chapter 2: Day of bride exchange

Young Ariya sat in the living room on the couch, silently watching her father talk with Mr. Stone, a man she had never seen before. The words her father spoke were difficult to hear, but Ariya noticed the serious expression on Mr. Stone 's face and wondered what was going on.

Suddenly, Ariya's father looked up and looked at her. “My daughter, I have excellent news for you,” he said. - “You are about to get married.”

Ariya was shocked and in disbelief.

His father explained that Mr. Stone was the father of Ron Stone , Nancy's fiancé. However, due to the accident, Nancy no longer wanted to get married, Ron needed a wife, so he had proposed to Ariya to become the wife of replacing his sister and marrying Ron.

Ariya was outraged. How could his father be so callous, forcing her to marry a man she didn't know.

She protested and tried to reason with her father, however, he was not open to negotiations, he had already decided everything.

She refused to be "sold" in this way and began to argue with her father.

“Why does Nancy get to choose and not me?” - asks Ariya indignantly.

“Because Nancy is already an adult, now you are a minor, I am responsible for you, so I order you.” - he said in a serious tone, approaching Ariya. - “and if I say that you are going to get married, that's it. Conversation over.”

So Mr. Smith leaves his daughter there, still processing what had been said by her father.

Ariya runs into her room and throws herself on the bed, she starts crying.

“I see you already know your fate.” - said Nancy, ​​entering the room and staring at her sister who was lying on her stomach sobbing.

Go away. - said Ariya without looking at her sister.

Nancy laughs and sits on the bed.

“Accept your fate, dear little sister, you will forever be at the side of an invalid man.” she said, laughing. - “While I travel the world, spend money and buy what I want. You will spend the rest of your life pushing your disabled husband in a wheelchair.”

Ariya could no longer bear to hear her sister's words, she suddenly got up from the bed and slapped her, the impact was so strong that it knocked Nancy off the bed, over her arm.

Mr. Smith appeared in the room and his gaze went straight to Nancy, ​​who was writhing in pain on the floor, holding his arm. He ran to his daughter and helped her up, Nancy was crying saying her arm hurt really bad.

The two directed their contemptuous looks at Ariya, but they didn't say anything, they just left, but Ariya eventually heard Nancy say that she would get revenge.

Ariya knew her sister was capable of anything, so she was a little scared. But now she had bigger problems, this damn marriage.

She had just turned seventeen and was already due to get married, if it wasn't worse, she didn't know her fiancé. Maybe he didn't even know it existed.

Heartbroken by all these thoughts, Ariya continued to cry wondering what would become of her life.

The sun was almost down, Ariya crossed the garden slowly, her feet sliding gently on the stones of the path. She looked around, noticing the flowers lush and the cool breeze blowing on her face. She wondered how she could feel so much sadness in such a nice place. For a moment, Ariya stopped and looked around, admiring the vibrant flowers and tall, majestic trees that surrounded her. It was such a beautiful place, she thought, and yet she felt so trapped there.

It was difficult for Ariya to think about her life without feeling a wave of despair. She was a teenager, but her life was ruled by other people. Her father especially seemed determined to control her in every way.

Ariya sighed as she thought about the problem that troubled her the most. The marriage, in which she was subjected to being a surrogate wife.

She never saw the man in question, but learned that he was a very rich man that her father had chosen for her sister, however, as a result, it would now be hers. Ariya didn't have much say in the matter; her father was very clear that she should marry him.

“It's like I have no choice.” - Ariya muttered, looking up at the sky. I feel so helpless.

Ariya's father always did everything to make her feel powerless, rejected, humiliated. Her mother died in childbirth, and since then, her father has mistreated her, because according to him, she is responsible for the death of Stella, the great love of his life. So since then, Mr. Smith can't stand his daughter anymore, because Ariya is a lot like Stella, and that makes him even angrier with her.

But, as Ariya knew all too well, there was nothing she could do. She just had to accept her fate, and try to make it at least bearable, so that she wouldn't suffer more than she already did.

Ariya had no idea what the future held for her, but for now, she focused on the present. The beauty of the garden and the feeling of the sun on her face helped her feel a little better.

So she stood there for a while, until she saw her father's car stop in front of the house. Ariya sighed tiredly and began to walk towards her house. She knew that the torment would begin, but while she lived there she would have to endure it.

This is why, in the midst of so much misfortune, she saw in this marriage a chance for her to escape this mediocre life she was leading. But also, she was very afraid, afraid of leaving a bad place for a worse one.

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