Chapter 2: You Would Make Beautiful Wife

Reality hit Arianna hard, her uncle had not only taken a loan, but from loan sharks? What the hell was he thinking?

Shock stricken, she turned to her aunt and cousin still shivering in fear, "Is that true?" was her question, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Father put all of his money into the company research which we hoped would have paid off by now, unfortunately, there were some delays and he had to resort to this method," Claudia was the one who managed to speak. And God, who knew she had such a meek voice - she was always yelling at her.

"Why didn't you tell me? You know how delicate this matter is and yet you all kept it from me?" Arianna couldn't believe it.

"Why?" Claudia snorted, the usual contemptuous look crossing her features, "What could you have done? Give us your trust fund?"

Of course, why wouldn't they have their eyes on her trust fund? This greedy lot of people!

Before Arianna's father had died, he set up a trust that she would control once she clocked Twenty-four. Sadly, she was twenty-three, and fortunately for her uncle and his greedy wife, she was just a year away from claiming her fortune.

Arianna's father had been a business mogul right before he died and those businesses were taken over by his brother. Upon the fact that her uncle had reaped huge benefits from her father's death, they still claimed she owed them.

"You ungrateful bitch! If not for the shelter we provided, you'll be out there in the streets like a street rat!" her aunt would yell and hit her in the name of discipline.

"No, I only took what belonged to me! Those businesses were my fathers!" She would always retort

"Fine, go and take it up! Let's see how you manage it! This is why raising someone else's kid is hard nowadays, because they would grow up rude and unappreciative!" She would say at the top of her voice just so the neighbors could hear and tag her as a "good woman" and she "the bad ungrateful niece". What a great hypocrite.

But then their greediness grew and currently, they were awaiting her trust money so they could bill her - claim they raised her for years and want compensation. She could already see through their plans.

"What an entertaining family," remarked the arrogant man from earlier and he seemed to be the collector or something, "As much as this has been interesting, it cannot provide our money," He said.

"You assholes!" Claudia couldn't take it anymore and said in an outburst, "The loan would have been paid halfway by now if you guys hadn't charged us at a ridiculously high-interest rate of forty percent per fortnight. You all are sharks in the ocean that prey on their victims!" She stared at them fiercely.

Why were they called "Loan sharks" in the first place? Pun intended.

The collector simply rubbed the inside of his ear with his finger as if he was bored to death, "Hey," he called to one of his men, "Shut her up, she talks too much. My ear is beginning to hurt."

"What?!" The color left Claudia's face, fear finally setting in. But it was too late.

"Mother!"

"My daughter!"

Mother and daughter both cried and struggled but the man broke them apart, suppressing Claudia until he successfully gagged her mouth with a cloth.

"Now, that's better," The collector smirked at Claudia whose scream was muffled, before turning to Arianna whose heart leaped out of her chest. Was he going to gag her as well?

"Now, let me speak to the reasonable one in the family," He said.

"Oh," That was unexpected.

"Your father pledged this house as collateral. Now his payment is overdue, I should collect, right?" he was teasing her, trying to see what her reaction would be nor did Arianna bother to clear his assumption of her being her uncle's daughter.

"Of course you should take the house, a deal is a deal," Arianna replied. She was dealing with a criminal here and had to think like one.

"You ingrate!" her aunt fired up upon hearing her comment, "I should have known this is how you would reward me for raising you!"

"Gag her as well," Mr. Collector ordered without even as much as a glance her aunt's way.

"What?!" the woman couldn't believe what she just heard, "Hey! Don't touch me! Don't you know I'm an elder!" yet her protest fell on deaf ears. They tied her mouth the same way they did to her daughter.

For some strange reason, the scene made Arianna feel good. It was not every day she gets to see her uncle's family in a discomfiting situation. It was satisfying. This little punishment was nothing compared to the years they maltreated her.

"You know," the collector brought her attention back, "You could solve your family's problem easily,"

"What? I could?" her eyes shone with hope, "That is possible? How?" she couldn't wait to hear his suggestion.

However, Arianna narrowed her gaze at him when he reached out and grabbed her chin in a not-so-tight vice, checking her out, "You're a very beautiful woman mademoiselle and our boss Big Joe is in need of a wife. You would make a beautiful bride, what do you say to that?" He sounded hopeful.

Arianna couldn't understand how things could turn around that quickly. One moment she was thinking of saving her uncle's family and the next, she was being proposed to?

"No," was her answer. Another firm reply, "No, I'm not offering myself nor my body to this Big Joe or whatever you called him. Now get your hands off me!" She shot him a glare that would have vaporized the man on the spot if that was possible.

"You have a temper as well, spitfire, I'm sure Big Joe would love that…" He let her go, "Now, how do we get our money? My patience has run out," his gaze darkened, hinting of the storm brewing if they didn't provide what he wanted.

"Give us some time," Arianna pleaded.

"Time?" He chuckled, the mere sound sending shivers down her spine, "That I don't have anymore,"

"Please, I'll make sure my Uncle provides the money,"

The man gestured, "I don't see your uncle anywhere - thought he was your father by the way,"

"Well, you thought wrong," He wasn't the first person that thought so anyway. Her uncle's family had a way with their pretense that could even fool a trickster; they assumed one happy household.

Arianna continued, "My uncle is away on a trip. He wouldn't abandon his family." she hoped so, else she's toasted. It was not hard to notice the Collector had eyes for her.

"Fine." The collector gave a sign and his men straightened up, the fight in them vanishing.

The collector turned to her saying, "We'll be gone but we'll be back," his tone held a dark promise, "Let's go, boys!"

And just like that, they left the room one after the other until there wasn't a trace of them. But the ruins that lay in their wake remained. Arianna released a breath she didn't know she was holding in, the worst was over. Or so she thought.