Madison watched in disgust as Alex flipped through the magazine which conveyed different styles of expensive wedding gowns. She seems not to be interested in anything about the marriage preparations.

"Baby we've flipped almost all pages and yet you still can't choose a single dress out of all these?" Alex asked, looking at her wearily.

Madison sighed

"I'm not interested in any of these, I just wish the marriage could be done between both families alone. I just want it to be over soon. This is not my dream marriage"' she said, looking sad.

"Dear, you know your parents, and how they would want the occasion to be. And you know the man you're getting married to is an extravagant type of person. He has friends from around the globe. He's gonna turn up the event" Alex said excitedly

"You think Jason's gonna do that? Alex you should understand that this is not the type of marriage we both had plans for. I feel like i'm CHAINED to this whole thing," Madison said soberly

"Look, it's just for six months. You're gonna be CHAINED for six months, then later you'll be set free.." Alex said smiling

"I just can't wait to be free from this thing called marriage," Madison said sadly.

"You're lucky you know," she said to Alex

"Really?" Alex asked, smiling

"Yeah, you've got the man of your dreams, you weren't forced against your wishes, everything seems perfect for you," she said

Alex smiled again. "You just don't know unless

you're here in my shoes," she said with a wry smile

"What are you talking about?" Madison asked looking surprised

"Hmm," she sighed. "Adrian and I didn't get a good start. I was given to him as a collateral by my parents. My parents were indebted to the billionaire called Mr Steel, Adrian's father and I had to pay the ransom by getting married to Adrian the only son of the Steel's family.

We never loved each other, he made my life miserable. All my effort to make things work proved abortive as Adrian was a monster in human form.

I was so dejected and I hated him so much. We don't talk, we don't sleep in the same room, and he subjected me to all forms of abuse.

I talked to my parents and all they could do was ask me to bear it, because there was no way I could get a divorce. I was CHAINED to Adrian. I had no choice like you have now...." she said, sobbing.

Madison became speechless. She held her palm and rubbed it against Hers. She watched as Alex sobbed for a while and then she sniffed and continued,

"But everything changed, when on a certain night, he was on the verge of commiting suicide. I came to his rescue and took good care of the wounds he had inflicted on himself.

He allowed me to touch him and then we spoke together like husband and wife. I got to learn about his horrible background which was the main reason he had hated women all his life.

We made love on that very night, and everything about him changed. Right now I can't say we're perfect because, Adrian still has a lot of changes to make. But we're fine, and I love him so much with all my heart" she said with a smile amidst the tears pouring from her eyes.

"Wow!" Madison exclaimed in amazement. "I never knew you went through all of that, I thought your life was perfect for the fact that you're married to a billionaire husband. I'm sorry for judging wrongly baby" Madison apologized and they both hugged.

"You see, no marriage is perfect babe, we just gonna work towards perfection" Alex advised with a smile

"Not my marriage with Jason," Madison refuted while shaking her head.

***

"Man come on, I can't believe you are getting married," Ben said excitedly as he walked towards the rest of the boys with two bottle of whiskey in his hands

"Hey, this is not something we should be happy about," Jason said as he flipped through a magazine containing wedding suit designs.

"Come on, it's something we should be happy about, I mean the master of Casanova's is finally going to be committed whoa!!!!!" Derrick said excitedly and they all laughed.

"And you guys think i'm gonna be committed to her uh?" Jason asked, looking at them

"Why not? oh I forgot, you still have Emilia. Wait... are you really gonna be smacking Emy after you marry Madison?" Amos asked.

They all laughed again apart from Jason. He kept mute

"So he should just wait for like six months before he goes into action with Emy? Because I know Madison's not gonna let him go underneath," Ben said amidst laughter

"What? She's going to become his wife. If she doesn't let him, then he will have to take it by force," Derrick chipped in and they all laughed again.

"This marriage's gonna be like a soap opera, I can't wait for each episode" Amos added and they all Laughed again.

"Damn you guys.. "Jason cursed as he watched them laugh in disgust.

"You've been flipping through that magazine for hours , what are you thinking?" Derrick asked

"My head is empty, I can't even think straight. I can't find any designs here, I guess I just have to wear one from my collections. It's not like I'm even gonna dress up to impress her. She's not my true bride," Jason said

"Don't say that man, we're gonna turn up the whole place. I just hope she has cool sexy chicks for the bridal train because I am sure gonna be taking some ladies home," Ben said excitedly. They all laughed

"What about Alex? Do you know if she's gonna join the girls on that day?" Amos asked curiously

"Since you've decided not to leave a married woman alone, I pray her husband comes and chop off your ass," Derrick said

"What happened the last time seems not to be a lesson to you," Ben added

"You should be thinking of how to find a good girl on that day to marry" Jason chipped in

"Let me have your sister Imade and I promise to marry her," Amos said and they all laughed. Jason punched him in the elbow at once

"You're crazy. I don't want you anywhere close to my sister else I'll chop your head.. " he warned

They all laughed again.

"Hey Jas, what if it gets to the " you may kiss your bride" part on that day? Ain't you gonna kiss her?" Ben asked. Jason looked at him in bewilderment

"Hey, we haven't really thought about that part!!" Amos screamed

"We ain't gonna have a church wedding, we just gonna go to the court, and then reception follows immediately" Jason explained.

"Hmm, but you gonna feed her with cakes and wine and then eventually you gonna kiss her too," Derrick mused

"I'm not kissing her ok!!!! Jason yelled

"Those small soft pink lips, so sweet to kiss, I wish I was getting married to her, we gonna kiss all through the event and then the party gets to an end, and everyone goes home, we will still be kissing, " Ben emphasized and they all laughed apart from Jason.

"Guys, I guess there is nothing here to talk about apart from nonsense. I have to go now," he said standing up.

"Hey bro chill, we are supposed to visit the club tonight," Derrick said to him

"I'm not interested," he said walking out.

"Hey, someone's practicing how to be committed now, "Amos said after him and they all laughed.

Jason let out a sigh of frustration as he walked out of the house. They've been together at Derrick's house all through the evening. It's dark now and he needs to go home. He entered the black SUV car he had come with and drove out.

The road was a bit quiet as he drove. He was almost at the expressway leading to his house when he noticed a black Honda trailing him from behind.

He had seen the same car parked outside of Derrick's house when he was about to drive out. The car was moving at almost the same speed as his.

He increased the speed of his car and he noticed that the Honda's speed had increased too. He made a left turn leading to the expressway and he noticed the car did the same too.

Could it be that he was being followed? He thought. He decided to call his dad before anything happens. He was about to pick up his phone when the first gunshot came and it was fired directly at his car. It hit the car's left back tyre and the car swerved to the other side of the road and ran into the bush.

Jason tried to control the steering to avoid hitting a big tree in front of him but the car somersaulted thrice and stopped deep within the bush.

The whole glass shattered on him and he was stuck inside with his seatbelt fastened to his waist. He had a tear in his forehead which was bleeding so hard. He was so badly injured and was about to pass out when he heard voices coming towards his direction.

He managed to open his eyes which were soaked with the blood gushing down from his forehead. He saw flashes of torchlight and he heard footsteps and voices. He could tell they were coming for him. He felt so dizzy and weak to crawl out of the car. He knew they were bad people.

He felt adrenaline surged through him as he struggled to remove the seatbelt fastened to his waist. He knew they would catch up with him if he wastes any more time.

He struggled to crawl out through the shattered window of the car. The shattered glasses pierced through his skin as he struggled to come out. He fell on the ground tiredly as soon as he came out. The footsteps were so close now. He thought of giving up when he recalled his dad's favorite quote: "The courage of a man is determined by how many times he is able to rise when he falls". Those words were what he really needed right now, he thought as he managed to stand on his knee.

He stood up and began to limp into the thick bushes with the car's headlight still shining behind him. He managed to escape from the light into the darkest part of the bush where he could hear the voices of his attackers.

"How did he manage to escape! Search carefully he couldn't have gone far!" He heard one of them order with a deep voice.

His heart skipped and he began to run a little faster than before. He took off his suit jacket and used it to wrap his head which was bleeding so fast. He knew they could track him with the blood dropping out from his head. He ran deeper into the bush and saw a huge tree in which he could seek refuge. He could still hear their voices behind and he knew he was being trailed. If he wastes any more time, they would catch up with him.

He quickly grabbed the tree and climbed upwards slowly until he was able to hold onto the branches of the tree.

He climbed slowly upwards and managed to get to the tree top. He sat on the tree breathing heavily. He almost passed out due to the amount of blood he was wasting. He could still hear their voices a bit far from where he was.

"We've lost our trail. I can't find traces of his blood anymore" he heard one of them say

"He couldn't have escaped I don't think there is another route from here," the other man said

"I think there is, there is a route leading to lake villa" another one added

"Then we have to go after him. Search carefully and make sure he doesn't escape!" The first man ordered again.

Jason sat on the tree top praying so hard for him to survive this terrible night. He became dizzy and he fought hard to remain conscious. He tried to compose himself so as not to make a noise to attract them.He wondered who they were.

He soon saw flashlights flashing through his direction. His heartbeats increased as he heard their footsteps which were getting closer.

For the first time in his life,he prayed to God. They stopped close to the tree he was hiding. They flashed their lights across the trees.

He felt like it was all over for him as a flashlight was flashed across the tree he was hiding. The flashlight flashed through the branches of the trees and stopped at his face.

"It is over..." he said to himself.