignored me.

"So, Rick? What do you say?" My so called step-uncle asked, curiosity gleaming in his cold, psychotic eyes.

"It's a good idea. I'll think about it." Rick said, making me shiver. I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and slammed my fist on the table.

"Don't ever think that I will marry your petty, spoiled daughter! Such a claim without my prior consent is wrong! Not in a million years, even if she was the only girl in the world," I yelled, not caring about the consequences at the moment. I've dealt with them all before, anyway. But I still regretted raising my voice, seeing the rage in Onruang and Rick's eyes. Onruang quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me to the men's bathroom. My heart was pounding fast, and I didn't want another beating. I was still recovering from the last one.

He slammed me on to the wall, choking me until my face was a deep shade of red. Oh, he didn't stop there, it would only be a blessing if he did, but I'm not that good with blessings. He punched my face several times, kicked me, and I never made a sound. I knew that if I did, it would get worse. I was slapped by him once when I was nine, but I didn't know it would come to a point where I would get beaten up almost every day. Trying to run away wasn't an option either, and you could guess why. Onruang left me nearly lifeless on the cold floor, as he went back to the table after throwing a couple hurtful words at me. I could've fought back, but I was too weak; too afraid. I could just ignore his insults, but the scars have marked its way to my brain. I knew I was useless, I knew I was a burden, I knew life would be so much easier for others if it didn't exist for me. I wanted to leave. Desperately.