Maria lived as a married woman to the stone hearted Mr. Leo in the uptown neighborhood of New Gates. Nature has never really given her a chance to experience happiness, for her dreams were countless times snatched from her and she had had new ones forced on her. All she had ever been was a compassionate one to her siblings. And not failing to be a dutiful daughter to her mother and wealthy step father, she agreed to wed Mr. Leo to strengthen the relationship between her family and that of the Kingston. This was at the cost of her happiness because situations like this has been her lot. Her unhappy life began like a nightmare twenty years ago, when a tragic accident occurred and she was forced to remain silent all her days. She was on a field trip with her step brother whom she was two years older than and her step sister who was three years older than her. There was a car crash and she lost her step brother in the accident. Her step sister lost her hearing and she was cornered by her mother to also act traumatized by losing her voice since she was the only unharmed victim of the incident. At the age of six, she began to learn and use sign language as her means of communication. The sacrifice she had made to satisfy her mother was at the expense of her self esteem, opinion and choice and this turned her into a shadow of herself.
The original plan was not to get married to Mr. Leo. She was put up to it when her step sister went rouge a week to the wedding. A marriage without love was one thing she would never consent to but she could not rebel against her parents. Even if she wanted to fight back, her mother was there to make sure her wings were clipped.
On the day of the wedding, Mr. Leo who worked as an informant for the government, made Maria sign a contract of silence. She was never to be seen posing as his wife nor heard of. She was to keep no friends and the only people she was allowed to communicate with were her family and Mr. Leo. She was restricted from applying for jobs as a sign language interpreter even though her dream job was to be a news anchor. Ties with her sign language tutor who gave her more motherly care than her biological mother ever did, were severely limited for she was confided to her matrimonial home. She wasn’t even allowed to file for a divorce. If she was ever caught breaching the contract, it would cost her a fine of a hundred million dollars as well as other attractions. She was made to keep a very low profile to protect herself from being used as bait to lure her husband and family into the hands of those who would want to pin him.
Events unfolded during the course of the arranged marriage and Maria realized that behind the stern face, lied a different kind of meekness in Mr. Leo. He cared in a way she never realized he was capable of, going as far as learning how to communicate with signs. Ever since the accident, Maria had lived her life to be indifferent but there was something about Mr. Leo’s character towards her that she couldn’t turn a blind eye to. The only person she confided in when it regarded him was her sign language tutor, Mrs. Brown who knew she could talk. The bond between the two happened years ago when Maria was heard practicing the act of anchoring the new alone when school had dismissed. Mrs. Brown, having seen experienced situations like that, kept Maria’s speaking a secret. She became a mother to Maria; a safe haven for the young lady to express herself. When Mr. Leo included Mrs. Brown to his contract, it broke Maria. But to save herself from being fined for a breach of contract, she decided to only meet Mrs. Brown in secret. Maria would share her troubles with Mrs. Brown and in return, she would get solutions. The older woman would always advice Maria not to live in the hurt of the past and embrace the wave of joy that the present brings.
Days turned to weeks, weeks into months and Maria realized her growing likeness for the unlikable Mr. Leo. She thought he was just being empathetic towards her but there were times he showed more than just gentlemanly virtues. He was stern but never to the extent of hurting her in anyway. He remembered memorable occasions and marked them with gifts or reservations. He showed his love in a subtle manner but Maria caught on with his ways and this grew her fondness for him.
One evening, Maria was preparing a surprise dinner to celebrate Mr. Leo’s birthday, she got a threatening call from a restricted number ordering her to come alone to a certain location if she wanted her tutor unharmed. Mrs. Brown, on her way from the language school, got double crossed and was kidnapped by someone who had a grudge with Maria’s husband. Since she had obediently followed Mr. Leo’s contractual instructions, she had been kept safe. But to get to her husband using Mrs. Brown as bait was something she never could have foretold. In a frantic attempt to go save her tutor, she hurriedly left a note to Mr Leo, assuring him that she would be back as soon as she possibly can.
Maria got to the location only for her to be blindfolded by the kidnapper and taken to the layout where Mrs. Brown was being held captive. Weeping her eyes out, Mrs. Brown called out to Maria.
“Oh Maria, please forgive me. I am truly sorry. Please forgive me”. Maria was perplexed by the sudden tearful burst from Mrs. Brown.
“They had my family at gun point. I didn’t mean to tell our secret. I’m sorry”, the older woman continued to sob.
Still in the blindfold, Maria was shocked to her core upon hearing that she had being compromised but she still kept her unfathomable countenance.
“Now that we know you can talk, why don’t you be a good missy and lure your husband here. I am not asking. I am ordering! So when I dial his number, you talk to him. Ok?!”, a deep unfriendly man rasped at Maria.
She looked calm but her mind was busy. She was trembling inside. She knew they’d hurt Mr. Leo if he was to ever step foot in here. But what could she do? She had to do something. Time was against her. Should she remain silent to save her husband? She could sense the level of harm that these kidnappers could do to one. Regardless, she would rather not have Mr. Leo hurt. She didn’t even get to confess her love for him and now she is to risk her life for his. Would he possibly track her down and save her? These many thoughts she processed as the kidnapper rang her husband’s phone.
“Maria where are you?”, she could sense the urgency in Mr. Leo’s voice as he spoke on the phone which the deep voiced kidnapper held to her. “Why did you disable the tracker on your phone? It’s there for your own good. Now I can’t tell where you are”, the worry in his voice mixed with the sound of honking cars told her that he was looking for her.
Maria had earlier disabled the tracking app installed on her phone when she went out to see Mrs. Brown earlier that day. It was a routine she did whenever she wanted to go against the contract and she forgot to enable it at the end of her rendezvous. She inwardly cursed her forgetful mind but even in the midst of danger, she felt soothed by hearing her husband’s voice. He was searching for her. She was convinced that it wasn’t just empathy he showed her. He truly did love her. Her mind was brought back to the present when a gun was placed on her forehead and the unfriendly voice whispered “talk or you have your brains on the floor”
She was numb. She was mute. Was this going to be her end?