A Challenge To An Arranged Marriage

The Challenge

"Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you"

-Loretta Young

"This is wrong dad, all of this. Marriage is not a contract. You can't just hand me to a complete stranger just because you are in need of some god damn money to save your business; this is not how it works dad!" Lisa spoke with every fiber of control she had. She tried to be the perfect daughter; everything that her father wanted from her, but this time what he was asking was against her beliefs.

"There is nothing wrong with this Lisa. Marriage is and has always been a contract. This is for your own good. If you go through this marriage you will have a good life and Ian is no stranger, I have been working with his family for quite some time now. The Arthur's will treat you well." Her dad said with no ounce of emotion on his face as always. 

"Contract huh? Was it all the same when you married mom, dad? Was I the part of the very same contract dad? Were she and I just a contract dad?" She asked in almost broken voice. Every cell in her body was telling her to claim a corner and cry her eyes out but she knew she had to be strong, she had taught herself well.

"Enough Lisa! Don't forget I am your father; you have no right to question me like you just did. I don't care what you think about this marriage but the contract has been already made, whether you agree or not, you have to do it." Liam answered raising his voice, trying to avoid the very question that shakes him to the core.

"Yes dad, of course. Who am I to question you? The great business tycoon Mr. Liam Black is always right. He takes the perfect decision, even if that includes selling off his own daughter in the hands of a complete stranger just because he wants to save his great business. You are right dad, who the hell am I to question such a great man?" She spoke with tears now falling down her eyes, as she has now lost every hope that she could save herself from this marriage.

"Say whatever you want Lisa, the contract has been made and thus the deal will happen," Liam answered and walked out of the house leaving his daughter with so many thoughts and emotions. Lisa fell down on her knees trying to carry out every emotion she felt in form of tears. Her own dad was using her as an object to make a deal, the thought was breaking her beyond reach.

"Why mom? Why?" She cried out even louder remembering her only source of survival. "Just come back mom, I promise to be the best daughter. Just come back and save me, mom, please. I need you. Please." She pleaded for her to return even though she knew that would never happen. Her best friend, her partner, her strength was long gone. She had watched her die and now she was alone, all alone. 

She remembered how happy she was when her mother was there with her. Things were not always like this, she had a beautiful family the perfect one. A loving father who used to be her best companion; giving her piggy back rides, painting nails with her or going on picnics over the weekend. The kind of mother who showered her with love and made her feel like she was wanted. She couldn't ask for more. But things changed when her mother was diagnosed with the last stage of breast cancer. Her family shattered, everything that her mother built was falling down in pieces because there was no one there to hold it together, but there was still hope. Hope that everything would be well again.

Reality hit Lisa in a hard way. She lost her mother and father both on the same day. After her mother's death, her father changed, he was lost. He didn't come home for many nights neither did he talked to Lisa anymore. He drowned himself in work becoming the cold stoned person she never knew her father was. From the age of eleven, she had helped herself on her own; she grew up on her own. Even though she knew the relationship she had with her father was now hanging on the last thread of hope, she couldn't do anything to save it. She remembered the promise that she made to her mother before she left; 

'Never lose hope darling. There is always a way when you don't stop searching for light. Search for your light.' 

Lisa stood up from the floor and walked to the only place she knew she would find peace in; her mother's room. Like every time as she entered the room, she felt the same comfort and love she used to find in her mother's arm. Everything was the same as she remembered, the paintings, the pictures, her mother's bed, nothing changed. She stood near the nightstand and picked up a framed picture of her mother. In the picture her mother was smiling down at the newly born Lisa, her face was glowing up with love and adoration as she watched her baby. Lisa couldn't control herself as she started crying again.

"I know mom I promised you that I would never lose hope, but its hard mom and it becomes even harder every passing day. Daddy wants me to get married mom, that too to a complete stranger. This is not what I wanted mom. I wanted to fall in love and experience every single day with it, to marry the man of my choice, to have a family, to raise and love them as you did to me. I won't ever get to experience that mom, ever." Lisa confessed as she brought the picture close to her heart and cried like she was in her mother's lap. But she knew she couldn't lose hope, she has to do everything in her power to keep her promise to her mom. That night she slept in her mother's bed, trying to find the comfort she once did when her mother was there.

Now all she could do is hope, hope that she somehow passes this challenge.

The challenge to an arranged marriage.