Edwardo sat in his living room with Mr. & Mrs. Marcus who has come to see him regarding his marriage with their older daughter Jane. He cheerfully sat with them in his living room and asked one of his domestic staff to get them some refreshments.
Mr. Marcus cleared his throat and Edwardo looked at him eagerly waiting to hear what he would say and if there were any new arrangements to be made regarding the wedding coming up the next week.
"Mr. Edwardo," He called and he looked at him.
"We have come so far in this and I know you are eagerly waiting to be married to Jane, your chosen bride but I'm sorry to say that…" he paused which left Edwardo in suspense.
"What's up again?" Edwardo asked himself and eagerly looked at Mr. Marcus with anticipation.
He cannot afford to lose Jane who has made his heart stir after so many years… He thought he would never love again but it all changed when he set his eyes on her.
"Ummm!" Mr. Marcus moaned before a sad look crept up his face.
"Stop leaving me in suspense, is there anything wrong?" Edwardo asked when he couldn't wait anymore.
"Yes… unfortunately, Jane has eloped with her lover and the only choice you have left is Camilla," Mr. Marcus barely announced, not looking at Edwardo's face.
That instant, anger clouded up Edwardo and he said aloud in rage.
"Never! It's either Jane or my money!" He announced.
*
Mr. and Mrs. Marcus got home as usual and met the living room empty without Camila's presence. They looked around and noticed she was done with the cleaning but still not satisfied with what Mrs. Marcus yelled.
"Camilla."
That instant, a petite messy looking girl in sweatpants came running out of her room.
Immediately she saw the looks on her parent's faces, she became scared and felt like going back to her room but she knows she wouldn't dare do it if she still wants to keep living under the same roof with them.
"Why are you inside your room? Are you done with the house chores?" Mrs. Marcus asked Camilla in rage and Camilla flinched.
Even at Twenty, she was still very much scared of her parents, especially her ruthless stepmother who never allowed a chance of dealing with her slip off her fingers. Sometimes she does ask herself what she had done to her stepmother.
"I'm almost done with the chores, I only went to take some aspirin to subside my aching head," Camilla replied with fear, knowing she has worsened the situation.
Mrs. Marcus hissed and stood up which made Camilla move some meters back, she knew what would come next and wanted to avoid it even though she knew she wouldn't be able to do so.
"Aspirin for your aching head, you idiot," Mrs. Marcus said and dived at her but Camilla moved away and she crashed on the center table. The gravity of her fall pushed the things on the center table down and one of their precious jugs which were on the center table broke into pieces.
Camilla wanted to scream but stopped herself from doing so by placing her hands on her mouth while looking at the broken jug with wide eyes.
Mr. Marcus glared at her and helped his wife up from the ground. Camilla's eyes started burning instantly and hot tears came rushing down her face, she knelt before them.
"I'm so sorry Mom, I never intended this would happen," Camilla explained, more drops of tears now visible on her face.
Mrs. Marcus sighed out loud in disgust as she tried to bear the pains she was feeling in her right arm.
"You would pay for this unfortunate child… I regret having you take you in as my daughter," Mrs. Marcus spat while her husband massaged her aching arm.
"Go and make dinner, abandon whatever you are doing… you would complete it later," Mrs. Marcus said and Camilla quickly nodded. She picked up the mop stick and bucket around and went inside the kitchen.
She dropped it at a corner and rushed to the refrigerator to bring out a pack of frozen beef. She was going to make Rice and some meatballs for dinner.
That was one of her parents' favorites, and she knew they would want to eat it tonight.
Camilla brought out the beef from the pack and diced it into tiny bits.
"Camilla," she heard her name again and she became nervous, wondering what she had done this time. She quickly wiped her hands on a clean rag and rushed into the living room to meet her parents.
They were now watching the television together with her father still massaging her stepmother's arm. Mrs. Marcus looked up at Camilla and noticed she was looking very messy and tired. There were visible eye bags under her eyelid but she cared less about it.
"Go purchase some pizza for me down the road," Mrs. Marcus said and brought out a credit card.
"But Mom, I'm making dinner_"
"Shut up," Mrs. Marcus thundered, cutting her off.
"It's a privilege you are still under our roof, I wish you were the one that eloped so we would have peace, miserable bitch… Don't keep me waiting, go buy the pizza so you would continue cooking dinner," Mrs. Marcus concluded and threw the credit card at her feet and pushed it a little bit away with her toes so she would be able to get her hands on Camilla when she comes to pick it.
Camilla came forward and picked it up from the floor. She turned to head into her room but Mrs. Marcus stopped her.
"Where do you think you are going to go?" She asked and sat up with disgust evident on her face.
"I want to go change, I'm looking all messed up," Camilla said and that instant a resounding slap landed on her cheek which pushed her to the wall. She fell weak and started breathing heavily as her head started spinning.
"Now leave this instant, I don't want to wait for the pizzas, and don't you dare board a cab with my money," Mrs. Marcus who was now on her feet yelled.
Camilla crawled up on her feet and cleaned the tears which were now running down her cheeks. She didn't know why she was passing through all this but she hoped it would end soon.
She weakly walked to the main road and started trekking to the pizza shop which was some kilometers away. She was smelly due to the work she has been engaged in since morning and had never got to rest a bit.
She cleaned more tears that came rushing down her face and tried to be as cheerful as she could.
When she got to the pizza shop, she walked in without care, everyone working there was now used to her messy looks because she always appears that way whenever she comes to buy pizza.
"Hey, Camilla!" John, one of the waiters in the pizza shop called. She smiled weakly at him and walked to the counter.
She demanded a pack of pizza, paid, and started rushing out of the pizza shop in a hurry to go back home early.
Her stomach started reverberating and aching which made her clutch it tight, she remembered she hasn't eaten anything since last night because she burnt a turkey and sighed. She didn't want to cry anymore and continued assuring herself that she has to be strong enough and continue bearing everything until she can save some money to move out.
Lost in the world of her depressing thoughts, Camilla didn't know when she bumped into someone and the pack of pizzas fell and scattered beyond arrangements.
She looked at the damaged pack of pizza lying on the floor with a horror-filled face and looked up at the person she bumped into, the person happens to be a very good-looking young woman who now has a displeased look on her face.
"Watch where you are going, you flirt," she cursed out loud and started walking away.
Camilla slumped on the floor, shivering with fear as she knew what awaits her at home if she cares to go home empty-handed or with damaged pizzas. She stood up and tried putting the slices of pizza back together but it never took its proper shape.
She slumped to the ground again and closed her eyes, wondering why she was always unfortunate in everything.
"Camilla!" Someone called softly and she looked up, it was John from the pizza shop. He handed her another pack of pizzas and she instantly felt relieved. She murmured 'thank you before hurrying off, wishing to get home on time.
She got closer to home and stood beside the main road to cross, the traffic was much which left her panicking as time was no longer on her side.
Luckily, the traffic reduced after some minutes and she found a little chance to cross. She rushed into the road without properly checking if there was any oncoming vehicle.
Unfortunately, a car at high speed was heading in her direction when the driver of the call saw her, he held the brake but it was already too late.
