Chapter 1. Forced Marriage

"Do you think I'll just let you go, Danas?" asked Melvin, gripping a girl's jaw.

Emotion could be seen on the man's face; emotion was drawn from his eyes. A look of fear was visible on the girl he called Danas, more fully named Danas Cakrawala.

"Melvin. Let go. It hurts." Danas's voice was so weak; her eyes looked at the man in front of her, filled with emotion.

Raka Melvin Mahameru, the owner of the company and the President of Neha'v Group, is engaged in pharmaceuticals. The man, not even 30 years old, had a handsome face with a firm jaw and silver hair that made him look even more perfect. He was charismatic and elegant but with a cold aura that made him unapproachable to any woman who tried to get into his life.

Who doesn't know the cold man with so many accolades bestowed upon him, surely a woman's dream? Well-established, handsome, and wealthy is the outline of that man.

"Remember, I won't let you go. Keep suffering," Melvin said as he threw Danas on the floor. "Marrying me is not the end of your suffering but the beginning of your suffering. It's worth it for what you've done."

"What am I doing? Why do you hate me that much?"

"Don't pretend not to know," snapped Melvin.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. What wrong have I done, that you want my life to be so miserable, huh! You made my father's company go bankrupt, and you forced me to marry you, why don't you just kill me."

Melvin rested on the soles of his feet, then grabbed Danas' jaw again, staring intently at the girl on the floor. Seeing that there was resistance, he wanted to take the girl's life in front of him.

"Kill you? I won't, I want you to feel every day is full of suffering, your days are full of hell. You're even asking what you did? Huh?! Until when are you not going to admit what you've done wrong?"

For Melvin, killing Danas wasn't difficult. He could kill the girl whenever he wanted.

"Mistake? What mistake did I make? Tell me. You always say I made a mistake, that you want to make my family and myself suffer. Tell me, Melvin," a high, snapping voice echoed in the room.

"Shut up, you have no right to call me names." Melvin's hand slammed down roughly on Danas' face, knocking her to the floor.

The girl could only swallow her saliva, getting treated like that. The memories of a few days ago were still vivid in her mind when that man came to her house.

Melvin's voice could be heard, arguing with someone from a study in the wooden-walled house.

"No, we can't possibly give our child to you," the middle-aged man insisted.

"You have no right to refuse me," Melvin insisted. "In three days, I will come. You must prepare yourselves from now on, and don't embarrass me," Melvin added as he walked out.

Tears were held back. Danas' feelings were mixed up at that moment. Everything happened because of him.

When some people came to pick him up with his parents, the worry in his parents' eyes was obvious.

"I can take care of myself, Mom. Take it easy, I'll be fine," Danas said.

"You're feeling uneasy, mom, Danas," her mother said.

The girl could only carve a smile. Yes, only a smile could be carved on the lips. Even though her heart was mixed up, she didn't know how she felt.

The wedding dress was worn; she should be happy like a girl who became a queen for a day in general. Unfortunately, there was no happiness at all on her face.

The glass before her reflected her body wrapped in a wedding dress.

"I liked him once! No, to be precise, at the bottom of my heart I still like her, but not as much as before when I admired her figure. Because I had to let go of the thing that made me suffer, but this time she came back and made me suffer continuously," Danas thought.

"God, I don't know what you're planning for me. The path I'm on right now is so hard for me, strengthen me," he thought again as he lifted both ends of his lips, sighing softly.

A forced smile on a happy day made her heartache. She had to look okay and happy in the eyes of others and her parents.

Melvin's treatment of her was indeed cruel.

Hearing the man who had become her husband just a few hours ago made her have to strengthen herself to accept the harsh treatment that would happen.

"Danas, you have to survive. You can make it through," she said to encourage herself.

She turned her face left and right to see the marks on Melvin's hand.

"Yes, I can do it," Danas said once again while trying to smile.

He was now reflected in the mirror. He still looked beautiful, even without any makeup.

When she looked at herself, there was a tightness in her heart; there was pain that made her tears flow without being ordered; a few moments later, sobs broke out in the room decorated all white and rose petals down on the bed.

Danas belonged to Melvin, and Melvin belonged to Danas. But the girl also knew that there would never be the same meaning between them. There would never be an acknowledgement of who she was to that man.

Staring at the bed one and a half meters away from her made her clutch her chest; there was only pain she felt.

Brak!

"Don't think anything strange, if I'm going to sleep with you tonight," Melvin said as he went back to changing his shirt and picking up his suit.

Danas was about to say something, but hearing Melvin's voice made him pause.

"You don't need to know where I'm going, your job is to stay at home, and you have no say here. Understood?"

The girl nodded her head, not daring to answer.

"Answer my question, Danas Cakrawala," Melvin's voice rose with an emphasized intonation that made Danas startle, clutching the wedding dress she was still wearing.

"Yes," Danas replied stammeringly.

Melvin stepped closer to Danas, a sharp gaze full of strong intimidation. The girl could only round her eyes; her body tensed up; she was afraid that the man in front of her would do even harsher things to her.

A devilish smile etched on Melvin's face. A crooked smile that was so frightening to look at.

"Don't show me a face like that, a fake face, a face that wants to get mercy from me."

So quickly, Melvin's hand gripped Danas' jaw. That man couldn't hold back his emotions when he saw Danas' face; for him, the face that Danas was showing was fake.

Urgh!

There was a cry of pain due to Melvin's hand's grip and the impact on the dressing table, which was behind Danas at that time.

"M-Melvin, let go. S-pain." Danas patted Melvin's hand that was gripping his jaw.

The girl was trying to release herself. Melvin's treatment was so rough. The pain from the grip made her shed tears.

"Damn it, you think showing me tears, I'll sympathize with you?" asked Melvin, who saw tears coming out of Danas' eyes.

A moment later, he released his grip and put on the suit he had taken.

"Listen carefully, Danas Cakrawala, I, Raka Melvin Mahameru, will make your life miserable. I'll make sure it happens!" The man's voice was so trembling, full of emphasis and intimidation, that the girl in front of him was so scared.