Chapter 14

"Me? Your wife? But how—why me?" Stephenie promptly answered.

"Why not? I have loved you ever since we were young. I have always promised myself that I would marry you when we grew older. And now that we're at the appropriate age, I don't think there is anything wrong about asking you for marriage?"

"I know but your parents—"

"My parents are out of this. They can't stop me from wanting to have you as my wife. Nothing could ever dissuade me from marrying you Steph, unless you don't want to have me of course."

Perry looked at her with deep affection, and Stephenie's heart was warmed by the very scene. She wasn't prepared for something like this to happen to her. This was something she only saw in films and from people on the internet. Such thoughts had never crossed her mind that she would one day be in the position of receiving a marriage proposal, let alone from someone so dear to him as Perry. But here she was, experiencing it for the first time.

"Who am I to reject you, Perry?"

He took a breath to take in what Stephenie had just said while he tried to process it all.

"Perry?" She squeezed his face between her palms in an attempt to reclaim him. "Perry, are you okay?" Stephenie was quick to bring him back to his senses.

"Yeah, yeah." Perry responded quickly. "So, it's a yes, eh?" he asked to confirm. Despite the fact that he clearly heard Stephenie agreeing to marry him.

Stephenie returned a nod with a beaming smile on her face. When she looked at Perry, her eyelashes swayed up and down, and Perry responded by making the same gesture. In a gentle motion, Perry then took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger.

"Glad it suits you well. I was hesitant whether this ring would fit you or not."

An elegant silver ring with one sapphire rhinestone embellished Stephenie's finger.

It was a simple silver ring with a single sapphire rhinestone set in the center of it. "I bought this sometime ago and am still thinking about how I can give it to you. That is, until today." He gave a shy smile. Perry got back on his feet as he lifted Stephenie to his chest for a hug. "I'm glad you agreed, Steph," he said in hushed tones.

"Me too, Perry. I am blessed to have you." She responded with a smile.

The two were only separated when they heard a clearing of the throat from behind them. When the two looked beyond their shoulders, Perry's parents were standing there with no expression on their faces.

"What exactly is all of this fuzziness about?" Perry's father had inquired.

"Shouldn't you be calling us too since it's already dinner?" his mother also added. Perry was enraged by his mother's addition to the conversation.

"Mom, Steph isn't your maid, and she isn't going to call you every time it's dinner time. Also, there's more to this than meets the eye, dad. Steph and I are engaged, and we plan to tie the knot." Perry answered with pride, he even showed them the ring by assisting Stephenie in raising her hand.

Stephenie couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious, especially in front of Perry's mother. She was well aware that they would be particularly offended. It was already evident from the expressions on their faces.

"Engaged? Marriage? Son, why haven't you told us about this sooner?" Perry's mother had inquired. There was a tinge of annoyance in her tone when she asked his son the question. Her dissatisfaction with the news, which she had just eagerly concealed through her clenched teeth, was clearly conveyed through the tone of her voice.

"It seemed like everything happened so quickly for me and Steph. Besides, I don't believe there is any reason for me to share this information with anyone else first. Apart from that, I don't believe there is any reason for me to share this information with anyone else at this point. Steph should be the one who matters first." Perry answered.

His father interrupted the conversation with this statement.

"Hate to say this son, but this doesn't sit well with me. Sorry, Steph. However, we are not in favor of this union."

Despite the fact that it was a message from his father that he had anticipated, when he received it, he felt a heavy burden on his chest because he knew his parents would not support him in such a decision.

Even his mother, who said, "Yes, I agree with your father," expressed her support for his father.

Stephenie's hands were trembling with embarrassment as she stood there. She didn't want things to turn out the way they did. She was embarrassed that she had contributed to the tension that had developed between Perry and his parents as a result of her acceptance of Perry's marriage proposal.

However, when Perry gently squeezed her hand, the awkwardness and embarrassment she was feeling were quickly put to rest. It provided her with reassurance that he was in complete control of the situation.

But, despite the fact that Stephenie had calmed down, she was still unable to look directly at his parents' direction. Because even a single glance at them would spell the end of her life as she knows it. She was already aware that they were looking at her with a gloomy expression, and she knew it would be a bad thing to witness it now. She would only grow more resentful of their decision.

"Well, if you don't want this marriage then there is nothing that I can do about it."

Stephenie was surprised by Perry's response.

Perry's parents, in contrast to Stephenie's reaction, were delighted by what they had heard. However, just when they believed that Perry was thinking about the same thing that they were, they were proven wrong.

"However, that doesn't mean I'm going to back away from my words of marriage for her," Perry stated as he walked forward to meet his parents' eye-to-eye while pulling Stephenie to his side. "If you ask me, do you think that's how a real man should behave?" he added.

"Son, can't you really think about this again?" His father immediately expressed his dissent. Due to his frustration, the curve lines on his forehead became visible enough to be noticed.

"Can you tell me what I should reconsider? The marriage? I've already stated that I'm not going to back down on my words of marriage for Stephanie. Unless, of course, it's Steph who you don't want to have me."

And it was at that point that his father went silent.

Perry was certain that it was Stephenie, whom they did not want to marry into their family. It was for this reason that they had been urging him to reconsider his decision, even though he had already made up his mind.

"Well, I suppose silence implies a yes." Perry went on after he had not received a response from his parents.

Perry and Stephenie walked away from their parents without saying anything. They made their way up the stairway to their room. "Get your immediate belongings together, because we're leaving." Before they parted ways to go to their respective rooms, Perry issued an instruction.

"Wait. Where are we going?" asked Stephenie.

"We're leaving." Perry quickly replied.

"I know. I heard you, but that's not my question."

Perry let out a sigh. "If we want to get married, my parents and the two of us can't all live under the same roof." He replied.

"If this is about the marriage, perhaps—"

Perry, however, intervened just as Stephenie was about to continue with the latter of her words and brought her to stop, "Not a word, Steph. Not a word. You don't have any plans to change your mind about marrying me, do you?"

"No. Of course, not. What I was really trying to say was that maybe we could just put a little delay until your parents would accept me."

Perry's eyes were filled with love and appreciation as he looked at Stephenie. He was extremely grateful that the woman he desired to marry was just genuinely thoughtful enough to consider whether or not she would be accepted by his parents, despite the fact that they were not pleased with her being a member of their family.

"Steph, just put your faith in me on this. It would be best if we left right away. They'll soon realize that their attempt to overturn our decision was their biggest mistake. So go to your room and begin packing your things. We have to leave as soon as possible."

The command sounded so mandatory that Stephenie rushed to get ready and pack the things she deemed important and necessary for their indefinite leave as soon as she heard it. Stephenie was unsure whether or not they would return, so she packed up all of her valuables and left the room.

Suddenly, Perry's mother stepped in to prevent the two of them from marching their way across the door after they had retrieved all of their valuables.

"Are you serious about abandoning us to be with this woman?" she asked.

Perry's ears were rattled by the stern tone in her voice. The way his own mother looked at Stephenie, as if she were some sort of dirt, was too much for him to bear.

"Yes, and this woman is my soon-to-be wife, mom. The fact that you can't accept her means that you can't accept having me as your son either."

Perry was so determined to leave their home with Stephenie that not even his mother was able to persuade him to reconsider his decision to remain behind. He would rather leave than allow them all to feel uncomfortable by continuing to live on the same roof.

Perry's mother, however, intervened just as Stephenie was about to take another step outside, grabbing her bun and pulling her back. The pain Stephenie felt as Perry's mother pulled her hair with such force that she thought the strands of her hair would break off from her scalp was shocking and painful at the same time.

"Mrs. Morgan, please…let go of me. It hurts." Stephenie tried to object, but her efforts were futile. Perry attempted to gain entry, but his mother anticipated his next move so quickly that she stopped him from entering by placing Stephenie behind her to block him.

Mrs. Morgan maintained a firm grip on Stephenie's hair while urging her to remain behind her. "Do you dare defy us, your parents, in order to be with this woman? We didn't raise you to be like this, Perry!" Mrs. Morgan scolded Perry.

Perry was completely taken aback, as this was the first time his mother had ever raised her voice against him. Even so, he was disappointed in knowing that their reasoning was not even valid enough to persuade him to abandon his plans to marry Stephenie, and as a result he felt let down.

Perry could tell by looking into his mother's furious brown eyes that she was determined to vent her frustration and anger on the crying Steph. He felt terrible for her as she begged his mother to release her from the strong grip. Stephenie does not deserve to be treated in this manner. His parents went so far out of their way tonight that it was too much for him to bear any longer.

"Mom, you've gone too far!" Perry, who was also yelling at his mother for the first time, responded. She was appalled that her own son was able to scold her because of a woman like Stephenie, and she was beyond outraged.

"I can't believe the day will ever come when you'd prefer to spit harsh words at us, your parents, all for the sake of this wrench!" Mrs. Morgan was so enraged that she was unable to contain her rage any longer. She threw everything she had at Stephenie, who had tears streaming down her face as she tried to find some sort of release.

Mrs. Morgan slammed her to the ground after a hard push from her behind. Stephenie was thrown forward onto firm footing as a result of the impact, which was both sudden and forceful. She was crying, and at the same time, she was experiencing a painful throb against her belly as a result of the fall.

"You have tainted our son's mind, bitch! That's why he turned out the way he did!" Mrs. Morgan chastised Stephenie further.

Stephenie curved herself into a ball as she held her aching abdomen. It was so much that she couldn't even breathe.

"Mom! That's enough!" Perry exclaimed. He pushed her mother aside before continuing,

"Stephenie didn't change me, you and Dad did. I mean, just look at what you—" but as Perry looked at Stephenie on the floor, he was stunned and a cold shiver ran up his spine as he saw Stephenie's thighs covered in blood.

Perry took a step closer and confirmed his nagging suspicion. "Stephenie, why on earth are you bleeding down there?" he asked, a horror painted on his face, a horror he wished wasn't real.