An hour passed, and Marigold's cries became quieter and quieter until finally silence hit the hallway. Beau pressed his ear to the door, no longer hearing Marigold and thought, 'At least she stopped crying, but I can't allow her to continue being miserable like this.' Beau sat on the floor, the back of his head pressing up to the door, and thought, 'I never imagined my father would do something this cruel, this isn't what I wanted… I should've never agreed to allow him to find me a wife to marry, I should've never signed the marriage certificate… The pain and fear she must feel, to be completely stripped from her home, not knowing where she is, but losing everything… I have to fix this now, for her sake…' Beau pulled out his phone calling his father. He put his ear up to the phone, hearing the phone ringing.
BRIIIIIIIIING BRIIIIIIING BRIIIIIIING
Beau's phone rang until it reached Nathaniel's voicemail. Beau hit the floor with his fist and thought, 'PICK UP you've already dragged me into a deep mess. The least you can do is answer.' Beau redialed his father, but his call went to voicemail. Soon, one call became 5, then 5 calls turned into 20, and all going to voicemail. Beau slammed his phone on the ground thinking, 'If I tell her to pack up and leave my father will have her tracked down and brought back or even worse carry through on his threats and nothing I say or do will help her when he has the power to bribe and pay off people.' Beau groaned and thought, 'I have to do something, I should've just kept my mouth closed… Why should she have to go through with something she doesn't want to do all because of me and my father.' He stood up and gripped his phone as tight as he could. He began shaking and thought, 'There has to be a way where she won't get hurt and me standing here looking like an idiot isn't going to help her, I have to get a hold of him now.' He continued to call his father unable to reach him as he left the house through the front door. He held his head down, sighed, and shouted, "Why couldn't he just mind his business?" "Ha-heh-heh-heh," Beau heard the sounds of laughter from a familiar male voice. He glanced over to the left of him to see the man with the black trench coat leaning up against the house, smirking. Beau walked over to him, and the man said, "You are so weak, Beau." Beau said, "What do you want, Trad? I'm not in the mood." Trad chuckled while saying, "Oh, you don't look happy to see me, in fact you don't even sound happy to see me either… Why can't we just be friends and let the past be the past?" Beau said, "I'm not in the mood tonight, Trad. I don't have time for games." Beau turned away, and Trad said, "Oh- well, if you don't want to play games with me, then I'm sure that beauty inside can entertain me." Beau's eyes widened while his veins began popping out of his neck. Beau turned to face Trad and said, "What…" Trad said, "Oh it's just a little joke, don't you know how to take one anymore Beau, besides I already had fun with her this morning." Beau gripped his phone as tight as he could while asking, "What do you mean?" Trad chuckled while answering, "Oh relax, it's not like I hurt her anyways, but she was just so weak and fragile it was all too easy to throw her around a bit. 'Oh let go of me,' she was just so pathetic. I'll never understand why she can't just be happy that she has a better life now. It's not like her father cared about her anyway. I mean to think she gave up everything to help him, and he just sold her for 10 million dollars to do whatever we please, and she dares to act like she has options and opinions. She should just be lucky she ended up with a nice guy like you instead of someone like me. I wouldn't tolerate all this crying she's doing… You should follow my lead and stop being weak, Beau. Hit her one good time and she'll do whatever you say, it's really easy with her but I will say don't hit her too hard you wouldn't want to damage her soft skin and her beautiful face… Man the things I would do to have her as my wife, you truly are a lucky man." Beau glared at Trad with an ice cold stare as he (Beau) cracked his phone screen in his grip. Beau clenched his jaw, dropped his phone on the ground, and said, "You touched my wife?" Trad laughed and said, "What are you going to be the big tough Beau now? Beau, you are nothing more than a coward, afraid of change and afraid to lose the business." Beau said, "You touched my wife," and Trad smiled while saying, "Oh please, she's property that your daddy bought for you because you can't get a woman, pretty boy. She's hardly a wife. She's more of a gift. A beautiful gift to do whatever you please." Beau said, "Are you going to stand there and continue to disrespect my wife?" Trad said, "Beau she's property, but if you want to know, yes, I touched her, and her skin was softer than anything I've ever felt. Man… I wish she was mine, I would know how to put her in her place like a real man does." Beau grabbed Trad by his shirt collar and threw him down to the ground, standing over him. Beau balled up his fists, his jaw completely clenched, and Trad said, "Oh come on Beau, I was just making light-hearted jokes." Beau said, "You put your hands on my wife and then disrespected her like she was nothing, and you think I'm going to let you get away with that? Trad, I will knock your teeth out without hesitation." Trad swallowed his breath, and Beau said, "The difference between you and me Trad is that I don't have to talk a big talk and mess with women to prove that I'm tough. I don't have to talk a big game to scare you into believing I'm tougher than I actually am. I'll just show what I can do without words. You think it makes you a big man to hit on women, try hitting on me, Trad, because I would love to take you on myself." Trad chuckled, saying, "You would love to, but you won't." Beau said, "Oh? Why wouldn't I?" Trad said, "Did you forget that I was hired in by your father as security? How do you think he would feel after hearing you beat me up, him knowing that you don't like me? You'll lose everything, including the company you worked so hard building up." Beau crouched down to Trad's level, grabbed his shirt by the collar, and said while smiling, "You think I care about the company when it comes to my wife? I will rearrange your insides, call my father after, and sign over the company to him without a second thought." Trad pulled Beau's hand away and said, "And then what will happen to Marigold, huh? How will you support your new wife that you care so much about?" Beau said, "We'll manage," and Trad interrupted, saying, "No you'll manage. You think your father won't punish you for what you did to me. He'll have Marigold pay as a way to get back to you and you know what that means… He'll have her thrown in prison for forgery and grand theft and then you'll really have ruined the girl's life. Poor Marigold, all she wanted to do was live her life, and you just won't let her." Beau's eyes widened as he got ready to hit Trad he thought, "As angry as I am right now, he's right, my father will try to make me miserable any way he possibly can even if that means someone innocent suffers. I can't allow Marigold to go through anything else like this. The girl has already lost her freedom… I have to make things right even if that means letting this slide for now.' Beau took a deep breath through his nose, let go of Trad's collar, stood up, and began walking away saying, "You aren't worth my time, Trad." Trad stood up, dusting himself off, saying, "That's right, you did what I thought you were going to do… Walk away like the coward you are and think about how you can't help your precious wife." Beau stopped dead in his tracks and thought, 'Breath, he's trying to get to you but you have to think of Marigold and her future… It's no longer just about you and doing what you want, it's about Marigold and making sure you're doing what's best for her and putting her before yourself.' Trad said, "What kind of man lets another man put their hands on his wife without consequence… a pathetic man, a cowardly man, a man who doesn't know how to protect himself and shouldn't have a wife… Hey maybe you should give me Marigold seeing that I can defend her better than you can, she needs a real man not a wimp." Beau turned around, facing Trad and walked over to him, standing right in front of him. Beau said, "You know what you're right. What kind of man would I be if I didn't protect my wife right, so let me tell you this… If you ever touch my wife again I will break whatever hand you used to touch her with without hesitation." Trad's face turned pale as sweat from fear rolled down his neck. Beau saw him sweat, chuckled, and said, "You see Trad I know the game men like you play, you're weak and only have things to say when someone's back is turned never saying anything to their face because you're scared, truly scared. You can call me weak, cowardly, and even a little boy. I can handle it because I know it's always the smallest dog with the loudest bark. I can handle you constantly talking and running your mouth because I'm focused on what I'm doing, and that's what a man does, stays focused on the future instead of on petty arguments. Everything you say and have said has already shown me what I need to know about you. I already know who you are so I don't have to waste my time on you because I know when it comes down to it you'll just run away, surrendering to anyone you know is stronger than you because you truly are nothing more than a coward. If you want to feel like you've won, like a child go ahead because I don't need to feel like I've won anything, I don't care but what I won't allow and what I won't let slide is you touching or even looking at my wife. You see, regardless of how long I've known her, Marigold is now my wife and I will protect my wife no matter what because I know she can't defend herself against you but I can and I will. So I'll put it to you like this when I say I'll break your teeth if you touch my wife again. I mean it regardless of your threats. I will hurt you without even thinking about it because my wife is worth more to me than anything you can say or do to me. So keep talking and yapping like you normally do, talking about the things you say you'll do to me but remember one of us is all talk and the other is action and you and I both know who is what so I suggest you remember what I say and stay away from Marigold. Don't ever touch her again and don't ever talk about her again. You got that?" Trad's face turned bright red while Beau scoffed while nodding and walked away, picking up his phone on the way to his car.
Beau stopped at his car and went into the driver's side, closing the door behind him. He sighed and thought, 'Why did I just do that? Why did I just say all that? I barely know her, yet the thought of her crying, the thought of her getting hurt makes me insane. The rage I feel right now, I've never felt it for anyone else. Am I… Am I in love with her… No, what am I thinking? I barely know her… Maybe it's because she's so innocent in all this, she didn't deserve anything horrible that she got… I want her only to have the best things in life… But why do I care what she gets… I mean shouldn't the extent of my care just be that I don't want her to get hurt and I don't want her to do something she doesn't want to do… Why does the thought of her not talking to me bother me… Why am I going crazy and willing to lose everything for her… What's… What's wrong with me?' Beau looked at his gas tank, saw it was almost on E, and thought, 'I need to get some gas and clear my head… hopefully reach my father and help Marigold get out of this predicament… But still my heart doesn't want her to go…' Beau drove off leaving The Bax Residency.
While Beau drove off, Marigold heard the sound of his car taking off. She looked out the window to see the gate opening and Beau's car leaving. She thought, 'He's gone… I'm here alone… Now's my chance to escape.'