The information that my mom delivered to me took a few seconds to soak in. It's not easy to absorb this information, especially around this time. Then, the thought of it hit me in the face like a hard slap. 

This can't be happening. I can't believe this was happening. My relationships have never even gone this far, and now I'm getting married? This is unacceptable. I can't deal with this. 

"What are you saying, Mom? I'm not engaged," I state. "Play innocent. That way, she'll soften up. She'll sympathize with me. She'll have a change of heart, and then I can just go to college and live my life," I think to myself. But somehow, deep down, I know that was far from reality. I know I'm not kidding anyone when I'm trying my tactics. 

"Our family is in a financial black hole, Nicole. This is the only way to help our family with our problems. I found a lovely man to marry you off to. He's financially stable, and good looking. He's a good match," my mom says, like there's nothing wrong with her actions. My eyes widen at her insensitivity. I know my mom has always been like this, but this is taking it to a whole new level. 

"This is illegal," I think angrily. She is taking my rights away as a human and marrying me off to someone I don't even know. I shake my head. I'm not an object. I won't get pushed around like this at all. My mother can't control my choices like a tyrant. I want to do what my heart desires. I'm fully intent on finishing college first, finding a job, and then marrying. But I won't let her interfere in my dreams. I won't let her stop me from doing what my heart craves. I won't let her run my life like this. 

"No," I say bluntly. I cross my arms over my chest, and look at her with a serious look. My mom raises an eyebrow at me, with her mouth falling open slightly at my defiance.

"What did you just say?" she demands, like I just told her that she can go rot in hell. To be fair, I wouldn't mind if that happened. The demanding look on her face morphs into a raging look, like she wants to rip me up with her bare hands. I raise my head up even higher. 

"I said no. I'm not getting married to him, and I don't care what you say. You're not the one who dictates my love life," I spit. The fury in my mom's eyes intensifies, like a forest fire. Her eye starts to twitch violently, like she's ready to punch a wall out. She leans down and her hand fastens its grip around my shirt collar. She roughly jerks me up off the bed and closer to her. She's in my face. Literally. 

"Now, listen here young lady. You are going to marry that man no matter what you think or what I think. You are going to do so and you're going to be with that man," my mom says in a fierce tone. I scoff. Her threats are more empty than a cardboard box. There isn't an ounce of fear that's sizzling inside of my body, and I can see past that threat like it's made of glass. 

"And what are you going to do? I'm not scared of you," I say, straightforwardly. My mom smirks at me. The fury in her eyes is replaced with something much more sinister. It's something absolutely vile. She has something up her sleeve, and she'll pull it on me. 

"If you don't get married to this man, then I will throw you out. I'll make sure that you'll never see Dominic and Elena ever again. I'll make sure the next time you see them will be in a coffin. And, we wouldn't want anything to happen to your father, would we?" she asks, with the malevolent look in her eye intensifying. I gasp. She wouldn't do that. She may do a lot of things, but I refuse to let her touch my father and my siblings in any sort of way. 

"Don't you dare bring them into this," I say angrily. My hands ball up into a fist when I hear her threats. If she lays a finger on them, then I'll make sure that she regrets it. No matter what it takes. She smirks.

 "Oh, but I'll have to if you don't obey me. You remember Bruno and Aldo. You know my connections to them. Now, what do you say? Are you going to marry him?" she asks. Just then, the memory of our connections plagues my mind. My mom has the power to do it. She's sitting on lots of family connections from her past. All it takes is a simple snap of her fingers, and we're at her feet, begging for mercy. 

I realize that her threats aren't empty at all. She'll do what it takes to get what she wants. Tears start to fill up my eyes. I don't want to do this. I've always dreamed of going to college, finding a job, and then married. My dreams will be crushed by this. Everything I've worked for will be crushed. But at the same time, I consider this from my father's point of view. 

Multiple sclerosis has already taken its toll on him. My siblings already have some sort of family. Dominic's engaged, and Elena has a boyfriend. I couldn't do this to them. I don't need them to suffer any more because of this witch. I don't want them to suffer any more because of me. They've already made so many sacrifices because of me. It's time to return the favor. No matter how much it hurts me.

"F-fine. I'll marry him," I say, my voice shaking as the words slip out of my mouth. My mom smiles out of satisfaction. Triumph is painted all over her face. She had won. This witch had won. The thought seemed almost unreal, but it had happened. I just couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had won and that she was controlling my life like this. 

"Excellent. That's a good girl. We're leaving in an hour. Say your goodbyes, and then we'll leave," she commands, and she pushes me back on the bed. She storms out of the room, and she sprints downstairs to start packing my things. Once my body makes contact with my bed, I start to bawl.

I feel so vulnerable and powerless doing this. Everything is coming at me at a rate that was too fast for me to handle. It was like a train was coming at me and I didn't have enough time to jump out of the way. I don't want to leave. I want to just run off and get away from the hell that I'm in. But, that's beyond my will power. Not when she's threatening my dad's life like this. Dominic and Elena come into my room and they see me breaking down. 

"Phoenix? What's going on?" Elena asks, gently.

Dominic sits on the bed and he helps me up. He looks me in the eyes, with his hands cupping my face. He wipes my tears with his thumbs, while trying to keep a calm look on his face to induce the emotion in me. 

"Breathe, Phoenix. Breathe," he orders, which I try to do. I inhale deeply, while Elena rubs my shoulder and back to keep me calm. Time to break the news. 

"Mom's getting me married," I answer. Elena's jaw collapses to the floor, as Dom's eyes bug out with disbelief. Elena starts to croak a random mixture of all sorts of words, before she finally comes up with a valid sentence. 

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?!" she screeches, out of pure shock. I nod my head sadly.

"Nicole, why did you agree to this? What's wrong with you?" Dominic demands. Worry is melted into his eyes, along with sadness and shock, much like Elena. I wipe my eyes. 

"She's going to make your lives hell if I don't do this. She's going to do something to Dad, and she'll go after you guys next," I say. Elena shakes her head. 

"No, she won't. She won't do anything to us," Elena assures calmly. Through her eyes, I can tell that even she knows it's a lie. She doesn't even know if she's telling me the 100% truth at this point. She just wants to make me feel a little bit better about myself, which I appreciate, even if the efforts are futile. 

"You want to bet on that?" a voice asks at the door. We all turn our heads, and my mom is leaning against the door, with her arms crossed. An eyebrow is raised, with a slight smirk reflecting in her face. 

"You wouldn't do this to Nicole. She's your daughter!" Dominic begs. His voice is starting to break, and with that, I can feel his heart breaking too. I didn't want to leave him, and he didn't want to see me leave. My mom frowns. 

"We're already in such crap right now with our finances. This is the perfect way to solve our problems. And don't even think about taking her with you and keeping her safe. I have my eyes on all of you guys. If you guys take her, I'll make sure that Lara and Roy get some nice treatment," my mom divulges evilly.

Dominic and Elena both gasp. "You wouldn't bring them into this!" Dominic claims, in a voice that has disbelief and fear injected into it. My mom nods. 

"Oh, I would. Don't test me. You both know that I have the connections and the power to make it happen. You both know of my connections to Bruno and Aldo. So, what's your thoughts?" my mom challenges. My brother and sister are deprived of words at this point. They can't believe anything that my mom is planning to do. I stand up.

"Guys, I'm so sorry. I have to do this," I say, while they turn around. Elena looks like she's about to break down crying. Dominic just looks helpless. He knows that he can't do anything about it. At almost the same moment, they both leap in and they hug me tightly. 

Dom is starting to break down in my arms as I hug him for the last time in a while. His breathing is extremely jagged, as I feel hot tears drip onto my shoulder. Elena, who has an exterior almost made of bricks, is breaking down right in front of me. Her hug is enough to crush my ribs, but I can feel her holding back her tears in an attempt to be strong in front of me. The more she started to break down, the bigger the crack in my heart became. Right before they let go, Dominic whispers in my ear, "We'll get you out of this. Don't worry."

Around 2 seconds after he whispers that, I feel my mom's hand grip my shoulder. She sharply pulls me away from my siblings. "I love you guys!" I yell, as my mom leads me to the car.

 As she drags me downstairs, I see my dad wiping his eyes as he helplessly watches me get dragged. When I see him, I take her hand and I rip it off of my shoulder. I sprint over to my dad and I hug him. He's at first startled, but then he hugs me back.

"I love you, Dad," I assure. Like my siblings, my dad sobs in my arms, helplessly. He can't do much, and he knows it. It kills me to see him suffering, in many different ways, and lacking the power to do anything about it. 

"I love you too, Nicole," my dad says tearfully. I feel my mom's hand wrap around my wrist, and she drags me into the car. She throws me inside, and she locks the doors from the inside so that I can't jump out in any way. She also locks the windows so that I can't scream for help. She buckles my seat belt, and she drives off to the marriage hall.

During the drive, I'm contemplating as to whether or not I should just escape somewhere. When she pulls over, I should probably just run off, and alert someone so that I can get back to my family. My heart is nothing short of a horse at this point, galloping against my chest, with its rapid footsteps incredibly audible against my ribs. 

With every minute, I'm swallowing back the lump in my throat caused by a mixture of unwillingness and sorrow. Warm tears fill and dampen my eyes, as I look out into the distance of what my mom is driving through. I should just make a run for it when she stops the car. Find the nearest bus stop and go back home to my family. My mom takes one look at me, and she smirks. 

"If you're thinking about getting away, then think again, Nicole. I'm a fast runner, and I will drag you to the wedding if it kills me. Our problems will be solved with the marriage," she schemes, as pure anger starts to fill me again. 

"I hate you," I hiss at her. She does nothing but chuckle. The words are just gasoline to fuel the fire that she's causing within me and within my family. 

"The feeling's mutual, princess," she snarls back at me, and she continues to drive to the hall. 

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Oh man, this chapter wasn't easy for me to write. It stings to write something so heartbreaking. How do you guys think Nicole's family is going to cope without her?

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? So, I've been wondering this. Phoenix is getting close to being eligible for the Wattys. Do you guys think that I should wait a little bit, and publish the whole story, then enter it in next year's Wattys? Or should I enter it now? Let me know. 

That's pretty much it. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Saturday with a new chapter of Phoenix! Have a great week!

Love you guys, 

Shree.