Chapter 2: She Was Pregnant
"Lola, marriage shouldn't be taken lightly. I forbid you from marrying him," Jessica said, knowing full well the reason Dolores agreed to marry Matthew.
Dolores placed the bag of food on the table beside the bed, pulling some out and handing it to her mom.
"At least I didn't marry any stranger. It's your friend's son."
"She passed away a long time ago. I know nothing about her son. Even if it means breaking my promise, I'd rather you marry someone you fancy. Please don't use this marriage as a bargaining chip. I'd rather stay here for the rest of my life."
Someone she fancied? 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. What was important was taking back everything her father had stolen from them.
*****
Jessica wasn't able to convince Dolores to change her mind and both of them returned to their home country the next day. Both of them disgusted Randolph and refused to let them step into the Flores' house. Instead, he took them to a rented house nearby and Dolores needed only to return to the house on the wedding day. Dolores didn't want to return home anyway, not wanting her mother to have to face the woman that ruined her marriage and her life. It was better to stay away from the house for the sake of mental and emotional well-being.
Jessica still worried, however. "Lola, if this was a good marriage, they wouldn't have given this chance to you, even though Mrs. Nelson and I were friends-"
Dolores didn't want to talk about it anymore and cut her mother off. "Mom, come have something to eat."
Jessica sighed. It was obvious 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 the fork in her hand but only pushed her food around her plate as her contempt for her father ruined her appetite.
"Are you okay?" Jessica asked, concerned for her daughter's health.
Dolores, not wanting her mom to worry, lied and said that she lost appetite from the long flight. She then put down her fork and headed for her room.
After closing the door, Dolores leaned her head against it and placed her hand on her stomach. Although she'd never been pregnant, she'd seen what it was like for Jessica when she was pregnant. She was always disgusted and had no appetite to eat. It was exactly how Dolores felt at the 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 of it further. That night was already humiliating enough. If it wasn't for her mother and her brother, she would never have done it. She shivered all over...
"You're pregnant. About six weeks along." After getting out of the hospital, the doctor's words kept on lingering on in her mind. It was the news she'd received when she went for a checkup at the hospital without informing Jessica. She had mixed feelings and was frustrated. She didn't know what to do. Should she give birth to the child? Abort it? Her hand rubbed her belly instinctively. Although she was surprised, and even humiliated, she was unwilling to give the child away. There was too much joy and hope for being a first-time mother. She was in a daze.
After getting back to the house she and her mother were staying at, Dolores hid the ultrasound of the baby before opening the door. However, once she noticed Randolph was there too, her mood instantly soured. What is he doing here? Randolph didn't look to be in a good mood and it seemed she had made him wait for 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're gonna have to meet him sooner or later." He looked at her from head to toe and continued. "Are you going to wear that hideous outfit to meet him? Are you trying to embarrass me?"
Why does the pain feel like this? Dolores wondered. Selling herself and then losing her brother hurt her so much she had become completely numb. Yet, upon hearing Randolph's cruel words, she realized her heart still hurt, and the pain came rushing back.
He had sent her and her mother to a poverty-stricken country to begin with and hadn't cared for her since. Where else could she have gotten the money? If she had the money, her brother wouldn't have died from delayed treatment. Her hands, which hung at her sides, were clenched into fists. As if realizing what he said, Randolph's expression changed and he turned his face away.
"Let's go. The Nelson family should have arrived now, we can't let them wait."
"Lola…"
Jessica worried about Dolores and still wanted to persuade her daughter to call off the wedding. She had just lost her son and she wanted to take good care of her daughter now. Money didn't matter anymore. She didn't want her daughter to be with the Flores family anymore, 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 truly worried.
"Mom." Dolores gave her a comforting look.
"We need to go." Randolph urged her impatiently.
Worried Dolores would change her mind, he gave her a small push. He couldn't grow fond of her and Dolores didn't have any feeling toward him anyway. The relationship between them had vanished in the eight years they'd been apart.
Dolores's clothes were threadbare 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 salesperson.
Randolph pushed Dolores forward and said, "Find her anything she can wear."
The salesperson looked at her from head to toes to gauge her size and said, "Follow me." She then grabbed a long, light blue dress from a rack and handed it to Dolores. "Try this on in the changing room."
Dolores hesitantly grabbed the dress and headed toward the changing room.
"Matthew, must you marry the woman from the Flores family?" a woman asked in a muffled, angry voice.
Having heard her's father's name, Dolores looked toward the room beside her. From the gap in the door, she could see a woman putting her arms around a man's neck and her tone changed to a cute voice.
"Can you not marry another woman?"
Matthew Nelson stared at the woman with helplessness in his eyes. The marriage was arranged by his late mother and he couldn't 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.
One month ago, he had traveled abroad to a lesser-off country to investigate a case and was then bitten by a snake whose venom was a potent aphrodisiac. The issue with this particular snake venom was that if he didn't vent his libido to a woman, he would die from being unable to satisfy his primal needs. It was Helen White who became his antidote.
He knew how hard it was to control himself during that time. Everyone he spoke to said that it hurt when women were having sex for the first time. And, because of his intense desire, he hadn't cherished their first time. Therefore, he truly had no idea how painful the experience was for her. Yet, she never called out during their time and the only indication of her pain was how much she trembled in his arms afterward.
Helen had always liked Matthew, and he knew that. Yet, he had never given her a chance. It was mainly because he didn't love her. Not to mention that his mother had already arranged his marriage. Even so, Helen had always kept him company quietly at his side. However, since that night, he felt that he should give Helen some recognition. He could still remember how massive the puddle of blood was after the sex.
Helen leaned against his chest. She lowered her eyes slightly and let out a shy moan. She liked Matthew and had stayed by his side 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 a man cared about taking a woman's virginity. Therefore, she had spent a large amount of money that night to find and convince a local girl who was still a virgin to give herself to Matthew instead. After the girl left, Helen then took her place to pretend it was her that night.
"If you like the clothes here, you can buy more of them," Matthew said lovingly, stroking her hair.
"That's for VIPs. You can't go in. Please go to the one on the right," the salesperson chided Dolores.
In such an upscale boutique, they set apart every changing room from each other and there was even a separate section of changing rooms for the VIPs.
Besides the changing room itself, there was a separate lobby for friends to rest. Dolores grunted in response and headed to the room on the right. As she was changing, she still thought of the man and woman. They had mentioned the Flores family.
Could it be that the man was…