Lily felt like her world was spinning out of control. She didn't know what to do. If she went with the men, she would be abandoning her mother. But if she refused, she didn't know what they would do. She felt trapped, like there was no way out.
"Please," she said, her voice breaking. "Please, just give me a few minutes to talk to my mother. I need to explain to her what's happening."
The men looked at each other, and then the first one nodded. "Okay," he said. "We'll wait outside while you talk to your mother. But then we're taking you back to Mr. Chris".
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Lily's POV
I can't believe this is happening, I fumed inwardly. All I wanted was to stay by my mother's side, to be there for her as she recovered from her surgery.
But no, here I was, being dragged away from her bedside by a selfish and inconsiderate boyfriend who couldn't understand that my world didn't revolve around him.
I gritted my teeth, feeling the tears of frustration welling up in my eyes.
How could he do this to me? How could he be so blind to my pain and my needs?
And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I spotted a pair of burly, stone-faced men approaching me, their expressions hard and unyielding.
I knew immediately that they were my boyfriend's hired bodyguards, sent to escort me home whether I liked it or not.
"Please, you have to understand," I pleaded with them, tears streaming down my cheeks as I tried to appeal to their sense of humanity. "My mother is sick, and I need to be there for her. Can't you just give me a little more time?"
"I'm sorry but we have our orders," one of them said.
"We are not leaving without you,"
They were like statues, unmoving and unyielding in the face of my emotional plea. I managed to convince them to let me say goodbye to my mother. I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces as I realized just how much control Chris wielded over my life.
He didn't even have the decency to come here himself, I thought bitterly, my despair quickly giving way to a fresh wave of fury.
I waved my mother goodbye as the two men guided me out of the hospital, their grip like iron on my arms, I struggled to understand what could possibly be so urgent that my so called husband would rip me away from my mother's side like this.
Had the deal gone wrong? Had he been threatened in some way? Did I mess up? Or was it simply his insatiable need for control and dominance that had driven him to act in such a callous manner?
Whatever the reason, I knew that this was a line that had been crossed, a bridge that had been burned.
The ride home was a silent, miserable affair, punctuated only by the steady hum of the tires on the asphalt and the low, mechanical sound of the engine.
I sat stiffly in the back seat, my eyes fixed on the dark expanse of road ahead, my mind racing with a thousand different thoughts and emotions.
Chris must have been waiting for us, I realized, as the car pulled up to the front of our lavish estate. I wasn't still used to any of this. I could see his silhouette against the glow of the front porch lights, his arms folded across his chest in a show of impatience.
As the car came to a stop, the two bodyguards turned to look at me, their expressions unreadable in the dim light of the interior.
"Remember, Mr. Chris doesn't like to be kept waiting," the taller one said, his voice a quiet warning. "Make sure you go straight inside."
I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest as I stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the front door, the gravel crunching under my feet with every step.
The anger inside me was like a raging fire, consuming every part of me as I crossed the threshold into the house.
I didn't even wait for him to say anything, I simply turned to face him, my hands clenched into tight fists at my sides.
"How could you do this to me?" I hissed, my voice low and dangerous. "Do you have any idea how much I've missed her, what could have been so important that you couldn't even let me spend few moments with my mother?"
He stood there, his face a mask of cool indifference as he regarded me, his eyes empty of emotion.
"I don't have time for this," he said, his voice cold and detached. He told me that we needed to take some photos together in other to convince the share holders that we've been dating for a long time before we actually got married convince them that this wasn't just some scheme to inherit the family's property.
I felt my blood boil at his response, the realization sinking in that he truly didn't understand the magnitude of what he had done.
I turned back to him, my anger still burning hot in my chest. "What do you mean, photos? We weren't dating, frankly speaking we don't even love each other," I said, my words cutting like a knife.
"I'm sorry...you're forgetting that you signed a contract," he replied, a smug smile spreading across his face. "You signed that contract and now you are under me, which also means I own you. And if we want to convince the shareholders that this marriage is legitimate and not some last-minute scheme, we need to show them that we've been together for a long time."
"You're a monster," I spat, the words dripping with venom.
As I turned to walk away from him, his hand shot out like a snake, snaking around my wrist and yanking me backwards.
I felt a bolt of panic shoot through my body as I stumbled towards him, my eyes widening in fear as I tried to free myself from his grip.
"Don't you dare walk away from me," he growled, his voice low and threatening. "You'll do as I say, or there will be consequences. Do you understand?"
I swallowed hard, my throat dry with fear as I nodded my head, his grip tightening around my wrist like a vise.
I could feel the power dynamic between us shifting as he pulled me closer, his eyes burning into mine with a look of pure, unbridled dominance. He exhaled as soon as he spotted fear in my eyes, his grip loosened,
"Lily I am doing this for the both of us....if you cooperate with me our lives will be way much easier but you're being so unreasonable right now...I'm trying my best here...I just need you to give me one year....just one year of your life and all of this will be over," he said softly as I nodded in response.
"Now, go and change into something suitable for the photoshoot," he said, releasing his grip on my wrist.
I nodded again, my mind reeling as I tried to process what had just happened. How could he be so cold and calculating, so willing to manipulate and control me for his own gain?
As I made my way up the stairs to our room, the weight of his words pressing down on my shoulders like a heavy burden, I tried to make sense of the situation.
I was under him now, which meant he essentially owned me. I had to live by his rules and principles. My life, my decisions, my very existence was now in his hands, and I was powerless to change that all because of some stupid contract.