Maria's Contract Marriage

Maria's eyes were widened in terror as she walked into her living room to sit and watch the television while she waited for her father's return. She found two masked figures rummaging through the house. Her heart racing, she tried to understand what was happening.

One of them noticed her and pointed a gun in her direction.

"Don't move," he growled.

Maria was frozen, her hands shaking as she raised them in surrender. The other intruder continued to search the house, tossing valuables into their big brown leather bag.

The first intruder in front of her approached where she was standing, his eyes scanning her body.

"Where's the money?" he demanded.

Maria swallowed hard, trying to think so fast. She didn't want to give them what they wanted, but she didn't want to get hurt either.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

The intruder sneered and accused her of lying to them. He wanted to hit her, but the second one told him in his deep voice coming from under the mask, They were here for the money.

"Don't play dumb," he snarled.

Then the second intruder advanced towards her, pointing the gun directly at her. 

"We know you have a safe. Tell us where it is," he said angrily.

Maria's cheek stung, but she refused to give in.

"I don't know," she repeated, trying to sound pitied and convincing.

Just then, the other intruder shouted from the next room.

"I found it!"

She didn't know there were three of them until then. The fear rises in her head that she finds it difficult to breathe.

The first intruder turned to leave, but not before giving Maria a menacing look.

"You're lucky we're not hurting anyone today," he said. "But this isn't over."

Just as the intruders were about to escape, Maria's dog, a fierce and loyal German Shepherd named Max, burst into the room, barking loudly. He had been sleeping in the bedroom and had been alerted by the commotion.

They were caught off guard as Max charged at them, teeth bared. One of them tried to kick him away, but Max was too quick. He sank his teeth into the intruder's leg, causing him to cry out in pain.

The other intruder tried to run, but Max was hot on his heels. He chased him out of the house and into the front yard, where the intruder tripped and fell.

As the intruder struggled to get up, Max stood over him, growling menacingly. The intruder cowered in fear, realizing he was outmatched by the fierce canine.

Meanwhile, Maria took advantage of the distraction to call the police. She ran to the phone and dialed 911, her heart still racing from the ordeal.

"Please hurry," she begged the dispatcher. "My dog has attacked the intruders, but I need help here."

The dispatcher on the phone assured her that help was on the way, and Maria waited anxiously for the police to arrive. When they finally did, they found the intruders pinned down by Max, who refused to let them go.

Maria took a deep breath and laughed nervously. "It's just my imagination," she told herself.

"There was no robbery, no intruders, no mysterious message. She's just spooking herself out because she's alone and bored."

The sky was crystal clear before the sun went down to hide itself for the next day, my eyes itching like I had dirt stuck in them. She finds it difficult to let it be without using her right hand to rub its soft skin gently, avoiding unwanted injury.

She's trying to ignore the calls to the four walls of her bedroom, but she finds it so difficult to be the first human that cheats nature, her eyelids closing their upper and lower parts gradually, but she continued forcing her eyesight on the flat-screen television attached to the wall in front of me.

The movie was a very interesting one, and she didn't want to miss out on any chapter of it, especially the end of it where the actor and actress live happily ever after. 

However, her father hasn't come back from work. It is unusual for him to come home this late, and that's why it got her so worried and restless.

She has been calling his number continuously now, but he seems not to see her calls, or he's trying to ignore the calls to finish up his work because he has said to her once that he needs to concentrate whenever he's trying to balance an account.

Her father is a hardworking man. He's an accountant for the biggest manufacturing company, 'Hamtex' in London, owned by billionaire Patrick John. Her father isn't a drunkard; he doesn't womanize even after the death of her dear mother, when she thought he would get married again, but instead he said to her one day.

"Maria, he will invest all my entire energy in keeping the promises he made to her mother while she was dying. He made a promise to ensure she attended the best school to have a sound education, and she also made a promise to guide her in choosing the right man to marry." 

She was so excited to hear that from him. It was a dream come true because she had been wishing the same thing, and now it has been fully endorsed.

The greatest news after her mother had passed away was the beautiful morning.

Her lovely father checked his mail to find a new appointment letter sent to him directly from 'Hamtex' through their official email. He was asked to resume work in London with good pay.

"Maria, my day is painted with a good image this morning, dear." Mr. George said.

"Dad, what's the great news?" Maria was curious.

"My transfer has been approved. We are going to London next month," Mr. George said happily.

The air of the room was filled with joyous and happy momentum.

She watched as every second, every minute, and every hour passed by in front of her gorgeous eyes, and she couldn't hold on to any of it. Her father was still not back from work.

After an hour of waiting, Maria fell asleep in front of the television while the character in the movie was the one now staring at her as she had slept on the long four-seater couch. She was so deeply asleep that she didn't know when she mistakenly dropped the television remote that was in her hand. 

After an hour of sleep, there was complete silence, enough to hear the language of the wind throughout the whole building. The wall clock sounded aloud when it stepped on at 12 at midnight, along with the heavy horn of her father's car.

She quickly woke up and put on her size 38 rubber slippers. She walked straight to the entrance door very fast, like her opportunity of a lifetime had just arrived.

She opened the gate widely to allow every part of the car inside the compound, then she closed it back quickly to go and meet her father.

"Welcome, dad," Maria said.

"Maria, how are you today?" Mr. George said.

"I'm fine, dad."

He smiled at her as she approached his brown leather bag, which he handed over to her. Immediately she stretched out her hand to collect it. 

They walked side by side inside the house together, smiling together until they went separate ways. When they entered fully, Maria dropped his bag on the couch and went straight to the kitchen to microwave the food she had prepared for him, which was now cold and ice.

Her father went to his room, took off the suit and shirt, removed his black shoes, and went to his bathroom for his night bath. He turned the bath tub water on, and so many thoughts kept running inside his head.

"How am I going to tell her who will help me out here?" Mr. George asked himself several questions without an answer.

He turned off the flowing water in the bath tube for a while and closed his eyes for a few minutes, thinking about what he had done to save his daughter from death and embarrassment. He set his eyes on the transparent glass of his bathroom, which was sending a sad message to him, as he could see himself through the glass like a mirror.

Maria had finished microwaving the food on time, and she took the food to the dining table, making sure it was well covered. The steamy saint of the delicious food filled the entire room so that one could sit down and imagine eating it without seeing it physically. 

One of her hobbies is cooking. She learned to cook from the loneliness and responsibility of taking the position of her mother after she passed away in front of her when she was still 10 years old.

The trauma reduced her self-esteem, which molded her into another person. She didn't have any friends, and she didn't even try to make any friends either in school or at home in Hallmond.

"Dad, your food is getting cold again," Maria said.

"I'm coming right away, darling." Mr. George responded with a calm voice.

He rushed out of the bath tube and dried his skin with the towel he picked up on the tiny steel wall placed to hold the towel after the bath. He quickly wore a very comfortable pair of soft fleece pajamas in a warm, dark color. 

She could see the impression plastered on his face but wasn't sure what it meant, so she decided to ignore it and go ahead with the serving.

"Maria, have you eaten, or have you been waiting for me before you ate?" He asked in a rhetorical way.

"Yes, father, I can't eat when you haven't," Maria said.

He knew she would also wait for him to come just like her mother before she passed away.

"Where is Max Maria? I haven't seen him anywhere in the house." Mr. George asked.

"He's probably sleeping in his little room right now; we both waited so long for you to come back, but he got tired of waiting and went to sleep."

It had been 4 years now when she met Max on a very fateful day while she was coming back from school. She was stopped by a group of boys led by their arrogant leader, Marvin John.

Marvin is 24 years old; he is tall and handsome, and he has a deep voice that keeps on getting deeper as the years come and go in school. He is the son of a billionaire in London, the owner of 'Hamtex', a very huge manufacturing company in London where Maria's father works as an accountant.

He had been looking for a way to make beautiful and elegant Maria his only girlfriend, but she stood stern in her decision, right in front of the whole class, to never be his girlfriend.

Ever since then, he had tried many advances towards her but all to no favorable result, so he made up a plan with his friends to force her after school where no one would be able to disturb or save her from him.

They waited for the right time before they traced her. Immediately she left the school premises on a narrow street that is always silent during the day; they carefully and slowly walked up to her without making any sound.

"Hey! Look who's here alone guys," Marvin said.

They all advance to the front to block her path, making sure she can't go through.

"Marvin, what's all this? You had better tell your friends to move their bodies before I report you to the authorities right now."

She quickly reached for her phone, and she was about to dial an emergency number when one of the boys quickly snatched the phone away from her hand and smashed it on the floor so that she wouldn't be able to use it.

"Somebody help me." Maria shouted so loudly.

No one was around to help her, so they laughed uniformly at her, and Marvin ordered them to hold her. They walked up gradually towards her, and one of the boys stretched his hand to grab her, but the sun shone on her when they were about to catch up with her. There was a very loud barking of a dog echoing through the empty street behind them.

He barked at every advance they made and changed his teeth, widely opened and ready to attach anyone that lay their hand on her.

Marvin was a spoiled rich man that couldn't stand the barking of a dog, so he had to hide himself behind James. His best friend, James, who was also so scared of the dog who was pissing all over his pants, pushed him away, but the dog never stopped barking at them.

His continuous barking sent an alarming message to Peter, who was also going home after a stressful day at school. 

He stopped and ran to the scene as he heard the continuous barking of the dog, thinking the dog might be in danger, but unfortunately he saw all of them and a girl in their midst, who looked so scared.

"What are you all doing here?" Peter asked.

They were shivering like a snowman wearing only his underwear in the snow.

"Peter, please help us from that thing that is barking at us; I'll give you anything you want." Marvin scarily said.

Peter got in front of them and dropped his textbooks on the floor. He stretched his right hand to the front and calmly approached the dog without rushing to him.