55 ELIZABETH'S PAST I

"No father! Please! Don't marry me off to someone else! I'm begging you." Elizabeth had her knees on the ground, tears rolling down on her face, trying to change his father's decision.

"Eliz! Stop acting foolish! You will marry Anton whether you like it or not! What's so good about that doctor? What do you see in him? I'm telling you, if I see you with him, I will break his legs in front of you! Dare me!" Elizabeth's father was fuming with anger. He would never allow her child to associate with those poor beings!

Elizabeth cried and cried that her eyes were swollen, to the point that she could barely see the people in front of her.

Her siblings snickered while ignoring her. Nobody likes her in that house. All they wanted was profit and wealth.

She locked herself in her room for several days. It was summer. The summer that she planned to spend time with him. The summer that should have been memorable for her.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me?" she screamed and yelled inside her room. Throwing things on the wall, breaking her mirror. It was a mess. So messy that you wouldn't find a spot to stand without stepping on to shards of glass.

No one answered her. No one came to help her. No one cared what she's feeling.

She pulled out her phone and called the number that she had memorized a long time ago. It rang twice before a cheerful voice came through.

"My Summer! I just got off the plane with my seniors. Do you want to meet up?" It was Lorenzo Diaz. The man she fell in love with ever since she was in high school. He belonged to the middle class society but her parents considered him poor. He was smart and was taken under a senior director in Sanyu Medical Hospital even when he was still a college student. She's very proud of him.

Elizabeth was silenced for quite a while. She was weeping and sobbing quietly so that he wouldn't find out anything amiss.

She cleared her throat and coughed a few times before speaking. "I really wanted to but I have a cold right now."

"Where are you right now? Are you in the dormitory? I will drop by to see you." His concern was evident in his voice. It's always like this. Everytime she got herself in trouble, it was him who would always show up and save her. He was the only one who cared for her together with her best friend Venus.

"I am at home right now. Thank you so much for your concern. I will be fine after drinking meds and a night's rest." She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face. It's heart breaking. Hearing his voice was heart breaking. She couldn't bring herself to tell him what's going on. She didn't want him become crippled because of her.

"I am glad there would be someone to take care of you. I wish I could actually see you." Enzo smiled while looking up at the clear blue sky. "I missed you so much."

"I love you Enzo. You will always be the one I will love for the rest of my life." Eliz stated with so much pain. Her chest was aching while she spoke those words. She will never like anyone else in this lifetime.

"I love you, too My Summer. In this lifetime and the next, I will always love you." He even made a kiss sound on his phone which made her chuckle.

They talked for a while about his trip and her current research. She was having the best time of her life. The last summer that she was able to talk to him.

When the call ended, her tears came streaming down her face once again. "Enzo, I only love you. I don't want to see you in difficult state because of me. I will protect you from my father. Enzo, will you forgive me?" she was weeping quietly on her bed. She was in so much pain but nobody cared.

After a week, the wedding was held under her father's supervision. Friends and relatives came to celebrate the wedding. She didn't even know the person she was marrying. The hell she care though!

Her wedding vow was written by her mother and she just have to read it in front of everyone. She did as she was told and finished the ceremony.

She didn't tell Venus about it because she knew she would storm in and argue with her father. She didn't want her father to hurt her best friend.

"So you also love someone else?" Anton Xavier asked her when they were alone together.

"I do. Do you have one?" she asked him back while removing her gloves.

"I have. She left the country after finding out that I would be married to someone else." His sadness and pain were just the same as hers.

"I haven't told him. He would rush here and confront my father and my father would surely cripple him if not kill him. I wanted to protect him."

"Let's run away. Let's live somewhere that no one knows." It was Anton's idea.

He bought a house somewhere near the suburb with so many trees and plants around it. He knew that Elizabeth likes taking care of plants. He knew that she loves red roses the most.

"How about we make a garden. I can help you plant while you go to work." He stated while unpacking their things.

"But you also have work."

"I can manage my time. Beside, I can work at home but you will always be on the call since you are having on-the-job training. It's more convenient for me."

"Thank you. I will help you plant everytime I get some free time."

"Hn." They continued unpacking their things and arranged accordingly.

It was also a week after that Lorenzo heard the news. It wasn't just him but Venus was also shocked to find out. She knew how much Elizabeth loves her boyfriend.

"How did this happened?" she mumbled to herself after receiving the message from her boyfriend Thomas, who helped her investigate why she hasn't come back to the hospital yet. It turned out she was on a leave due to wedding.