Free The Mirrors of Fate by Cindi Lee Page A

other two guys as well.
    “ You’re quite fortunate Louie even wants to see you again,” her mother reminded her.
    She could not stop her hands from viciously raking through her hair and down her face. “Seeing him again isn’t fortunate, it’s a goddamn curse! Can’t you just accept that I don’t like them? This is not going to make me happy! Why won’t you—”
    “ This is the final word, Maria,” her father told her sternly, his face adopting his common scowl that showed he wouldn’t tolerate a second more of unruliness. “And don’t you dare call my traditions stupid before I get out of this seat and teach your mouth some manners. This is my culture and it is yours as well since you’re my daughter. Arranged marriage has been going on for centuries. It’s nothing new. If you ask me, more kids nowadays need their parents to set them up with someone. Keep their little whorish ways down to a bare minimum and secure a future that doesn’t involve stripping or parading down a boulevard in a skirt that looks like a piece of cloth.”
    “ Dad—”
    “ Plain and simple it is the culture of this family.”
    “ You don’t have a say in the matter,” her mother reinforced.
    “ And I find it quite interesting that even though you acted like such a disgraceful excuse for a lady, it appears your defiance actually helped build his interest in you.” He said it almost proudly, as if her rebellious ways had been a direct result of his own molding and he had only himself to be immensely pleased with. “But God only knows why he’d want to be with someone like you for the rest of his life,” he began, setting up for a scathing joke. “We can barely stand having you around now as it is.”
    He laughed and her mother joined in with a chuckle.
    Maria gritted her teeth. The teasing comment didn’t hurt her more than it escalated her temper. She tried to keep a grasp on composure, on self-control, but all that was slipping away quickly. Her last resort was to plead.
    “ Would you just listen to me, you guys? I’m begging you. I already told you how I feel. I want to be free to choose who I want like every other normal person, like even you did, Dad.”
    He scoffed arrogantly. “We’re back to this again? I’m a man, Maria. The cards are just dealt differently. You can whine about it all you want, but that’s how it goes. My parents weren’t happy about it, but at the end of the day they remembered what? That I’m a man and fortunately society affords me that luxury to choose. I chose your mother, yes, didn’t care that she was white, didn’t care she couldn’t have children, didn’t care about much save for making my own choice. And you’re forgetting I was out of my parents’ house when I made the decision to marry her. I won’t have my own child tell me how her life is going to be run under my roof.”
    Just because he was a man...Just because she hadn’t been able to escape this roof yet. Running away to university was really the only chance she had to avoid her fate. But if she couldn’t...
    “ This is so wrong. It’s wrong and you know it! It’s ridiculous that I can’t have a boyfriend like everyone else. It’s stupid that I can’t even go out on dates because I’m already ‘reserved’ for potential people. Look, I know you guys want the best for me, but I feel like you just don’t—”
    “ He was such a nice one, wasn’t he, honey?” Mrs. Jaghai asked her husband.
    He nodded firmly. “Very nice indeed,” he said with the same lilt. “Very intelligent and very charismatic.”
    “ Yes, yes, very charismatic. He’s such a wonderful guest as well. His parents taught him how to be cultured, obviously. Don’t you think so, sweetheart?”
    He nodded again. “Yes I do. He’s an amazing choice.”
    Maria grimaced and sealed her eyes together to stop a stream of angry tears from flooding out. “Stop that!” She wanted to scream something so loud and powerful her words would