Chapter 2: Chapter 2



“Lola, marriage is not to be taken lightly. I forbid you to marry him” Jessica said, knowing full well the reason why Dolores agreed to marry Matthew.

Dolores placed the bag of food on the table next to the bed, taking some out and handing it to her mother.

“At least I didn’t marry a stranger. He’s your friend’s son.”

“She passed away a long time ago. I don’t know anything about her son. Even if it means breaking my promise, I’d rather you marry someone you like. Please don’t use this marriage as a bargaining chip. I’d rather stay here for the rest of my life.”

Someone you like? Even if she met someone in the future, she no longer had the right to do so. She lowered her head. It didn’t matter who she married. The important thing was to get back everything her father had stolen from them.

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Find what you love at gⱯlnσν𝓮𝓁s․𝒸𝗼𝗺 Jessica could not convince Dolores to change her mind and they both returned home the next day. They both displeased Randolph and he refused to let them into the Flores’ house. Instead, he took them to a rented house nearby and Dolores only had to return to the house on the wedding day. Dolores didn’t want to go back to the house anyway, she didn’t want her mother to have to face the woman who had ruined her marriage and her life. It was better to stay away from the house for the sake of her mental and emotional well-being.

Jessica, however, was still worried. “Lola, if this were a good marriage, they wouldn’t have given you this opportunity, even if Mrs. Nelson and I were friends-“.

Dolores didn’t want to talk about it any further and interrupted her mother. “Mom, eat something.”

Jessica sighed. It was obvious that Dolores refused to talk about it. She lived a hard life with Jessica and now she even had to sacrifice her marriage for the family.

Dolores held her fork in her hand but just pushed the food around her plate as her contempt for her father ruined her appetite.

“Are you okay?” asked Jessica, worried about her daughter’s health.

Dolores, not wanting her mother to worry, lied and said she had lost her appetite from the long flight. Then she put down her fork and headed for her room.

After closing the door, Dolores leaned her head against it and put her hand on her stomach. Although she had never been pregnant, she had seen what it was like for Jessica when she was. She was always disgusted and had no appetite for food. It was exactly how Dolores felt at that moment.

It had been a month since that night and her period hadn’t come for more than ten days. She didn’t dare think about it anymore. That night had been humiliating enough. If it hadn’t been for her mother and brother, she never would have done it. She shuddered all over…

“You’re pregnant. About six weeks.” After she left the hospital, the doctor’s words continued to haunt her mind. It was the news she had received when she went for a check-up at the hospital without informing Jessica. She had mixed feelings and felt frustrated. She didn’t know what to do. Should she deliver the baby? Abort it? Her hand instinctively rubbed her belly. Although she was shocked and even humiliated, she was not ready to give up the child. There was too much joy and hope in being a new mother. She was stunned.

Returning to the house where she and her mother were staying, Dolores hid the baby’s ultrasound before opening the door. However, as soon as she realized Randolph was there too, her mood instantly worsened. What was he doing here? Randolph didn’t seem to be in a good mood and it appeared that she had kept him waiting a long time.

He turned as she entered and spoke coldly. “Go change your clothes.”

Dolores frowned. “Why?”

“Since you’re going to marry the eldest son of the Nelson Family, you’ll have to meet him sooner or later.” He looked her over from head to toe and continued. “Are you going to wear that awful suit to meet him? Are you trying to embarrass me?”

Why does pain feel that way, Dolores wondered. Selling herself and then losing her brother hurt so much that she had gone completely numb. Hearing Randolph’s cruel words, however, she realized that her heart still ached, and the pain came rushing back.

For one thing, he had sent her and her mother to a poverty-stricken country and had not cared for her since. Where could he have gotten the money? If she had had the money, her brother would not have died from delayed treatment. Her hands, hanging at her sides, were clenched into fists. As if realizing what he had said, Randolph’s expression changed and he turned his head.

“Come on. The Nelson Family should have arrived by now, we can’t let them wait.”

“Lola…”

Jessica worried about Dolores and kept wanting to convince her daughter to call off the wedding. She had just lost her son and now she wanted to take good care of her daughter. Money no longer mattered. He didn’t want his daughter to stay with the Flores Family, nor the Nelson Family. The world of the rich was complicated and she still didn’t know what kind of man the eldest son of the Nelson Family was. She was really worried.

“Mom.” Dolores gave her a comforting look.

“We have to go.” Randolph urged her impatiently.

Worried that Dolores would change her mind, he gave her a little push. He couldn’t get attached to her and, anyway, Dolores had no feelings for him. Their relationship had faded in the eight years they had been apart.

Dolores’ clothes were tattered and since it was the Nelson Family she was going to meet, Randolph took her to an upscale boutique to buy her a decent dress. Upon entering the boutique, they were greeted by a saleswoman.

Randolph pushed Dolores forward and said, “Find her something she can wear.”

The saleswoman looked her over from head to toe to estimate her size and said, “Follow me.” Then she took a long light blue dress from a rack and handed it to Dolores. “Try it on in the fitting room.”

Dolores hesitantly took the dress and headed for the fitting room.

“Matthew, do you have to marry the woman from the Flores Family?” a woman asked in a muffled, angry voice.

At the sound of her father’s last name, Dolores looked into the next room. From the doorway, she could see a woman wrapping her arms around a man’s neck and her tone changed to a tender voice.

“Can’t you marry another woman?”

Matthew Nelson looked at the woman with helplessness in his eyes. The marriage was arranged by his late mother and he could not go against her wishes. However, remembering what happened that night, he couldn’t bear to disappoint Helen either.

“Did it hurt that night?” he asked.

A month ago, he had traveled to a less distant country to investigate a case and had then been bitten by a snake whose venom was a potent aphrodisiac. The problem with this particular snake venom was that if he did not unload his libido with a woman, he would die from not being able to satisfy his primal needs. It was Helen White who became his antidote.

He knew how difficult it was to control himself during that time. Everyone he talked to said he ached to have sex for the first time with a woman. And, because of his intense desire, he hadn’t appreciated his first time. Therefore, she had no idea how painful the experience had been for her. However, she never screamed during their interaction and the only sign of her pain was how much her arms shook after they finished.

Helen had always liked Matthew, and he knew it. However, he had never given her a chance. Mainly because he didn’t want her. Not to mention that his mother had already arranged their marriage. Still, Helen had always kept him company quietly at her side. Since that night, however, he felt he should give Helen some recognition. He still remembered how huge the pool of blood was after sex.

Helen leaned against his chest. She lowered her eyes slightly and let out a shy moan. She liked Matthew and had stood by him as his secretary all these years. She had lost her virginity several years ago, but she couldn’t let Matthew know that. She knew too well how much it mattered to a man to take a woman’s virginity. Therefore, that night he had spent a great deal of money to find and convince a local girl who was still a virgin to give herself to Matthew instead. After the girl left, Helen took her place to pretend it was her that night.

“If you like the clothes here, you can buy more,” Matthew said fondly, stroking her hair.

“That’s for VIPs. You can’t come in. Please go to the one on the right,” the saleswoman reprimanded Dolores.

In such a high-end boutique, they separated each dressing room from the others and there was even a separate section of changing rooms for VIPs.

In addition to the dressing rooms themselves, there was a separate lobby for friends to rest. Dolores grunted in response and headed for the room on the right. As she changed, she kept thinking about the man and woman. They had mentioned the Flores Family.

Could it be that the man was…?

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