Chapter 4 A Dilemma

"You bitch!" Talon pointed at Bonnie. "Don't you understand? It's our family's end if you don't marry him! I raised you for so many years and this is how you repay us? How could you be so ungrateful?"

Bonnie held her mother's hand tighter in her hands. Expressionlessly, she said, "Then you can just consider me an ungrateful daughter."

She had never been so reluctant to do her duty as a daughter than at that moment. But if her father wanted to trade her like cattle to the highest bidder, then she would never compromise.

"Bonnie, I suggest you think about your words before you say something cruel." Admiration flashed across Gavin's eyes as he looked at Bonnie. It was short-lived though and was quickly replaced with hatred once he turned his attention to Talon.

Talon's face twitched in annoyance at Gavin's words. He rolled his eyes at Gavin. Then, he noticed Bonnie was hitching her voluminous wedding dress up as if she was getting ready to run. He couldn't have that. So he quickly rushed to her and knelt down in front of her.

"Dad! What are you doing?" Bonnie said in a panic. She tried to squat down to her father's level and pull him up but she was too weak to even make him budge.

"Bonnie, please help me," Talon begged. He watched as his daughter's features softened in understanding and pity. So there was still hope. With tears in his eyes, he decided to lay it on thick. "Bonnie, if you don't marry him, our family will be ended. My life will be ended!"

"Even if our family goes bankrupt, we are still richer than most families." Bonnie withdrew her hand from her father.

She knew what her family's financial status was. Even if they went bankrupt, it was far from being a negative asset. They only had to live a little simpler in the future.

"No! It's not like that," Talon said as he shook his head. He sneaked a glance at Gavin. He didn't want to air all his dirty laundry in front of his wife and daughter. He was trembling in anxiety as he was trying to find a way out.

Gavin sneered as he understood what was happening. He walked up to Bonnie and said, "Your father's right. If we don't marry right now, his life will be ended."

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked Gavin sharply. He was glaring at her with sharp eyes.

"Exactly as he said." It seemed like Talon didn't dare tell them the truth yet. So the best way to push Bonnie forward was to threaten her and make her believe how dire the situation was. "If you refuse my proposal, that's okay. But you'll have to bury your father's dead body tomorrow. Will that make you happy? The man who forced you to get married today will die tomorrow."

That made Bonnie stop. She felt fear run up her spine.

She took a careful glance at her father to see him trembling and with a desperate look on his face. Gavin's ridiculous threat must be true.

After calming herself down, she asked her father, "What happened twenty years ago that had you so afraid of him?"

"Nothing. Nothing you have to worry about, Bonnie." Talon looked everywhere but his daughter's eyes.

Bonnie shared a worried look with her mother. They had a bad feeling about this.

Talon would rather kneel down and beg his daughter than tell them the truth.

"Your father clearly doesn't want to talk about it. Why are you forcing him to tell you?"

Bonnie belatedly realized that Gavin had stopped calling her father 'Uncle Talon'. Probably because there were no more guests around. It seemed like he had stopped pretending to be an amiable character now that there was no audience around.

"Bonnie, you have to just trust me on this," her father said as he walked on his knees to her. Tears were now streaming down his face. He saw that Bonnie remained unmoved so he tried to turn to his wife. "Honey, we've been married for so many years now. You can't just let me die!"

"Dad, get up," Bonnie said quietly that Talon almost missed it. He looked up and saw Bonnie was looking out of the window blankly.

"Bonnie, you can't be so heartless! I'm still your father. It's my blood that runs in your veins!" There was a faint smile on Gavin's face that made Talon fear him more. He began to cry harder.

"Get up!" Bonnie angrily shouted. She couldn't bear it anymore. Tears began to stream down her face.