1 Expensive Male Bride

A loud shout rang in the darkness and startled the running boy. He immediately stopped to crouch down. His scrawny frame took cover behind the maze of tall grasses.

Agitated, his light hazel-colored eyes darted around, trying to make out the position where the sounds came. On such a moonless night, he could barely see anything from where he was hiding. Nevertheless, the teen, Riley, knew they were looking for him.

They are his brother Anton's men. Men who were sent out to drag Riley back home. And once Riley returns, as his brother's plan, he will be married off to the highest bidder. Like a rare item on display, he will go to whoever can pay the most.

A very costly male bride.

Riley shuddered at the thought. The memory was a reminder of why he was on the run. With increased vigor, the youth blindly moved in the dark.

After a while, Riley felt his lungs start to burn from the effort. His pale lips were bloody from his bites. The bites were a way to stop his cries whenever the excruciating pain from his injured leg shots up to his brain.

Then maybe because he lost a lot of blood and had been running all night, exhaustion finally caught up. Riley's vision began to blur. In the end, he stumbled. Fell face down and bumped his forehead on a protruding rock. Its sharp edges cut his skin.

"Argh-!"

Riley had to stifle his cries, afraid that he would get discovered. Eyes brimming with tears, he lay sideways curled up in a fetal position. The teen continued to sob in silence. It was more due to the agony of feeling helpless than the physical pain from the wound.

The youth took a few deep breaths to calm himself after a breakdown and began to chant quietly, "Mind over matter. Mind over matter. I can do this."

Comforted a little by his own words, Riley wiped his tears and began to crawl among the bushes. The jeans he was wearing became wet from the combination of blood, sweat, and mud.

When he had covered quite an expanse, he surveyed his surroundings. Ahead, he can only see a vast grassland. Turning to the side, his eyes came to life when he saw a thick cluster of trees and a momentary flash of light.

A highway!

It must be! Riley chooses to believe so.

Willing himself, Riley endured the pain. Bending to keep himself hidden, he began to run as fast as his injured leg could allow. The wild beating of his heart was so loud that it was almost all he could hear.

Out of breath, Riley reached the edge of the forest. One step. Two steps. He trudged on mindlessly. His body is heavy from tiredness. The buzzing in his head was getting stronger, coupled with dizziness that made him see double everything around him. 

Everywhere he looked, it was all trees.

Then out of nowhere, he heard a faint sound of a roaring engine. It was getting louder by the minute. Riley began to shout.

"H-help!" But his throat was dry that it came out as a weak croak, barely audible even to himself.

Riley saw the approaching white pick-up truck on a two-lane street between the line of trees.

"Arghhh! P-please, help me." Riley kept shouting.

But as if to play a joke on him, the car reeves its engine louder, drowning his cry away. Its red tail lights seemed to taunt him as it sped past him and slowly disappeared into the night.

Devastated, Riley slumped on the ground as darkness reigned around him. Overwhelmed with panic, he shivered. The thought of being captured and taken back to his brother brought a sense of hopelessness to the teen.

Like a reverie, he was brought back to that eventful day several months ago.

With a bitter smile, Riley recalled feeling overjoyed at first. After so many years, his brother finally summoned him back to stay at their family's main house, the Santillan's. Before that, Riley, since the age of ten, had lived in the countryside under the care of a few servants. As for the reason why his brother made such a decision, he did not know. Riley did not put much thought into it. Anyway, he was happy and at peace to live separately from his brother.

On that night, Riley entered the study, smiling, and saw his brother occupied with signing papers.

In a soft voice, he said, "Brother, I'm here. I was told you wanted to talk to me?"

Not bothering to raise his head, Anton only hummed in acknowledgment and told him to sit down.

Riley was about to take a seat when he heard Anton offhandedly inform him, "I called you here to tell you that I have arranged your marriage. So, you don't need to unpack unnecessary things here. Besides, you'll be moving out soon."

He was momentarily stunned and remembered it took him a while to stammer his response.

"W-wedding? But brother, I'm still young. Barely seventeen. I'm not in a hurry."

Anton ignored his words and continued to busy himself with documents. Not once did he give him the decency of looking up.

"The wedding is next week. It's settled."

"Next week?! Why so fast? I just came back. Brother, please. I don't want to get married yet! B-besides, I have not even met my bride?" Riley was getting frantic. It was too much for him. He doesn't understand why his brother is doing this.

However, Riley did not expect that he had yet to hear the worst part of it. He stared somewhat stupidly when his brother, amid laughter, finally looked at him and mockingly declared, "Your bride? Whoever told you that? You are mistaken. You, my dear little brother, are the beautiful male bride. And I hope you'll be a very expensive male bride."

Expensive. Male. Bride.

The words echoed at the back of Riley's mind as he listened in horror to Anton discuss in detail how he plans to auction him with a promise of marriage to the highest bidder. The few candidates, he was told one of which would be his future husband, were all wealthy individuals personally handpicked by Anton.

Riley wanted to scream his objection. He felt sick in his gut as unconcealed greed gleamed in his brother's eyes. It was unbearable to watch. His insides hurt as if someone had punched him in the stomach and twisted his heart.

The whole evening passed in a haze. Riley did not know how and when he reached his bedroom to lie down for the night. When he finally came out of the mist shrouding his senses, he decisively vaulted out of the house and escaped.

Truth be told, Riley was not totally against marrying a man. That part he can accept. But he refused to stay and be used as a means to satisfy his brother's greediness. Or be sold like an object without life or will of his own.

For three months, Riley had been successful in evading Anton's clutches. That was until yesterday when he was found and shot at by his brother's hired men. It was only by sheer luck that he did escape from the abandoned building where he was held captive.

Now, wounded and scared, Riley was contemplating if it was all for nothing. And eventually, his brother would get what he wanted, selling off Riley.

Just as he was beginning to despair, thinking no help would come, a convoy of three cars came into view. Riley thought he was having a hallucination due to dehydration and blood loss. 

But soon, the unmistakable sound of engines reached his ears.

Riley scrambled to stand and dragged his feet with the intention of blocking the center of the road. Unfortunately, he was already too late. The first car was about to wheeze passed him.

Heaven must have pitied the youth, for a moment later, Riley watched in astonishment as a deer jumped in and crossed the road. Then all three vehicles came to a sudden halt one after the other in front of him. He stared dazed for a second, then ran up to the nearest car and desperately tapped on the window.

"Help! Please, help me. I beg you."