Chapter 7

LAVENDER’S POV

I was very much enraged at this revelation. My best friend wanted to sleep with me without my consent, and she was trying to apologize. If that man had not saved me, would he have stopped? Caleb would have had his way with me, and he would expect me to be happy about it.

He would want me to accept it just like that. I knew it was evil of me to think he should have gotten more than he had gotten. I folded my fist as I slammed the door shut behind me, shutting my eyes briefly so as to push the tears back to where they were threatening to come from.

He did not deserve my tears. He was the monster that brought this upon himself and not me. I should not give him my sympathy or even bother to care about him. He was nothing to me now. As I stood there for a couple of seconds trying to calm myself, I noticed everyone's confused gaze at me.

Mum was about to ask, but I just walked off, leaving all of them confused with my anger. I hit the button on the elevator hard, in anger, and stepped in. I wanted to leave this place as fast as possible. If I stayed longer than this, who knows what I would do?

I drove my hand into my hair, adjusting my hair a little. My headache was back, and this time it was ten times worse. I was angry with Mum. She knew what had happened. Certainly, that man must have brought me home, but she refused to tell me about it.

She scolded me when she knew my best friend wanted to use me for his own pleasure without my consent. The thought alone made me more upset. Why would she keep something as important as that from me? How long did she plan to keep it to herself?

The elevator dinged, and the doors parted. Immediately, I stepped out and walked out of the building to the parking lot. I stopped by the car, seething while waiting for Mum to arrive. Without a doubt, I knew she was following me, but even after all of this, why then did she not tell me?

There is no way she did not know about this. I did not have to wait long as she arrived. Without a word, I got into the passenger seat and strapped my seatbelt in. I could feel her staring at me, but I looked away without caring. She got in and tried to speak, but it seemed she had second thoughts about it as she closed her mouth the next minute.

The ride home was filled with silence. We both had something to say, but we held ourselves back. I, for one, had so much to say to her. She knew what Caleb did, and she allowed me to care that he was not okay. She allowed me to rush over to the hospital to look at his face after what he planned to do to me.

And she never even told me a man brought me home. I was still trying to formulate for what reason she would hide something as important as that from me. Was she not informed? I doubt it, I told myself immediately. There's no way she did not know.

Once we got home, I flung the door open and marched into the house. “You need to stop doing that,” I heard her say while rushing into the empty house.

As usual, Dad was not home at this time of the day. I spun around and looked at Mum in disbelief. “Why didn't you tell me?” I finally asked the question that has been bothering me since the moment I was told about it.

She tried to speak, but I spoke, “And don't try to lie to me or hide the truth or distort it either. I want to know why I was brought home by some strange man and you did not even bother to tell me about him. Instead, you scold me and blame me when I had no idea of what happened.”

I was barely able to keep my emotions in check. Mum sighed once I was done then took a seat. “I’m sorry for scolding you. It was not your fault,” she said.

I took a seat, waiting for her to continue. “That’s not all I want to hear, Mum,” I snapped at her once it was evident she did not want to go on.

“Lavender, you are betrothed to someone,” she finally said, dropping a huge bomb on me.

I smiled, thinking she was joking. Betrothed? What does she mean? “I didn't ask that you lie to me to distract me from the main—”

“The man that saved you, you are meant to get married to him,” she interrupted.

I paused, staring at her, waiting and searching for that laughter or some kind of hint that would prove she was lying to me. Minutes passed and it was still the same, causing me to stand up. “I am not,” I firmly said.

“There’s nothing you or we can do about it,” she said.

“What do you mean, Mum? So he saved me once and you sold me to him? As what? Am I not important to you? Why do that?”

“It was not yesterday the agreement was made,” she paused. “This agreement was made before you were born,” Mum spoke softly then stood up. “You have to understand that we cannot fight him. He is good for you. No harm will come to you so long as he is by your side.”

“No matter what you tell me, it's not going to change my mind on what I would do,” I told her.

“What will you do?”

“Not get married to a strange man!” I threw the words at her.

“You must!”

“I will not. I am not a child. I know what I want and what I want is to not get married to a man just because he saved me from being raped by my best friend.”

“Your father has already consented.”

“And you think that will make me oblige and get married to a strange man? Think again, Mum.”

“You will speak to me with respect,” she snapped.

“And you will not tell me I am getting married to someone I just met yesterday.”

“That’s how it is. You cannot choose not to accept it.”

“I will choose, Mum, and no one will force me.”

I was not going to allow her or that man to walk over me just because he saved me from Caleb. Just because he did not mean I have to be bound to him for the rest of my life. It was not as though I was not appreciative, I just did not see that way as the best way for me to say I was grateful to him.

If he was such a gentleman anyway, why would he want to impose himself on me? And why could Mum not stand up for me? And dad? I was their only child and they were about to sell me off to some unknown man. What if he wanted to do worse to me?

What if he wanted to hurt me? This is too much. “I cannot accept this marriage, you know that right? I need to know who I am getting married to, talk to him, love him before I think of getting married and not because he saved me.”

“I know child,” She walked over to me then took my hand on hers, covering it with her other. “There are certain things we cannot fight. You two are good for each other. I know you will. He will take care of you, I promise you.”

“And you are saying all this because how many times have you met him?” I asked her.

She opened her mouth, but she stopped without a word leaving her mouth. This action made me really upset. She was holding something back from me. I don't know what but it was really messing with my head. I hated feeling this way. In anger, I took back my hand from her.

“I will not get married to him, and that's final,” I strictly told her before turning around, rushing up the stairs, getting into my room, and slamming the door shut.

A tear escaped my eyes the moment I was in the room. I held the doorknob, my back to the door. The feeling of helplessness washed over me, and it was taking a toll on my body.

“No,” I muttered to myself as I let go of the doorknob, wiping the tears off my eyes.

I was not going to cry. No one was going to force, and certainly, I was not going to get married to that man. He cannot force me, can he?