Lust Contracts

“If you want a perfect husband, you have to start by being a perfect bride! Listen to me!” my mother started shouting.

I knew that the reason why I was hanging on to this scar didn’t make any sense at all, but I just couldn’t bring myself to erase it.

“I have a headache. I’m going to sleep now; I have a test tomorrow…” I mumbled before turning away.

“You can’t avoid this forever! Elena!” my mother shouted after me.

I ran up the stairs as quickly as I could and headed for the sanctuary of my own bedroom. Closing the door behind me and locking it firmly so that I could hide away from my mother. Her shouting seemed far away now. Running away was the option that I always chose so that I wouldn’t have to fight with her directly. She’ll get busy with other things, and she’ll forget about this scar on my back.

After entering the bathroom, I started stripping in front of the mirror. Turning my back towards the mirror and glancing over my shoulder, I could see the thin patch of scar on my back from the reflection in the mirror. True, it wasn’t hideously ugly, but it was still a scar. I got this scar from the fire that burnt down the entire orphanage building. Honestly, I remembered very little about the events of that day. Whenever I tried to recall what had happened, I would get an unbearable headache. Ultimately, I stopped trying to recall it all together. After all, there was absolutely no good reason to recall what had happened in the past without a way to go back to fix it.

Although, I didn’t remember anything much about that day, I remembered that an older guy saved me from the fire and because of that he was hospitalized after the incident. Apart from the burn on my back and other small cuts here and there, I had no other noteworthy injuries. That was probably because of him shielding me from the fire. Whenever, I looked at or ran my fingertips on the scar, I would be reminded of him.

the only thing that I had to remember my savior by. The truth was that I didn’t even remember his name or his face clearly anymore. As the years went by, I remembered less and less about him until I forgot about him almost completely. What did he look like? What did his voice sound like? How gentle was his touch when he held

I couldn’t recall anything…

would I lose all

reasons that I couldn’t quite understand myself. After being adopted, I never went back to the orphanage again because I knew that I wasn’t allowed to even without asking. To my parents, the fact that I

find out that you were adopted. They’ll look

I replied obediently.

all records about your time before and at the orphanage. No one will ever find out unless you let it leak from your mouth. Never tell this to anyone, are we clear?” my

was younger. He was taciturn and he always spoke sternly and in a low voice. Even mother was secretly scared of him and lived her life by his every

I replied with a slight nod of

was adopted and even

…

fact and didn’t waste time to publicize it to their friends and business partners. Soon enough, various men started turning up to our house to have dinner with my parents. Whenever these