Unmarried.

"Will you marry me?" Liam said as he knelt down on one knee and held the ring.

Olivia stared at him in shock, she didn't expect this to happen. She had promised herself after the trauma in her childhood that she won't get married and now this happened. She should have thought of it that a two years relationship would definitely result in marriage.

Her childhood was supposed to be lovely but it was filled with conflict and sorrow. She would never forgive her parents that made her childhood a nightmare. It all started when her parents had a little argument, her father left for work thinking the issue would resolve by the time he gets back from work. He came back the next night and went to bed.

As he lay down to sleep her mother poured acid on his face. Olivia still remembered those memories, they were like a fresh wound in her head. Everything happened before her, she didn't know if she should scream or cry. She watched as her father groaned in pain, his two eyes were gone.

Her mother stood close to him watching him. If looks could kill, her father would've been cremated and his ashes would be thrown into the river. Olivia was afraid, she stood behind the door watching the scene. She never thought her mother could be this heartless to harm her father. This wasn't the first time she experience their fights but today was so scary to watch.

The conflicts between her parents had made her not to focus on her studies. She was always carried away by the thoughts of their fights. She was once a brilliant student but things took a different turn. She faced serious depression and anxiety, she wasn't given the love every child needs from their parents.

A day never passed without both parties fighting and quarreling. She would hug herself and cry all alone at night. Her serious depression caused her a lot as she was just a child. Some time ago when she pleaded with her parents to stop fighting, she became the prey. Her father hit her mistakenly while trying to hit her mother. Her mother dodged the slap and it landed on her.

Whenever she sees other children with their parents she was always sad. Olivia watched her father crawl out of the room to rescue himself. Her mother ran to the kitchen brought a knife and stabbed her father in his back. The man lay on the floor soaked in his blood. Olivia had a serious shock when she saw her father die. When her mother saw her standing, she rushed to her.

"Olivia dear, you didn't see anything right?" Her mother patted her head. She was too shocked to speak. She opened her mouth to speak but words didn't come out. Was this how she was going to live her life miserably?

"If anyone asks you about this tell them you know nothing, okay?" Her mother smiled at her. She walked to her husband and dragged him downstairs, she put him inside the car. She came back and cleaned the blood on the floor. After her mother was done cleaning, she drove off. Olivia stood in the dark, she still hasn't recovered from the shock of her father's death. She hugged herself like she always did and cried throughout the night. She was just seven and too young to experience any of these.

The next week, police came to their house to investigate the sudden loss of her father.

"I want you to tell the police that you know nothing about your father's whereabouts, Okay?" Her mother smiled at her. She walked to the door and opened it for the police to come inside.

"Madam we want to ask you some questions about your husband's whereabouts," the police said. "Do you know where he is?"

"He followed his lover home since last week and since then I haven't seen him," her mother said.

"Do you know where his lover stays?" The police asked.

"No" she shook her head.

"Hmm," the police nodded. "Can we ask your daughter some questions?"

"Yes," she said.

"Little girl, what's your name?" The police asked and she said nothing. Ever since her father died, she learned the habit of acting cold.

"Your father has been missing for one week, do you know where he is?" The police asked. Olivia stared at the man, the memory of last week came inside her head and she had another shock. She wanted to speak but was too afraid. She ran back to her room and hugged herself crying. Her father didn't deserve to die even though she knew nothing about the cause of their quarrel.

"Is she alright?" The police asked.

"She's fine" her mother led the police out of the house and walked to Olivia's room.

"You witch" her mother shoved her to the floor. "I told you to act calm but you ruined everything for me, do you want to lose me too?"

Olivia stood up and walked out of the room.

"The police are suspicious because of you, come here!" Her mother yelled. "I'm going to teach you a lesson"

She hurried to Olivia and hit her head against the wall. She dragged her downstairs and threw her inside a quiet dark room. She tied her arms and legs and poured cold water on her.

"You're going to stay here till everything is over, no food for you," her mother said.

"Help," Olivia said, her voice was already cracked.

"If I hear your voice one more time, I will cut your tongue," her mother said and locked the door.

The next two days, the police came again to ask her questions. They went to the CCTV camera and watched everything. They saw how she beat Olivia and locked her in a room. They hurried to the room and found Olivia lying on the floor. She was very weak, her mother refused to give her food or water. They arrested her mother and took her to the orphanage home.

When Olivia got there, she thought her life would be better. The kids there hated her and called her 'the devil's child'. She wasn't treated like every other child there, the people doesn't feed her well. She became pale and thin. She lived her life in tears and pain until one day when another orphan girl joined the orphanage. Sophia loved Olivia a lot and they became friends.

They were like sisters, they went to school together and did everything. Sophia was like a mother to her, she fought the other kids who bullied Olivia. They had three years gap. Sophia always followed Olivia to visit her mom in the cell.

"You witch! You're the cause of me being in prison. I will never forgive you for ruining my life. Don't ever come to see me here again" her mother said. Since that day, Olivia stopped seeing her mom and lived normally with Sophia. One faithful day, a single young lady came to the orphanage home and adopted both Sophia and Olivia.

The woman treated them well, she made sure they lived the best life. She played the role of a father and mother in their lives. After they finished high school they traveled abroad to further their studies.

After Olivia's graduation, she met Liam. She was hired as a secretary in his company and they slowly fell in love with each other.

Olivia looked around the crowd, he had invited everyone to the engagement. Even her mother and Sophia her sister were present. She didn't want to get married and experience what she went through in her childhood. She loved Liam and hoped to bear children for him but marriage wasn't on her list. She didn't want her children to experience the trauma of her childhood. She stared at Liam who was smiling. If ever she says no the news of them would be all over the internet.

"Yes," Olivia said. "I will marry you"

Liam slowly put the diamond ring on her finger, he stood up and kissed her.

"I'm so happy for you two" Sophia rushed to them. "Congratulations"

"Thank you," Olivia said. Her mother walked to her and hugged her.

"Congratulations," she said. "I'm proud of you"

"Thank you mother," Olivia said.

"Mom let's have a drink over there" Sophia pulled her mom along with her to the canter. Olivia watched as everyone left one after the other till the hotel was empty.

"Can we talk?" Olivia asked.

"Babe we can talk tomorrow" he carried Olivia I'm his arms. "This is the best day of my life. I'm super excited"

"We need to talk," Olivia said.

"About what?" He asked.

"I don't want to get married," she said.