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Insignificantly small things can make big differences. Only a little amount of courage could change your present, past and future. I hoped that too. I hoped that mustering up the courage and going to confront my so called parents about their actions would help this situation.

And so I wasted no time in talking to them when I reached home. I was afraid they'd see me with Carter but later I wanted them to see that I would not listen to such demands of theirs. Looking at Dad's car parked, my thoughts were confirmed. I decided to change into something comfortable while I prepared myself of how to question them.

Staring in the mirror, I pulled up a confidently determined expression. At least I tried to. "Richard, Victoria, we need to talk," I said but shook my head.

"Sounds like I'm talking to my boyfriend of seven years and I want to breakup...,"I sighed, whispering to myself.

"Umm, Richard and Victoria, may I talk to you?" God I sound like a maid of theirs.

"Mom and Dad-" I stopped abruptly, realizing my mistake. "Shit! I'm not supposed to call them that." Clearing my throat, I tried again, "listen Victoria and Richard, you got some time to talk?"

I shook my head violently at my tone and that question. I sounded to unconfident and weak. And another thing that made me reject the thing was that it was a question and there was a possibility that they might refuse to talk. I wanted to demand, not request.

"Richard, I have something to say," I let out unsure of my sentence and again refused to accept it as the way of starting the conversation.

Gulping, I clenched my fists and thought about Carter and I which seemed to act like an engine in my body and I marched towards my room's door. I decided that whatever is bound to happen, will happen. The way I start the conversation would not change anything that's already written on the stone.

As I started to walk down the stairs, I tried to regulate my breathing and stop my jumping heart from coming out of my body. I could clearly see a dim light lighting the living room where distant sounds of some television drama were echoing.

As I stared from outside the transparent wall blocking the living room from other areas of our house, I couldn't help but notice how far Victoria and Richard were sitting from each other.

Richard had his jaw clenched which hit me like a warning that it wasn't a good idea to discuss such stuff. But my relationship with Carter and the smiling face of his that I got a quick glimpse of, was a huge push.

I walked inside, catching both of their attentions. Victoria had a frown plastered on her face as she took in my appearance. I hadn't really made an effort to look good. I sat in front of Dad where I could clearly face both, Victoria and Richard.

"Uhm– Victoria, Richard, I'm here to talk." Even I was shocked by how much stiff and strong I sounded.

"I can see that," Richard stated his eyes squinting at me as he examined me. He was eerily calm which was itself alarming.

"I do not agree for the marriage." It was simple and I wanted to be to the point to waste no time in telling them that I was not their puppet. Richard's shoulder relaxed while he leaned back on the sofa, unlike what I had expected. I thought he would shout at me, scold me, yell at me but he did nothing of that kind. Instead he smiled. A strangely fear-striking smile.

It was not a sincere, friendly, loving smile. It was a devilish smile, a smile that seemed more like a warning. "Who has even asked you?"

"Richard, it's my life and I get to choose who I get married with or who I date!" My voice rose noticeably as I pointed out.

"This isn't you speaking. It's your gold-digger boyfriend speaking. How dare you talk to me like that?!" Richard's voice rose more than mine and I shook off the feeling of flinching at his tone.

"How dare you guys decide things for me?" I cried out my eyes catching the hard ones of Victoria. "How would you have felt if you were forced to marry someone you barely knew?" Victoria's eyes hardened even more as she realized that the question was directed to her. Her eyes snapped to Richard with an unexplainable look in them.

Staring at Richard, she answered, "that was exactly what I had to face." My breathing hitched when I heard the very new news. I stared between both of them and I couldn't figure out what was up with either of them.

"But we fell in love soon. . ." Victoria said, her eyes tracing the patterns of the floor carpet. Dad scoffed at her which caused my hatred for him to multiply.

"But I already love someone! Please don't do this to me." My voice came out as a whisper but I was sure they heard it.

"Yeah, that son of a butcher," Richard scoffed once more after he said.

"Son of a chef, not butcher, Richard."

"Whoever the fucking hell he is, you can't love him. What I've decided is what you'll have to do. You're my daughter and I get to make decisions for you!"

"Where was this so called father all eighteen years of my life, Richard?" I stood up from my seat unable to control my anger for him anymore. "All those days you started to look like a Dad to me were fake! All you wanted in the end was to marry me to some of your business partner's son! And here I thought you might've started to like me!"

"Sophia, you're supposed to do whatever I say like an obedient daughter I thought you were. Don't make me try the hard way."

"I can not! I won't marry Lucas! Do whatever you can Richard!" I had no idea how I was able to talk to him like that but I was aware it had something to do with my fear of loosing Carter.

"Once in your life, you are able to be helpful to us, you unlucky bitch and yet you refuse to be. Once in lifetime you have a chance to make your shitty existence of some use and look at you!" Mom, who I thought had nothing to do with this thing stated, hatred lacing her words.

"Who taught you to object like that? Who taught you to be such a brat?!" She continued, making my eyes sting with tears. But I knew better than to release them out of my eyes. I knew it would make me look weak in their eyes which I wasn't. I had to be strong and fight. For me and Carter.

"If you were some nice parents there would've been no need for me to be a brat!" I snapped at her. "And no matter what, you both listen this straight: I am not going to marry Lucas. In any case." With that, I walked toward the door of the room knowing that this talk wasn't going no where.

"Why? So that you can keep on slut-ing around?" Richard's resentful tone reached my ears but I chose to ignore it. Now they'll see what actually a brat is! "You have no idea darling daughter, what I'm capable of." That sentence halted me on my steps just as I reached the sliding door. I gulped, blinking back the tears as I twisted my neck to look at them.

"Yes, I have an idea Richard. You'll torture me? Mentally? Emotionally? Physically? You'll hit me? Throw me out of the house? Let me rot in a room without any food or drink? Call me everything but my actual name? Remind me every minute of how unlucky I am? Take away every kind of happiness from me? Because this is all you're capable of Dad! Do whatever you are capable of and see if I move away from my words. And no matter how unlucky, I am your blood and I'm stubborn! I. Won't. Marry. Lucas."

"You won't be so stubborn when you hear what else I am capable of." Richard walked towards the table, his hands reaching out for his glass of drink as he took a sip out of it. I rolled my eyes at him.

"How else would you torture me, Dad?!" I purposefully drawled the word while I spat out.

"You don't want to hear it, trust me, Sapphire," His tone was so threatening I almost got a heart attack there. With that threatening tone there was this annoying, sickeningly fake smile plastered on his face which made me take a step back. I sighed realizing how weak I looked in front of them as I took three stops forwards.

"I really want to, Ronald," actually, Dicktard.....

Richard's eyes went wide, catching every movement of mine as he stared at me with an inexpressible look on his face. "You asked for it Slutphia."

"I would really like to know Dicktard..." and that sentence did it. Richard's face turned to the darkest shade of red while his fists clenched. He stared back at Victoria who herself had eyes popping out of their sockets.

"So listen here, Slutphia! I will not hesitate at all to kill your lover boy the moment you speak a word against me." That moment even if an ounce of respect I held for him drained away. All that was left was completely pure hatred and loath.

"You don't think you can blackmail-"

"I am blackmailing you, yes. You asked for it. Agree for the marriage or see your boyfriend die before your eyes, Shitphia." His tone was deadly serious and I couldn't help but shake my head at him, telling him how wrong it was.

"You won't, Richard, you won't. How could you just kill someone like that?"

"I have people doing my dirty works, skankphie!" I wanted to cry so hard at his words. I wanted to rip his head off his body and I wanted to shoot thousand bullets at him that moment. My breathing became irregular as I focused on his words. It didn't matter that he was giving all of those names to me. Because my mind had stopped working at the point that he could take my Carter away from me. It felt like soon my heart would give up too. I was too tired of hearing crap coming out of his mouth but I needed to fight.

"It's your decision, daughter. Either agree with us or watch the guy loose his life because of you." Richard smirked, his eyes showing a triumphant glint. I couldn't help but feel my lips curving downwards. My heart started to sink after I took in the fact that both the ways I'd be loosing the love of my life.

"You can't do that to me!" I cried, a tear leaving my eye without my permission. "No, no, Richard you can't do that! Please!"

"I sure as hell can and I sure as fuck will. Sorry, Whorephia..." with that he walked past me and towards the door. Turning around he again gave me that fake smile, "you've the night to decide. Sweet dreams daughter!"

"No! Richard! I need to talk!" I shouted but to no avail. "You do something Victoria, please?" Ignoring my begging, Richard left. Following him, like usual, Victoria left too. "Oh my God, oh my God!" I started to cry like a wild animal, my hands pulling my hair off my head while I kept screaming.

"Oh God, I–love Carter! Why– is it al– al– always me–" slowly, I tried to get up and walk towards my room, my eyes kept leaking seas. My sobs were uncontrollable and more tears rolled down my cheeks just thinking of the choices that laid before me.

Reaching at my room I entered, locking it behind me as I slipped down on it, bring my knees to my chest. I kept on letting out all of my emotions, punching the floor in process. It was not long when I felt a hand touching my arm.

The warmth and the familiarity of the touch made me snap my head up. What I found made me dizzy. My mouth stopped at a position where it was widely opened. If I said my breathing was hard earlier, my breathing was even harder and shorter now that I had seen the most unexpected person in my room and that too, so close to me.

"Carter," I blinked at him, trying to figure out the utterly confusing situation I found myself in while I stood up on my feet. Carter nodded at me, his hands cupping both of my cheeks as he removed some of the tears away.

"What's wrong with my Sparkle?" I didn't take another moment to tackle him in a bone crashing hug. "I knew something was wrong. I fucking knew it! Who has been making you cry?" I didn't answer him, just tightened my hold on his body as I hugged the life out of him.

I was afraid that if I leave him, he'll disappear. I was afraid that if I loose my hold on him, something bad will happen to him. I was scared I'll loose him. Realizing that I wasn't in a position to talk Carter rubbed my back while his other hand caressed my upper neck. "It's okay, shh."

Though I never wanted to show to him this weak person that lived inside the shell of a strong person, I couldn't help the tears. I couldn't help myself because of the choices Dad had laid before me.

My sobs were uncontrollable as I squeezed the fabric of his shirt. "Hey, it's going to be okay," Carter's hand had now started to massage my head. "It's going to be okay."

His words did not smooth my heart. All they did was rip its pieces apart because he did not have any idea of what the situation was. And that nothing was going to be okay. If anything, things were bound to go complicatedly worse. Nothing was going to be okay and that made me cry even harder.

"Please stop crying, Sparkle. I'm not able to see you like this. It's hurting me. Please? Let's just talk about it, okay." How could I tell him that I couldn't talk about the thing to him? How could I mention that if we date my DickyDad would kill him? How could I talk about it?

His sentence had brought me into a shadow of thoughts, drowning me deeply in them which caused me to take some control over my emotions. It could've been the last time we were this close. It could've been the last time I was hugging him. Heck, it could've been the last time I was ever seeing him. And it broke me. It had made me that weak, pathetic, fragile person again.

I wanted to shout at him that nothing was going to be okay, that everything is destroyed, ruined by Richard but I couldn't do that. I pulled away wiping the stream of tears off my cheeks, numerous sobs escaping my mouth. I had shed so many tears my eyes were hurting. I wanted to close them and stay that way. I wanted to never witness the day Dad decided to marry me to someone else.

Carter traced every feature of mine softly with his eyes, trying to read my expressions, trying to figure out what was wrong but his eyes had the defeated look the proved his attempts unsuccessful. "R–Ri–chard-huh-and Victor–toria." This was enough for him to understand why I looked like such a mess.

I couldn't lie to him. I told him half the truth. His soft expression turned into a frown as he moved away from me, depriving me of his warmth and comforting smell. He started to pace around my room, making a fearful feeling creep into my system as I wondered what was running in his mind. Slipping down on the door again, I held my head low, between both of my knees as I cried silently.

Feeling a presence beside me I turned in that direction only to find Carter in the same position. "I know you're hurting Sparkle, and I feel really bad for you. But there's no way I can think of to help you out. You're right. They're monsters." Carter sighed, bringing himself closer to me.

He reached out for my hand and enclosed his in mine, squeezing it. "No matter what, Sophie, I will always be here for you. I will never leave you, I promise. So don't be like this please? It's stabbing my heart every time I see you like this, Sparkle. Please, stop crying. Please?" I nodded, sniffing while my head landed on his shoulder but was unable to follow his orders. More tears gathered inside my eyes as I pondered over his words. I knew this already that Carter wouldn't leave me. What he didn't know was that I might leave him before that and it killed me every time I thought of it.

I shut my eyes tightly letting out all of the gathered tears from my eyes. "Let me c–cry Carter. I wa–huh–want to let it–it all out," I felt him nod beside me as he pressed his head on mine. His arm wrapped itself around my waist while he pulled me even closer and I couldn't have been happier.

"You know, I really feel like I must talk some shit into their brains, specially your Dad." My blurry eyes popped open at his declaration followed by a wild head shake of mine.

"No."

"Why not? They're doing no good to you Sparkle. And I can't let them do shit to you and do nothing but sit like a shameless hippopotamus! I need to clear things with them and I need to make sure they do no harm to my girlfriend anymore, as a good boyfriend– which I really am not."

"No Carter. Like you said, it's going to be okay. They're just that way and I have decided to fight them from the day Richard degraded you. You really don't have to talk to them." I tried to persuade him because nothing good would happen if they talked.

"Really Sophia, whatever they're doing must stop soon or I won't be able to restrain myself from driving a stake through your Dad's heart!" I nodded while gulping as my mind wrapped around the fact that if anyone could do that, it was not Carter but my Dad. He could kill Carter and knowing him he would definitely do it.

I smiled a fake smile at him trying to calm him down but he frowned at me. "Fake smile detected!" Carter chirped in a machine like voice making me crack. I laughed lightly, a real laugh, sealing it with a smile. Carter pinched my cheeks making me blush the darkest shade of red.

I loved him and I couldn't let him go. I couldn't let him die. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't be selfish. I sensed him kissing on my forehead as I dozed off to explore my dreamland.

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