The Love From Vengeance

| stepped out of the The Reynolds mansion, the cool morning air enveloping me, offering a brief respite from the suffocating atmosphere within. | took a deep breath, trying to shake off the weight of expectation that still clung to my shoulders like a heavy cloak.

Before | could gather my thoughts, the sound of footsteps behind me made turn, and there he was- Luke, his expression twisted in a mixture of frustration and anger. He strode towards me, his steps filled with so much rage and | couldn’t help but feel a twinge of apprehension at the intensity in his eyes.

“What do you think you're doing?” he snapped, glaring at me.

“I was just...” | stammered, unsure how to respond, since | had too much in my head right now.

Luke closed the distance between us in an instant, his grip on my arm tight as he pulled me towards him, his face contorted with rage. “You think you can just walk into my life and ruin everything?” | winced at the force of his words, feeling the sting of his accusation like a physical blow. “I-I didn’t mean to...” | trailed off, unable to form a coherent response amidst the torrent of emotions crashing over me.

His grip tightened even further, his eyes boring into mine with a fierce intensity. “You have to change your mind, Ariel,” he growled, his voice low and menacing. “You have to put an end to this marriage, or else...

His threat hung in the air, unspoken yet palpable, and | felt a shiver of fear run down my spine.

Despite the anger burning within him, there was something else lurking beneath the surface-a vulnerability, a desperation that hinted at deeper turmoil beneath the facade of strength.

It was then that my senses finally cback, the soft side of me disappearing, and unfolding was the firm Ariel, who would speak her mind despite the consequences. But why wasn’t this side helping me to make a decision against my parents? “Or else what, huh?” | asked Luke, since he was just in silence, thinking about shit. To hell with whatever he was thinking. “What are you going to do, Luke Reynold?” He quickly let go of me, his expression showed how frustrated he was. “Why did you do it?” He asked, and right now, the two of us had our eyes fixed on each other.

He continued with his question, like he wanted an answer. “Why did you decide to follow through with my grandfather's decision? “I just did what's best,” | replied, taking my gaze to a different direction.

“You want to know something?” he said, but | didn’t glance at him. “When you said those things at the coffee shop, | had doubts.” | set my eyes on him promptly, interested in what he had to say.

“I had doubts about my thoughts about you. You being a golddigger, only after my money. That was it, but you had to make me realize that | was a fool to have such doubts. | shouldn't even think of trusting you, because you are indeed a golddigger. All you want is money, you and your worthless ferraty” “You can say anything you want. You can throw insults atand my family. Those are just your thoughts, and honestly, they don’t really matter | moved closer to him and continued, “My family is going through crisis right now. And if | don’t get married to you, by your grandfather's will, | won't be able to take them out of it.” “It’s the sthing here. You goddamn golddiggers” “I didn’t want this marriage to take place, trust me. | do not love you and do not want to spend my with you.

“Then why are you still saying yes to everything?” He cutoff. “Why don’t you just disagree with all the decisions? Why can’t you just go and leavealone?” “As much as | want to do that, | can’t,” | answered in a whisper.

Luke gavea face that madelook like | was crazy. “Are you stupid, are you crazy? Why can’t you?” “Well, that’s what your grandfather wants.” “Oh please, silly excuses!” “Silly excuses? Okay, you tell me, Luke. If you don’t want this marriage to take place, why don’t you tell your grandfather about it? Why don’t you disagree with his decisions?” Luke fell speechless to my questions. He was just staring at me, and | bet the words were revolving in his head.

“I think | know why. It’s because you cannot go against him, just as how | can’t go against my parents This is something we don’t want, but we both can’t ruin the relationship with family. We can’t break the bonds we have with our blood.” Luke ran his hands through his hair, letting out a sigh that clearly showed his frustration. “This is unbelievable.” “What is unbelievable?” | asked him.

“The fact that you're making up dumb excuses.” “I am not making up excuses, | am just telling you the truth.” “And you think this is the truth?” He snapped immediately, with a high tone. “Answer me, you think this is the truth?” “I don’t even get what you're saying.” “Because you cannot hide it, Ariel! You cannot hide the fact that you're nothing but a golddigger, and all you think about is money, power, fame, wealth.” Luke's words hitlike a punch to the gut, each accusation slicing through me with surgical precision. The anger in his voice was clear, his frustration radiating off him in waves.

| clenched my fists, fighting to keep my emotions in check despite the torrent of insults hurled my way.

“You don’t know anything about me,” | shot back. You don’t know anything about my family. You have no idea what I've been through or what we have endured together. You don’t know anything!” Luke scoffed, his lip curling in disdain. “Oh please, keep the fake shit to yourself. I've heard it all before.”

“You think you know everything, don't you?” | retorted, my voice rising with each word. “Well, ,let me tell you something, Luke Reynold. You don't know the first thing about me, my family, or the sacrifices we've made just to survive.

‘And what sacrifices are those, huh? Please, put an end to this fake story. | don't want to hear another piece of nonsense from you. You and your good—for—nothing family have been golddiggers since the dawn of time.

Don't say anything further.”

“That's a lie! And it's so fucked up that you would spit such nonsense! My parents have worked themselyes to the bone,just to put food on the table and a roof over our heads.

We've faced hardships that you couldn't even begin to imagine, and yet you have the audacity to stand there and judgebased on your own misguided assumptions.” “I'm not judging you, Ariel,” he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. “I'm just... frustrated.” The vulnerability in his tone caughtoff guard, momentarily disarmingin the midst of our heated exchange. “Frustrated?” | echoed, my anger giving way to confusion. “What do you mean?”