A vow of hate

FOUR YEARS AGOHAZEL“What would you like to have sir?” I asked the man at the bar, clasping my hands together.He glanced up at the sound of my voice, and inched closer to the bar table separating us. I didn’t fail to notice the subtle confidence in his gait. He took a seat with a quiet assurance. “A Macallan 18 please. Double, Neat.” He finally answered. I felt my body go warm at the sound of his voice. It was deep, and manly and sounded just right. Not a lot of people could pull that off. “Coming right up.” I nodded at him, turning my back to pick up the bottle I had cleaned just the day before. It was our most expensive bottle, and I wasn’t surprised that he was ordering one. He looked rich, the watch on his wrist was all the confirmation I needed. The room was hot, too hot for comfort. And I suspected it had everything to do with the man in front of me. I could swear the room had been freezing cold right before he walked in. The air conditioning was on full blast, but I could st

I didn’t know which was worse; getting kidnapped on my way home from work by three unidentified men and going unconscious, or waking up in this room with a new man staring down at me. I knew he wasn’t one of the men who took me. None of them had been this tall. “Who are you?” I asked in a tiny voice, trying to hide the tremble so I didn’t seem weak. Even though I was practically dying inside.There was no response. He just kept staring at me. And I was starting to panic again. A thousand questions ran through my mind with no one to answer them. What did these men want from me? Was this some kind of mafia operation? A switch went off in my head, and my eyes bulged out of their sockets. Had I been sold off to this man? Was the mafia even real? Just how dangerous could he be? Maybe I could fight him off and get help.“Hello Hazel.” He finally answered.His voice was deep and confident, and it did nothing to help ease the tension in my bones. “How do you know my name? Who are you?” I a

I held the white bouquet with shaky hands and willed myself to breathe. Any moment now, the big doors would open and I’d be walking down the aisle to my husband— a husband I was being forced to marry. I felt tears threatening to spill but I took a deep breath and pushed them back. The last thing I wanted to do was breakdown in front of Christian and everyone. I was being forced to do this, and the least I could do for myself was do it with my pride intact. I took one last look at myself as I heard the orchestra start playing from inside the hall. I was dressed in a strapless designer wedding dress, one that definitely cost thousands of dollars. I had real diamonds on my neck, and a thin veil covered my face and flowed down my back, creating a train. The heels on my feet were painful and uncomfortable but I couldn’t take them off. I would just have to deal with it. The large doors opened in front of me, and I looked up with a soft gasp. I saw the entire hall stand up and face me and I

It was 8 in the morning the following day. Christian and I had spent the night in a hotel suite, not saying a word to each other till he woke me up to tell me to go get ready. Thirty minutes later, we were getting into his private plane to head to our honeymoon.“Why even bother with a honeymoon?” I asked him a few minutes into the flight.He shot me an irritated look. “Getting married was one of the criteria I had to fulfill in order to get the company passed down to me by my grandfather. You met him at the wedding, I’m sure you could tell he’s hawk-eyed. If he gets even the slightest bit suspicious about us, I’ll lose everything.”“Hmm, but our marriage is legal, isn’t it?” “Doesn’t mean we still don’t have some convincing to do.”“Right,” I said, feeling defeated. I turned to the window and stared down at the sight, it was all trees and water down there. I found myself thinking about my mother, I wondered if she was okay. It had been at least two days since I last saw her, she mu

His voice reverberated through the walls of the room, causing the entire space to vibrate.“I… I just…” I stumbled over my words, trying to provide him with an explanation. Before I knew it, his hand clamped down on my shoulder, causing my heart to trip over its own rhythm. The icy bite of his touch mirrored the storm brewing in his eyes and I jumped.“Get out.” His voice was a low growl that caused a tremor to vibrate through my bones. My brain was screaming at me to leave. I had never had someone look at me with such hatred, not even Mark, but I figured he wouldn’t hurt me, and if I wanted answers, I wouldn’t get them by constantly running away from him. One of us needed to speak up, so I stood my ground, glaring back at him.“Why?” I spat. “Tell me why Christian, why won’t you tell me anything?” I asked in frustration.“Get out!” He growled again, his voice slightly higher than before.“No Christian. We’ve been here for a week now and you’ve barely said two words to me. Is this yo