Withered Yet Freed

"Dad, about the arranged marriage... I need to think about it for a while."

Sarah Paterson clutched her pregnancy test results, her voice heavy.

Her father's dissatisfied tone came through the phone, "What's there to think about? Has that good-for-nothing boyfriend of yours sweet-talked you again?"

"If you don't want the arranged marriage, fine. Bring him to Sunday dinner this week so we can meet him. Good or bad, you should at least let us know who he is. It's been three years—he's been stringing you along, never meeting your parents, never mentioning marriage. What kind of relationship is that?"

Sarah responded quietly to her father's words. "I'll ask him."

Her father grunted, "Decide quickly. If he really can't find time to meet us, take him to Uncle Richard’s house. I'll have Richard and Nelson check him out. They've been looking after you all these years in the Brookshire. If they think he's decent and you truly love him, I won't stand in your way."

Sarah paused, unsure what to say.

After a moment, she replied, "Uncle Richard would probably approve."

After all, the man was his own son, Nelson Jackson.

As she finished speaking, the bedroom door opened. Sarah instinctively hung up the phone.

She looked up and met Nelson's eyes.

Nelson raised an eyebrow, his handsome face breaking into a smile. "What would my dad approve of?"

As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around Sarah, his warm breath against her skin making her curl into his embrace.

"About us being together," Sarah replied, watching anxiously for his reaction.

Nelson continued kissing her, his voice husky. "You were talking to your dad again just now?"

Sarah nodded.

His large hand gripped her waist. "Did you tell him about us?"

Sarah lowered her eyes. "Didn't you want to keep it private?"

"Silly, of course I want everyone to know. But our families are old friends. Your dad spoils you, while mine is strict. If they found out I swept you off your feet when you'd barely come of age, they'd probably tie me up and beat me."

Sarah stopped his wandering hand and cautiously asked, "So if I were pregnant now, would you come home with me to meet our parents?"

Nelson looked surprised. "Are you pregnant? Weren't we always using protection? How could you suddenly be pregnant?"

Seeing his reaction, Sarah felt a twinge in her heart. She avoided his approaching lips and said, "No, I was just asking hypothetically."

Hearing this, Nelson tightened his grip around her waist, laid her on the bed, and took out a white pill.

Sarah knew it was birth control.

He stroked her hair gently and said, "Be good. Now isn't the time for us to have children. Take this. I'm going to shower—wait for me."

Watching his back as he entered the bathroom, Sarah looked at the pill in her hand and tossed it into the trash can.

Once again, she hadn't gotten an answer from him.

He wouldn't marry her, it seemed, even if she had his child.

Perhaps, from beginning to end, she was just a tool for his bedroom needs.

Sarah first met Nelson five years ago at the Paterson family dinner. He had come with Uncle Richard to attend the event.

At eighteen, Sarah had fallen for Nelson almost at first sight, captivated by his rugged handsomeness and striking good looks.

Later, to see Nelson more often, she defied her parents' objections and moved to Brookshire, a thousand miles from home, to attend college.

Since her father and Uncle Richard were friends, and worried about Sarah living alone in Brookshire, her father specifically asked Uncle Richard to help look after her.

Uncle Richard then assigned this responsibility to Nelson.

Originally, they had little connection—Sarah was busy with school, and Nelson was immersed in his relationships. They were merely acquaintances who occasionally exchanged greetings.

Then, on Sarah's twentieth birthday, Richard asked Nelson to deliver her birthday gift. At Sarah's birthday party, Nelson somehow got extremely drunk.

Unable to contact Nelson's girlfriend, Sarah had no choice but to take him back to his apartment herself.

She should have left after dropping him off.

But unexpectedly, the intoxicated Nelson grabbed her and wouldn't let go.

By the time Sarah realized what was happening, Nelson had pinned her to the bed and taken her without restraint.

The next morning when Sarah woke up, Nelson stared at her with his dark eyes and said, "Stay with me from now on, be my woman?"

Sarah had interpreted his "stay with me" as dating, and inexplicably nodded in agreement.

Later, she learned that Nelson had been drinking that night because his girlfriend was leaving the country. He had used Sarah to vent his emotions.

Initially, Sarah had trouble accepting this, but afterward, Nelson treated her well—he was attentive, caring, and accommodating to her needs.

The years since had passed peacefully enough.

But now, with her graduation approaching, her father was pressuring her to return home for an arranged marriage, which she had refused.

She had considered telling her father about her relationship with Nelson, but whenever she asked Nelson about going public, he would change the subject.

Now, having just confirmed her pregnancy, she had wanted to test his intentions, but he seemed to have skillfully avoided the topic again.