Amour au prix du sang

ANGELA

“I will get married to the man I am in love with, Dad!” I protested loudly as I sat opposite my father that evening at the dinner table.

Mom was caught between the fight that we had been having for over two weeks now, but I could tell that even through her silence, she agreed with my father. She was doing nothing in my defence, and it hurt to even think about it.

“Angela,” Dad’s nostrils flared as he glared at me. “You are my child, and my child can not get married to someone like Ethan Ambrose. He has not made a name for himself in anyway, and neither have his parents.”

“Is that what all of this is really about – who has the reputation and who doesn’t? Do you not care what I think or feel at all? You keep saying I’m your daughter, but you never act like it.”

Dad took a deep breath, reining his anger in and glaring at me. He turned to look at Mom, but all she did in response was dig through her plate in silence and eat like there was nothing going on around her.

“Angela, you will not get married to Ethan Ambrose “ His tone was final, as if he expected me to go down without a fight and accept it with a disappointed sigh.

I couldn’t. He didn’t understand just how much I was in love with Ethan. He didn’t know how long I had pined for Ethan right from the hallways of high school, sneaking glances at him, until we graduated and were fated to meet again.

“He already proposed to me.” I showed him the ring on my finger that I had been showing him for the past two weeks. “I said yes. You either come for the wedding, or you don’t.”

I had given my own condition, but my father didn’t look ready to accept them.

“Very well then,” he said. “Go along with the wedding with someone else to walk you down the aisle, because I will not be doing it.”

I looked at Mom, expecting her to say something to that, but she only stared at me in silence. The words she said as soon as she opened her mouth broke my heart all over again.

“Aren’t you tired of fighting?” she asked me. “Give it up, Angela. You’re twenty-two; you will always find a better man. Give him back the ring and tell him you’re no longer interested.”

“I can’t believe this.” I stood up, shaking my head. “I can’t believe you two!”

“I am getting married to Ethan Ambrose,” I announced, walking away from the dining room.

“And remember, Angela, the day that you do…” I stopped to hear what my father was going to say. “…you will cease to be my daughter.”

I turned around with my brows raised, trying to figure out how serious he was being about it. He was staring back at me as if silently answering my equally silent question.

I’m being serious.

I walked out of the dining room and out of the house, taking my phone out of my back pocket and dialing Ethan’s number as anger flooded my chest.

“Angela? How are you doing—”

“I want us to get married tomorrow morning,” I blurted before he could even finish his question about how I was doing.

“Whoa, whoa.” The surprise was evident in his voice. I could hear shuffling noises in the background. “I need you to take deep breaths and walk me through this, okay?”

I did as he said, taking deep breaths but still feeling something hard sitting in my chest.

“I had a fight with my Dad again. He keeps saying he doesn’t want me to get married to you, and it’s pissing me off, Ethan. I just think that if we do it, he’ll understand how serious we are about each other, and he’ll finally come to terms with it.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Angela? I mean, I would get married to you tonight, if that’s what you want, but isn’t that going to make your father even angrier?”

“I highly doubt it. He might be angry now, but I’m sure he still wants what’s best for me. If we get married tomorrow and I tell him about it, maybe we can finally have his blessing. Your parents can be at the wedding since they don’t have a problem with it. We could have a bigger one when my dad finally approves it. What do you think?”

There was silence on the other end, and I held my breath as my fiancé contemplated.

“Let’s get married tomorrow morning, Angela.”

~

I didn’t sleep at home that night. I had driven all the way to Ethan’s family house, where I slept in the guest room of the house and prepared for the wedding with Ethan the next morning.

The sun rose soon, and I was in the guest room with Natalia, Ethan’s mom, getting me ready for the wedding. She had given me a white sundress to make up for the dress.

“You know, as soon as Ethan told us last night that there would be a wedding today, we had to contact all of the available churches,” she told me, placing a kiss on my hair after brushing it straight and helping me stand up so that I could now face her. “You look stunning.”

“Thanks,” I replied with a smile as I realized that I couldn’t have asked for a better mother-in-law than Natalia.

She took me by the hand and led me out of the guest room to the living room, where Ethan and Reuben, his dad, were waiting for us.

From where I was, I could already see the stars in Ethan’s eyes, and my smile transformed into a blush as we finally met in the middle of the living room.

“Absolutely beautiful,” he commented.

“And you’re completely handsome,” I replied.

We soon got into the car and headed for a small chapel that was willing to take us and get us married. Throughout the procession, I was nothing short of excited as I stared at Ethan, who was also staring back at me with a smile.

I had no regrets.

Our vows were short – as we didn’t have enough time to prepare them – but heartfelt.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the officiator said when we had both claimed that we were ready to be married.

Ethan and I kissed to seal it as his parents clapped.

“I’m so proud and happy for you two,” Natalia said, pulling us both in a hug.

His parents gave us their blessing, and I decided to do the one thing I had been looking forward to the whole morning.

My dad picked up on the third ring, not letting me speak before raising his voice.

“You have not been picking up any of our calls since last night! Do you know just how worried we have been? Your mother has been hounding on me for the longest time—”

“Dad, I’m married! I just got married to Ethan!” I announced with a smile on my face as tears stung my eyes in pride.

“Angela!” Dad’s voice boomed angrily. “Get back home this instant! In fact, tell me where you are and I’ll have you picked up immediately! Do not do anything stupid…”

He suddenly stopped screaming, and just when I wanted to ask him what was wrong, I heard my mother screaming in the background, calling out to my father.

“Hector! Hector, open your eyes! Hector!”