CHAPTER FOUR

It's yet another day conveying new hopes and aspirations. Ciara still hasn't gotten over the shock of being sold to an arranged marriage without her consent. Now she's on the verge of losing Walters, the only man who loved and cared for her, just to fulfill her father's selfish interest.

"He even threatened to attempt suicide if I went against his decision. This is indeed bigger than me.” Ciara pondered. She's been out of bed for over an hour, speaking to her reflection in the mirror and seeking answers that would never be answered.

"I need to find a way to fix this mess. I'm an adult. I can't allow my father to play the lead role in my life. Enough of this bullshit. I'm done playing his script. I'm now in charge!” With a bit of confidence, Ciara spoke out as she got dressed and dashed to the living room to find her father watching, concentrating on a television show.

"Good morning, Dad,” trying to force a smile, Ciara greeted, yet he ignored her and narrowed his focus on the television.

“Dad, I just greeted and you shunned me. What's the problem?” Leaning forward, she muttered.

“Take your filthy hands off me. I fucking heard you the first time, but chose not to reply. Since you already decided to wage a war against me, let the battle begin. Let's see who wins,” Kelly suddenly went wild and walked away from the living room, abandoning his favorite television show.

"Wait a minute! Where's my father? I can bet this isn't him,” Bewildered, she watched her father zoom off like an angry. That was her first time seeing him in such a situation.

Even in his darkest moment, Kelly was still a cool cat. But now, Ciara doesn't know who her father has become anymore.

“Nothing can stop me from marrying my dream man, Walters. Not even my Father. I don't care what he says or feels about my decision. If anything goes wrong, I'll still blamed for it regardless. So why should I allow some person to determine my life,” hissed Ciara as she walked out of the living room and headed to Walters's apartment, which was a stone's throw away from her home. Her father kept calling her phone repeatedly, but she ignored him and would never allow him to stop her from going to mend her broken relationship with him.

As she edges closer to his apartment, a voice speaks inside of her. “Go back home. It's not worth fighting for. Accept the billionaire son as your husband,”

She halted her movement to concentrate on the voices in her head. She was trapped in between the devil and the deep blue sea.

"Am I making the right choice? What if my father was right about this arranged marriage? We are poor and helpless. Our rent is due for the year. I don't wanna be kicked out of the house when the rent expires. What will people say? Of course, they will make a travesty of our situation,” Ciara kept talking to herself to reach a compromise.

Deep down, she knows her future is secured with the billionaire, but she hasn't even met him before.

"Why marry someone you don't even know, let alone love? What if he has a girlfriend? I'm sticking with Walters. It's him or no one. I won't be moved by material things,” another thought brushed her mind.

Just when she was lost in deep thought, she saw someone with the same striking resemblance to Walters walk past her.

Immediately, she ran after him screaming. “Hey, wait. Is that Walters?” The person ignored it and walked faster. Taking a final glance at the stranger, Ciara got to find out it was him.

"It's him! Why is he not answering?” she ran towards this person.

"Are you stalking me? What the fuck do you want from me?” Walters turned to her direction and flared up.

“I knew it was you. Why are you avoiding me? I haven't done anything wrong.”

“You forget very quickly. That's your problem. Perhaps, I should remind you of the arranged marriage your father cajoled you to accept. Oh, you thought I forgot? Nope, unlike you that have an IQ of a toad,” Walters hurled abusive words at her as though she were a nobody. She giggled and looked sideways to confirm if he was referring to her.

“it's wrong for you to conclude without questions. You were there. You saw all that happened. Did I give consent? You're my knight in shining armor. I can never place anyone above you. If you were a twin, I'd still choose you. I wanna play the lead role In your life. And guess what? If I were to decide between you and a diamond, I wouldn't hesitate to smash the diamond on a rock because your love is priceless. It's worth more than any precious stone,” Ciara boasted and assured Walters of their relationship. Still, he wasn't convinced. Somehow, he feels she's also only acting for the camera.

"I've got a feeling you're telling a lie. You know what? I think I need a break to reflect on this relationship. What's the point? Your father doesn't like me. He doesn't even want me around his house. To me, this relationship is just a myth. Maybe a week or two away from each other.” Walters made the shocking proclamation.

“You joking right? We've been dating since our college days. We can fix this mess. We've had issues way worse than this, but we fixed it. That's what true love Is all about. We learn to forgive and tolerate each other,” going down on both knees, Ciara held his legs and begged him to stay, but he refused and moved sideways, causing her to fall.

"I can't. I just can't do this anymore. We require the break to figure out some things. Send greetings to your father even though he doesn't wanna set his eyes on me ever again,” he said and walked away from her without saying goodbye while she remained on the ground and watched helplessly and hopelessly. She couldn't do anything to stop him