An Arranged Marriage

"Daddy, I don't want to marry him!" Carolina whimpered, getting up from her desk.

"There’s no such thing as ‘I don’t want to’! You will marry him, girl! Our family needs your help," he got closer to Carolina. "It's the least you can do after I've raised you for all these years!"

"But I'm your daughter!"

The marks of his fingers were clearly visible on Carolina's face, after the slap she received. Gaspar held her by the shoulders, shaking her.

"You are not my daughter by blood! And you know it! I raised you, allowed you to enjoy this good life! You owe us!"

"But… why me?" She whimpered.

"You don't think I'm going to give my daughter to a deformed person when I have you, do you? After all, you had to serve some purpose!"

He released her forcefully, causing Carolina to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Then he left the room, slamming the door.

Carolina Navarro, 24 years old, was the eldest daughter of the Navarro family. Her mother, Paloma, was accused of cheating on her husband and, while running away with her lover, she ended up losing her life. Carolina was almost two years old at the time. Gaspar then believed that Carolina was not his daughter. To avoid a scandal, he never took a DNA test, but he always made a point of showing how much he hated the girl.

The Navarro Porcelain Group was going through a moment of financial difficulty, and that was when an excellent opportunity appeared that would serve Gaspar with two purposes: it would save his company and also take Carolina out of his house.

The groom was none other than Máximo Castillo, only son and heir to that family's entire dairy empire. He was handsome, charming, intelligent, successful. That is, until he was in a twin-engine plane crash and had half his face burned. Now, 3 years after this event, he needed a wife and a child.

Carolina went down to dinner and both Nadia and Eloísa were at the table. Carolina's half-sister had a mocking smile on her face.

"Congratulations sister! You will finally let the spinster status behind you!"

"Thank you very much, Eloísa. I'd rather be known as a spinster than a lover to a few men."

Another slap, this time from Nadia.

"Don't you dare talk about my daughter!" She growled, slapping the table.

"What's going on here?" Gaspar asked, entering the dining room and looking at Carolina's face, Eloísa's tearful expression and Nadia's trembling lips. "I don't like to ask twice!"

"Gaspar, when will this wedding be? Carolina just offended our daughter! She attacked our girl's honor!"

He glared at Carolina and she knew she would receive punishment, but he just shook her and sent her to her room, no dinner.

"And that's all to it?" Nadia asked. "You know I don't like Carolina being punished, but... she crossed the line, here." Nadia was crying and Gaspar hugged her.

"I didn't give her a good spanking because her husband would complain. And we cannot lose this contract."

Inside the room, Carolina was lying on the bed, hugging the pillow, crying. Throughout her life, Carolina was mistreated not only by her father, but also by her stepmother, who pretended to be good, but whenever she could, she incited fights and disagreements between Gaspar and Carolina. Eloísa was not far behind.

'Maybe your husband isn't so bad, Carolina,' she said to herself. Yes, things could be different with him!

She didn't care about the scars, which she had never even seen. The problem was that she wanted to at least have a say in who she married with. Carolina dreamed of the day when she would no longer be under her father's whip and, as he didn't let her study or work, the only way was to get married. And that was where she had great hopes. Unfortunately, fate once again did not allow her to be the one deciding her own fate.

Two weeks later, Carolina was signing the marriage papers, by proxy. No religious wedding, as Máximo refused to leave the house. He would wait for Carolina at the farm, where her new home would be.

'It can’t be worse than at my father’s house.' Carolina thought, while she was in the car, heading to 'La Preciosa' Farm.

Carolina didn't know, but the deal had been made so that Eloísa, considered the city's beauty, would marry Máximo Castillo. However, it is obvious that Eloísa would never accept not only a marriage with a man she had never met, but also one who everyone knew was deformed by scars.

"We’re here, Mrs. Castillo!" The driver informed her and it took her a while to understand that it was with her he was talking to.

"Thank you!" She thanked, weakly.

Mrs. Castillo. It sounded very strange to her ears.

Carolina took a deep breath, before opening the car's door and getting out of the vehicle. She looked around and found herself in front of a huge mansion. Rustic, of course, as it was a farm, but very beautiful.

"Welcome, ma'am!" A middle-aged woman approached her, smiling at Carolina. "My name is Dolores.:

Carolina smiled.

"Hello, Dolores! Nice to meet you, I'm Carolina," she extended her hand to the elderly woman, who shook it.

'This girl is a good one!' Dolores thought. She met the boss's ex-fiancee and that was very arrogant. She never talked to the employees like that, so kindly. So… human.

"We are all very happy that you are here! Come, come! The boss is waiting anxiously."

Carolina nodded.

"And I'm happy to be so well received."

Carolina went up the stairs towards the main door, feeling her heart beating very hard. She was a married woman and would meet her husband in a few moments. She heard he was 'weird' and she wanted to know what that meant.

Before they entered the main doors, Dolores stopped walking and turned to Carolina, a little unsure.

"Ah, ma'am...The boss is a long-suffering man, and sometimes he can seem rude. But he's good. I've known him for years."

"I heard he had an accident," Carolina said.

Dolores nodded in agreement.

"Yes. And that made him a little too sad. A little tougher, you know? Be patient with him."

The look in Dolores' eyes indicated that she really liked her boss.

"I'll do my best, Dolores."

The elderly woman smiled broadly and continued walking.

The entrance door was huge, made of black wood. The floor was also dark, the wood very well waxed. All the furniture was made of that same material, including the sofas - but very well upholstered. The place screamed 'rustic!', but with excellent taste.

They stopped in front of a dark wooden double door, like the one at the entrance, all carved. The handle was gold. Dolores knocked twice.

"You may come in!" A deep male voice sounded from inside. Carolina liked what she heard and thought that, at least the voice was very beautiful.

"You can go in, ma'am," Dolores said and stepped to the side, giving space to Carolina pass by.

This one nodded, placed her hand on the doorknob, turned it and took a deep breath before entering the office.

The first thing she saw was the huge window, but with the curtains closed. She could only see the top of the light-haired man's head from the chair. His back was to her.

"Hello, Mr. Castillo," she said and closed the door behind her. However, when she started to walk towards the desk, he stopped her.

"Stop!"

She stopped, startled.

"Oh, I…"

"There's no need for you to walk to me. Welcome, wife. I called you here to give you some rules."

"Oh, right," she said, softly.

"Don't ever interrupt me!" he scolded and she was going to say 'okay', but then, she would be doing exactly what he told her not to do. Máximo approved that she remained silent. "First thing: you can't come in here without being called. This rule applies to the office and to my bedroom. Dolores will show you which one it is, so we can avoid problems. Don't look for me unless it's an emergency. Always expect me to look for you. Don't keep staring at me."

Carolina nodded, but said nothing.

"Did you understand? Say something!" He spoke rudely and Carolina, who was hot-blooded, narrowed her eyes.

"Well, you told me not to interrupt you!" She said and only then wondered if she hadn't been too cheeky.

Silence.

"You are insolent."

"I can't see the future. If you don't say you're done talking, I have no way of knowing it," she hated being treated unfairly. She had already been through that at her father's house.

'And here was I thinking things could be different here..."

He took a deep breath.

"I'll let this one slide. But hold your tongue next time," he warned her and she, once again, ignored his threatening tone.

"Then be more clear. I can't see you, I can't read your expressions. I need you to vocalize your desires, or rather, your orders."

Máximo was looking at the window and couldn't help but smile. That woman had courage, he needed to admit that!

"Enough. You'll go to your room, stay there, familiarize yourself, rest. Today the meal will be served in your bedroom. Wait for me later."

"Wait for you, sir?"

She watched as he turned his head, as if he could look over his shoulder.

"Yes. Our wedding night."

Carolina hadn't thought about that. And she felt like an idiot. They had gotten married, the man needed an heir. 'You are a fool!'

"Carolina?" He called her and she liked how he pronounced her name, but then shook her head.

"Oh, yes. Got it. Right. I'm... I'm leaving. See you later."

She turned to leave, but before she did, he called out to her.

"Carolina!"

"Yes?" She replied, after counting to five.

"I didn't give you permission to leave, did I?"

"Ah, sorry, boss. May I go, now?"

He smiled, amused.

"You may."

She opened the door and left him alone.

'Unbearable man! Who does he think he is? He thinks I'm his slave or what?'

'Madam, come. I’ll show you your room,' Dolores said.

Carolina turned to her and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, yes of course. Let' go, then."

She motioned with her hand for Dolores to walk. And this one did.

When they entered a wide hallway, Dolores spoke again.

"Did you like the boss?"

'Poor thing, she swears he’s adorable!'

"Yeah, absolutely!" Carolina answered, trying not to hurt the elderly woman's feelings. This one smiled.

"This is so wonderful! Now, this one is your room and that one," she pointed to the room at the end of the corridor, with huge doors, "is the boss's."

"Thank you, Dolores. I'm going to take a bath and get some sleep."

"Of course, of course. Excuse me and welcome again!" The elderly woman started to walk away, then she stopped and looked at Carolina. "I'll bring dinner later, ma'am. Around five."

"Okay. Thank you, Dolores."

Dolores left and Carolina opened the bedroom door. It was very beautiful, like a hotel's. The walls were light yellow, with light beige curtains. The bed linen was white with small flowers embroidered on it.

After taking a bath - the bathtub was huge! - Carolina dozed off and set the alarm for an hour later. She barely woke up and someone was already knocking on the door.