Chapter One

“What's up with the furrowed brows?” Elena asked, stepping out of the bathroom with a towel pressed to the side of her face as she ambled towards the living room.

It was morning already, and she had just washed her face off its drowsy look and was getting prepared to start her day, but the worried look on her parent's face were a bit disturbing.

“Won't you tell me what's going on?” She asked, darting her gaze from her mother then to her father. “Besides, why isn't Becca out yet, I thought she was supposed to be preparing to leave by now.”

She added, her arm pointing backwards towards Becca's room.

Still, there was no response from her parents.

“Seriously?” she said, her voice almost rising to a scream as she crinkled her face in confusion. “You are just going to leave me hanging as if I'm not standing here?”

She broke an unbelievable sigh.

As Isabelle, her mother, noticed that she was getting pissed off by their silence on the issue, she nudged her husband, Ben, discreetly in the arm to say something about the matter.

However, Elena caught her doing that.

“Is there something you both are hiding from me?” the words seemed to drag themselves from her throat as she shot suspicious glances at them.

Immediately, Isabelle retorted.

“No, no… of course not.” she stuttered, shaking her hands as if to clear any suspicious thought in Elena's head.

“Ok, ok…” Elena said, nodding her head as she spoke while trying to process the whole thing in her head. “But why did to refuse to say anything when I asked?”

“You know the situation of things at the moment,” Isabelle mentioned, her voice going soft all of a sudden. “So let's just say I was a little bit distracted.”

She added, pinching her fingers together.

Elena had finally gotten one of them to speak up, but the words weren't adding up yet.

“I should probably fetch Becca,” she said, pointing her arm backwards again. “Perhaps, she's forgotten that it's morning already.”

She added, dropping her arm rather awkwardly as she turned around and ambled towards Becca's room.

At that moment, Isabelle was tempted to dissuade her from going but by the time she lifted a hand to call her back, she was already on the move, so she dropped her hand awkwardly while also preparing herself for what was to come next.

“Becca… Becca?” Elena called out, knocking on the door again and again. “Becca it's morning already, and you should be preparing to leave. Becca?”

Elena turned back to her parents, turning her palms open, like, “What's going on?”

As there was no response from the inside, she gripped the doorknob and turned it open, only to be greeted by an empty bed. She narrowed her eyes at the surprise and then turned back to her mother, whose head was buried in her hair as if avoiding her gaze.

It was then she knew that something had gone wrong.

“Where is she?” she asked, an edge to her voice as she walked back towards her parents, her mom in particular.

Instead of talking, Ben stared at her with a look of ‘I can explain’ masking his face.

“Where is she?” she asked again, this time a wedge of pain and tears breaking her voice into two.

“Elena, you should come over here and let's talk things out.” Ben said, hoping he chose the right words.

“What are you both not telling me?” she asked, and this time, the tears that she fought back, finally broke free from the grasp of her eyes.

Staring at her, Isabelle wished she could explain things to her understanding, but she didn't know how to do so or how it would even sound to her.

“We are not hiding anything from you, dear.” Ben said, not even sure of his own words.

The only thing he was certain of at the moment, was that he was speaking. Whether he chose his words well or not, he couldn't say.

“Then, where is she… tell me.” Elena demanded, her voice matching the hardness of her gaze.

“I wish I had the answers to that, but I don't.” he said, shaking his head with an apologetic look in his eyes.

He truly wished she would believe his words.

“I and your mother woke up this morning only to find out that her bed was empty.” he added, with a shrug of his shoulder.

Even though she sensed a note of truth in his words, still she found it difficult to believe him. Perhaps, they had asked her to go somewhere far away from home for the time being so that they could send her instead. After all, Becca was their favorite child, and they would do anything to keep her away from the claws of Dominic Salvatore.

Even as these thoughts raced through her mind, she knew too well that her parents wouldn't do such a thing to her. Her thoughts were just birthed from a place of anger, and she needed a reason to justify the rage within her, as well as Becca's sudden disappearance.

“Did she say when she was going to return? Perhaps, did she leave a note?” she asked, the fear of getting married to Dominic Salvatore breaking her heart into two.

“No, dear, nothing of such.” Ben said, shaking his head as he stared at her with eyes that seemed to apologize for secrets yet to be uncovered.

“So in that case, I happen to be your only hope now, right?” she asked, dropping her head in disappointment.

“Yes, you are, dear.” Isabelle said, nodding her head with a knowing look.

“So what if I choose not to?” she asked, lifting her head as she stared at her mom with pain darkened eyes.

“No dear, that's not an option.” she said, shaking her head as she turned to Ben with a pitiful look. “You don't want to do that.”

“Of course, I don't!” she thundered, her voice rising to a scream and then dropping slightly. “I just want to lead a normal life, but how can I do that now with all these trying to break me apart?”

“No, don't,” Isabelle lifted herself from the couch and took Elena's hand in hers as she stared into her eyes and shook her head. “Nothing is trying to break you apart. This, in fact, changes nothing.”

“Of course it does!” Elena yelled, taking back her hands from her mother. “It changes the fact that I'll have to leave everything that defines me and get married to someone who will never love me. I don't think I can do this.”

She added, blinking back tears and shaking her head.

“No, dear, don't say that. I beg of you.” Isabelle pleaded, trying to quell the sob that was rising in her throat. “If you refuse, then it becomes a problem for me, you and most especially, your dad.”

She turned to him with tears in her eyes.

His life would be taken should in case Elena refuses to comply.

“You are wrong, mom,” she said, a serious tone to her voice as she spoke the words. “Dad should have never gone to him for help. I could remember vividly that we were all against it. If he had listened to us, then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. So wherever Becca has gone to, you both should go and fetch her because I won't throw my happiness away because of your problems. Read my lips, I won't!”