My Stepmother Forced Me to Marry

Florida at 10:00, in a modest house. This blue, round-eyed girl looked at herself in front of the mirror. She would instead not be betrothed to a man of her stepmother's choice, especially intending to pay down debts because her stepmother was begging for her pleasure without thinking about her needs all along. They used to be a wealthy family, and because of their stepmother, they fell into poverty and had to move to a modest house. Today, she is exactly 20 years old. It is still too young to get married, even though an older half-sister is 26 years old and should be able to replace her to marry the man.

"Your father has already agreed to this marriage, so you can't shirk it anymore," Barbara said. She was the girl's stepmother.

Luna Kayla just looked down sadly. Her biological father prefers to listen to her stepmother's words rather than hers. She felt sad and disappointed. Her tears flowed freely.

"No need to cry. There you will live comfortably because your husband comes from a wealthy family," Barbara said sarcastically, after which she left Luna's bedroom.

Luna squeezed the yellow dress she was wearing. This young girl still wants to achieve her ideals, but they have made her have to erase the dream from her.

"Luna, today you must see him at 1 p.m."

Luna looked in the mirror. A 26-year-old girl now sees it from the door. "I know."

Casandra is Luna's older half-sister. She was born to a different father than Luna. Her father passed away when she was 16 years old, and two years later, her mother soon remarried her biological father, Luna. The two of them have never been familiar. It was only in the presence of Casandra's stepfather that the girl would be sweet to Luna, and if there were none, she would be cruel to her half-sister.

"Don't be disrespectful by rejecting it. Remember, our future lives depend on your marriage."

Luna looked down sadly. "I see."

Casandra smiled evilly. She left her sister, who was now crying.

***

Luna waited for the man who would marry her, but for up to an hour, she sat at the restaurant's table, but the awaited man did not come. This girl was uneasy and wanted to leave immediately, but her stepmother was watching from a distance. The woman sat at table number three. Right by the window.

"Are you the one named Luna, Kayla?"

Luna was taken aback. She immediately saw the man who greeted her. The 40-year-old man was right in front of her, now sitting opposite her. Luna couldn't believe what she saw. She then looked around her to find the man she was waiting for.

"I am the man to be betrothed to you; it is me," This man in purple said.

"What?" This girl was taken aback. She didn't expect her stepmother to want to marry her to a man about the same age as her father. The man was handsome, but Luna was not attracted to men twenty years older than her.

"You don't believe it, but I'm the one who will be your husband later."

"Uncle, this must be some misunderstanding." She tried to calm down and tried to deny it, but on looking at her stepmother, she was surprised and disappointed that her mother nodded. "No. This is impossible."

"I'm John Willy. You're waiting for."

"I have to go." This girl is about to stand up.

"Where do you want to go? Your family's debt will be paid off if you marry me."

"Uncle, don't you feel I am about the same age as your child?" This girl wanted to cry when she asked that. She really couldn't believe the reality that was happening at this time.

"I agreed to marry you because you will easily understand my daughter."

This girl squeezed her dress. She hid both hands under the table. Her lips were tightly closed. She was going to cry.

The man looked at Luna. "Don't you agree to this matchmaking?"

Luna nodded, and in the end, her tears flowed down. She tried to stop her tears, but disappointment prevented her from keeping her grief.

"That girl is already too much. She was able to make this matchmaking fail because of her crying," Barbara said. She was anxious to come to Luna and immediately pull her home.

"Don't you want your family's debts to be paid off?" This man asked quietly.

"I could have been a servant in your house, but not for marriage."

John looked into Luna's eyes. The girl begged him, but he smiled. "Why did you reject me?"

"You're older than I." This girl said quietly.

John was very disappointed to hear Luna's answer. He looked around to calm down and avoid seeing the girl, as the more he looked at made him upset. "I was forced to do this because your father couldn't pay his debts. He offered me his daughter for me to marry, but you rejected me instead."

"Sorry, Uncle." This girl lowered her head in fear. She was worried that the man would go berserk and humiliate her.

"You should marry me. Agree or not, it is already an agreement between your father and me."

"But---"

"I'll discuss our wedding day with your father and mother." He stood up to leave the place, but before that, he handed the girl a piece of paper that read value for money. "Buy everything you want."

The girl was forced to take the piece of paper. She lowered her head, pondering her fate.

Barbara immediately went to her stepdaughter and then snatched the paper. "Wow!" She was surprised to see the money given to John by Luna.

This girl was taken aback and immediately stood up to take the precious check. "Mother, that---"

Barbara held her daughter close while praising the sizable money of value. "It's not just a wife yet. She has given you money, let alone later."

"Please return the money."

"You are still too young to use this money. Let mom keep it."

"No, mother. I want to return it so that he won't marry me."

Barbara glared at that her stepdaughter would return the $2000 worth of money. He even said he would cancel her arranged marriage.  "What do you mean by that, so you deliberately want us to be poor and live on the streets because the man takes the house and everything we have to repay the debt owed to him?"

This girl was embarrassed that her mother was loudly speaking harshly, even though all around her, the customers in the restaurant were looking at them. She couldn't help feeling anymore. This girl ran out to go home. A car almost ran into her when she was about to cross. This girl was shocked and cried. She was so embarrassed when a few people stopped by to see her.

The owner of the luxury red car came out. It turned out that John owned the vehicle. "Why are you running?"

This girl slowly looked at John's face. "I don't want to get married."

John glanced at those who were now looking in his direction. He immediately took the girl to enter his car and then drove away from there.

John gives the girl a tissue, but Luna refuses the tissue provided to John. "You can't refuse this marriage, Miss."

This girl violently wiped her tears. "She who wants her debt paid off. Why don't you ask her to marry you."

"Who did you mean that?" This man knew who the girl was referring to, but he still wanted to ask to confirm his conjecture.

"Barbara. My cruel stepmother. She has the heart to force me to marry an uncle like you." This girl turned her gaze out of the window. She tried to stop her crying, but the tears continued fiercely.

John stopped the car. He pulled over under a tree. This man approached frightened Luna.

"Don't mess with me, or I'll scream." This girl threatened as both hands held John's body from getting closer to her.

"Do I look less attractive to you?"

This girl didn't dare to look at John. She turned her face towards the left. "You are more worthy of being my father or uncle."

John took hold of Luna's face, then forced her to look at him. "Look at me!"

This girl closed her eyes, not wanting to see John.

"Look at me," John said softly.

Luna slowly opened her eyes. John's face was so close to hers. John is a handsome man, even though he is not young anymore. Luna admitted in her heart that John had a good body and was not inferior to a thirty-year-old man, but Luna couldn't accept that their age was very much at odds, and she wasn't ready to be a stepmother to John's child either.

"Don't I deserve to be your husband?"

Luna was surprised. She was too focused on comparing John to the young man she often met. "We're not a good fit to be together."

John let go of Luna, then returned to his sitting position. "Irana's mother and I have been divorced since Irana was two years old. My daughter needed a mother, but I never thought about remarrying. Up to now, Irana hated me so much because she thought I was the one who had kicked her mother out."

This girl didn't understand why the man told him the problem. She just shut up and listened.

"Your father and mother can't afford to pay their debts. I was surprised when your mother offered this arranged marriage. Initially, I refused, but I thought my daughter required a mother and a friend. You guys don't differ much, so you can be her friend and make her no longer hate me."

Luna was unaware of having looked at her future husband's handsome face. She was surprised when the man looked back at her. This girl immediately turned her gaze forward. "I will be a servant in your house, but not by marrying you."

"I want her to forget her mother, so you should be my wife."

"Aren't you embarrassed to force a young girl like me to marry an uncle like you?" This girl shouted angrily. She vented annoyance to the man. "My life has been suffering since my father remarried. My half-sister has no affection for me. Dad doesn't listen to me, and my stepmother always instigates my dad to squander our money, not that's all I've even been a servant in my house."

John trailed off, seeing the girl crying while explaining her poor life. Even Luna dared to pull up his clothes and yell at him.

"Now, it's not enough of my family that has made me suffer; even you will make me live a life like hell." Luna lowered her head after venting her anger.

John touched Luna's face, then wiped her tears. Instead of advising or calming down, John deliberately kissed Luna. Luna was taken aback, and now her eyes bulged. This girl couldn't believe John dared to take her first kiss, and so angrily she slapped John in the face. This girl drove away from that car immediately.

John trailed off as he looked at Luna's departure. This girl ran away from his car. He hoped that Luna would one day receive his love.

Luna was also uneasy and imagined the face of the man she would meet. Suddenly, Luna smelled the scent of expensive perfume, but she didn't care. This girl was more worried when the man kept his promise to come to see her.