Marriage Merger

Chapter 40

Pin drop silence. That’s what seemingly ensued after Emilio’s steely words. The first to break it was Ximena. “You have got to be kidding me!” she exclaimed in incredulity. She stood up from her chair and went to stand in front of her father’s desk.

That had to be the most absurd thing she had ever heard. First, he had handed off his eldest daughter because of a business contract, and now he was also handing off his youngest one. And all for what? Just because she had fallen pregnant. Granted, that was bad enough as it is but there was no need to involve matrimony in this. For starters, Andrea had just begun her senior year in high school. She barely knew what she wanted in life and now she was about to get married.

Rubbish. Absolute rubbish.

If Ximena knew anything, her baby sister was nowhere close to being ready for marriage; one of convenience much less. But with Emilio Dos Ramos, marriage seemed to be the answer to all his problems. Want to carry on your family’s legacy? Easy, marry off one of your children. One of your children dumbly got herself impregnated? No problem, just marry her off as well to the idiot who impregnated her! Enough was enough with this blatant display of idiocy and anarchy; this time she was going to stop it.

“You know very well that this isn’t the way to go about it, dad. She can have the baby and they can take care of it together but they don’t have to get married,” she reasoned, teeth clenched. Emilio gave her an unimpressed look.

“That won’t do. Have you thought about what people will say if they find out about this? Her name, not to mention mine as well, will be tarnished. The sooner they get married, the better. It will seem like they were in love. She will however have to drop out of the academy and start homeschooling and also prepare for the nuptials,” he trailed off, more so to himself. With a scoff, she turned to everyone else in the room.

“Are you guys seriously going with this stupid plan?” she echoed in disbelief. Nobody responded. She eyed her mother. “Mother? Aren’t you going to object to this?”

Dolores sighed and pressed her lips into a thin line. “This is bad enough as it is. No need to complicate things any further, hija,” she told her. “Mistakes were made and there will be consequences. I think they should just get married.”

“So, have you decided Mr. Pedrad?” Emilio dared to ask but she knew that he was well aware what the response would be. It was always his way or the high way, wasn’t it?

Omar released a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time. “I’ll marry your daughter,” he replied lowly, too ashamed to look at anyone but his lap.

Emilio grinned wolfishly. “Great choice, son. We will have to meet your parents at some point to discuss all of this-,”

“You can’t just sit there and act like this is some business deal! What the hell is wrong with you?” Ximena demanded, slamming her hand on the table.

Emilio scowled at her. “Don’t use that tone with me. Show some respect, I am still your father,” he chided coldly, their identical orbs glaring daggers at each other.

Ximena was about to fire back but Andrea made her stop. “It’s okay sis. I’ve accepted my fate. I’ll get married to him and have this child,” she squeaked lowly, her held hung low in guilt and defeat.

Salvador yawned loudly and stood up straighter. “Well, if that will be all I’m off to bed. I have school tomorrow still,” he said flippantly, beginning to walk towards the door.

He had be considerably quiet, like he already knew about this. Being the sneaky little raccoon he was, Ximena could bet her bottom dollar that he already knew about this secret relationship before everyone else did. Trust Salvador Dos Ramos to always be a few steps ahead of the pack. He was cold and calculating, just like his father. But his lack of care for the situation was way too cavalier, even for him. Did he not care about any of his siblings?