Forbidden Love

4. Value Of Pain

"This can't be happening," Annabelle repeatedly says, hoping she can turn back time. She paced the room like a caged animal.

"I said you have to marry a man in a year to get full custody of Samantha." Rolling his neck and shoulders, Adam faced her, my brother's best friend, his lawyer.

She doesn't know what an embolism feels like, but she definitely has one. Stupid heart...could you stop that thing from beating crazily; it's throwing her concentration off.

She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest before Adam had to open his stupid mouth.

"Your brother chose ten suitable men for you to choose from...."

Annabelle hopped up out of her chair and began to pace. "Hold up... he chose ten prospective grooms for me? Are you saying that my brother had a vision of what's going to happen in the future and took time to choose ten grooms for me but didn't get around a chance to explain why the fuck he chose to ruin my life?"

Adam put his hands flat on the table. "Anne, his heart was in the right place."

"Hell, yeah." Anne's head bounced up and down like a basketball. "My brother woke up one day and realized he would soon be in a tragic accident and decided to find the best ten grooms in London for his sister. But unfortunately, he missed including his partner's name on his daughter's birth certificate. Are you not telling me something, Adam?"

Annabelle Cox has seen a loss at twenty-six, but this loss is highly devastating. A week ago, her brother Jay Cox met with an accident. Jay was her lifeline and often acted as her father. He was seven years older than Annabelle and always looked after her. The accident of Jay not only disrupted the order of her life, but a mortal coil also shuffled off before its time.

"Anne..." Started Adam

"Don't Anne me, Adam. What the fuck is happening? I'm not even done grieving, Adam. Now you are giving me an ultimatum?"

"It's not me...."

She couldn't keep the quiver from her voice. Her gaze swept the room for David. "Do you know about this, David?"

David and Jay were partners for seven years. They were engaged and were to be married in six months. They chose to start a family and choose a surrogate. They have a beautiful six-month-old daughter Samantha Bella Cox.

Tears sting David's eyes, and he sniffles, wiping at his runny nose with a tissue. "It was supposed to be a joke. He thought of toasting about this at our wedding. Would I lose her, Anne? I lost Jay. I can't lose her too. Please, I beg you. Save my daughter."

She cast an anxious glance at the Baby, sleeping peacefully in the corner.

Tears choked her throat, burning as they threatened to bubble over and spill from her eyes. She wavered on her feet, and sure she would faint like some attention-seeking diva. Her thoughts returned to the day she saw her brother's body covered in blood before taking him to the operation theatre, unfolding before her disbelieving eyes. She threw her arms around David, and he began to cry bitterly. She tried to pull back, but his arms clung tightly, and she could do nothing but stand there trying to be strong for David, Jay, and most importantly, her little bear, Samantha.

Sensing the moment's sadness, Baby Sam began to cry and kick her little legs.

David pulled away and wiped his tears. "I think she needs her bottle. We will be right back." He stood up slowly, put the Baby over his shoulder, and walked out of the room.

"Help me, Adam." Adam looked away; Anne glimpsed the tears welling in his eyes.

"I tried, Anne. You have to believe I tried my best." Adam gave a sad laugh and threw his hands up in the air in a show of defeat. "Anne, Jay wants you to be happy. This is a battle you can't win, Anne."

"How do you know we can't win if I don't know the whole truth?"

"Some questions are better left unanswered. You have to deal. You have to deal with what it is, Anne, not what you want the world to be. "

The room fell silent, and Annabelle squeezed her eyes once more. This time though, just to keep the tears from falling.

"He wants me to be happy by giving me an ultimatum? I either marry, or I lose custody of his daughter. Do you even realize how crazy and creepy this sounds? This is unfair to David, Samantha, and me."

"You are making it sound crazy, Anne."

All emotions hit her hard, like a brick, but instead of crying or feeling sad, her feelings coalesced into anger. She wanted to lash out at Adam for telling her sooner. She wanted to be angry at her brother for driving fast and crashing his car. If only she could go back in time, she wanted to spend more holidays with him, have coffee, or tease him. She couldn't help but get angry at anyone and everyone for denying that.

"Why, Adam? As his legal lawyer, you must know why he did what he did. Why choose grooms for me when he could simply set me up on blind dates like he always did? Why would he put this as a condition to get custody of his daughter when his fiance is alive unless this request is important? Why lie to his partner that this is a joke? A joke won't make it to the will, Adam."

The heat in his gaze evaporated, and he looked away, staring at anything but her. "Only those who know the value of pain come forward to help."