Arranged To Be|18+✔️

'21

As I stood in front of my parent's house, I suddenly felt nervous to ring the doorbell. I hadn't let my mother know in advance that I was going to visit—I wanted it to be a surprise. Czar sat in the car, waiting for me to get inside before he would pull off. I took one deep breath and rang the doorbell three times, something we would do if one of us forgot our keys.

From the inside, I heard footsteps rushing to the door before it was yanked open.

"Zariah," my mother said before throwing open the screen door and pulling me into a tight hug.

Behind her stood my brother and father, both looking shocked to see me. I heard Czar's car pull away and let out a small breath of relief.

"We missed you so much," my mother cried. "We were just saying how upset we were that you wouldn't be joining us on vacation this year."

I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything upsetting. Instead, I just smiled. "Yeah, I wish I could come."

There was an awkward silence. I glanced out the window to confirm Czar had really left.

"Your husband isn't joining us?" my mom asked.

I took a deep breath, already regretting coming here. "No. No, he will not."

"Well, that's too bad. I wanted to get to know him better. Are you two getting along?"

"We're getting along just fine, Mother. Can we talk about something else?"

"Yeah, chill out Mom. Let her breathe," Josiah said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I smiled and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

"Alright, alright. It's my turn," my father said with a soft smile.

Josiah let me go, and I walked over to hug my dad. He sniffed my hair and sighed. "I missed you so much."

"You should visit more often—or we could visit you," my mother offered.

"No, I'll just come visit you guys."

I didn't want my family anywhere near Czar's house. Not with what he did for a living. It was too dangerous. Especially since I'd be trying to find Czar's former best friend.

"We were just in the middle of packing, so I didn't start dinner—but I'll get on that now," my mom said as she headed toward the kitchen.

I opened my mouth, but my father raised a hand. "She's missed you a lot, Zariah. Please, just let her have this."

I nodded and exhaled deeply. Being home again felt... off. Everyone was walking on eggshells around me. Everyone except Josiah, who dragged me to his room so we could play on his PlayStation.

He ranted about his excitement for high school graduation, even joked that Czar could come if he wanted. He was mid-rant about some girl he was seeing when my mother walked in holding a box.

"I've been meaning to give you this," she said as she handed me the box and sat beside me on the bed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Open it!"

I lifted the lid. Inside was a tiny white baby dress, with matching pink socks and a pink bow.

"I saved it from when you were a baby—the first outfit we ever put you in. I thought maybe you'd use it for your daughter someday."

My heart twisted. Having children had always been a dream of mine. But with Czar... I didn't see how that could ever happen. He kept me at arm's length—too cold, too distant.

I blinked back tears and closed the box. "Thanks, Mom, but you should give this to Josiah. He has a better chance of having kids than I do."

She frowned. "Honey, you never know what can happen."

I forced a smile and nodded. She left the room, and Josiah and I rolled our eyes in sync.

"She's been an emotional wreck all week," Josiah said. "Yesterday I caught her staring at your baby photos for hours. I had to hide them."

"Maybe it's menopause," I teased.

We laughed until we heard a voice.

"I heard that."

Our father stood leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms. "It's not nice to make fun of your mother."

Josiah mumbled under his breath, and I bit back another laugh.

"Zariah, I just came to tell you—Czar's here. It seems urgent."

Something about the way my father looked at me sent a chill down my spine. I rushed to the front door and flung it open.

Czar stood on the porch, pacing and tugging at his hair.

"Czar, what's wrong?"

"I called you ten times. Why didn't you answer?"

"I'm sorry, I had my phone on silent. We were just about to eat din—"

"My mother's dead," he said. His face crumbled.

"What?"

"She's... she's dead." He fell to his knees, his whole body wracked with sobs.

I'd never seen him cry. Never seen him break. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around him, holding his trembling frame.

"She's gone... gone."

My heart broke into pieces.

"Czar, what happened?"

He looked up at me with tear-filled blue eyes, rimmed red.

"It's your fault," he whispered.

And it felt like my chest caved in.

*~*

Update, Update, Update! AHhhhh! So, this was my last week of school which mean's I'll be updating a lot more. You guys can expect updates on Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays. I'll most likely update on others days too, I'm trying to be more active on here and now that I'm done school this book can finally began to pick up and we can get to the juicy parts! I can't wait for the next chapter!! I'm debating if I want ti turn this until a series or not but I guess that is for a later discussion. Don't forget to comment, vote, share, and follow. Until next time my lovelies!