Chapter Five

Sally turned with a scowling face to the crowd. She was about to speak when Calhoun touched her shoulder.

"Allow me to handle it, Mother." He said. Sally's mood brightened immediately. Calhoun had called her mother. That meant he had accepted her. She smiled at him and nodded.

The banquet finally ended and everyone began to disperse into smaller groups of friends and families. Some had left while some remained to congratulate the couple and their families. 

Thomas had been dissed by his mother and she left him together with Florencia. Thomas was mad and his anger was directed at Maryanne. He turned and found her standing a few feet away from him, right in front of the swimming pool. He smiled wickedly. She seemed to be sad. He walked stealthily over to her and before the girl could turn, he pushed her into the pool. 

The girl screamed, splashing around the water, trying to keep herself above the water. Thomas was satisfied, he turned and started running away, only to bump into Maryanne. Thomas froze on the spot, his gaze was at her hand which was held firmly by Calhoun's. Slowly, his eyes trailed Calhoun's arm up to meet his face and Calhoun wasn't smiling at all. 

"Maryanne?" He asked in surprise. "If you're here then..." He turned back to find the pool empty. He shivered instantly. What was going on? He saw Maryanne and he pushed her into the pool, how come was she here with Calhoun, staring at him in the eye?

"What? Are you surprised? You expected it to be me who you pushed into the pool?" Maryanne asked boldly. Thomas chuckled wryly.

"Of course not. How would I have pushed you into the pool when I know you cannot swim?"

"C'mon, living with you for two years is enough to know you so well."

Maryanne scoffed. "Living with you?"

"Yes," Thomas said, smiling. He inched closer to her, totally ignoring Calhoun.

"Hm. If you can tell me what my favorite color is, I will believe that indeed I lived with you." Maryanne said.

Thomas scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Your favorite color is yellow."

Calhoun chuckled darkly. "Yellow? It's obvious Thomas. I was going to question your intellect but now I would just question your sight."

Thomas stared at her dress. It wasn't the one she was putting on previously. So that was why he mistook her for the girl he had pushed into the pool. He could also see his folly.

Now she was putting on a short white dress that had golden rims and tiny gold chains dangling around the shoulder, across the chest to the other shoulder, and across the back to the other shoulder. Thomas's eyes lingered on her chest and Calhoun became angry. The anger rose so aggressively in him and before he could think of his actions, he had delivered a punch to Thomas's face. The punch was so hard that Thomas fell to the ground.

Maryanne turned to stare at Calhoun in surprise.

"Why did you do that?" She demanded.

"What? Was I supposed to allow him to stare at you so lustfully? You should have seen his star-"

"He was only staring, he wasn't touching me." Maryanne defended. "Don't go about hitting people anyhow." She warned.

Calhoun was about to refute but he watched her crouch down to tend to Thomas's bruised cheek. He felt even angrier but the heartache was more than the anger. 

"Are you okay?" Maryanne asked Thomas softly. No matter how much she hated him for how he treated her, she still had a soft spot for him. She could feel Calhoun's anger in the aura that emanated from him and she didn't care one bit. Calhoun stormed off.

"You know, he will be very mad at you." Thomas tested. He wanted to see how close Maryanne and Calhoun were. The proposal was too sudden for even him.

"You should come with me." He said. "I will treat you right this time."

Maryanne stared at him. She searched his eyes and all she could see was the mask of honesty and guilt which was perhaps for treating her badly. She was about to be swayed when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Maryanne!" Came Sally's restrained voice. Maryanne jolted in mild fright and fear. She knew that voice and when her mother used that voice meant she had annoyed her. Slowly, she stood up and turned to face her.

"Get away from him this instant!" Sally ordered. Maryanne took two steps toward her mother. Calhoun was standing beside her mother, smirking in victory.

"You called my mom? You dared to report me to my mother?" Maryanne yelled.

"You shut up," Sally ordered. "What the hell do you think you're doing, playing love with that bastard?!"

"Don't call him a bastard," Maryanne said.

"I'm not a bastard," Thomas said. They turned to glance at each other.

"You dare to defend him too?" Sally questioned. "Since you dared to defile your fiance, shall you also dare to defile me? Your mother?"

Maryanne kept her gaze low. She knew better than to defile her mother. Soft as she was, her anger was the exact opposite. Her anger was like the brash firing from an enraged dragon, abruptly woken up from a deep slumber.

"I'm talking to you, Maryanne!" Sally clamored.

Michael and Donald came right at that moment. Seeing Thomas there, Michael could already feel himself getting angry.

"What's he doing here?" He demanded.

"Oh ask Maryanne! She defiled her fiance for the sake of this bastard, and even had the guts to tell me not to call him a bastard." Sally reported.

Michael turned to his sister, his eyes held the betrayal he felt.

"Anne?" He called softly. "is it true?"

Maryanne couldn't look him in the eye. She had promised him that she didn't feel anything for Thomas but it was all because she never expected him to show up before her anytime soon. 

"Look at me!" He growled and Maryanne glanced at him very quickly.

"Now listen and listen good, Maryanne. You are engaged to Calhoun Maximus. If you dare to make any slip, I will personally ensure that you are disgracefully sent away from this family."

"You know me, I don't make threats. I make promises."

"Also, from tomorrow, you will pack your things and relocate to the guardian pack house. You are now one of them."

"Until you have fully accepted your fate, you shall remain there. Even if it's as a prisoner."

"Brother! You can't do that to me!" Maryanne cried out.

"You should have thought about what I could do before defending that asshole! The sake fucking asshole who hurt you?" Michael yelled in her face. "Get out of here. Get home and go to bed now. I don't want to see you until morning."

Maryanne stared into Michael's eyes and she saw a rage she had never seen before.

Had she hurt her family again? Was there any escaping from this? If there was, how could she escape? Under Calhoun's watchful gaze, she slowly walked back to the garage where her car was parked. Calhoun followed her and drove her back home in silence.

"Maryanne I'm-"

"I don't want to hear anything from you! This is all you wanted right? Well, get ready to live with a prisoner because I will never love you, ever!" She yelled and slammed the car door, matching angrily into her house. Calhoun sat there, feeling a mixture of pain, anger, and guilt. Had he ruined all his chances of making his mate love him?