Precious Little Flower

The sun made its way to the sky, sending warmth upon the earth. Vera was woken by the sound of the birds and was dumbstruck at the sight she saw. It seems like she was not the only one awake. Ivan seemed to be awake for long with a lit cigarette in his hand as he stood facing the floor-to-ceiling window.

"You're awake," he puffed smoke from his mouth and through his nostrils. He was shirtless and his belt was loosen around his waist.

"What..... What did you do to me?" Vera questioned as she quickly wrapped the blanket over her body aghast.

"What did I do to you?" Ivan laughed nonchalantly as though he had just heard a joke. He smashed the cigarette to ashes before walking to her. She quickly tightened her grip on the blanket and he unconsciously smirked by her actions. He stared into her eyes for a while before leaning towards her for a kiss but was pushed away by her.

"What's wrong? Is this not what you wanted? Why are you pushing me away?" He asked as he caressed her cheeks.

"Stop it, please. She pushed his hand off her. You have already ruin my life, what else do you still want?" Tears flowed down her cheeks like water in a waterfall as the words left her mouth but Ivan just kept staring at her indifferently.

"Here, sign it." He lit a cigarette and puffed out smoke as he threw the document to her face.

"What...... What is this?"

"A marriage contract!"

"What?"

"I do not have all day to spend with you as I have much more important things to attend to, so don't waste my time any further and sign over there," he gestured, using his fingers to show her the blank space with a subscript 'signature' beneath it.

"I'm not signing it," she contradicted as she threw the document to the other side of the bed.

"How dare you!" He held her shoulders tightly which made Vera daunted by his deadly glare.

"What do you take me for? Do you think I am a fool? You were the one who offered yourself to me last night and now I want to take responsibility for what I have done, you are refusing?" He questioned her with authority in his tone as he pushed her forcibly.

"Ah," she winced out of pain when she hit her head on the edge of the bed.

"I.... I do not agree to marry you. No matter...."

"Are you trying to ruin my reputation?" Vera was interrupted by Ivan's direct question. He glared at her angrily and if glares could kill, then Vera might have been dead by the glare Ivan is giving to her.

"Ruin your reputation? What a joke!" Vera contradicted. "I don't care who or whatever you are but all I know is that you are the one who have ruined my reputation," Vera yelled at him, not minding his dreadful glare.

'Huff,' he puffed out smoke as the temperature in the room fell low and there was a brief silent which filled the room.

"Whatever happened last night was all because of you. You came to me and freely offered yourself without me forcing you. So, why are you now blaming me for your own mess?" Ivan said candidly and his tone was soft and comforting as though he was comforting a baby whose candy was taken away from him.

"Here," he placed a pen besides her. "Take the pen besides you and sign the contract right now. As long as you do it, I promise to bear responsibility for my actions and take good care of you." Ivan said as he lit another stick of cigarette.

Not minding her appearance, Vera stood up and quickly dressed in front of him.

"Take responsibility?" She questioned rhetorically. "You may have ruined me but I will never let you ruin my future. No matter what happened between us last night, I think you should keep your kind offer to yourself because I will never in my life agree to marry a pervert like you." She said nonchalantly as she stamped the marriage contract to his face and left the room immediately without giving him a chance to respond, leaving him completely stunned.

____________________

As soon as Vera left the Emperor's Golden Hotel, she booked a cab back to the apartment she lives in but was stopped halfway by her father's men who he instructed to search for her. It seems like they were finally able to track her location. An hour later and Vera was brought back to the Carter's Mansion by her father's men.

Bang! Vera was welcomed by a hard and loud slap as soon as she stepped into the parlour by her mom.

"Mom, I......"

"Shut up! So, you have finally realized that you have a mother right," Mrs. Carter questioned mockingly.

"No mom, I...."

"You...." She raised her hand to hit Vera again but was stopped midway in the air by Mr. Carter.

"Who gave you the right to raise your hand to her?" Mr. Carter asked.

"Me? No, no. I was only welcoming our Vera back. Come in dear," she put on a fake smile as she led Vera to the center of the parlour where her dad was sitting on the single armed sofa with his leg crossed together.

"For this time being, Vera will have to be treated as fragile as an egg to avoid any scares. Who knows, her in-laws may refuse to accept her even if they notice a single scratch on her," he said indifferently not minding what had happened.

"Dad," Vera knelt in front of him. "I don't want to marry him."

"Why don't you want to marry him?" His tone was calm but no one was unaware of the anger lying beneath that calm tone.

"I.... I don't love him dad, please." She begged with tears streaming down her cheeks hoping to gain favour from her dad but it was vanity as it had no effect on Mr. Carter.

"Think twice before you talk young lady. If you refuse to marry Ivan then you may as well consider yourself dead to this family." He replied coldly as the words fell off smoothly from his mouth but was like a sharp edged sword piercing directly into Vera's already broken heart.

'Did her family really not love her? Do they just see her as a ladder they can use to climb the social cycle?' Vera felt her heart beating as the speed of light with tears flowing down heavily through her cheeks.

"Our family has taken care of you from infancy and for all these years. We even sent you to school and allowed you to complete all your educational degree and now it is your turn to repay us, are you really going to refuse?" Mrs. Carter questioned Vera.

Without giving her a chance to reply, Mr. Carter ordered that Vera should be locked in her room and shouldn't be allowed to step out for any reason until her in-laws come to fetch her tomorrow but she should be given both food and water in order to avoid her starving or dehydrated. Just as ordered, Vera was forcibly taken to her room. And as soon as the maid had given her food and water, she was locked up by one of her father's men just as he instructed them.

"Please dad, please let me out of here." Vera kept banging the door hoping for some response but all she received was a mocking from one of the maid.

"Did you really think you were clever young lady? It was you who chose to run away after the master's order and brought this upon yourself. So could you please stop banging the door so hard, it is really giving me a headache," she said rudely.

Vera did not reply but instead hugged her head and cry. The maid was right. If she did not trust her intuition and ran away, then none of this would have happened. But, how could she marry him? She did not even know who her father want to marry her off to less alone seeing his picture.

In the shadow of Vera's thought, the incident of last light began as a spark in her mind before spreading and filling her mind clearly.

'It was a cold and serene night with the wind blowing in harmony with the waves of the sea. Vera had gone to a bar which was only a meter away from the Emperor's Golden Hotel. She was restless about her arranged marriage and decided to drink that night away in order to clear her mind but never did she know that, she will end of being a used flower that night.

She ordered for alcohol which she used five minutes to drink two full bottles alone. As she was about taking the third bottle, she noticed a group of thugs staring at her. Fear and thoughts clouded her mind, hugging her tightly in an instant. In order to avoid their dirty plan, she skillfully left the bar and ran to the hotel for refuge but surprisingly the thugs followed her every movement. She hurriedly book a room in the hotel and was given room 106 to stay. In disguise, the thugs also entered into the hotel room to ask for her. As soon as she noticed the thugs she ran hurriedly but got into the wrong room, room 109 as the effect of the alcohol started to affect her.

The room was brightly lit with chandeliers sparkling as the stars in the center of the room. Ivan had just come out from the bathroom after grabbing a shower and was startled. He had wrapped a towel around his waist with his upper body undress, displaying perfectly his masculinity. As soon as he stepped out, the drunk Vera had locked the door from within and made her way into his hands.

"Who are you?" He asked curiously as he stared at her. She was dress in a flowered gown and her hair was packed in a ponytail style. She had a creamelel skin which blended beautifully with her set of black eyes. Without words, Ivan had fallen deeply as he stared into her eyes.

"I...." She started laughing while using her hands to draw an o around his face.

When Ivan realized that she was drunk he decided to call the manager to send someone to come pick her from his room but before he could grab his phone, a soft and tender lip was pressed against him leaving him dumbstruck. Her actions were too fast which made him unable to react at the moment but after some minutes, he found himself reacting to the kiss passionately.

"Where do you think you want to go?" Vera asked drunkenly after they had ended the kiss.

"You are drunk and you shouldn't be here. I will call someone to come pick you up," Ivan replied.

"No! I.... I want to stay with you tonight. I.... I don't want to go anyway," she contradicted.

"You can not stay here, you....." He was interrupted sharply as Vera once more, pressed her cherry lips unto his. Filled with the flames of passion and desire, Ivan decided not to waste a single moment. He reached out and hugged her whole body into his arms, kissing her tenderly, passionately and affectionately. Instantly, the night became youthful and the stars silently hugged the room leaving the waves of the sea on a stand still with the wind blowing melodiously a soft and tender note.'

"No!!!!" Vera threw the vase besides her at the wall which broke into pieces in an instant. "No!!!" She couldn't believe herself. In order to avoid her arranged marriage, she had ran away from her house earlier but ended up leaving her virginity in the hands of a man she never knew. What would happen if her parents were to ever find out? They would probably kill her. She thought to herself as tears kept flowing like waterfall down her cheeks. She had always wanted her husband to be the only one she made love with but less did she know that, last night would have a turning point and a long lasting impact on her life forever.