PRECIOUS LITTLE FLOWER

. Vera was woken by the sound of the birds and was dumbstruck at the sight she saw. It seems like she was not the only one awake. Ivan seemed to be awake for long with a lit cigarette in his hand as he stood facing the floor-to-ceiling window.

"You're awake," he puffed smoke from his mouth and through his nostrils. He was shirtless and his belt was loosen around his waist.

"What..... What did you do to me?" Vera questioned as she quickly wrapped the blanket over her body aghast.

"What did I do to you?" Ivan laughed nonchalantly as though he had just heard a joke. He smashed the cigarette to ashes before walking to her. She quickly tightened her grip on the blanket and he unconsciously smirked by her actions. He stared into her eyes for a while before leaning towards her for a kiss but was pushed away by her.

"What's wrong? Is this not what you wanted? Why are you pushing me away?" He asked as he caressed her cheeks.

"Stop it, please. She pushed his hand off her. You have already ruin my life, what else do you still want?" Tears flowed down her cheeks like water in a waterfall as the words left her mouth but Ivan just kept staring at her indifferently.

"Here, sign it." He lit a cigarette and puffed out smoke as he threw the document to her face.

"What...... What is this?"

"A marriage contract!"

"What?"

"I do not have all day to spend with you as I have much more important things to attend to, so don't waste my time any further and sign over there," he gestured, using his fingers to show her the blank space with a subscript 'signature' beneath it.

"I'm not signing it," she contradicted as she threw the document to the other side of the bed.

"How dare you!" He held her shoulders tightly which made Vera daunted by his deadly glare.

"What do you take me for? Do you think I am a fool? You were the one who offered yourself to me last night and now I want to take responsibility for what I have done, you are refusing?" He questioned her with authority in his tone as he pushed her forcibly.

"Ah," she winced out of pain when she hit her head on the edge of the bed.

"I.... I do not agree to marry you. No matter...."

"Are you trying to ruin my reputation?" Vera was interrupted by Ivan's direct question. He glared at her angrily and if glares could kill, then Vera might have been dead by the glare Ivan is giving to her.

"Ruin your reputation? What a joke!" Vera contradicted. "I don't care who or whatever you are but all I know is that you are the one who have ruined my reputation," Vera yelled at him, not minding his dreadful glare.

'Huff,' he puffed out smoke as the temperature in the room fell low and there was a brief silent which filled the room.

"Whatever happened last night was all because of you. You came to me and freely offered yourself without me forcing you. So, why are you now blaming me for your own mess?" Ivan said candidly and his tone was soft and comforting as though he was comforting a baby whose candy was taken away from him.

"Here," he placed a pen besides her. "Take the pen besides you and sign the contract right now. As long as you do it, I promise to bear responsibility for my actions and take good care of you." Ivan said as he lit another stick of cigarette.

Not minding her appearance, Vera stood up and quickly dressed in front of him.

"Take responsibility?" She questioned rhetorically. "You may have ruined me but I will never let you ruin my future. No matter what happened between us last night, I think you should keep your kind offer to yourself because I will never in my life agree to marry a pervert like you." She said nonchalantly as she stamped the marriage contract to his face and left the room immediately without giving him a chance to respond, leaving him completely stunned.

 As soon as Vera left the Emperor's Golden Hotel, she booked a cab back to the apartment she lives in but was stopped halfway by her father's men who he instructed to search for her. It seems like they were finally able to track her location. An hour later and Vera was brought back to the Carter's Mansion by her father's men.

Bang! Vera was welcomed by a hard and loud slap as soon as she stepped into the parlour by her mom.

"Mom, I......"

"Shut up! So, you have finally realized that you have a mother right," Mrs. Carter questioned mockingly.

"No mom, I...."

"You...." She raised her hand to hit Vera again but was stopped midway in the air by Mr. Carter.

"Who gave you the right to raise your hand to her?" Mr. Carter asked.

"Me? No, no. I was only welcoming our Vera back. Come in dear," she put on a fake smile as she led Vera to the center of the parlour where her dad was sitting on the single armed sofa with his leg crossed together.

"For this time being, Vera will have to be treated as fragile as an egg to avoid any scares. Who knows, her in-laws may refuse to accept her even if they notice a single scratch on her," he said indifferently not minding what had happened.

"Dad," Vera knelt in front of him. "I don't want to marry him."

"Why don't you want to marry him?" His tone was calm but no one was unaware of the anger lying beneath that calm tone.

"I.... I don't love him dad, please." She begged with tears streaming down her cheeks hoping to gain favour from her dad but it was vanity as it had no effect on Mr. Carter.

"Think twice before you talk young lady. If you refuse to marry Ivan then you may as well consider yourself dead to this family." He replied coldly as the words fell off smoothly from his mouth but was like a sharp edged sword piercing directly into Vera's already broken heart.

'Did her family really not love her? Do they just see her as a ladder they can use to climb the social cycle?' Vera felt her heart beating as the speed of light with tears flowing down heavily through her cheeks.

"Our family has taken care of you from infancy and for all the