chap 5

The cafe was tucked into a quiet corner of the city, all glass walls and the bitter scent of roasting beans. Sana sat by the window, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. When the bell above the door chimed, the air in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

Yaziel didn’t walk; he moved with a heavy, deliberate grace. He didn't offer a greeting. He sat down, leaned back, and fixed her with a look that was meant to make her wither.

"Let’s not waste time, Sana," he said, his voice a low, dangerous vibration. "I’m not here because I want to be. My family has their reasons for this circus, but don’t mistake my presence for interest. I’m cold, I’m difficult, and I have no intention of changing for a 'good girl' like you. You should walk away while you still have your dignity."

Sana felt the initial prickle of fear, her pulse fluttering. But as he continued to speak—his tone dripping with a calculated, arrogant coldness—the fear evaporated, replaced by a white-hot spark of anger.

She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. She didn't shrink. She didn't cry. Instead, she became terrifyingly calm.

"Are you done?" she asked, her voice steady as a heartbeat. "Because for someone who claims to be so powerful and 'difficult,' you sound remarkably like a child throwing a tantrum. If you’re so miserable, Yaziel, then be a man. Stand up to your sisters. Stand up to your father. Tell them no. Don't come here and try to intimidate me because you lack the backbone to fix your own life."

Yaziel’s jaw tightened, his eyes darkening with a sudden, furious fire. For a second, the silence between them was like a live wire.

"Don't look at me like that," Sana said, standing up and grabbing her bag. "I’m not your enemy, and I’m certainly not your victim. Sort yourself out."

She walked out without looking back, her heart hammering against her ribs. She was shaking, but she felt triumphant. There is no way he says yes now, she thought. It’s over.

The Shock

When Sana arrived home, she expected a somber atmosphere. She expected a phone call from an angry aunt.

Instead, she found her mother placing fresh flowers in a vase, her face glowing with a joy Sana hadn't seen in years.

"Sana! You're back!" her mother cried, rushing over to embrace her. "The call just came through. Aria said Yaziel spoke to them. It’s a yes, Sana! He agreed!"

Sana felt the floor tilt beneath her. "What? No, Ma. That’s impossible. He... we fought. He was a rogue, Ma. He was disrespectful and cold. He doesn't want this!"

"Sana, stop," her mother said, pulling her into her room and closing the door. Her voice softened, but it remained firm. "Every man has his moods. Your father and uncles have looked into him. His reputation is spotless. He is hardworking, he is loyal to his family, and he is successful. And he said yes. Why are you being so unreasonable?"

"Because I'm twenty-three, Ma! I have a career! I'm not a prize to be won by a man who hates me!"

"Nobody is treating you like a prize," her mother sighed. "We are treating you like a daughter we want to see protected. We have to give them an answer tonight. Sleep on it, please. Just... think about the family."

The Midnight Text

Left alone in the dark, Sana grabbed her phone. She scrolled to the unsaved number her aunt had sent days ago. Her fingers trembled as she typed.

> Sana: Why did you say yes? After everything I said at the cafe, why would you do this?

>

Minutes ticked by. Then, the screen lit up.

> Yaziel: I have my reasons. If you’re so brave, you be the one to say no. I’m done playing games.>

Sana threw the phone across the bed. He was a coward. He was throwing the responsibility onto her, knowing how much pressure her family was putting on her. She decided then and there: Tomorrow morning, I tell them it’s a final no. I don’t care who gets angry.

The Turning Point

The next morning, Sana woke up with a speech prepared. She walked into the kitchen, but the sight that met her stopped the words in her throat.

Her father was sitting at the table, his head in his hands. He looked fragile—older than he had just yesterday. Beside him, her mother was holding a legal-looking envelope, her eyes red-rimmed.

"What's wrong?" Sana asked, her voice hushed.

"It’s the school property, Sana," her father whispered. "The lease... the owners are selling the land where our old family house stands. We’ve been fighting it for months. I didn't want to tell you."

Sana’s heart sank. That house was her father’s only legacy from his own parents.

"And?"

"And..." her mother looked up, a strange expression on her face. "Aria called this morning. She didn't know about the lease, but she mentioned that her family’s company just acquired that block of land for the new Academy wing. She said... she said once we are family, that house stays exactly where it is. She told your father not to worry about a single cent or a single document ever again."

Sana felt a cold shiver go down her spine. It wasn't a threat. It was something worse: an act of overwhelming, suffocating "kindness."

Aria wasn't being a villain; she was being a savior. But the price of that salvation was Sana’s hand in marriage.

Sana looked at her father’s tired, hopeful eyes. He wasn't forcing her—he would never ask her to sacrifice herself—but the silence in the room told her everything. If she said no, the house was gone. Her father’s heart would break. If she said yes, she was tied to a man who looked at her with fire and ice.

She felt the walls of her life closing in, Wattpad-style—the kind of fate that you can’t run from because the people you love are the ones holding the cage doors.

"Okay," Sana whispered, the word feeling like lead in her mouth. "Tell them... tell them it’s a yes from me, too."

She walked back to her room, exhausted, leaving her life to the hands of a fate she no longer recognized.

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