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Mia's POV

I walked into the premises of my duplex with my phone between my face and shoulder as I juggled the goods in my hands.

“ Yes, I'll try and make it for the opening of your bookstore,” I said to Nita, my best friend, over the phone.

“ Are we still meeting up today?” She sounded disheartened as she already knew my answer.

“ I'm afraid not. I have to take Natalie out to shop for dinner gowns, her prom is coming up soon,” I sighed.

“ I understand, prom night is every girl's dream,” Nita got lost in her imaginary world. “ It reminds me of my time in school, though nobody liked me,” she said dramatically.

“ That's because you are and were crazy,” I spat out.

“ I liked scaring and harassing boys. It was fun,” she said. She could be creepy and weird as fuck sometimes.

“ Anyway, I'll call you back later on. I'm heading in now,” I said turning the door knob and opening it.

“ Alright, see you later,” she blew a kiss from her end and I quickly hung up on her. Crazy.

I walked into the living room with my phone about to slip out of my hand. I needed to place these down, I even think I might have over-shopped.

“ I'm ho...,” I stopped midway through my sentence as my eyes met that of a man I wasn't sure who he was but with the number of bodyguards that surrounded him, he had to be rich. Did I walk into the wrong house by any chance?

Looking closely, he looked familiar. His dangling silver blonde hair with bangs that fell over his face, and his green eyes were piercing and cold - something similar to the look a fictional young, hot CEO would have. Azek?

“ Azek?” I called out in a soft voice but when he locked eyes with mine, I shuddered in fear. It was cold like he had no recollection of who I was. Had I mistaken him for someone else?

“ Mia, honey. You're back!” Mom exclaimed as she walked down the stairs. She looked happy to see me which was a rare occurrence. It was something that only happened when I was a kid.

“ Yes but there's someone weird sitting in our house,” I whispered to her as I moved closer to her, dropping my groceries on the white tiled floor.

“ Mr and Mrs Mendez, let's continue from where we stopped since your daughter is here,” the young man who had a cold gaze spoke. Everything about him seemed icy like he lacked every emotion that wasn't depressing.

“ Dad, what's going on?” I looked at Dad who rubbed his palms together as the rich man spoke. This was how he behaved whenever he sucked up to someone.

“ Explain to your daughter why I'm here,” the man with the silver blonde hair nonchalantly instructed.

“ Honey, this is CEO Azek Ford and he has come to marry you. He thinks you're fit to be his wife and has come for you,” Dad explained. It was Azek but he was different, a lot colder than he was before. It has been eight years since we last met, could he have forgotten me so quickly?

“ I refuse to marry him! Did you think I'd accept just because he is a CEO and wants to marry me? I won't marry him,” I voiced my decision. As much as I and Azek go a long way back, he can't just show up from nowhere and suddenly want to claim me as his.

“ Mia! How dare you speak so rudely in the presence of CEO Ford?” Mom was going bunkers right now but I couldn't care less. What could she do if I refused? Beat me? Slap me? I wasn't new to any of those treatments from them.

“ Mia, behave yourself,” dad warned.

“ Are you going to sell me to him because he's rich?!” I was losing my mind right now. “ Don't you care about what I want? I don't even know him,” I might have exaggerated the last part but it was still technically the same thing. He didn't seem to know who I was the way he looked at me when I walked in.

“ All we've ever done is raise you and feed you and now that it's time to repay us, you misbehave! You ungrateful brat!” Dad raised his hand to hit me and I cowered in fear but nothing happened.

“ You have the nerve to want to hit my wife in my presence,” Azek scoffed. His bodyguard had come to the rescue and stopped Dad's slap from reaching me by grabbing onto it tightly.

“ I meant no disrespect, sir,” Dad trembled.

“ Since I can't leave you two idiots to explain anything to Mia over here, I'd do it myself,” he said in a dismissive tone as he walked towards me. “ Leave us alone,” he only needed to look at my parents once before they scrammed. Could he have remembered me? My heart began to beat faster, how should I break the ice? I thought to myself.

“ Thank you for...,”

“ Keep your appreciation to yourself,” he shut me up. “ Don't think I care what happens to you but then again, I can't let them harm you. That's my responsibility to handle,” a small smirk crept out on the corner of his lips.

“ I-I...”

“ Do you think I wouldn't find you and make you pay?” He squeezed onto my face making me flinch in pain - he was hurting me. “ I'll make sure to make your life a living hell, that I promise,”

“ Y-you’re hurting me,” I managed to say as tears flowed down my eyes. I had no idea what he was talking about or what I did to him that he hated me so much.

“ This is just the beginning of your torture,” he pushed me away in disgust as he let go of me. I fell to the floor but luckily, I landed on my butt even though it still hurt.

“ Mr and Mrs Mendez, my bride better be ready in a week,” he said loud enough for my parents to hear before glancing at me and walking out with his entourage. I began to cry silently, what was going on? Everything was confusing me and I was beginning to doubt everything I and Azek shared back in high school or was it just I deceiving myself back then?

“ Why are you busy sitting on the floor and crying?! You should be grateful someone like CEO Azek wants to marry the likes of you. If not that he demanded for you specifically and Natalie is too young, I would have her the chance instead!” Mom exclaimed like I was enjoying premium rights.

“ Dad, I don't want to get married to him,” I got up to my feet and held onto his arms, begging him. He terrified me.

“ This isn't a matter of opinion. At least, I don't remember asking you to make a choice,” Dad sounded cold and indifferent to my plea.

” Just imagine the benefits of being related to the Ford family. And of course, when he's marrying you he'll not come empty-handed,” Mom rubbed her thumb, index finger, and second finger together. That was all she and Dad cared about - money.

“ I can't marry him. No, I won't marry him or let you sell me off to him!” I screamed, my once orderly hair looking messy as tears escaped my eyes. “ Even if you beat me to death, I won't,” I stated. Azek was going to make me pay for something I had no idea of and he wasn't joking. I couldn't risk being punished and hated by the very first person I had loved.

“ If you don't accept his marriage proposal, your younger sister, Natalie will have to bear the consequences,” Dad stated, not a form of hesitation or sympathy in his eyes. He meant every single word he said.

“ Do you want innocent Natalie to take the beaten for your stupidity?” Mom laughed eccentrically.

My knees became weak and instantly gave way, I crashed to the floor on my knees, distraught. Natalie was the only reason I could endure everything I did, I would do anything to make her live a normal life. I couldn't let her pass through what I did.

“ Please don't touch Natalie. I'll do what you want, I'll marry him,” I succumbed to their blackmail. I wouldn't let Natalie’s perfect childhood and innocence get ruined because of my stubbornness.

“ I never thought I'd see the day you'd use your head instead of your heart to make a choice,” Mom humphed as she walked past me. I sat on the floor watching as both of them walked away. All I could do was cry - I was confused and frustrated. Everything was happening too fast for me to grasp. What had I done to Azek to make him hate me like this?

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