Chapter 1: Sold

Tap, tap, tap. A young woman aged 19 ran down a concrete sidewalk in the city. The young woman had long hazel brown hair, crystal blue eyes, was 5’4, wore a sun yellow knee-length dress that flowed in the wind and she also wore brown and white sandal wedges that had an ankle cuff. In her hands, she held the handles of a white cloth purse that had small holes at the bottom and worn-down cloth around the bottom edges of the purse. In her hair, she had a white daisy that had been freshly picked. The city had tall skyscrapers that's windows glistened in the light and tall buildings. People walked and ran up and down the sidewalks, and there was heavy traffic in its streets. The sounds of beeping horns and people talking/yelling bounced around in the air. The young woman thought, ‘I’m so late,’ while she ran down the sidewalk. She ran until she got to the end of the sidewalk. In front of her was a busy street, a stoplight, and another sidewalk that was across the street. Off to the side of her was another stoplight that had a button for pedestrians to press so they could cross the street. She walked over to the button catching her breath, pressed it, and stood back at the end of the sidewalk, looking at the pedestrian light that told her not to cross. She tapped her foot as she looked both ways, seeing a car far off in the distance. She said, “I shouldn’t, I really shouldn't but… I’m going to be late if I don’t keep going and I really need this job.” She began running across the street as the car that was in the distance zoomed down the street. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP, she turned to see a black car coming straight at her. The car abruptly stopped, nearly hitting her as she fell back on her bottom and screamed. She put her hand on her face as the driver's side door to the car swung open and a man ran out. The man was aged 22, had teddy bear brown hair, silver-colored eyes, and was skinny with muscles. The man was 6'7 and smelled of expensive cologne. He wore a designer button-up shirt that was tucked into his black dress pants. On his feet, he wore polished black lace dress shoes that looked like they had never been worn before. Around his wrist, he wore an expensive platinum and white gold watch, and around his neck, he wore a black tie that was perfectly tied. The man helped her up and asked, “Are you okay?” She dusted the back of her dress off saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have gone.” He said, “Why weren’t you looking where you were going.” She said, “I did, I thought I could make it but I guess not.” He said, “Are you stupid? You could’ve gotten yourself killed! Why would you just run out in the street like that?!” She said, “Oh yeah why were you speeding?! The speed limit is like 30 and there’s no way you were going 30.” He said, “How would you know? You aren’t a cop and it's not like you have a speedometer or something.” She said, “Um, common sense, that's how I know.” He said, “Well if you had common sense you certainly wouldn’t have been running across the street when it's not your turn!” She shouted, “Well if you had common sense you wouldn’t be speeding down a busy city street.” She turned her back to him as he looked around seeing people looking at them, some with their phones out, and others whispering to one another. She said, “What kind of idiot speeds down the street when you know there are pedestrians all around. You very well could have killed someone! So next time you should be more careful!" He said, "How are you going to turn this on me?" She looked at him, shouted, "Because it's your fault," and turned back around." He sighed putting his hand over his face and she said, "Well if you excuse me I’ll be going now because I have important business to take care of." He grabbed her hand and she looked at him saying, “Hey get your hands off me!” He said, “Come on since you have to get somewhere so important you’re willing to risk your life. I’ll drive you there.” BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP cars honked as they went around the man’s car. She pulled out of his grip and said, “I don't even know you! I’m not going anywhere with you.” He rolled his eyes and said, “Fine walk! It won't affect me in any way,” while walking back over to his car and getting in the driver's side. She stood in the street looking at his car, sighed, and ran over to his car, getting into the front passenger’s side, shutting the door behind her. She buckled her seatbelt as he looked at her asking, “Where to?” She looked at him and said, “Straw’s Cafe.” He began driving and asked, “Why are you in such a rush to get there?” She said, “I see you're the nosey type." He said, "And I see that you're the carefree type." She sighed and said, "Well if you have to know, I have a job interview.” He chuckled, saying, “You want to work at Straw’s Cafe? Good Luck with that.” She smiled saying, “Oh what’s wrong with working there? It’s a very respectable job.” He said, “Oh there’s nothing wrong with the job but you…. Well, that’s a different story.” Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened. She scoffed and said, “Something wrong with me? What’s wrong with me?” He said, “It’s just you don’t seem like the type to work at a cafe." "Oh and what exactly is that supposed to mean," She asked. He chuckled, saying, "It's just you…You just don’t have the face to do that job.” She flipped her hair saying, “The face? I think I have the face to do it. I think I’m pretty decent-looking. I mean come on I'm like model material.” He chuckled, saying, “You think you’re decent looking and that you're 'model material' woo you're funny.” She looked at him saying, “I know you’re not talking looking like a whole ENTIRE dusty book.” He laughed saying, “A book?! That’s the first time anyone has called me a dusty book. What a dumb insult.” She said, “Listen, it's the only thing I could come up with, unibrow.” He said, “Unibrow huh? I wouldn’t be talking when my forehead looks like a village could live on it. Like, forget homelessness they all could fit on that forehead. Are you opening up any shelters on that head or are you saving it for yourself?” She said, “Okay you wanna have a roast battle with me? Get ready to be cooked.” He laughed saying, “Oh yeah you’re gonna cook me? With insults like a dusty book? Let's hear it.” She said, “I’ve never met someone who looks like a square. I’ve never met someone that looks like he has roaches just living all up in his house. I’ve never met someone who looks like he doesn’t own a bar of soap. Like, are you scared of the water? You scared of getting wet? Afraid of showers? Get your Grinch Who Stole Christmas, can not compute, no muscles, I need my glasses behind out of here.” He burst out into laughter saying, “No one has ever said anything like that to me…” She said, “Well more people should.” He slowed the car, coming to a complete stop and parking it. She asked, “Why did we stop?” He said, “We’re here. Maybe you should learn to pay attention to your surroundings instead of trying to 'roast' people with weak insults.” She said, "First off I do pay attention, and second off maybe you should try shutting up." He said, "And that's exactly why you almost got hit." She said, "And that's why you look like an old man. How does one look 50 and 20 all at the same time? That takes some massive skills. Looking like a whole science experiment gone wrong." She turned her head to look out her window, seeing Straw’s Cafe, turned to him, and said, "Thanks for the ride.” He said, “Hey what’s your name?” She looked at him, smiled, and said, “See right there, that's that nosiness I was talking about." He sighed, saying, "Man you're the most difficult woman I've ever met and you talk so much!" She chuckled and said, "Yeah I know… But if you must know, my name is Marigold, Marigold Kelp.” She put out her hand and said, "It's nice to meet you," He looked at her hand, smiled, and said, “Oh I was only asking because I wanted to properly tell you to get out my car because you're stinking it up and seeing your face, hearing your voice is annoying. So, Marigold Kelp please get out of my car. I have places to be.” She put her hand down, rolled her eyes, and said, “A simple, nice to meet you too would've done perfectly fine there's no need to be rude.” He tapped his wrist saying, "I have to be somewhere. I don't have time to listen to you." She said, "I hope you're late for what you're doing and I hope all your coupons expire and you go to the store thinking you're about to get a good deal just to realize that, that sale is over and you have to pay full price," and got out of the car, closing the door behind her. She stood watching him drive off, thinking, ‘What a strange man,’ and went into the Cafe for her job interview.

While Marigold was at her interview the man was driving. The man pulled up to a black 100 story skyscraper. The man got out of his car and tossed his keys to the valet who stood there. The valet said, “Good morning Mr.Bax Jr.” Mr.Bax Jr. said, “Good morning,” and entered the building while the valet went to park Mr.Bax Jr.'s car. Inside the building the man saw a big silver and beige front desk, 5 silver elevators, polished light brown floors, white walls that have silver detailing on it, and lights that hung from the ceiling. Behind the front desk stood 2 women answering phones and greeting people, throughout the room were people going up elevators and walking around talking to each other. Mr.Bax Jr. walked over to the evalvator riding it all the way up to the 100th floor. 

He got out of the elevator entering his 5000 square foot office. Mr.Bax Jr.'s office had a white desk that had a black work chair behind it and a computer, printer, and a stack of beige folders that had important papers in them on top of it. Mr.Bax Jr.'s office also had a white fireplace that had a white leather loveseat in front of it and a 70 inch flat screen TV hanging above it, a wall that had a light brown bookshelf attached to it that had different books on it, a wall that had a huge bay window on it that overlooked the city, a white coat stand that sat next to the elevator, and two light brown couch chairs that sat in front of Mr.Bax Jr.'s desk. In his office was another door that led to his own personal bathroom and on the ceiling was a glass chandelier that lit up the entire room. Standing next to Mr.Bax Jr.'s desk was a man in his late 50’s. The man had a stubbly salt and pepper beard and his short slicked back hair was the same color as his beard. The man wore a pea green silk suit with a blue silk undershirt and brown dress shoes. The man was also 5’9 and had a slight beer belly. Around the man's left ring finger was a polished 14k white gold wedding band and around his wrist was a watch that was the same watch Mr.Bax Jr. wore. The man wore a dark blue tie and he had crows feet around his dark brown eyes. The man said, “Beau (Boh) we need to talk.” Mr.Bax Jr. walked further into the room saying, “Hi dad.” Mr.Bax Jr.'s dad slammed his hand down on the desk snarling, “Don’t ‘hi dad,’ me Beau! You missed your meeting with Avery!” Beau sat at his desk saying, “Was that today? Oh darn.” Beau’s dad shouted, “Beau you have missed every meeting this month! Now you’ve run out of options! Not a single rich woman we've arranged for you to meet wants to give you the chance because you continue to pull stunts like this! You now have no one who wants to marry.” Beau said, “Dang looks like I can’t get married now.” Beau’s dad said, “Why do you choose to disgrace me like this? This Billion Dollar company, your mother, this family! You are my only son, the only aire, and you choose to play games.” Beau said, “What games have I played? Profits are up by 15%. I've been trying to do what's best for the company." Beau's dad shouted, "What's best for the company is you getting married! You keep putting this off, it's like you hate the thought of getting married! You have been so disgraceful to this company!" Beau said, "Look it's not like I’m saying I’ll never get married, I just don’t understand why you guys want me to get married right away to the first woman I meet. You and mom have arranged at least 10 relationships and not a single relationship you guys have arranged has ended in marriage. They always fail and aren't what's right for the company. Why can’t I just choose my own wife like a normal person, besides I run the company just fine by myself.`` Beau’s dad said, “Son, this company needs an aire. You have to have someone to take over after you die.” Beau said, “After I die? Dad, I'm 22 years old, I’m not going to die for a long time.” Beau’s dad said, “Anything could happen son. You need an aire and you keep pushing this off like it's some game. Like you don't care about the company.” Beau said, “Listen, I want to get married on my own time, not your time. I mean, I just met this beautiful woman who made me laugh. Picture that, a woman who made me laugh! She was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. For the first time in my life I had a pleasant conversation with a woman who wasn’t after my money. I was actually able to hold a conversation with a woman who didn't want to talk about the family business or what I could do for them. That is the type of woman I need in my life and I can’t find her if you keep setting things up to where I have to marry some random woman. It's never going to work so just let me find her on my own time, by myself.” Beau’s dad said, “Oh please, who marries for love nowadays? Do you even know the girl’s name? Of course not, she was probably some poor girl looking for a quick way to make millions.” Beau stood up saying, “Her name was Marigold and I don’t even think she knew who I was but even if she did she didn't even bring it up. To her I was a complete stranger not a Billionaire.” Beau’s dad said, “Oh please, you’re the most eligible bachelor in the city, the aire to a billion dollar company. Everyone knows who you are and what I find strange is how easily you were able to like some random women off the streets but won't pay a rich woman any mind.” Beau said, "Because all the rich women you set me up with all want to inherit my money. Not a single one loves me for who I am or even wants to even try to get to know who I am." Beau's dad said, "And you think this woman off the streets didn't want you for the money. Beau, you need to get your head out of the clouds and realize who you are." Beau said, “She didn’t want my money. She didn't even know who I was, she was so laid back and real. She was everything I’ve been looking for. A real prize.” Beau’s dad looked at him and said, “I bet you don’t even know the girl’s last name or even remember what she looks like.” Beau said, “She looked to be about 19 years old and had beautiful long brown hair and these crystal blue eyes that would put any woman to shame. She was stunning and was on her way to an interview at Straw’s Cafe. Oh and her last name is Kelp.” Beau’s dad sighed and said, “How did you even meet this girl that you seem to know so much about?” Beau sat down in his seat and said, “She wasn’t looking where she was going and I almost hit her. So to make it up to her I drove her to her job interview and I have to tell you I would rather marry her than anyone you have for me.” Beau’s dad said, "You sound like you're in love with this girl." Beau scoffed, saying, "I don't know the girl, it's hardly love, but I will say she is stunning, very funny, and if I had to marry someone right now I would choose her." Beau's dad scoffed and said, “Ah yes, marry a money hungry poor girl and lose the company. Sounds like a great plan… Tell you what I’m going to go and get you a woman to marry and you will just marry her and let that be that. UNDERSTAND?!” Beau said, “Do whatever. You won’t drop the issue so I won’t fight you anymore. Get me the marriage certificate and I’ll sign it and then have the woman you want me to marry sign it and let that be that. We won’t have a wedding, we’ll just be married on paper like you want and maybe she’ll give me a child, maybe she won’t but hey you’ll be happy.” Beau’s dad walked out of Beau’s office onto the elevator while saying, “That’s exactly what I’ll do.” As Beau’s dad rode the elevator down he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, dialed a number waiting for someone to pick up, and told the person on the other line, "I need you to find me a young woman that goes by the name Marigold Kelp and bring her to me and bring me all the information you have on her."

 3 Hours Later 

In a living room that had wood panel walls that were stained white, a teal blue sectional that was sitting to the side of a white bay window, and a teal blue, red, and orange striped circular rug that sat underneath the sectional, a rectangular light brown wood coffee table that had black metal legs and sat in front of the sectional, a white brick fireplace, two teal couch chairs that sat across the sectional but in front of the coffee table that had different fashion magazines and white candles that were lit and had the scent of lavender and vanilla sitting on top of it, and circular lights built into the white ceiling, sat 2 men. One man had a dark brown short scraggly beard, a short healed scar sat above his top lip, he had short dark brown hair, was 6’8, and very muscular. He wore a black trench coat that touched all the way down to the floor, black jeans, a black tank top, and black laced steel toed boots. The other man had salt and pepper hair but no beard, he had evergreen colored eyes, was 6’2, and had white glasses on. The man with white glasses wore tan khakis, a blue and white striped button up, and white socks. The man with glasses said, “Why do you think I would ever give you my daughter?” The man in all black chuckled, saying, “Everyone has a price Mr.Kelp and my boss just wants the best and is willing to pay top dollar for her.” Mr.Kelp said, “My daughter isn’t property, she’s a human being and if you think I’ll just sell her to you, you’re completely delusional.” The man in black said, “Mr.Bax doesn’t like to be told no…” Mr.Kelp said, “I just don’t understand why Mr.Bax wants my daughter so badly. There are a million women out there who would love to be his wife. Why choose my headstrong daughter?” The man in black said, “There is no question that there are millions of women lined up to marry Mr.Bax but Mr.Bax wants your daughter. Marigold's beauty, grace, and humor has caught his attention and he would like to marry her.” Mr.Kelp said, “I won’t give up my daughter to anyone, for anything.” The man in black said, “Mr.Bax is willing to offer you 10 million dollars for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” Mr.Kelp looked at the man and said, “10…. Million…. For my daughter?” The man in black said, “Yes 10 million and of course she’ll be the wife of an aire to The Bax company… You know the BILLION Dollar clothing line company, so 10 million dollars is only a start to how much money you will be getting if you give Mr.Bax your daughter.” Mr.Kelp said, “Billion.. Dollar… Company…” The man in black said, “Money talks, and everyone has a price for everything. Give us your daughter and you’ll make millions, billions… You’ll never have to work another day in your life. You’ll have everything you ever wanted. Think about it.” CREEEEEEEK, the sound of the front door opening filled the air. “I’m home!” Marigold yelled. Mr.Kelp said, “I'm in the living room,” and the man in black said to him, "Think about the money you'll make if you say yes.” Marigold ran into the room as her father stood up. She hugged her father and said, “Daddy there’s a huge stretch limo out front…" Mr.Kelp said, "Yes, I know… Now about that…" Marigold interrupted, saying, "Sorry to interrupt you Daddy but I have the best news, I got the job!” Mr.Kelp said, " That's great hun but I…" Marigold interrupted once more saying, "Daddy I know you wanted me to find a job that was high paying but this was the best I could do for now and besides with this job we'll have enough for everything." Mr.Kelp said, "Hun I'm so proud of you for getting this job but you need to listen to me okay… This job isn't the real answer we need. It's not gonna fix all of our problems. I'm an old man now and I don't want to continue working. I want to live out the rest of my life without troubles and problems, just like I want the same for you." She said, "Daddy one day it'll be like that. Think about how much money I'll be making. I mean sure the starting pay is 10$ an hour but if I work there for 8 months my pay will rise to 15$ an hour and so forth and if I keep working hard I can get the manager position and that's where the real money is. Then I can take care of you so you don't have to work." Mr.Kelp scoffed and said, "Hun I want to retire now, we can't keep living like this. I want bigger and better things. I don't want this tiny house and I don't want to wait either." She chuckled, saying, "Daddy we live in a nice 2 story house, we're hardly struggling. It's not like we're gonna be homeless. We own this place and if you really want to make some extra cash and retire sooner than you should try renting one of the bedrooms out. I mean we have about 3 extra bedrooms and I'm sure we can get at least an extra 400$ if we rent one out." Mr.Kelp said, "Marigold, I don't want to do that. I want to retire without struggling. I want my own place without having to share. I don't want all the extra." She scoffed, turned around to see the man in black sitting on one of the couch chairs, and said, “Oh hello I didn't see you sitting there. Daddy why didn't you tell me we had company?" Mr.Kelp said, "Hun I was trying to tell you but you kept interrupting me." She said, "I'm sorry Daddy and I'm sorry you had to hear all of that, I was just so excited about my new job." The man in black said, "That's quite alright." She said, "It's not, and it's not very polite of us to share family matters in front of guests. I'm very sorry for my ill manners.” The man in black stood up and said, " No, it happens and it's very much alright. Now you must be the beautiful Marigold Kelp I've been hearing about.” She smiled and said, “Yes and who are you?” The man in black said, “Don't worry about who I am." She chuckled and said, "Okay… Well, are you a friend of my Father's." The man in black said,"Not very much of a friend as much as a business partner, who can end all your money troubles." She said, "Business partner? What kind of business?" She turned to face her father saying, "Daddy you never told me you had a business." Mr.Kelp said, "Well I…" and the man in black interrupted saying, "It's a new business and it's a new deal that we were discussing and we were just finalizing all the details dotting our i's and crossing our t's so there wouldn't be any problems. So Mr.Kelp do we have a deal?" Mr.Kelp looked at his daughter and back at the man. Marigold looked at her father and said, "Daddy are you going to go into this business deal?" Mr.Kelp looked at Marigold and said, "Yes I am but, know that I love you more than anything but I can't wait anymore… This had to happen and I can't pass this up, neither can you." The man in black said, "Excellent choice Mr.Kelp, get ready for all your dreams to come true." The man in black took Marigold's hands as she said, "Daddy what are you talking about? You're starting to scare me." The man in black said, "Don't be scared Ms.Kelp I do business with your father but I more so work for your husband and might I say you are more beautiful than he described.” She let go of his hands, stepped back from him, and chuckled, saying, “My husband? I think you’re mistaken sir, I don’t have a husband, I don’t even have a boyfriend let alone a husband but thank you.” Mr.Kelp grabbed Marigold’s hands and said, “Marigold, they're offering me 10 million dollars… You have to understand…” Marigold chuckled, saying, “Ha-ha, very funny dad.” Mr.Kelp said, “Marigold I’ve already made up my mind. Think about how much money that is. You'll be an heiress to a billion dollar company. You'll never have to work again ever in your life! This is a huge opportunity for this family. You’ll have a better life this way.” Her smile died down and she said, “Okay dad this isn’t funny anymore…” Tears filled Mr.Kelp’s eyes as he said, “I’m sorry Marigold this is an offer of a lifetime and I won't let you mess this up for us.” The man in black grabbed Marigold’s arm and said, “It was the best choice to make.” Marigold pulled away from her father and the man in black saying, “What are you trying to tell me? Are you saying you sold me to this man?” Mr.Kelp said, “Marigold it isn’t like that.” Tears filled her eyes and she said, “Are you kidding me,” she turned to the man in black and said, “I don’t know who you think you are but I’m not going anywhere with you and I’m not marrying anyone.” Mr.Kelp said, “Marigold do this for me, think about the family.” She screamed., “The family? What about me? You just sold me! You just sold me to some random man and you say 'think about the family,' but you're my family and you didn't think about me! You didn't ask me about my opinion, you just sold me like I'm your property!" The man in black said, "Think about it as an investment Marigold, an investment to a better life. You'll have everything you want." Mr.Kelp said, "This is something that will be good for you Marigold. Think about it, now you don't have to worry about working at some Cafe. You're set for life Marigold! Look at the positive." She shook, screaming, "I’m not going anywhere with him or anyone. I'm staying right here!” She began running out of the living room as Mr.Kelp grabbed her from behind in a bear hug. She yelled, " Let go of me!" Mr.Kelp said, "Marigold think, think about the money we'll be rich." Marigold broke out of his grip, faced him, and shouted, "Think about me! You're my father!" Mr.Kelp shouted, "And you're my daughter! You shouldn't be so selfish, you should want me to retire." She screamed, "Selfish?! I got the Cafe job so you wouldn't have to work! I did everything to please you! How dare you call me selfish?!" Mr.Kelp said, "Marigold we can't keep living like this please do this for me, do this for us… When your mother died…" She interrupted, shouting, "Don't you dare bring up mom into this! She would've never let you do this to me!" Mr.Kelp said, "How would you know what she would've wanted? She died when you were 5 you barely even knew who she was let alone knew what she wanted." Tears swelled in Marigold's eyes and the man in black said, "Enough of this," walked over to her, and grabbed her arm as she tried to fight to get out of his grip. The man tightened his grip, pulled a 10 million dollar check out of his pocket, tossed it on the ground, and said, “It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr.Kelp we’ll be in touch.” She looked at her father as tears dripped down her face and cried, "I can't believe you would sell you only daughter. How can you stand there and let this happen?" Mr.Kelp picked up the check while the man dragged Marigold out of the house. Marigold screamed, “Daddy please do something! You have to help me!” The man dragged Marigold outside to a black limo, put her in the back, and got in behind her, closing the door behind himself. The back of the limo had all black leather seats, tinted windows, and a wall that seperated the driver from the back passengers but had a black window that rolled down so you could talk to the driver. The driver rolled down the window that was on the wall and the man in the black coat said, “Take us to the Bax’s Residency.” The driver rolled up the window and the limo took off as Marigold tried to open the doors realizing the doors were locked. "Let me out right now," she shouted. He grabbed her arm tightly and shouted, "Or what? What will you do? Where will you go? Don't you know you now belong to a powerful man?! There's nothing you can do!" She put her hands on her face and began to cry as the man stared at her. "You're so lucky you were chosen to be his bride," the man in a black trench coat snarled. Marigold looked down at her yellow dress as her tears dripped onto it. The man grabbed Marigold's arm shouting, "You will be happy, and you will not ruin this day! Smile!" Marigold cried, "How can I be happy, I was stolen!" The man scoffed, saying, "You were not stolen, you were bought. Your own father sold you and now you belong to Mr.Bax! You should be so happy to marry a Billionaire. Consider it a Cinderella story, a dream come true." She covered her mouth as she started to shake, "How can this be a dream come true..." she whispered to herself. The man in the black coat said, “Stop crying. These people are Billionaires! There’s nothing to cry about! You can have anything you ever wanted so be grateful you can have this opportunity." She cried, "What is there to be happy about? I was sold like a piece of property yet you tell me to be happy that I'm being seen as an object! I'm going to a strange place, being forced to marry a man I don't even know, all for money. This is not some type of fairytale, it's a nightmare! A nightmare that I want to wake up from right now!" The man in a black trench coat growled, "Stop the unnecessary pity party. It's not like you have it bad! You'll have a better life now, so be happy and stay silent.” 

The car filled with silence as tears continued to roll down Marigold's cheeks. She looked out the tinted windows and thought about the life she once had and how everything would now be changed