Chapter 1 : It all started

Outside of the cathedral,the sun was shining brightly, people were busy enjoying their weekends with their loved ones. The markets were full of young children and couples, mostly came without any prior permission from their parents, hiding from their parents who were searching for them.

But inside the church was something different.

I was busy enjoying the view without any idea what was waiting for me in the church. Yes, it was my wedding day. Wedding is a very nostalgic term to girls especially like me. I was fond of seeing romantic movies , thinking my life might be like them . But still being in mid 20's I have not a single boyfriend let alone having sex.

'Its my marriage. I wonder what the groom looks like. Who might fall in love at first sight,is it me or him ? ' I giggled silently.

I was wondering nonsense and horny thoughts in my mind while passing the city bridge on my way to cathedral.As I reached the church the familiar sounds of trumpet for some reason felt omnious . The door was opened. I steeped out .

"It's time for the bride to enter "

I was getting goosebumps but as soon as I steeped in, it was nowhere looking like a wedding, but more like a funeral. The groom side was wearing all black and on the bride's side my uncle was sitting all alone. I was getting an omnious aura from the hall. My to be husband , William Macharty stood near the priest. My eyes twichted at his presence.

'Is this person going to be my husband?' .

He was like a male lead Prince standing having broad and muscular structured body with tall and eye catching figure .He had a black shiny hair with dark grey sharp eyes but was wearing a black tuxedo .

' Black? He is wearing black in his wedding. Is he out of his mind ?'

I stood in front of him . He was glaring at me as if he is willing to kill me any second if I did any mistake. I found myself walking on eggshells. I looked towards my sandblind uncle who was smiling happily on his niece's wedding.

"Complete the wedding procedure fast. There is no reason to extent it ." Said by the man standing in front of me.

The hesitated for a moment and told

"So I declare both of you as husband and wife ."

'Wow. He is really mean.'

Rings were placed before us . I extended by hand . He took the ring and slide it on my finger . Then as I was about to put ring on his finger , he grabbed my hand and told " No need for this kind of acts ." He then stormed out of the hall . His ring was lying on the ground.

The guests too moved out of the hall leaving the bride alone except my uncle

"Marie, you will be happy I know. He will definitely love love you one day . He is a bit short tempered but I know you will find happiness like your mother. I know hoped that Tina and your father are watching you from above . " Tears floed from his eyes .

"I will be . Definitely papa."

The reason I call my uncle as papa was not simple . My father was a daily labour who was madly in love with my mother Tina daughter of an HEAD MANAGER of flim industry. As such my grandpa nor my uncle didn't approved such marriage but things change as I came in her belly. But my father lost his life when my mother was pregnant with me for 2months and she lost her life when I was barely 3months old. So my uncle took me in and loved me like his own daughter. He even cast aside all the marriage proposals when he took over the industry.

Basically the industry,it was divided into two, uncle holding the largest share. The other was my father in law. A negotiation was done between them a year ago. They will give their eldest son's hand for marriage and take over the rest of industry leaving 40% fixed amount of their sales in my account. Uncle had done this to secure my future.

********

2 years had already passed since that wedding day. I was staying in one of his luxury apartment build in the middle of the city. It has everything except for my husband Willam . He returns once a week at the breaking of dawn, gets changed without even seeing my face , he rushes out. I used to stay awake for him initially but he even refused . But there were a few people who actually loved me - one was my mother and father in laws and the other was his assistant Mr . Tom Haize. He was his personal assistant as well as my childhood friend.

"Don't worry Marie. I knew him since college and I believe he will eventually understand you. Please Just don't give up."

Every time when William used to say something mean , Tom was the only person I could lean on . My in laws are too busy and I honestly don't like to create a fuss over something silly.

But I know he will never actually love me nor consider me as his wife because he has someone else in his heart- Miss Sara, the model for his company's products. Every one knows about her. Only once I had met her( actually I am forbidden from meeting her).

"Don't try to win William .He is destined to be mine from the beginning. He just disgusts you. And never try to seduce him or try to win over him by carrying his child. He will eventually abort it." It was my first impression on Sara after the wedding day.

In this 2 years he only touched me twice - the second time was a month before , both in extremely drunken state. He then regretted it every morning and gave me a stern warning not to come close to him while he is drunk , neither to leave my room. Yes , we were husband and wife on paper only . But in reality we were nothing more than strangers.

He never bait an eye to my likes or dislikes. Actually he never cared about whther I am alive or not . Once accidentally I glanced at his phone , the wallpaper was him holding Sara on her waist. Honestly, he was my ideal type. If it was romance novel , I might seriously end up rooting for them. But here I am also involved. They were really made for each other . I glanced at my wedding photo which was just lying in the darkest corner of cupboard. No, I am nothing like her .I used to keep drooling about his figure initially but now I know he even hates me to such extent that he kept another women's picture as his wallpaper. Her light brown hair which was neatly tied was flowing over her shoulder. Her dark yellow eyes was just sparkling with the red dress she was wearing. William was wearing a white coat with a black neck.

"He even wore a black tuxedo at his own wedding but see him wearing white now. Anybody will mistake her as his wife ."

Sara was born with silver spoon. Unlike me , who was an orphan, Sara had two loving parents who will go to any extent to give anything for their daughter. She us considered as the most beautiful actress and also was a runner up as Miss Universe. I am nothing, just a plain women with slightly obese figure , with short height and small breast and bigger butts. Though I was not very fat , neither I was slim like her. Sometimes I felt pity for Sara but sometimes I got jealous, as she can spent so much time with the person I love .

*****

Days passed like this. Only person who used to come to my apartment was Tom. One day we were chatting over a cup of tea.

"Marie are you planning to starve to death? You are not eating for 4 days straight. There is no good rather causing a harm to your own body . Marie loose your fist. Blood is already dripping.... Stay strong"

"Tom , what sin did I do in my previous life for getting such treatment.. why? " Tears started overflowing from my eyes. These days I was finding it a bit difficult to hold on my emotions. I don't know the reason but sometimes I felt a rush of emotions leaving out of me. I had never cried in front of Ken , I don't want to show him my ugly side. Only Ken was such a person I could lean on .

"There is no point of crying. Ken has went on a buisness trip for a week. I think it was a clever dicision not to accompany him. Otherwise you might have killed yourself in the meantime. Marie .."

I don't remember anything happened afterwards as I fainted. When I woke up I was lying on the hospital bed.Besides me Tom was sitting., "You need to know how to take care of yourself. But Marie , you are pregnant." He told me in a low pitched voice .

"What I am pregnant? When ... " I unintentionally touched by belly .

'There is a life inside me . Thank you God for such precious gift. I will keep the baby.'

" Are you planning to keep the child?"

"Yes. I will keep the baby. " I suddenly hugged Tom. His face flushed .

" Hmm Marie, I know that you are happy.but do you think William will be? Last time when you told him about having kids, he told he despise having kids. "

My face turned pale. Tom is right, William will never allow having kids or he might force me to abortion. I worst case scenario, he might kill me. A sudden cold wave run through my spine.

"Come with me."

"..ah?"

"I know this is sudden but it is the best way I can think for now".

*****

' It all started a year before. ' Willam thought giving a sigh .

"I can't believe father made such absurd negotiations without even consulting me . He knows that I had no intention of getting married . Marriage is nothing but a piece of trash. I can't even think of sharing my personal space with someone I even don't know. It's really irritating."

" You know, you have yo to bear with her. Is she really that useless. I know how much you love to be alone, you can divorce her anytime after her uncle's death . She is merely a toy for us.." said Ken , younger brother of William also a leading actor of flim industry.

William chuckled and said " Yeah , she is definitely useless . But don't you think Tom has changed? He even refused to accompy me in this trip... What's with this all bastards.. uhhh" ...

" Don't tell me, you know nothing about them Brother... Tom and sister in law both were classmates, and rumours were they were dating each other .. you are really something. I couldn't attend your wedding and funeral of uncle Zen due to this damn exams and you came to see after 3 years. How great of you.. . Oh! By the way I am done with my exams and I am going to return along with you. "

"Fine.."

"And stay away from Sara.." Ken closed the door with a bang .

'They were dating? Uh absurd. '

William closed his eyes and was trying to picture them together.

Tom was known as one of the most eligible bachelor after him . He not only had great looks but was also competent in many fields but he suddenly volunteered to work under him , he wonder why. Whereas Marie was just an average women with less than average looks. Only thing he knew about her was she is a huge fan of romantic flims.

He often heard her singing movie songs in the bathroom. His other friends often referred her as a pillow and made jokes about her height and weight. They often tell him that her weight is the proof of her uncle's wealth. He never either paid attention to those stuffs nor he even try to stop it. As a result various rumours started, the most common was the dating with Sara.

He asked Marie to stay away from Sara only because he knew the true nature of Sara.

He then glanced at the wedding photo of him wearing a black tuxedo and Marie smiling brightly in her wedding dress.

'Yeah, she is a pillow indeed but she looks more like a shihtzu'. He smiled. He still remember the first day they slept together. He was drunkend and couldn't control his emotions.

Next day he thought she might hate him but she didn't show any emotions at all .

'Was I that bad?..' he rushed away from the room.

The second time was also the same.

'Yeah she was soft. ' he chuckled.

*****

It was really a long day for William. Though he came to his home but was staring at his phone constantly.

"Come home today. I need to talk to you."

Marie had messaged him .There was no politeness rather it was like an order . It was not the first time that she had messaged her , but earlier she used to beg him to return home.. but he never returns only to find her sleeping on the couch waiting for him.

'Tsk, what's with her? Why she keep on nagging even knowing hiw busy I am .'

Not only that she either message or call him only to say Good morning or Good night.

'What a waste of time.'

He opened the door . Marie was sitting on the chair almost dozing off. He sat at the sofa in front of her , and stared at her.

"You called me to come and now you are dozing off . Do you think my time has no value ?"

"Hmm .. oh sorry I felt asleep. Yeah I know that your time has more value than mine. But you know my time is precious for me. So I am keeping this short, answer me ,What I am to you?..."

Unknowingly tears dropped from my eyes.

'Did you ever thought me as your wife?'

"What nonsense have you started spouting out now. You are my wife legally in paper . And I really think you need some kind of serious treatment, calling me for such trivial stuff. Just shame on you..."

"Since I am your wife in paper only , then divorce me. You can live your life as you please."

Though William had told me such cruel words earlier too but still in the corner of my heart I wanted to belief he actually cared about me even an ounce of bit.

"I can't . I can't divorce you right now even if I want to. You are a hostage actually. If I divorce you , we will be at loss , especially Ken's future, he wants to settle here now. The major flim industry is under uncle's name . Just wait for your uncle to die. Until then ..."

"Enough.."

I slammed the table with the magazine and told..

"Enough of it. I am not a doll that you can play with and just throw away when it becomes useless."

Though I had heard it countless number of times, I always endured everything silently . If it was a normal time I might still stay quiet, but I can't. I felt a rush of emotions stirring up on me . I can't control it. The early stages of pregnancy had started to show its effects. I suddenly started to feel nauseous and rushed back to my room.

William was sitting there all alone. He can't believe what he just saw and heard . Marie whom he always knew as a timid women suddenly rushed at him, which he had never imagined in his life.

He walked steadily to his room but stopped before Marie's room. He could hear some mild moaning sounds. But still he carelessly passed the room thinking Marie might be throwing a fit. He had seen a small bruises on her forehead,

' Results of her tantrums ...huh ... Nice'

He slammed his door and flopped on the couch thinking about the incidents happened earlier.

"Tsk what a dangerous women , calling her husband in this midnight. This might be some kind of scheme she learned from the movies . I better not fall in her traps."

'but why brought up divorce so suddenly.... Yeah it is true they had some small quarrels before , but none of the parties brought about divorce. Because it will be a loss especially for us. Oh how long I had to bear with it ...'

'I guess I know the reason, she clearly knew that this is the only rope binding this false marriage. She thought I might get weak over something silly. I will be the most happiest person to get this divorce, atleast I could get away from her everyday naggings and nonsense texts . I fell ashame to call her my wife ...."

*****

Marie rushed to the bathroom and started vomiting. She then sat on the floor. He lower abdomen was paining unbearably.

' Doctor had told me stay calm . I can't let go of my baby . ' She took some heavy deep breaths. , but suddenly saw a shadow outside the door. A minute later it moved away and a large bang 9f closing the door was heard .

' What did I expect, Marie you fool...'

She picked up the phone lying on the floor and dialed a number.

"Is your offer still valid ? If so I accept.."

*****

Days passed like nothing has happened after that day . William find it strange that Marie became so quiet. She was not creating a fuss about anything at all, neither she came to see him off to work.

William know that he should feel happy about it but instead his heart was aching.

"Uhhh.."

"Anything wrong Sir ?? " Tom asked.

William looked at Tom and thought

' No way a guy like him would fall for Marie. Maybe he was just using her for money. '

" Mr Tom , have you ever dated anybody ?"

" Pardon . No "..

"But howcome a handsome guy like you never dated?...."

Tom stared at William and thought

'What's with him today? Why is he blabbering nonsense '...

"Because I have never found anyone.."

"So well , I am seeing you are taking more number of holidays nowadays, so I thought.."

" Well Sir , I never got a chance to tell you that I was actually shifting my house."

"Oh I see.."

Though they were college mates but still they never interfere each other's personal life's , if he asked him that day something different can happen.

Tom went out of the room . Sara was standing outside, seeing Tom she approached him .

" Uhmmm ... Tom " ...

Tom looked at her like a trash . He just hate the person in front of him . Sara told with a seductive look ,

" Tom would you mind telling me what had happened to William? He didn't even respond to any of my messages...."

"Sir is busy right now . Please visit later .." he then moved out.

Sara chuckled, and thought...

'You are totally my type ,Tom. But nothing can be done , since you are just a mere assistant of him. And the only way I can keep my position in the industry is by hanging around William... Huh !! My bad ...'

***

"Good morning William, let's have breakfast together ( once ) since you are already sitting near the table..."

"I don't..." But strangely he can't defy her words , as if it was some kind of order not request. His legs moved on his own . He sat on the opposite side of Marie and was shocked to see that she had more food than him on her plate .

'Huh nice way of spending money. I see that's the reason she was looking more chubby than usual ...'

Two months passed . Nothing changed at all except her portion increased by a certain amount.They still eat breakfast and sometimes dine together but not a single conversation was done. It was as if Marie became a robot. She ate with him , and then leave the table quickly.

William was at first get irritated but now he neither feels happy nor hate it . He was struggling with some weird feelings.

But one day William returned earlier than usual. He for some reason brought some soup and some plain boiled cereal with him .

' Why I even bothered to bring stuff like this only after hearing she was struggling with food . Anybody can get an upset stomach after eating so much .. uhhh' he left a heavy sigh ..

But things don't went as expected. He opened the door and found that lights were off . He switched on them , but nowhere Marie was seen . He checked his phone twice if any messages came , but not a single message was from Marie . He sat on the couch , loosened his tie and thought...

'Where can a clumsy women like her can go around 10 pm in night..'

He didn't know why he was feeling like this . Even after their marriage, he never even bait an eye to her presence but why now . Maybe this was because they were eating together for a month ... He was about to open the food packet but suddenly he felt nauseous.

'What's wrong with me.. did I also got food poisoning. What the f*ck .Who came now .'

The doorbell rang . He was quite sure that Marie came . He ran to open the door ..

"What the hell Marie ... Why ...!!!"

"Hey are you okay brother. Why are you suddenly called sister in law's name . Don't tell me you send her to run an errand at this night . Don't you know how dangerous it is for women to ..."

"Just snap the hell out of it Ken . Why would I send Marie to run errands... She is just not at home ..."

Ken the foods on the table. Without even waiting he jumped on the chair and started eating..

"Hey wait. Don't eat that. A minute ago I was feeling nauseous. That food might be poisonous. "

" I think you had lost your mind . The food was extremely tasty ."

'Then why did I felt nauseous?' ...

"Ok . By the way what the hell did you mean by she is not at home ? .."

" Yes she is . Just let her return once...."

But Marie never returned.