Chapter 3

I couldn't stop the memories from pouring back, and now all I wanted to do was run away and not turn back. I couldn't, not because I was scared; but because I couldn't run away from my father no matter how much I tried. 

No, he isn't my father. He's Oliver, an alcoholic. 

I had gotten used to calling him by his name, it would be difficult if things were to change for the better. "What are you... doing here?" I ask in a hushed voice, confusion swallowing up my sanity whole.

 He lifts his head to look up at me, and I flinch watching him stagger to his feet. "What do you mean by that? This is my house!" He suddenly yells, swinging the empty bottle of alcohol carelessly in the air causing me to take a cautious step back.

"Your house?" I quietly ask, anger slowly rising within me like boiling lava ready to erupt. "You're never home!" I finally yell, not holding back anymore. Let him do the worst for all I cared, I wanted to speak my mind and I will.

 "This very house you call your own, is still standing because of my hard work. What have you earned, huh? All you do is drink liquor and blame me for mom's death, you could have saved her you know!" I yell, tears streaming down my cheeks. 

Who the hell gave him the right to behave like this was his loss alone. I lost my mother at a young age, she was killed in front of me.. and I couldn't do anything about it. 

He suddenly slaps me across the face, the pain pulling me out of my thoughts.

 I clench my fists and watch him stagger a few steps back. "It was all your fault, how dare you blame me?!" he yells and my lips quiver as I struggle to maintain my composure.

 "You're still alive because you live under my roof, how could you forget that?" He yells, and my fists turn white while I clench them in anger. 

"You have no choice, but to do what I ask of you." he says, turning his back to me before tossing the empty bottle of alcohol to the ground. 

I gasp as I watch the glass break apart, I shield my eyes just in time against a flying shard of glass. It cuts my hand but it isn't deep though.

"What do you mean by that? You lost the right as my father, so what makes you think I'll listen to you now?" I ask, through gritted teeth ignoring the pain on my right hand.

 He turns to me with red eyes, then suddenly he harshly grabs my hair and I scream. "You have to, I didn't collect so much money just for you to be stubborn." he whispers into my ear. 

What money was he talking about? 

He finally lets go of my hair, harshly pushing me aside. I hit my forehead against a pillar by accident. I turn to him with anger and pain in my eyes, but he is as emotionless as ever.

"You're getting married in two days time, and you better not mess it up." He warns, staggering towards the entrance to the house. 

"To who?" I dare ask, fear nearly crippling me. He looks over his shoulder at me before he finally answers. "Arnold Knot." and my mind goes blank after that.

---

Marriage... 

How did this happen? I still have a lot of dreams to achieve, I can't ruin my life now by marrying that man. 

He is one of the well known fugitives who still roams freely in Helium, because he has the government in his hands. He is forty years of age, which makes him twenty years older than I currently am. 

I couldn't help but worry about this, even during my work shift. How could my very own biological father do this to me? Yet again, how could I forget he doesn't see me as his daughter but as a menace. 

During lunch break, I sit calmly at the back of a cafeteria  completely lost in my thoughts. The sound of rushing steps brings me back to reality, long enough to realize who it was. 

A soft feminine hand grasped mine and my eyes followed the movement, "who did this to you, River?" I hear Eva ask me while she scanned my bandaged hand. 

My face is as blank as usual, so she couldn't read my thoughts nor my emotions. The bottled up emotions were slowly killing me, suffocating me. 

With a worried look, she gives me a hug. "Poor thing," she said, rubbing my back. I couldn't hold them back anymore, they were already streaming down my face before I could help it. Eva didn't seem to mind, she continued comforting me.

Once I had calmed down, she got lemonade for us both. She watches me take a sip of the lemonade before she carefully questions me. I tell her everything, feeling much lighter after speaking out. 

Her concern for me only grows, but morphs into anger when I tell her what my dad had planned to do two days from now.

"How ruthless can he be?" she asks, eyes worriedly scanning the bruise on my forehead. "Is he that desperate to get rid of you?" She asks angrily, nearly slamming her fists against the table. 

I'm quiet for a while, everything slowly seeping into me. "I knew things were bad; but I didn't expect things to get to this point." I rasp softly, and Eva tenses at the quietness of my voice. 

"River.." I cut her off, "I thought I could possibly endure this, but this is the limit." I say, clenching my fists and she flinches at the graveness in my words. 

"What do you plan to do now? Will you marry that criminal?" she asks me expectantly.

I inhale deeply, "no." I say simply, she goes silent. "I've made up my mind, I'll run away Eva." She gasps loudly.