05-Charm Her

"Dangerous?" Aunt Maya hissed slightly "Ha! He's blind, Zachary."

"Mum, Kevin's blindness is his only disability. Without his eyes, this man is arrogant, cold and vicious! Despite the fact that he cannot see, he wields much power, he has this..manipulative aura around him and all of this is a great contrast to Karen's innocent and naive nature. That is why he is dangerous."

"Zachary, you don't know him."

"But I have heard of him," Zachary replied quickly "Just few days ago he got rejected by the woman he truly loves. Why is his mother here to seek Karen's hand in marriage?"

"They might be poles apart on the social ladder but my friendship with Mrs Kord has earned Karen her life-long dream." she lets out a sigh and adds "It has always been her dream to get married to a responsible man."

"Maybe you've forgotten that she added love. Karen has always wanted to marry a man she loves. She has, most certainly never crossed path with Kevin. She does not know this man and without her permission, you have just agreed to a wedding."

"Karen will not object. You speak of love like Karen has the time to love." Aunt Maya's voice broke "Why won't you let her feel human, at least before her time is up?"

"Mom, Karen cannot feel human with Kevin. He is not the right one for her."

"Zachary, please." Aunt Maya had a hand up in the air "You will not change my mind. Just because I have not pressured you into getting married does not mean you can interfere in your cousin's."

...

"You what?!" Kevin was up on his feet in the next second. "What did you say, mother?"

"Kevin dear-"

"You found a wife??" Kevin chuckled quietly "For whom?"

"For you, my son." Mrs Kord answered nervously "She is beautiful and graceful too."

"Mom, are you kidding??"

"Of course not," Mrs Kord said "You have little time before your father steps up to give your brother the position. I can't let you sit here and dream of Selene."

"I will not get married to anyone apart from her. You might as well apologize to whom ever you have gone to meet." Kevin declared

"Selene rejected your proposal!" Mrs Kord reminded him "You can't afford to miss your rights because of a woman who does not love you."

"And this woman you have gone to meet, does she love me?" Kevin countered

"I believe she is better as she will come to love you in due time."

"Did she say that? Perhaps you did not tell her of my blindness."

"She knows," Mrs Kord answered "And yet she still agreed to marry you."

"Then she must have an ulterior motive, possibly because of my money."

"Of course not, Kevin."

"Tell me, what's her name? I must warn the other men to be wary of her."

"Kevin!"

"What's her name??"

"She's Karen. Karen Luis and she is nothing like the other women of Willow-ridge."

"Haven't heard of that name," Kevin informed "She must be insignificant in the society then. Another reason why she wants to be my wife."

"Of course not." she paused and added "She is insignificant because she has led a quiet life, not a reckless one."

"And has Selene led a reckless one?" Kevin asked "Why can't she be my wife? It is her I want, mom and I'm dead serious. I will not marry that woman of your choice."

"Selene did not marry you because you're blind. She clearly does not love you. If Karen was a woman of high calibre I'm sure you would have been on your knees already."

"I don't care," Kevin turned his back "I don't care if Mr Kord takes away my inheritance. He has always loved Elliot more than I, his son. Why should I prove myself to him??"

"You will not be proving yourself, dear" Mrs Kord stood in front of him "You'll be doing this for us. Your mother and yourself. If you lose your inheritance to Elliot, he will throw us out of the house and you know your father will not do a thing about it."

"You're blind, Kevin" Mrs Kord voice cracked as she spoke with little sniffs "If we are thrown out of this house, you will not get a job. We will have no where to stay. Your decision now will either destroy us or lead us to our victory."

"You're asking me to marry someone I do not know just to secure a position??"

"To secure our lives not a position." Mrs Kord corrected.

"I'll be ruining my life if I marry a disaster, mom."

"She is not a disaster neither will she be. She is a daughter of my old friend and I have watched her grow over the years. I am your mother and I definitely will not lead you to regret."

"It doesn't seem like that now but it will later." Kevin replied "I'm busy mom. Let's end this conversation."

"You promised not to do anything that would hurt my feelings, Kevin. I have only you, you know that. After your father betrayed me and had an affair with Elliot's mother, I was barely the same. I wanted to end my life because I realized I meant nothing to your father. But I thought of you. I have raised you with the hopes that you will secure our lives." Mrs Kord sobbed as she spoke "To think that I have come this far to watch you crumble it all. You are giving up without a fight. I should have killed myself so I wouldn't witness this day."

"Mother-"

"Look at Elliot," she continued, sobbing profusely now "His mother is not alive but I'm damn sure he's making her proud. He is doing everything possible to usurp you and take what's yours. Rather than fighting back, you want to..to chase after a woman who thinks of what society will say rather than her love for you, if she even has any."

"Please stop crying," Kevin said softly as he found her cheek and wiped away her tears "I'm sorry for making you.. feel this way."

"Please do what's right, Kevin" Mrs Kord circled her arm around his waist and cried against his chest. "Even if your father does not love you, you must continue to prove that you're better than his illegitimate son. You always have. Why should you stop now??"

She lifted her gaze, "You are handsome. Your blindness is not a barrier to you in anyway. You can always get women to love you. You can create a bond between you and your wife. If you can't have Selene, you can always have someone better. All you have to do is charm her!"