Chapter 11: To my secret Island

"Soraya, please don’t say that," Angelo urged, his lips trembling as he held her tighter. "I know Dad has hurt you, and I know how messed up this whole situation is, but none of us wanted this for you. I swear we didn’t."

Soraya pulled back slightly, her red eyes staring up at him with exhaustion. "It doesn’t matter what you all wanted, Angelo. The reality is that tomorrow, I am going to be sold off to a mafia. And my own father will stand there and watch it happen!"

Angelo opened his mouth to defend himself, but nothing came out of his mouth. He couldn’t deny any of her words after all, his father had put money and family alliances above Soraya’s freedom.

"I hate them," Soraya said softly, wiping tears from her cheek. "I hate Antoine, and I hate Evelina. They are not my parents. They never were and never will!"

"Soraya—"

"I only consider you my brother," she interrupted, her voice firm despite her pale face. "You were the only one who stood up for me down there. You were the only one who treated me like a person and not a piece of property. But don’t expect me to ever forgive them."

Angelo felt a heavy lump form in his throat.

"If... if you really don’t want this, I can help you run," Angelo whispered suddenly, leaning closer. "I can get you a passport, send you far away where neither Dad nor Santino can ever find you."

Soraya was surprised for a second, but then she shook her head with a bitter smile.

"No," she said in a low tone. "You heard Santino. If I run, he will kill you all. As much as I despise Antoine and Evelina right now, I won’t let anyone die because of me. And I won’t put your life in danger either. I’ve seen for myself what Santino can do."

She recalled the incident from the morning where Santino shot a man in the drawing room of his house.

Angelo bit his lip, guilt washing over him completely. He was her older brother, yet she was the one trying to protect him.

"Then what are you going to do?" he asked.

Soraya rose to her feet, walking toward the large glass window that overlooked the glowing Dalias estate.

"I will marry him tomorrow," Soraya said in a declarative tone. "I will play the role of his wife."

Angelo stared at her as his heart was heavy with guilt. Before he could speak another word, a soft, hesitating knock echoed through the silence of the room.

The door slowly creaked open, revealing Antoine and Evelina standing in the doorway. Both of them looked completely exhausted and their faces were pale.

The moment Evelina’s eyes fell on Soraya, she rushed into the room, her hands reaching out in desperation to embrace her daughter.

"Soraya... my baby..." Evelina cried out, her voice shaking with pure agony.

Soraya didn’t want to see them, let alone talk with them so she immediately took a sharp step back, dodging her touch. "Don’t touch me."

Evelina froze in her tracks, her open hands trembling in the empty air between them as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Soraya, please..." Evelina sobbed, dropping her head as her whole body shook violently. "Please don’t look at me with so much hatred. My heart is breaking into a thousand pieces. We spent twenty-two painful years praying every single day just to hold you again." She said in between her sobs as she continued.

"We searched everywhere for you, weeping every night over your old baby clothes... How can we lose you again like this? How can fate be so cruel to us?"

"Fate didn’t do this to us, Mrs. Dalias," Soraya said coldly with an expressionless face. "You didn’t lose me to fate. You handed me over on a silver platter. You sold me."

"No! That’s not true!" Evelina dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands as her loud, pitiful wails echoed off the high walls of the room. "I would give my own life for you! I don’t want you to go with that dangerous man! I want my daughter home!"

"Mom!" Angelo exclaimed and went to her side.

Antoine stepped forward, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with a deep, heavy sadness. He looked years older than he had just a few hours ago. He reached out to comfort his sobbing wife, his hands shaking slightly as he looked up at Soraya.

"Soraya... do you really think I wanted this?" Antoine’s voice was rough, choked with emotion. "Do you think a father enjoys handing his own flesh to someone else, against her wishes? Do you think it doesn’t tear my soul apart to see you crying like this?"

Soraya stared back at him, her eyes burning with unshed tears, but she refused to let a single drop fall in front of them. "Then why are you doing it? If it tears your soul apart, why aren’t you stopping it?"

Antoine swallowed hard, a painful look crossing his face as he shook his head slowly. "Because I don’t have a choice, Soraya. A promise is a promise in our world. Years ago, before you were stolen from us, a deal was struck between our families. And now... our empire is collapsing. Breaking a word given to a man like Santino means complete, total destruction. He will crush the Dalias family until nothing is left."

He took a step closer, his voice dropping into a desperate plea. "I feel terrible about this. I hate myself for it. But as the head of this family, I had to make a choice. I had to protect this family, even if it meant making the hardest decision of my life."

"Protect this family?" Soraya let out a bitter laugh that sounded more like a sob. "You mean protect your precious reputation!" She scoffed. "Don’t stand here and pretend you did this out of love for me! Did you even care to ask what I wanted? Did you even see me as a human being, or just a long-lost pawn to fix your ruined business?"

Antoine opened his mouth to defend himself, but no words came out. His chest heaved as he stared at his daughter as he clenched his fists.

"Run away!" He said, inhaling deeply.

"Huh!?" Soraya’s eyes widened a little. "What does that mean?"

"I can’t see my daughter like this!" He walked forth toward her but didn’t dare to get too close. "I can send you to my secret Island which no one knows about, not even Angelo! Just stay there a few months until I’ll handle things here!" He said in a firm tone.

Antoine was in deep need of money but not so much so to see his daughter cry like this.

"I’ll contact someone to help you out of here in secrecy," he added and took out his cell phone.

"Dad is right, Sora," Angelo’s eyes lit up. "Just stay away for a while."

Soraya was stunned by the sudden change. She couldn’t believe her father was willing to let her run away from this marriage.

"Yes, Yes," Evelina quickly chimed in as she wiped her tears. "If she’s not happy then let her hide until things get smooth here."

The coldness in Soraya’s heart melted a little, seeing her new parents trying to help her and had not fully abandoned her, her heart felt heavy.

"There’s no need!" She said in a firm tone. "I’ve made my decision to marry Santino. You shouldn’t have ever promised him anything."

Despite blaming them, a part of them didn’t want them to take any sort of punishment because of her. She was a simple woman who didn’t understand such things. Besides, she knew Santino wasn’t any easy person to play with. He knew about her and that’s how he approached her. He could even make her kill these people.

’Such a cunning fox he is,’ she thought.

Antoine’s hand paused in the mid air who was about to make a call.

"Please leave," Soraya said in a low voice. "I want to be alone."