ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO A RODRIGUEZ

Chapter 1

A wild range of fire spread across the large building which was once a shopping mall, burning down everything it touched ,the thick formation of smoke filled the atmosphere , cutting off air supply to the three remaining occupants in the burning building .

One unconscious and barely breathing ,the other losing consciousness , and the last panicking in the most unrecognizable way .

"Mr handsome are you alright ,try to keep your eyes open okay ,you are going to be just fine ," A little girl of about 10 years old assured a teenage Walter Rodriguez who was slowly losing consciousness to the lack of oxygen.

"M–My sister …. Walter's voice fades as he grows weaker each given minute .

Asides his lack of oxygen ,was his bleeding leg ,which was stabbed by a piece of broken glass ,while he tried to save his younger sister , Scarlett Rodriguez.

"Your sister , she's fine , she's asleep . See we all sleep like this ,don't we ? The little girl whose face was blurry in Walter's vision , giggled and coughed immediately.

"Are you alright ? Walter asked, expressing his concern .

"I am fine , something got stuck in my throat ,what about you ,are you okay?"She asked, caressing Walter's hair in a bid to assure him that everything would be alright.

"Yes I am fine ,but my sister , she's dying , please help me get her out of here ,I will be just fine . You both need to leave ." Walter said but the little girl shook her head .

"No I can't leave you here ,what if something bad happens ,my big Father won't be happy with me,I mean Father Jesus . Don't worry my small father will be here soon ,he will save us all ," the little girl said and gave Walter a reassuring hug .

He kept wondering why she was trying to encourage him and not crawl into a corner and cry ,it's what children her age do , why was she so different.

"Please I am begging you ,try to leave already ,if you stay here we will all die." Walter tried to talk some sense into her but she blatantly refused .

"Don't ….. she paused and coughed choking on whatever she wanted to tell him .

The painful truth was ,just like him and his sister , she was slowly dying too , and if she didn't leave that moment she would die too .

"Listen to me , forget about me and my sister ,save yourself , leave already ," Walter said almost in a pleading tone but the little girl refused.

She had done enough already ,first she saved them from a burning shelf , hurting her hand in the process ,she then took them to the store room where the fire hadn't spread to ,she thought they would be safe there ,but as time passed the smoke from the burning building invaded the room and began suffocating them .Walter was badly injured and couldn't walk on his own , Scarlett was unconscious due to the fear the burning shelf ignited in her , and the little girl was the only one fit to move around.

The door had heated up due to the fire and the handle got melted ,they were all stuck in the room with no escape route except the window, thankfully it had no bars, just a safety net which the little girl had torn down aggressively with her tooth .

"Mr handsome we can't stay here any further ,we have to go now ,but miss beauty has to wake up ," the little girl said and thought for a while , she got up from where she sat covering up her nose , and straining her eyes ,she went in search of something .

She returned back with an old looking bottle which contained a little amount of water .

"What are you going to do with that ? Walter asked, straining his eyes to see what she was holding ,his vision was blurry and he couldn't make out much .

"It's a bottle ,it still has a small quantity of water ,I will use this water to wake your sister up ,my Mom does it all the time ,When I don't want to get up for school ,the little girl explained cheerfully ,not minding the possibility that she might never get the chance to relive such moments again.

"Thank you ! Walter said with utmost gratitude ,he felt like doing more than just that but they had to get out first .

"Don't thank me Mr Handsome ,I just have one request ," she said, kneeling before Walter .

"What is that ? Walter asked curiously ,he was more than ready to do anything for this girl .

"I want you to promise me one thing ,after today we might not meet again until after a very long time ,but when we do meet ,make me your wife Mr handsome . Would you do that for me ?" the little girl asked eagerly waiting for his reply.

Walter was amused by her request , childish yet he felt goosebumps ,what she wanted was quite crazy and when they finally leave this place ,he will compensate her for her act of kindness , but for now he could not break her heart by saying no .

"I promise to make you my wife ,when we meet again , Walter replied and forced a small smile despite his pain .

"Pinky promise ? The little girl asked, not satisfied with just his words .

"I promise ," Walter said and took her tiny pinky in his .

The little girl giggled happily and picked up the bottle she had gone in search of ,she opened it up and splashed it on Scarlett's face . Scarlett woke up immediately and began coughing due to the intensified smoke that invaded the room .

"Walter what's going on?" Scarlett cried out, scared to the bones ,she wasn't happy to realize they were still stuck in the burning building.

"Shhh , don't cry Scarl ,we are going to leave soon ,see that window over there ,it's our only way out okay ,trust me nothing bad will happen to you ," Walter assured his sister who nodded in return.

"Miss beauty , listen to me ,we need to help Mr Handsome get to the window ,then we can all leave this place ,that window will lead us out of here okay ," the little girl said and a sobbing Scarlett nodded with a little bit of hope and relief slowly finding their way into her heart.

Just as planned Scarlett and the little girl helped Walter with their little strength get to the window ,which Walter crawled on to and successfully dropped to the other side .

Fortunately there were ornamental plants aligned by the side of the building , and the window was just above it .

Walter crawled away from the plant and got seen by one of the firefighters who came immediately to get him .

"Sir, my sister and a girl are still stuck in there , please you have to save them ," Walter said desperately, waiting for Scarlett and the girl to jump out .

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his sister climbing out the window. The firefighter rushed to help Scarlett out the window and brought her to Walter ,he hugged her immediately shedding tears of joy ,but his joy was caught short when he didn't find a trace of the little girl.

"Scarlett, where's that girl ,I thought you both were together ," Walter asked, searching around to see if she was out already.

"She was behind me ,she told me to go ,that she had something to pick up , " Scarlett replied, staring at the vacant window.

"Sir , there's a girl left in there , please you have to save her ," Walter called out to the firefighter who nodded and took out his flashlight .

Walking towards the window ,a sudden blast swept the firefighter off the ground . The store room which was the only place that had not been burnt by the fire was now in flames , and sadly the little girl was still in there and this left both siblings in shock.

"No !!! Sir please she's still in there you have to save her ,she can't die ,Walter pleaded with the firefighter ,tears streaming down his face ,that was the first time he cried for someone else , someone he knew absolutely nothing about .

"I am sorry kid ,but it's impossible to survive such a blast ," The firefighter said and called for help .

A few other members of the team arrived and took Walter and Scarlett away ,no one said a word about the little girl who died in the blast , the firefighters did nothing in return .

"It's all my fault , " Walter muttered sadly ,not being able to take his eyes off the flaming building. This planted a seed of guilt in his heart which grew into a tree of fear and repulsion .

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*Knock*

The loud bang of the large mahogany wooden door shielding his office from the eyes of others ,jolted Walter out of his thoughts.

He mentally cursed himself for daydreaming again ,it's been 15 years already ,why it felt like yesterday always left him puzzled.

"Mary ! I said I didn't want to meet with anyone, Walter yelled at the door , his brows creased into a large frown.

"I am sorry sir but…

"Walter open up ,I need to talk to you ," Mr Donald Rodriguez baritone voice boomed at the other end of the door .

Walter groaned inwardly , knowing fully well what his grandfather's visit meant .

He tapped the button on his desk , and the door opened automatically . A man of age 70 walked in an elegant and domineering manner. His Grey hair and beards complements his white skin,his black tuxedo and leather shoes gives him a sophisticated business look . After all he was a Rodriguez , descendant of the most prestigious lineage,From the kindred of Royalty, The wealthiest family ,more like endorsement In all of California .

"What are you doing here , " came Walter's uninterested voice.

"Is it now a crime to visit my Grandson ," Mr Donald said icily, faking the smile plastered on his face,as he took a seat on the vacant chair .

Walter wondered why he was trying his best to smile when he hated it so much , his grandfather loathed the thing called ' smile ' ,he referred to it as an unnecessary punishment.

"Quit smiling ,Walter grumbled in sheer disgust .

Mr Donald's face became hard as rock ,he quit smiling and gave his usual expression which still creeps the people around him including Walter .

"You haven't been home in a week . What have you been trying to avoid ? Me ? Do you think hiding in that crib you call a house will keep you away from me ? Mr Donald asked Walter who kept silent, staring around his office like he was there for the first time.

"I have been busy lately ,I had places to be," Walter said but one glance from his grandfather meant he wasn't buying his story .

"Do you want me to have that piece of shit destroyed for the uptenth time ? …… Speak up Walter , cause I guess you enjoy it when I crush every cottage you build in the middle of a fucking forest right ? Mr Donald chukled his lips not moving at the slightest.

"I got those buildings with my hard earned money ,you can't keep ruining them because you have the power to ," Walter gritted out glaring at his grandfather.

"I also worked hard for my money Walter ,I inherited and still worked hard ,you are in this position because of me ,so what do you have to say about that , " Mr Donald asked in a mocking tone.

"That I never asked you for this position ,you forced me to be here . I have my own profession and I don't need all of this . " Walter stated clenching and unclenching his fist.

" You call that trash a profession . What is it again ? Oh yes Music ,For Goodness sake Walter ,you are a Rodriguez ….A RODRIGUEZ , Mr Donald half yelled .

Walter kept mute , gritting his teeth inwardly ,how much he hated the man seated in his midst right now.

"I thought you loved your Grandmother so much Walter ,why are you finding it so difficult to fulfill her dying wish ," Mr Donald asked, his voice hard as ever yet calmer than how he had spoken earlier.

Walter sighs, staring out the windows ,rather than at his grandfather,it was yet another moment of threats and emotional blackmail.

"I am working towards it ," Walter simply replied his Grandfather.

"For how long Walter ,you are 30 for crying out loud ,how long do I have to wait ,when I get to my death bed right ? That would be the perfect time , won't it ? Mr Donald asked in disbelief.

"Finding someone isn't as easy as it sounds ,I need time ," Walter deadpanned, earning a glare from his grandfather.

"72 hours Walter ,you have 3 days to present your fiance before me or consider The Loyals – the Gonners ," Mr Donald said and for the first time since their meeting started ,fear crept into Walter's eyes.

"Grandpa ! Walter called but Mr Donald shut him up just by raising his hand in the air.

"71 hours ,59 minutes and 10 seçonds ,the countdown has already begun ,see you in 3 days ," Mr Donald said, standing up from where he sat and storming out of Walter's office.

Walter groaned angrily, taking in deep breaths to calm his nerves down ,but it was a big fail.

He was clearly fuming in rage and couldn't control it , everything close to him went flying in the air crashing on the tiled floor , breaking into pieces and turning his magnificent office into a disaster.

Mary heard the commotion and rushed into Walter's office in a bid to apologize for her mistake.

"Sir…

"You are fired ! Walter wasted no second to declare it.

"B–But sir ….

"Get the Fuck out now ,Walter yelled at the top of his voice which felt like the building had gone into a brief earthquake.

Mary scurried out in fear almost immediately ,tears messing her once pretty makeup.