Chapter 1 The evening when everything changed

Carmen had been walking around in her room for minutes because she didn't understand why her parents would have asked to see her. She knew that most often, it was to reproach her for things but the way her half-sister, Célia, had said it, she understood that it was not an easy situation to understand. For her to understand, she had to go into the living room and that was the only thing to do to free her mind. We had never asked her opinion on anything and she didn't think it was a start.

"Luckily you are here my daughter. I'm glad you really understand that we need you," Paula told him.

Her daughter ? It was the first time she had called him that and it didn't bode well. More often than not, it was just insults and contempt. She looked at her father who was sweating. Javier Rodriguez sweaty and panicked? This story didn't feel good.

"We all know that you are surprised that we asked you to come and we understand you Carmen but the situation is not to be taken lightly this time. You have to help us."

Help ? Things had always been imposed on him in this family. No one had ever asked her about her birth and even her father, the only person with whom she had the same blood in the family. If they spoke kindly to her, it was certainly because they wanted her to give her life for one of them.

"We will run out of food in a while Carmen and we will all die."

She appeared indifferent despite her father's soft and calm voice. The main people to benefit from the Rodriguez fortune were her half-sister and her mother, so she didn't see why she was going to panic about this.

"Don't keep calm damn it Just because someone tries to be nice to you doesn't mean you'll grow wings. The situation requires sacrifice and the one we will have to sacrifice is you. It's not death that awaits you but a kind of deliverance."

She assimilated slowly because something told her that her father spoke with reserve, certainly because he did not want to rush her all of a sudden.

"The family business is bankrupt and we have an investor but in order for him to help us, he is asking in return for a marriage with one of my daughters."

This was a trap, Carmen thought. If it was an investor capable of saving their company from ruin, that simply meant that it was a rich man that Célia should have married since she was the one who deserved everything that was beautiful in life and what's better than a billionaire husband. There was something fishy going on.

"This isn't normal, dad. Why is it up to her to marry this man and not me? I think if I become his wife, you won't even have to work so hard. I will get us out of the situation. This marriage must be mine."

Carmen breathed in relief. She hoped that her father would accept that Célia marry this man instead of him because she was not even ready for marriage yet. All her hopes vanished when she heard her mother-in-law say.

"You can't marry him because he's disabled and I refuse to let my daughter, my only child, marry a man who can't do anything, not even give her a kiss. He's not the billionaire but it's a friend of his who is and he'd like to do him a favor by giving him a wife in exchange for money," Paula snapped at Célia.

Finally Carmen understood. It was just eternal condemnation. She looked at her father, the only person she still had in this world since her mother had died giving birth to her. The latter looked away and she understood. There was nothing she could do to change his mind.

"You're going to get married tomorrow, Carmen, and don't do anything stupid."

Just the next day? So suddenly? It wasn't serious at all. She didn't know anything about this man, she didn't even know if he could like her because her mother-in-law kept telling her that she needed to lose weight. It was not a marriage of love but a marriage of convenience and until then, she did not want to put that into her head for fear of suffering more.

"I know I always told you that you were fat but you don't need to look at your weight because, this man won't even be able to see you. Blind and paralyzed in the legs, you won't risk a contemptuous look from him."

It was the only way her mother-in-law had found to reassure her. A mother's words were what she wanted but she couldn't even listen to them and instead of a father's words replacing them, the latter only thought about his business.

"Can I go back to my room?" She asked in a very small voice.

"I understand that you want to cry about the situation but don't worry. You can cry as much as you want because he won't even be able to see your reddened eyes. You can go."

She gave her father one last look of distress and ran up the stairs. Once in her room, she slammed the door and slid against it, crying. A marriage, an eternal union with a stranger and without love. So that was what she was condemned to after having spent years bearing the label of the orphan girl and the child born from infidelity on the part of her father. She couldn't even run away even if the idea crossed her mind. They were going to find her and by all means.