‘’Never let a person try to make you into something that you’re not. Remember what it is you want and always stay strong in that.’’

 

Third Person POV

“Claire, come down, now,” yelled a furious Nathaniel Henderson. He held the love letter he found in the mailbox addressed to his eighteen-year-old daughter.

Claire came flying down the stairs. Her big electric blue, lively, doe-shaped eyes were apprehensive of what was in store for her. With her gorgeous, long, chocolate curls flying around her, she was a sight to behold. However, unaware of the effect she had on guys, she was tired of the unwanted attention she attracted all the time.

Added to her looks was the fact that she was the only daughter of a billionaire hotelier, the famous Nathaniel Henderson. Although she didn’t have time for dating and stuff that everyone was up to these days at college, she still received a lot of these love letters. They were dropped into her mailbox frequently, much to her displeasure. She didn’t know who these secret admirers were, but they riled up her dad. Despite her protests, he failed to understand that she had nothing to do with them. She didn’t date her fellow students, who were too immature for her, trying to gain her attention in any way they could.

Her eyes were on someone else since the tender age of twelve. It was her father’s best friend, Kevin Crawford’s handsome son, Jason Crawford, five years older than her. However, it was an unrequited love as she had never seen Jason after he left six years ago. Uncle Kevin shifted to California and took Jason too away with him and they never set foot in New York in the last six years.

“Yes, Dad,” she said, eyeing the letter that he was holding. Not again, she thought to herself.

“What’s this Claire? Do you go to college to chase the boys?” he yelled at her while she seethed with anger.

“Dad, please, I have already told you I don’t give a shit about these guys. They sneakily drop a letter into my mailbox and you go nuts,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Young lady, that’s not the way to talk to your dad,” he said, nodding his head in disappointment.

“Dad, why don’t you get it then and leave me alone?” she said as she turned around to leave.

“I’m not done with you, Claire. If this continues, I will have to get you married. I don’t want any scandal on the family name,” he said with a grim expression.

“Dad, for God’s sake, why don’t you just believe me?” she yelled frustratedly. “I’m not marrying at eighteen.” She turned to run up the stairs, too upset to continue defending herself.

“Mind my words, Claire, one more of these, and I will make a final decision,” said her father sternly.

“Aren’t you too harsh on the poor girl, Nate? Why can’t we believe her when she insisted she did nothing?” asked Audrey Henderson, Claire’s stepmother. Claire and her twin brother Stefan were just three when Nathaniel’s first wife died. Audrey loved them as her own and never differentiated between them and her boys, Tristan, Julian, and Adrian.

“You’re too naïve, Audi. Noone sends love letters without an encouragement,” he said as he stormed out to his study and locked himself in.

Audrey sighed heavily and went upstairs to talk to Claire. She knocked on Claire’s door softly. Claire opened the door and went back to her bed, lying down with her face on the pillow. “Honey, tell me everything. Do you know these guys? I will try to put some sense in Nate’s head,” she said as Claire sat up and placed her head on Audrey’s lap.

“I don’t know any of them, Mom, and neither am I interested in their immature antics. I want to be a hair therapist and have hair salons all over the world. Why can’t dad see that? You can’t convince him, Mom. He’s too proud and stubborn to see my point of view,” said Claire unhappily. Claire was focused on her ambition and didn’t have any interest in the family business. She wanted to carve out a niche for herself in the world with her own perseverance. Enrolled in an undergraduate cosmetology program at a prestigious college, she worked hard towards her goal.

The next day she told her best friend Nicola everything that was happening. She explained about the love letters being dropped into her mailbox, her dad’s warning, and everything. “I don’t want to marry now, Nico,” she said with a sigh.

“If your dad fixes your marriage against your will, just run away, Claire. Chase your dreams,” she said as Claire nodded. That evening, just as Claire had completed her assignments, when she heard the doorbell ring. There were sounds of her dad yelling at someone, and she sighed, wondering what was happening downstairs.

“Claire, come down, your boyfriend’s here to see you,” growled a furious Nathaniel Henderson. Claire came downstairs, confused. What boyfriend? She didn’t have any.

Her eyes turned wide as saucers when she saw the notorious bad boy of the college, Aidan Reilly, standing at her doorstep with a smirk. “Dad, he isn’t..” she started, but before she could complete her sentence, Nathaniel Henderson walked into his study and banged the door shut.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she yelled at Aidan, too annoyed with him to think straight.

“Chill babes, I want you to be my date tonight. Jake’s throwing a mega party at his place,” he said, chewing a stick as he adjusted his bike glove.

“I’m not interested, Aidan. Get out before I call in the security,” she said, shaking in anger.

“What’s got your panties in a twist, babes? Let’s elope together and I will give you the time of your life,” he said with a dirty smirk.

“No one’s eloping. Get off my property before I shoot you,” yelled her dad as he held his revolver up, aiming at Aidan. He shrieked in fear like a woman and jumped onto his bike and sped away.

Stefan also came downstairs at the commotion and tried to calm Dad down. Their mom took the revolver from his hands.

Her dad glared at Claire, trembling with anger while Claire paled considerably, thinking of the punishment that would be meted out to her now. “I warned you, and you did not pay any heed to it. Tomorrow you will meet the boy I have arranged for you and in two weeks you will get married to him. That’s my final decision,” he said and turned to go.

“Dad, please, it’s not what you think. I don’t know Aidan. He’s the notorious boy of our college,” she pleaded with her dad.

“Once is a coincidence, Claire. I don’t want the likes of him on my property. So I’ve decided, and it’s irreversible,” said Nathaniel Henderson and left the room, leaving no room for any argument. It was decided that Claire would have to get married to the man her father had chosen for her and he was coming for her the next day.

With a heavy heart, Claire went upstairs to her room. She didn’t want to talk to her mom or Stefan. She kept thinking about her upcoming marriage to a stranger. Her ambition would be crushed. She couldn’t marry at eighteen! Then she thought about Jason and she cried her heart out. She had always wanted to marry Jason. Even at twelve, she couldn’t keep herself away from him, but he never even acknowledged her existence when they would meet before. He never looked in her direction and kept to his circle of friends, sometimes a rare greeting to her and Stefan was all the interaction she had with him.

Run away

Get out

Escape 

These were the words that kept on hammering inside her brain. Claire had to get away. She couldn’t marry a stranger at eighteen. She called Nicola and asked her to book a flight to California, as she didn’t have enough money to do it on her own. Her father, Nathaniel Henderson, gave her very meagre pocket money, which always finished before the month was over. She wanted to go live with her aunt Emily. She was her mom, Audrey Henderson’s sister, who lived in California. Both her daughters were married and happily settled and she loved Claire and always invited her to stay over at her place.

Packing a small bag with only the necessities, she waited for an opportunity. The flight was at one o’clock after midnight and Nicola already emailed her the ticket.

After a silent dinner, everyone went to bed by 11:30 pm. By midnight, when she didn’t hear any movement downstairs, she quietly opened her door and tiptoed out with her bag.

She crept up to the main door and silently opened it.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she slipped out and closed the door. Reaching the gate, she realized that she had to face the security guards there. Her heart sank when suddenly a hand pressed upon her mouth. Panicking, she turned around to find a tensed Stefan, her twin, looking down at her.

“I knew you would escape. Where are you going, Claire? Please tell me. I swear I’ll keep it a secret,” he said anxiously.

“I’m going to California to Aunt Emily’s house. You can visit me after a few days,” she said, hugging him. He made a call to one of his friends and arranged for an airport drop for Claire. Then leading Claire to the gate opened it softly over the sleeping security guard and let her out. Her ride was waiting for her and she sped away, all the way to the airport.