room was dim

Inhaling and exhaling, I try to calm my nerves down. I sit on the bed, still all dressed in a white gown that is pinning needles into my skin. The relief, however, is that there aren't any eyes preying on me; I am all alone.

I take a look around myself. The room was dim lighted with soft comfy yellow lighting throwing shadows on the off-white walls. The curtains were drawn together keeping the dark view of the night away from the room. The wall in front of me was wooden, with a large flat screen in the middle. The bed was soft under my palms. I had never lain on such a soft bed ever since I was small. For any girl, it would seem like a dream come true, sitting in a room like that of a five-star hotel. But for me, it's nothing less than a nightmare.

Any minute now, he will walk in. The knowledge of him, the killer of probably thousands, in the same room as me keeps pushing me over the edge. I don't want to be near him. never mind share a bed with him.

Now that I know he was the reason my Dad died and my Mom suffered all these years, I'm not sure how I will react when I see his face up close again. I cannot kill him right away. Griswald had warned me about it. At the start of the marriage everyone will be at high alert. Especially the Confederacy, as he had put it. I suppose it was some kind of governing organization for the mafia? But it has nothing to do with me. All I need to worry about for now is how to lay low and not attract any attention to myself till I figure out how to kill Carlos de Monroy without being dragged further into this crime world.

Speaking of which, now that I'm a little less of a wreck, I'm starting to get a feeling he might have been forced into this marriage too. He didn't seem interested at all earlier at the altar. He left as soon as the marriage contract was signed, and I haven't seen him since.

I stare at the door again, wondering if he is going to come or not. The servants who had earlier left me here had told me to be prepared. So I do think he is going to come. But I'm not prepared at all. A shuddering shiver goes down my body as I think of the kiss earlier. I do not want to kiss him. I do not want to. let him touch me.

I shake my head. I have to get a grip. I am not going to be able to hide forever. If I am to work out a way to kill him smoothly and successfully, I have to interact with him. It's good for me if he comes here on his own. Is it not?

Maybe. maybe if the fates align, I'll be able to get his help? If I just told him my mother's life was at stake, he might just help me get my Mom and brother out of Griswald's hold?

I let out a sigh. Wishful thinking. That is all it is.

After waiting for so long, I decide to take a look outside. Reaching for the door, I pause for a moment taking a gulp. Then I grab and twist the doorknob.

The hallway outside the second-floor room is empty. The shining marble floor reflects the lights hung from the ceiling of the mansion. I double-check the hallway for people passing by as I do not wish to bump into the people here after I saw the looks on their faces earlier at the wedding.

I walk a little down the hallway, and then stop when I hear some voices.

With hushed steps, I go close to the metal railings, slightly hiding my body with the pillar that stood tall. I take a look from behind it, noticing that there are some men standing downstairs in the middle of the hall of the mansion.

I press my back flat against the column, hoping not to be noticed as I realize that a man is being held by two men, apparently after having been beaten up.

The man with his hands in the pockets of his pants stands tall, dominates them all. He signals something with his hand.

The men toss the captive forward and he falls face down on the ground.

He is quick to scramble on his knees as he desperately crawls to the man, his hands grasping the polished leather shoes of his. He looks up and I get a clear view of his discoloured busted up face.

"Elvish, elvish, please forgive me, he trembles as he speaks. "I know I committed a grave sin, but I did so much for you. Please have mercy on me, please!"

His face remains as calm and indifferent as I had remembered from the altar, seemingly unfazed by the anguished frantic pleadings of the man who begged at his feet.

He leans his upper body forward, the coat of his suit crumpling slightly at the movement as he crouched down to his level. "I hate betrayers the most," he speaks in a smooth voice.

But something about that sentence has made the man at his feet sense something ominous as he starts to shake like a leaf more than he was earlier.

"No, no," the man begs, shaking his head. "You can't do this to me. Please!"

Elvish presses the barrel of a pistol to the middle of the man's forehead.

Another man standing in the group steps forward: "I think we shouldn't kill him right away. Carios. We should at least wait to get the families informed, and proceed on the Commission's decision.

There oppears a slight change in the atmosphere as the silence spreads over. looks up and sigha. "Maybe you're night, Elvish says as he stands up you live then Rodrigo" He sits back comfortably His head is love. Then he and walks to the couch "Let's let

The man sits up on the floor, his busted face lighting up at the hope.

Elvish hums to himself as though a thought crosses his mind. His eyes scan over the shining metallic body of the gun. "Can I I tell you something that is continues without even getting an. going on in my head right now?" answer from the man. "Til tell he muses, and you how this world works. There are predators, there are preys, and then there are those who s*ck on the predators and preys to obtain what they need. The world loathes the third category. Do you know which one you belong to?" he asks him calmly

But the man does not answer, and yet the smile of hope on his face doesn't fade either.

"See in this world, Rodrigo, there's no place for people like you. As you'll always be a parasite leeching off of others, Elvish says.

The man's face drops its smile

Elvish raises the pistol in the air and

My eyes squeeze shut at the loud bang sound. A ringing echoes through my ear. With a slow exhale I it was the sound of a realize i gunshot.

I snap my eyes open and am immediately startled at the ghastly sight in front of me

Blood splashed over the side of his face, his clothes, and his polished shoes. His piercing red eyes unwavering and unblinking. The body of the man lay on the white floor with red blood pooling around his head. A hole at the centre of his head and his lifeless eyes wide open like a ghost.

I press a hand over my mouth. My body slides down against the pillar. A gets muffled by my hands as I watch the scene whimper leaves my lips which

"Cut his arms off and throw the body to the wild animals," the man I married says. His face shadowed. It was dark, so dark it scared me. Making me want to run. Away from him as far as I can.

My whole body shivers. But somehow I shuffle on my knees and crawl a few feet away, then I lift myself up and run as fast as I can to the room I came out of

Shutting the door behind me, I stand against it for a should do I what should do I what should I Ido "Cops, I need d to call the cops. As soon as moment catching my uneven breaths. "What Jask to the empty room with a trembling voice. the idea strikes me I make my way to the nightstand where a phone was sitting. I had just picked it up when I remembered that probably I shouldn't use it. After taking my phone from me, Griswald had given me this to a phone. Though still, this phone had no arn pretty sure would only be avoid any suspicion that why I don't possess contact numbers other than my picked up by Mom and brother's. Which I Griswald's men. And even if I manage to call the cops through this phone, Griswald will know right away that I was the one who called them.

And will the cops even do something about it? I tremble when I think of the sight I saw earlier. Even though I knew it earlier by words only, it finally settles inside me.

I am now. a criminal's wife. The person I am married to owns the mafia. He kills people.

And a person in trouble if n who owns the mafia would have no the people here found out I tried to do need to be scared of cops. If anything, I'd be the one something against them

I drop down on the bed. All hope leaving my heart, as it turns into being only a hollow shell

No no I refuse to accept my reality as I scoot back on the bed on my hands and shrink myself as small as f—could, bringing my knees to o my chest which heaves up and down with my heavy and hollow breaths. I clench the white dress on my knees in hope that my sweaty hands would stop shaking, but they don't. My mouth feels dry, and my head feels like tiny black dots were pricking inside my mind. I rock back and forth on the bed. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

My body immediately pauses and tenses up as I hear the doorknob turm. He enters, and shuts the door behind him I flinch

His suit is still splashed with blood, more than it was at the altar. His face, too, has some blood remains on it, seemingly after a failed attempt at wiping it off with a tissue. Elvish opens the cabinet, taking something and goes straight to the bathroom. Not looking at me once.

I gulp and steel myself against the cold fear. I have to do something.

Getting out of the bed, I look around myself, my eyes scanning the room—anything will work, I think in desperation, anything just to keep myself safe through this night.

My hands still tremble as I search the drawers in haste to find anything. He could be back any second.

Then my hands stop as my eyes suddenly spot something The bracelete hanging from my wrist. It stars are sharp enough to buy me some time if something happens and I would need the door clicks open. to run Just th

I am sitting on the trying to bed with the sharp edge of the bracelete digging into my palms behind my back, feel the sain more to suppress the thought of what could happen next.

I keep my face under reserve and in control, trying to appear as tranquil as possible.

I see him, now clad in some comfortable clothes. He walks toward the bed and I involuntarily flinch up. His eyes lift to me. He noticed.

"If you're worried about fulfilling your duties as my wife, no need to overthink," he says. His voice cool and aloof. "Let me make it clear to you. I don't love you, I never will. I will not touch you. So it'd be better if you don't try being in my proximity either."

I sit on the bed unmoving as I heard him. I watch as he walks to the other side of the bed and goes to sleep.

The night goes forward, darker now outside. But I sit still, like an icy statue on this bed, while he sleeps on the other side.

A while later, I get off the bed and go to the bathroom. I lock myself in. My trembling hand withdrawing from the doorknob as I breathe shakily.

I drop down to the floor.

I close in my knees to my chest, feeling scared.

Be strong, my daughter.

My Mom's voice echoes.

"Mom." I let out a breath as I look up, my head against the door as I try to blink away the fresh tears that were starting to form.

What do we do when we're scared? Her voice reminds me.

"Hm-hm hm." I start to hum the melody I've heard since forever. Her lullaby always made me calm down. So I start to hum it as though trying to feel that she is here, right beside me.

But the song makes the tears flow out more.

My hand went to my chest as it pained. Choking sobs escaped me. I muffled my face in the white net of my wedding dress and wept. As silent as I could be.