IDTMB — Chapter One

Present...

A heavy footsteps are heading towards upstair and stop in the room where the door is widely open. There he saw the only woman in his life, sitting in front of her makeup table while trying the new jewelry that their adoptive parents gave. He can't even imagine that they will ended up on their situation and it's freaking his heart everytime he wants to embrace her in his arms but things are stoping him.

"Arthur?" Ellie called him when he notice him in the mirror, standing in the doorway of her room, "Why are you standing there like a statue?"

Instead of answering her, he take a step inside and close the door of her room which she didn't mind because she's already used to him. He walks towards and stay behind her, looking at her reflection on the mirror. "You look beautiful in it." 

"Yea, this is what mom gave me earlier." She laughs, holding the necklace on her neck but the smile gone when she notice his aura. "You seem not in yourself, Arthur. Are you okay?" She stood up to face him and their eyes met. "Tell me what's wrong because you're starting to freak me out or you want me to call a doctor right now to check you up–"

"You have change a lot, Ellie." He cut her off that made her forehead knotted.

"What are you talking about?"

"You promise me that you will not going to change before we enter at the orphanage. Don't you remember that?"

"How am I supposed to remember that when I'm just too young back then, Arthur? If it's the reason why are you acting weird today, then I'm sorry if I forgot. Please, leave me alone if there is nothing important to talk about." She was obviously avoiding the topic and about to turn her back on him when Arthur ask him.

"What am I to you, Ellie?"

"You're my brother of course!" She answered immediately without any thoughts.

"I am not your brother!" He couldn't stop raising his voice when he heard her answer. "And you know more than that, Ellie." His teeth was greeting where his perfect chiseled jawline clenched in anger.

"Lower your voice, Arthur, they might hear you," Ellie said almost whisper as she begged on him. 

"You forgot also the second promise you made to me when they adopt us! You promise me that you will never see me as your brother but look at you now!"

As she heard what he said, she gulped twice, biting her lower lips in the tension between them. "You know what is the reason why we're acting this way and you agreed with my idea, right?"

"I wish I didn't agree on the first place, Ellie," he said straight to her eyes, sounded he is regretting everything, "Because I'm seeing you more than the way your seeing me in this pretentious we have."

"Arthur, please don't do this. You're going to ruin everything we have right now." After hearing everything, it started to scare her that if there adoptive parents finds out that they are only pretending they will going to think that they lied for their benefits.

"I love you, Ellie, and I can't hide this anymore." Arthur's tears starts falling in his eyes when he finally confessed his love for her. "There is no one in this world I want to be with but you, Ellie, so run away with me. Let escape this–"

"Stop, Arthur!" She pass him through and open the door for him. "You may leave now and forget everything the conversation about. You know we can't be together what you want us to be because we're siblings-"

"You know we're not, Ellie. Damn!" In just a second, he was right in front of her and slammed his fist on the masonry wall. "Don't you understand? This is not what I want, and I know you do too; why are you so naive?"

"I'm not naive, Arthur, and please stop talking nonsense. Mom and dad might hear us, I beg you." She couldn't even look him in the eyes as she said those words. Their bodies are so close that they can smell each other's scents. "Yes, we're not siblings, but that's what we made them see, and that's what's written on the paper since they adopted us; I respect them, Arthur, and whatever they want us to be, we must obey." At this point, she tearsfully looks into his eyes. "I don't want to go out in the street again with nothing, Arthur, so please understand."

"I can burn those papers if that's why you're refusing my love, Ellie; I don't want to be your fucking brother!" he yelled, locking her even tighter in his arms, cornering her against the wall. "I can give you a life if you let me, and I promise you-"

"Arthur, enough..." Ellie closed her eyes deeply as tears began to fall.

"Please, Ellie!" Arthur quickly kneeled on her feet, holding her hands. "Let us be, Ellie. Run with me; I'm willing to give you the whole world if it's what it takes of your love."

Ellie shakes her head. "This is all wrong, Arthur. We can't just make decisions based on our desires; it always depends on them, so please, please, please stop!" She tried to lift him, but he refused.

"Ellie, I beg you." He grips her tightly and refuses to let her go, even if it means becoming stupid. "I will do anything for you." He begs for her more with his tears, but she is too naive.

"Forget your feelings, Arthur; this isn't right, and there's no point in this." She took her hands in hers and moved away from him. "We don't deserve each other, and there are people out there who truly care about us, but it isn't us!" Ellie was about to turn her back on him when a cold hand grabbed her arm.

"You're mine, Ellie!" Arthur slammed the door shut and pushed her into the bed.

"Ar-Arthur, what are you doing?" her voice shakes in fear as she notices the man in front of him removing the belt from his jeans.

"You left me with no choice, Ellie; it's just the two of us here anyway, so I'm going to make sure you'll come with me after I impregnate you."

Ellie's eyes widened as she heard what he said and she immediately stood up to slap him across the face with her hand. "You can't still have me with your ideas, Arthur!" she yelled, pushing him away. "You just showed me how much of an asshole you are, and I will forever hate you if you did that to me, or I'd rather die!" For the second time, she pushed him and left her room with tears in her eyes, unable to believe he could do such a thing to her, and she despises him for it.

As he sits on the edge of the bed, Arthur's hands form fists out of rage. His perfectly chiseled jawline clenched in pain as he felt the slap from the girl he loves. He can feel her rage from the slaps he received, and he begins to regret what he did a minute ago. "You've changed a lot, Ellie."  He whispered on air, remembering those days they had before their situation started.

Arthur got up early in the next day and spent almost an hour in the kitchen. Making Ellie's favorite breakfast burritos was the only way he could apologize to her. He's definitely only cooking for her and not for anyone else, but he still made them so they wouldn't be suspicious. He didn't bother knocking on the room next door to check on her as he left his room, instead heading straight to the kitchen. They hadn't even seen each other after their argument last night, but he knows she went back in her room because he heard the door slamming from her room. He realized he had turned into an asshole and wants to make things right before he regrets it. 

"Good morning. You're too early, Son," Anecita, their adoptive mother, said as she walked down with her husband, Luisito, their adoptive father. "What did you make? You made Burritos?" she asked as she saw what he had prepared.

"Good morning, Mom, and please have a seat with dad, and I'm about to serve this now for us," he said, pretending to be in a good mood, but in the back of his mind he's waiting for Ellie's footsteps to come downstairs next.

Anecita and Luisito sat down at their rectangular dining table, the man at the far end and the woman to his right. While Arthur sat on the opposite end of the table, Ellie's place on his right. The food is already on the table, along with the hot coffee he made on the coffee maker. He was staring at the staircase, waiting for her to come down, but no one appeared to be coming down.

"I need to call Ellie in her room," Arthur said, about to leave when Anecita stopped him.

"Ellie isn't in her room, Arthur; didn't you know she was gone last night?" Anecita wondered as she sipped her coffee.

"What do you mean, Mom?" He was now confused as to what was causing his heart to race in nervous.

"Your sister received a news about the scholarship she applied for in Canada, and she accepted it, which is why she left last night; I'm not sure what the sudden rush is because her original plan was to fly after this month," she added, leaving him stunned, "Don't tell me you don't know about it?"

Arthur sat in his chair and immediately faked a laugh. "I-I'm aware of it; I just didn't expect her to leave so soon." He lied because he knows nothing about it, not even the scholarship in Canada that she applied for.

"Is that so? That's strange you didn't know your sister's plan," Anecita responded, taking a bite from her plate.

"Yeah, Mom," Arthur said, staring at the burritos he'd made for her.

"Don't worry, Son, your sister will be fine in Canada; my friend will look after her there, so she will be fine," Luisito said, noticing his adoptive son's sudden change of expression.

"Did she say when she was going to return?"

"She didn't say anything to us, but maybe she'll come back after college," Anecita speculates.

"Just let your sister in Canada focus on your business studies, Arthur, because I expect more from you after college," Luisito says authoritatively. "We have a plan for your sister as well, which is why we didn't stop her from going to Canada; I hope the fact that you are now separated isn't a problem for you."

It took a second of silence for him to respond. "Of course it's okay, Dad, and I think it's better she's not here for the time being." He forced a smile in front of them, even though his heart is full of disappointment that she left him.

Arthur attempted to contact Ellie in every way possible, but she blocked him in every communication channel through which they could reach each other. He wants to follow her to Canada, but his adoptive parents are preventing him. He has to act on their expectations of him every day. During the days and months that she is gone, her absence is driving him crazy while waiting for her to comeback. He became lost and distracted with women where s*x become his habits to avoid the pain his keeping inside in abandoning him by the girl he only cares for. Arthur is seeing a therapist to help him out with his anxiety and there she met Rebecca who become one of his women he have in bed. She also helped him to recover in his anxiety by staying by his side everyday and take the responsibility giving what he wants.

"So, the two of you already met?" Anecita inquired, surprised to see the two together when Arthur invited Rebecca to dinner at their home.

"Hello, Auntie, good evening," Rebecca said, kissing Anecita on the cheeks, and the woman did the same to her as they hugged.

"What's going on?" he asked, puzzled, looking at the women in front of him, who appeared to know each other for a long time, "How did you know each other?"

"Let's go to the table first, then we can talk about this; the food is already prepared, and your dad is already waiting there," Anecita replied, leading Rebecca into the dining area while Arthur looked confused.

As they approached the dining area, Arthur's brow furrowed as he noticed Rebecca sitting in Ellie's place on his right side. He remembers her every day until he falls asleep, which breaks his heart into pieces, hoping she didn't leave him. But fate isn't in their hands when there are doors they can't open together. Their lives are tied to their adoptive parents, who expect them to live up to their expectations as a debt of gratitude for having a good life.

"Arthur, are you not going to sit?" Rebecca asked, noticing him still standing like a stone statue.

"Yeah," he only replied before taking his seat at the other end of the table, "So, tell me how you met Rebecca?" he asked, not missing an opportunity to ask the questions that were racing through his mind.

"Rebecca is the daughter of our long-time business partner in the company, and Caridad, her mother, was one of my colleagues back when I was in college," Anecita replied, eating decently in her plate with a straight posture in her seat.

"And you know what, Son, this is a good sign that you two already know each other," Luisito said, delighted by how well they looked together.

"Why is that, Dad? Is there anything else that will surprise me besides the fact that I didn't expect you to know Rebecca?" Arthur asked, sensing that he needed to know something.

"I think we should tell the kids, Hon, about the plan because they're already dating," Anecita exclaimed.

"Mom, we're not dating-"

"His correct, Auntie, we're not dating yet; Arthur and I are just getting to know each other before we take that step," Rebecca cut him off with a confident smile on her angelic face.

Are we? Arthur pondered what he had just heard, thinking she had misunderstood their situation.

"I'm glad to hear it, Rebecca, that you and Arthur are getting along; in that case, we and your parents will never have a problem arranging you two in a marriage." Luisito finally spilled the beans that surprised the two but Rebecca is happier as she heard the news rather than Arthur who appears to have his world falling apart.

Arthur lost his appetite and cleared his throat before saying, "Please excuse me," and leaving them in the dining area without waiting for their response.

"Should I follow him?" Rebecca asked, waiting for their approval.

"Oh please, Rebecca, follow him and try to talk to him about the arrangement we've made for the both of you; try to make him understand." Anecita is the one who responded with a begged tone before continuing to eat on her food.

"I will, Auntie, don't worry." Rebecca rose from her seat and followed Arthur upstairs, where she found him in the next door to Ellie's room. "There you are."

"What are you doing here?" Arthur demanded angrily as she stepped inside. Without further ado, he grabs her arm and drags her out of the room. "You are not permitted to enter this room!" he yelled, slamming the door shut.

"Calm down, Arthur! What's the big deal if I enter that room as well?" she grumbled.

"What exactly do you want?" Arthur inquired, shifting the tense between them.

She let out a sigh before responding. "I'd like to discuss the earlier conversation we had with your parents, the arranged marriage-"

"I think you misunderstood our situation, Rebecca; we're not dating or whatever else is going on in your head; we're just friends, and I only invited you here because of your favor in exchange of taking care of me." He cut her off because he doesn't want to hear any about the arrange marriage thing.

"You mean, the night something happened to us was a friend thing for you, Arthur?" she asked, trying not to be sarcastic.

"Everything what happened, yes," he replied coldly, "and I'm not going to participate in that arranged marriage, Rebecca!"

Rebecca was surprised to find out that they have no mutual interest in the arranged marriage. "You can't do anything about it, Arthur. Whether we like it or not, the arrange marriage will continue, and you can't say no in this thing, especially..." She paused, searching for the courage to speak the words on the tip of her tongue.

"What?"

"You can't just turn away because I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed and start crying like a baby in front of him.

"What did you just say?" he asked, stunned.

"I'm pregnant, Arthur, and you're the father of the child in my womb," she explained through tears, "and you can't just walk away with me; you have to marry me in order to provide this child with a complete family."

Arthur didn't know what to say in response to what he had just heard. He recalls what happened to them in the hotel bed, but he never imagined she would bear him a child. He didn't think twice before putting all his cum inside her, and it was frustrating that he would have a child with a woman he didn't love after all.

"I need to take a break," Arthur said as he passed her on his way downstairs.

"Arthur!" Rebecca yelled, but he didn't respond, and she was left alone on the second floor, clutching her tummy.