My Beloved Hated Wife

"Tovia! Tovia!"

That morning, her father had called her, shouting her name as she prepared to go to college.

"What is it this time again?" Tovia murmured angrily as she descended the stairs.

"Don't you hear me calling you?" Mr. Page lashed out at his only daughter and child, but she only stood with an angry face, looking at her father. Tovia knows that whenever her father starts calling her like that, there has to be something that she will regret later.

"Prepare yourself tonight. We are both meeting the Woods," Mr. Page said, adjusting his tie.

"The Woods!" Tovia squeezed her face, looking ugly.

"I have already finalized your marriage with Jerry. So we need to meet with them tonight to talk about the wedding preparations," Jones added nonchalantly.

"No drama, you hear me?" He warned as he dashed out of the mansion, with his assistant following closely. Tovia stood still, like she had just been struck by heavy lightning. It takes a while for her to crawl back into her room.

Sitting in front of the mirror in her room, she stares at her reflection as if she has lost the sense of time. Suddenly, she yells.

"I hate myself! I hate myself!" Hot tears flow down her cheeks as she cries. Her face turns sore because of anger.

"How could he? How could he do that to me?" Tovia cries and starts to throw all the things on her dressing table away furiously. The sound of things shattering attracts Maggie, the househelp, who is working downstairs. She quickly runs to Tovia's room. Maggie had already secretly heard Mr. Page talking to Tovia about the marriage that morning.

"Young Miss," Maggie calls and quickly holds Tovia's hand, who is now crying seriously at the sight of Maggie. Maggie sighs seeing Tovia crying. She slowly bends down and starts picking up all the things Tovia threw on the floor.

"Young Miss, you need to pull yourself together," Maggie stands up, looking at Tovia's wet face in pity.

"How could I pull myself together in all this? How could I?" Tovia sheds more tears. Maggie then pulls closer to Tovia and hugs her by the side.

"I know it's difficult, but since there is nothing we could do about it..." Maggie pauses because she does not want to add to Tovia's pain.

"Why would he choose to marry me to those goons?" Tovia laments, still crying.

"Not even someone better, Jerry! Jerry, for that matter," Tovia cries at the thought of Jerry.

"Everyone in this city knows Jerry and the Wood's family are pure evil, and they have no regard for anyone. How could I marry into such a family? To that arrogant Jerry, at that?" Tovia looks frustrated and angry at the same time. Maggie sighs terribly, knowing the Woods.

Indeed, no one would be so unfortunate to marry into the Wood's family. Everyone knows that the Woods are just as their name suggests: brutal, evil, and the talk of all the bad things in the world.

"How could someone who is sane allow his only child to marry into such an evil family?" Maggie thinks worriedly, but does not utter a word about her worries.

"Only Jones would do that," Maggie mutters to herself and heaves a long sigh.

"Young Miss," Maggie calls Tovia after some time, knowing she has already calmed down.

"Maybe I should talk to Master," Maggie said slowly. Tovia looks up at Maggie. She can see how worried and concerned Maggie is because of her. Looking at the two, one could see how close they are to each other, even though they have the relationship of a master and servant.

Tovia has always regarded Maggie as her own mother, but she is just a househelp who has been working with the family for a long time. Tovia grew up with Maggie working in her family household, and Maggie always treated her like her own child too.

Tovia wiped the tears that stained her face because she did not want to bother Maggie with her problems. She really wanted someone who could talk to her father, but she knew that her father always did whatever he wanted. There was no way to talk her father out of his decisions.

"He has never listened to anyone, how will he listen to you?" Tovia sighed sadly. She looked at Maggie's worried face and slowly held Maggie's hands, then forced a smile.

"Thank you so much, Maggie, you are the only one who is always worried about me," Tovia looked gratefully at Maggie.

"But... I don't want to put you in trouble with Dad," Tovia said sluggishly. Maggie slowly bowed her head low at what Tovia said.

"I will do something about it," Tovia assured Maggie with a forced smile. Maggie knew that Tovia was just trying to act strong in front of her, so she also forced a smile.

"Just trust me," Tovia added since Maggie seemed not to believe her. Maggie smiled pretending to believe that Tovia would do something.

"I will go back downstairs, take care young Miss," Maggie turned and left.

After Maggie left Tovia's room, her face turned sore and ugly as she took heavy steps downstairs, feeling really sad. She slowly walked downstairs to her room in the basement. She lived in the basement of the mansion, and her room looked shabby, as if she was not paid well for her job in the Page's mansion.

Though the room was neat and tidy, there were only some old clothes hanging on the bed and a small table and chair. Maggie sat on the bed and cried seriously.

"Your mother is not capable," Maggie murmured as tears flowed down her cheeks. She looked at a small picture for some time and later hid the picture carefully.

"I know you will be strong, Tovia," she said with a cracked voice and wiped her tears.

Tovia started to pace back and forth after Maggie left her room.

"I cannot marry that Jerry," she thought seriously.

"But... is there any way to escape from Dad?" Tovia bit her lower lip frustratingly and blinked away the tears that formed in her eyes. She knew that there was no way she could win against her father in any decision he made for her. All her life, her father had been the one making decisions for her, and she had been enduring them all, thinking that those decisions were things she could do and that would not affect her. But now her marriage.

Tovia had thought that after college, she would be freed from her father's dictates. But now she had to marry someone he wanted. If it was someone else, she might have tried to go along with it, but not the Woods and not Jerry!

"Over my dead body will I marry Jerry. No! I will not marry him, I cannot marry Jerry," Tovia let out devastated. She continued to think of how to escape from her father's decision this time.

She thought that her marriage was the only way to get freed from her father's clutches, but now she had no option. She believed that if she agreed to the marriage, then she would forever be miserable.

"Should I just run away?" she thought, but she instantly dropped the idea because she knew who her father was. If she ran away, her father would find her, even if she was hiding in hell.

"Not even when the Woods are involved," Tovia sighed terribly.

The Woods are dangerous people. They are known for all the atrocities anyone could think of, since they are born gangsters, and they also controlled the underworld. Thinking about that, Tovia knew there was no way of escape for her.

"So, what do I do?" Tovia cried. The tears she had been trying to fight away fell again.

"Mom!" she muttered sadly. She knew that even if she called for her mother until eternity, her mother would not come to her aid because she is dead. She had been told her mother is dead ever since she grew up. She did not see any of her mother's pictures or know anything about her mother or her mother's family. Tovia felt so helpless in front of her father at all times since there was no one to help her.

It was only when she went to college that she felt a little happy and relieved. She sank down beside her bed, and then her phone beeped. She slowly took her phone to check.

"I am late for class," she instantly remembered having a lecture and stood up but sat back slowly.

"Why should I worry about going to class when my life is about to end?" she hissed.

"I will just go," she stood up sluggishly to get ready for class.

"Even if I have to die this time, I will not marry Jerry," Tovia looked determined as she headed downstairs to go to college.

Driving into the college, Tovia parks her car slowly and gets out. She sighs as she looks at the place where she finds relief.

People in the school always look at her as someone who is lucky. The heiress of the Almighty Page company. Everyone in the city knows about Page company. They deal in electronics and computers and have gained popularity over time.

Tovia sighs again, thinking of her miserable life and the facade she has to put on in public. Putting on her sunglasses, she enters the lecture room.

"Miss Page, you are late for this class." the lecturer queries.

"I'm sorry, sir." Tovia bows her head apologetically.

"Go sit down." the lecturer says and continues the lecture.

Tovia knows that even if she is late, the lecturer will still allow her into the class. Her father is one of the major shareholders of the college and the one who donates all the computers in the college. Who will go against her?

Andre, who is already in the class, quickly waves to Tovia to come sit beside him. Tovia slowly walks towards Andre and sits, then smiles at him.

Andre wears his funny, big glasses which he always puts on. His big, oversized shirt like it was passed down to him makes him look so foolish. No one wants to come close to such folly as Andre among their mates. He is so dull and acts foolishly all the time, and on top of that, he stammers.

All their classmates feel disgusted by him, but Tovia finds Andre funny and laughs at his behavior. Since Tovia is someone her classmates find proud and aloof because of her status and how she keeps to herself, they detest her too.

With the fact that Tovia also does not associate herself with anyone in the class, guys who come to ask her out are all ignored. Not that she doesn't really want to associate herself with her mates, but because of her father. Tovia knows that if anyone gets too involved with her, her father will hurt them.

And since she does not want anyone to get hurt because of her, she pretends to act arrogant and proud, because of that, all her classmates avoid her, thinking she is proud because she is the heiress of the Page company. After Tovia saves Andre from being bullied by their classmates, Tovia and Andre become friends and only associate with each other. Tovia believes that even if her father gets to know that she is friends with Andre, he will not be interested in him since he is just like a joke to people.

"Why are you late to class today?" Andre asks, stammering.

Tovia smiles and secretly points to the lecturer to scare Andre. Andre quickly faces front and concentrates on the lecture so that the lecturer will not send them both out.

"That will be the end of the class for today," the lecturer said after some time of lecturing and left the class.

"V...V," Andre calls Tovia's name.

Tovia removes her glasses and smiles broadly, hearing Andre call her name like that. She always finds it funny the way Andre calls her name. Only Andre calls her V. When Tovia asks why Andre always calls her V, he said it's simple and cute.

"Why are you sad?" Andre asks, seeing Tovia's sad face while shifting his mouth funnily as he speaks.

He has always been like that when he talks because he stammers. Looking at Andre's face, Tovia can see how worried Andre is because of her.

"It's nothing," Tovia forces a smile because she does not want him to be worried.

"You know I am your friend, you can tell me anything," Andre looks concerned.

Seeing how concerned Andre is, Tovia feels like pouring her mind out to him. She already considers him her friend, but how will she tell him about her arranged marriage with a gangster?

Tovia blinks, looking at Andre's face, then a thought suddenly strikes her mind.

"What if I have another option?" Tovia thinks.

"If I give Dad another option, I might be able to escape from this evil marriage." Tovia's face lights up.

She instantly grabs Andre's hands. "Andre, let's have a contract marriage." Tovia stares into Andre's eyes as if she has just seen her savior. She thinks that if she introduces someone else to her father as her husband and they are already married, there is no way she will marry Jerry.

Hearing what Tovia said, Andre looks at Tovia strangely. When Tovia sees Andre's expression, she squeezes his hands pleadingly.

"Andre, please save me from hell, marry me," Tovia adds with a sad face.

"What...what!" Andre exclaims, confused by Tovia's words.

"V...V, are you okay?" He quickly pulls his hands away from Tovia.

"Andre, listen to me, my dad wants me to marry a devil. You are my friend, aren't you? Let's get married on paper. I will reward you handsomely. Save me," Tovia begs, since her life depends on it.

"N..o, no!" Andre angrily replies and pushes Tovia away, then quickly walks out of the class.

Tovia sighs heavily, watching Andre leave in anger. She feels left out and even sadder.

"Tovia, you must have been out of your mind." She sighs again.

Looking at the whole classroom with her alone in there, Tovia feels like she is the only one in the whole wide world. Hot tears flow down her cheeks for the third time that day.

"Will I marry Jerry now?" she cries, putting her head slowly on the table.

"I should just die." Her tears continue nonstop.

"Over my dead body will I marry Jerry. I will not marry him. I will not," she murmurs.

After some time, she cleans her tears and puts on her sunglasses again to leave the class.

"Before I kill myself tonight, I have to face Dad," Tovia says, determined to really kill herself. She walks out of the class to her car and drives off.

That evening, Tovia already decided to kill herself since she have no other option to save herself from marrying Jerry.

She put on a flawless purple flora short gown and a flat silver shoe with a small silver purse to match, while a thin necklace dangles on my neck. She just let her hair down and only had a nude makeup on, which makes her look like a high schooler.

"Tovia!" Jones calls from downstairs.

"Here we go again," Tovia said under her breath as she heads out of her room.

"Don't I tell you there should be no drama?" Jones looks angrily at her daughter.

"I am ready," Tovia manages to say and leaves for the garage where the car is parked.

Jones shakes his head slightly angry but trying to keep his cool, then follows after. Maggie, who hides in one corner, looks so sad as the two leave.

The driver soon drives into the restaurant where they are to meet with the Woods. Tovia looks ahead sternly throughout the ride, thinking about a lot of things.

Though she already decided to end her miserable life, killing herself is not something she wanted. She really did not want to die, but she also did not want to marry Jerry in her lifetime, not even in the next life.

"Let's go," Jones' voice brings Tovia back from her thoughts, then she realizes that they already arrived at the restaurant. Jones extends his hand to Tovia - the father-daughter duo are always seen hand in hand when they are together in public.

Tovia has learned to pretend with her father like the happy father-daughter duo over time. She sighs softly and puts her hand into her father's as she gets out of the car. Jones smiles softly and quickly changes his facial expression since anyone could secretly take pictures of them since Jones is a person who always cares about his image, he did not want anything that will tarnish his image.

Tovia's heart beats fast as they approach the private room where they are to meet with the Woods.

"I have to end it this evening," she thinks and sighs as they enter the private room where the Woods have been waiting for them.

"Mr. Wood," Jones quickly smiles and exchanges pleasantries with Mr. Wood.

"Have your seats, please," Mr. Wood smiles and gestures for the father-daughter to sit. Looking at Mr. Wood's smiling face, one would think that he is the most gentle man on Earth, but everyone in the city knows how evil he could be.

"Darling girl," Mr. Wood calls to Tovia.

Tovia's heart starts to pound when Mr. Wood shifts his attention to her.

"Like your father said, you are a really beautiful girl," he smiles broadly.

"Thanks, sir," Tovia forces a smile.

"Jerry, here is your bride," Mr. Wood says meaningfully.

Tovia's heart skips several beats when Mr. Wood calls her Jerry's bride. She puts her head down like a scared rabbit as she catches a glimpse of Jerry flashing his teeth.

"I'm so dead," Tovia feels like crying. She slightly looks at her father, but her father does not even bother about her, she can feel tears forming from the corner of her eyes.

"I want to go to the washroom," she quickly excuses herself and hastily rushes into the washroom.

"She is really shy," Jones quickly says so that Mr. Wood will not be offended.

"Oh! I understand," Mr. Wood smiles again.

"Jerry, you accompany your bride," Mr. Wood said to Jerry.

Tovia sighs deeply after getting into the washroom; she seems to be shaking with fear inside, merely looking at Mr. Wood, Tovia knows that if she marries Jerry, then her life will end even while she is still alive.

"Before my life ends in the Wood's hands, I will end my life here by myself," she breathes hard and closes her eyes to calm down.

"Hey! Bride," Tovia suddenly hears Jerry calling outside the washroom.

"What!" Tovia blinks hard.

"Why is he here?" She blurts out fearfully.

"I'm coming in, bride," Jerry adds, and Tovia can hear the doorknob being held. She becomes really scared; Jerry is known for raping young ladies and going scot-free because of the power his family holds in the city. Thinking about that, Tovia's heart sinks.

"He's coming in here?" Tears flood her eyes.

"Don't come here," Tovia's cracked voice sounds out subconsciously.

"I...I will be right out," she stutters and quickly wipes her tears, then pretends as if she is okay.

Before Jerry could get in, Tovia blocks him at the entrance.

"This is the ladies' washroom, why are you here?" Tovia questions, eyeing him angrily.

"I know," Jerry smiles wickedly.

"Since I'm going to be your husband soon, then there is no need to worry," Jerry replies, smiling. He attempts to place his hands on Tovia's shoulders, but she dodges him.

"I will head to the room," Tovia looks so nervous but tries to sound cool.

"After you, my bride," Jerry smiles, licking his lips lustfully as he follows after her. Tovia walks slowly into the room, with her heart racing, she slowly settles down trying to keep calm.

Before they come back, the food and wine are already set on the table.

"Dig in," Mr. Wood urges Tovia as she sits and tries to touch her hair, Tovia quickly leans back fearfully not allowing Mr. Wood to touch her hair.

"I don't bite, beautiful girl," Mr. Wood smiles softly.

"Don't mind my girl; she's just too young to understand your good intentions," Jones smiles as he does not mind if Tovia is okay or not.

"Mr. Page, since you've already exchanged this beauty, don't worry about anything else." Mr. Wood smiled while sneaking a peek at Tovia, who was shocked to hear what Mr. Wood just said.

"I know how capable you are, Mr. Wood. I trust you," Jones replied, eating slowly. Tovia looked pained with what her father said and couldn't even lift her spoon.

"I thought as much, just a giveaway," she wants to cry, but she held it in.

She instantly grew angry, now realizing that she was being used as an exchange for something her father wanted from the Woods.

"After the marriage between Jerry and our damsel is announced, then you will receive everything, Mr. Page," Mr. Wood promised.

"Then we should get them married quickly," Jones added hastily. Tovia's eyeballs already turned red, hearing her father use her as a negotiation.

She secretly looked at her father, but she could see that her father cared less about her feelings.

"Miss Page," Mr. Wood suddenly called Tovia. She seemed shocked and nervous to hear her name.

She quickly swallowed her saliva nervously and cleared her throat, then put on a smiling face as if nothing had happened. It is so easy for her to switch moods because she was used to it.

"Yes, sir," Tovia replied, smiling.

"When do you think the wedding should take place?" Mr. Wood asked Tovia deliberately because he had already noticed her silence.

"I think next week should be cool," Jerry cut in.

"What!" Tovia exclaimed in her mind.

"Mr. Wood, you need not ask her. You can hold the wedding anytime you want, even if it's now," Jones quickly chimed in.

"Haha," Mr. Wood laughed at what Jones said.

"That's why I like you, Mr. Page. You're my kind of person," Mr. Wood continued to laugh, and Jerry and Jones joined in the laughter. Tovia felt so angry and disgusted with her father.

"Mr. Page, I will not let you get what you want this time," Tovia angrily thought.

The three were laughing, even though they all knew that Tovia was not happy about it.

She almost screamed out and cried, but she used all her might to hold it in.

After the laughter died down, Tovia cleared her throat to get their attention. Jones looked at his daughter and squeezed his face, knowing that she might do something odd.

Tovia smiled widely, looking at them all.

"Mr. Wood," Tovia called slowly.

"Yes, beautiful girl," Mr. Wood replied cheerfully.

"I would have really loved to get married to Jerry instantly, as my father said..." Tovia smiled and glanced at Jerry.

"But," she paused and put her head down. Jones looked at Tovia strangely.

"But what?" Jones shouted at his daughter.

"A-um, I'm..." Tovia stuttered, swallowing her saliva nervously.

"I'm pregnant!" she dropped the bomb.

"What!" Jones yelled.

Mr. Wood and Jerry looked at each other, shocked, while Jones was extremely shocked and angry.