Sacrifice

 "Good morning my lady".Lisa handmaid Eve tapped slightly trying to wake her up. "My lady, Mr Adams has requested your presence".

"What is it Eve?" Lisa tried opening her eyes but she was still very sleepy " Go away,I want to sleep ". She tried going back to sleep until her father's voice jolted her out of her sweet dreams. She could hear her Dad calling her name down the hall and though she didn't want to go, she had no choice but to answer him. She walked down the stairs only to see him very happy. Her Dad was smiling at her, she never saw him smile and now it scared her. She was still trying to grasp what happened when she saw the other man in the room. Lucian.

 He was nothing like they described, he was sitting so peacefully she almost thought he was an angel and not the devil. His features were so beautiful and he exuded so much power that she immediately felt small in his presence. He was young, he couldn't have been over 30,she wondered how he had so many achievements and how he was so feared in the mafia at his young age.

" When I summon you young woman, I expect you in my presence, do you hear me? Her Dad spoke calmly and she was out of her daydream.

"Yes sir, I hear you"

"Your wedding dress will be here tomorrow for fittings and I expect nothing but your full cooperation. Do not make a scene". His voice sounded so final it made her sick.

"I'll make sure to pick the ugliest dress I see" .

She was about walking out of the living room when she heard him speak " babygirl, you should at least say hello to me".

 His voice irked her, how was she his babygirl, what gave him the right to call her pet names. "I'm not your babygirl" she said .

" You are, or should I say you will be? It's just 5days to our wedding you shouldn't be like this babygirl".

 He had a smirk on his face and it made her mad " what's so funny?.." She was cut short by her Dad.

 "You will address your husband with respect, do you hear me?"

Lisa scoffed. "Husband? Dad how is he my husband? How many times do I have to say I'm not marrying him?".

"You will marry him Lisa, you will". 

 " Once again Dad, I will not marry him",Lisa gave Lucian one angry look and walked out of the living room into the compound. Mr Adams tried following her into the compound when he heard Lucian's voice 

"Let her be Christian". Lucian was smiling gently " You know she doesn't have to marry me if she doesn't want to".

"No Lucian,we can do good businesses together in the future, this marriage will cement our business relationship and she has to go along with it"

"If you say so, I don't involve myself in family matters, she's beautiful and a bit feisty,that's all I need from a woman. If you're offering, who am I to decline ".

 ********

 The garden was the one place Lisa felt true peace because her Dad would never come into the garden. He was allergic to flowers and she made sure to plant them and groom them,they were her little shields against the man she that only hurt her whenever she was in his presence. The weather was just perfect for her flowers and it made her happy to know something about her life was beautiful. Today she was going to spend as much time as she could in her garden, she had to say goodbye to her flowers, she would live in the scent and let butterflies flutter around her all day because today might just be the last day, the wedding was in 5 days and Matthew had promised the escape would be the next morning.

 She had parked a few things, just enough to live on for a few days. Clothes, a toothbrush, hairbrush and the little cash she had, she was going to get food later in the night when everyone was asleep. The plan was solid, one of the kitchen guys in charge of restocking groceries owed Matthew and he was going to help sneak her into the restock cart and then into the truck, Matthew had promised to be on the other side waiting for her. They had agreed to use a code word for the escape. He was going to send her a text saying " I miss you" and when she got the text she would go into the kitchen storage to meet his guy. He refused to tell her the time because he didn't want her to get caught, all she knew was that she would be out of the house before morning the next day.

 Seeing Lucian today just made her want to escape by all means, he looked at her the way her Dad did but even worse, he looked at her like a piece of meat. Yes he was handsome but from his expression alone, she knew marrying him would be her biggest mistake. There was no way she would grow to love someone like him his arrogance was appalling, now he didn't just scare her, she felt pure disgust towards him.

It was getting late and it was chilly outside,she went in to go over everything once again just as she entered the room,her mom followed her in.

"Sweetheart how are you? How are you holding up? I heard Lucian came home today."Mrs Adams asked with worry and pity in her eyes.

" I'm fine Mom, he did".

"Baby I know you're not, and I'm sorry".

"Stop apologizing Mom, it's not your fault" Lisa sighed.

"I want to go to bed, good night Mom ". Mrs Adams knew Lisa was literally chasing her away, and that broke her heart even more. Her bubbly beautiful daughter was gone, and she wasn't sure if she wouldever come back.

 **********

It was finally morning, the day she would get her freedom. Lisa checked everything again and again and she was set to go, all that was left was the go ahead from Matthew.Her maid Eve, came to remind her the fittings were hours away and she faked preparing for it. She prayed over and over again to God that this day would be perfect. In her 22 years of life, she had never prayed this much,she was so scared because she knew if anything went wrong her Dad would make sure they regretted it for a very long time.

Hours went by and there was no text from Matthew, she waited and waited but still no text. Matthew always kept to time,he hated lateness and there was no way he would be late to an escape,of all things. It was already 5pm and she was very worried, kitchen restock always started by 4pm and ended by 6pm. She tried calling Matthew but his number wasn't available,her feelings were all over the place. Something was definitely wrong. She was on her way downstairs to check how far the restock had gone in the kitchen when she met her Mom sobbing quietly.

"What's wrong Mom? What did Dad do to you?". Mrs Adams held Lisa's hands and continued crying quietly.

Lisa was confused "tell me what the problem is,you can't continue crying, you are queen of the Adam's cartel, no one can see you cry". Lisa was overwhelmed with worry,she had never seen her mother cry,her Mom was a very strong woman. Just as she was about to ask again,she heard the worst words she had heard In her life.

"Matthew has been kidnapped".

"Nooooo, kidnapped by who? When? Where? Tears were forming in Lisa's eyes, she couldn't lose her brother,her only friend in the whole wide world.

"We don't know who did it, we just got a text saying they had him,we tried tracing the line but it can't be traced. Your Dad is out there searching for him ".

"Tell me you're joking Mom, Matthew can't just be kidnapped, that's like an insult to his name. It's not possible". Lisa was devastated, just how was she going to cope without a friend. In their world, a kidnap was just the same as death and it was even worse because with the war going on, whoever kidnapped her brother was most likely going to ask for something almost impossible. She picked her phone and tried calling her Dad. She knew he wasn't going to pick up but still called because he was the only one who could do anything to find Matthew.

"Lisa!!! You see what you've done? Your brother is gone and that's your fault" Mr Adams barged into the living room furiously.

" All you had to do was marry Lucian, we can't protect ourselves right now, but the Benjamin's are more than able to do that, yet you refused to do the one thing that could be done to help. Happy now? Are you happy now?".

" Dad there has to be something you can do, please find Matthew" Lisa begged in tears.

"Of course I'll find my son, but if anything happens to him before then. It's all on you. I really want to see how you can live a happy life with that".

" It's not my job to protect the family Dad, it's yours. Don't put that burden on me".

" Listen to this ingrate talk. You owe me your life, I gave you life and I've kept you alive all these years,the least you could do is be useful"

" Stop it Christian, it's not her fault".

Lisa's Mom tried calming her husband and daughter, " we'll get through this together not apart,so stop it both of you".