Bound by an arranged marriage,
Rose Francis and Devin Keller are forced to work and live together. She has secretly loved him since she was little but he firmly believes that she hates him just as much he hates her.
At one point everything will c...
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I'm not even fully awake and mom's keep talking about a dinner tonight.
When did she even come here?
"Mom, what are you talking about and when did you get here?" I sit up straight and rub my eyes.
"There's dinner tonight at Uncle David at 8 pm, make sure to wear something nice and you will go there with us and I came just 15 minutes ago, now leave the bed" mom says.
"Why? Why is there a dinner? Is something going on?" I ask her.
"Nothing's going on, Devin. Now, go and take a shower." Mom says and leaves the room.
I get ready, and wear something casual. I get downstairs and see dad. It feels good to spend some time with them.
We eat breakfast and they both are suspiciously quiet. I look at mom to ask her if something's wrong? She shakes her head. Today is really weird.
❥❥❥❥
It's 7 pm now and mom is calling on my phone asking me when will I get to there house, so we all can leave together for dinner.
They left after having breakfast. Dad's weird silence was annoying me. He was not the quiet type of guy. He's always talking, so what's wrong? I asked mom when she was in the kitchen, she said everything's fine.
Maybe everything is fine and I'm worrying for no reason. I get ready and drive to my parents house.
They both are ready, dad sit besides me on the passenger seat and mom sits at the back.
I stop in the driveway of Uncle's house. We all go inside and I greet them with a polite smile.
No matter how much I hate their daughter, I love them and they love me.
I see her and immediately my mood gets ruined. She's wearing a black dress, which ends above her knee. So they told her to get ready too.
There's no one's birthday today. No anniversary. So what is this? I feel weird. Maybe I'm just thinking too much.
We all are sitting at the dining table, eating and everyone is weirdly quiet. What the hell is going on. I can't keep quiet anymore.
"What's going on? Why are you all so quiet?" I said, taking a bite of my steak.
On the table, both our dads were sitting at the heads of the table across from each other. And across from me is sitting Rose.
Dad puts down his fork and puts his hands together, like he is thinking something before saying it.
"We all have decided something and this dinner was held to tell you both kids about this." Dad says.
I put my fork down and look at Rose, she looks just as confused as me.
"What is it, dad?" I ask him.
"We want you both to get married at the end of july" he says.
Bomb drops. I feel every muscle in my body wanting to explode.
"What?" Rose says.
"It's important for both of you to get serious about your life now, you both will get married at the end of july, you can decide the date" uncle says.
"No" I say. I don't know why am I even shocked, this was going to happen one day or another.
"Devin" dad says, raising his voice. "This was the agreement, you can't deny it."
"No" I say. "I don't want to marry her. I don't want to marry anyone"
"Yeah, I don't want to marry him." Rose says.
At least there is something in common between us, even if it's hatred for each other.
"We don't want to force you both, but this was the agreement, Give each other a chance. If it doesn't work out you can separate after one year of marriage or else forget about the company and the shares. This is our condition, the choice is yours" Dad says.
"But you are forcing! you can't do this to me. I don't want to get married. This is my life, I will get married when I want to." I say.
"Devin, whatever we have decided, it's good for both of you. Your dad wants to see you get settled in your life, try to understand" mom says, placing a hand on my hand, I jerked her hand and stand up.
"No. I will not get married. And if you want to see me get settled in my life, you can. I'm not going anywhere" I say.
"Devin, understand the situation. The quicker the better" Dad says.
"Why? Why are you all hurrying it? I'm 24. I don't understand why all of a sudden you want me to get married." I shouted.
"Because we both are going to retire and we need both of you to take over the company" Dad says.
"We can do that without getting married" I shout again.
"No" Dad glares at me. "Your marriage was in the agreement, either you marry each other or forget about the company and do whatever you want"
I'm quite because I don't know what else to say. I just stare at him.
"Why her?" I say now in a low voice. "Why can't I marry another girl? Why her?"
"When she was born it was a wish for all of us to see you both happy together." He says.
"But we don't feel that way about each other" I'm trying to sound calm. "We don't even like each other"
"Yes, I hate him." Rose says.
"I hate you more." I say, shooting her a glare. She can't hate me more than I do.
"Enough" Dad glares at both of us. "If that's the case then marry each other for one year, if you both still don't like each other then you can get a divorce" He says. "Otherwise you know the other option."
For one year.
Without any other word I go outside to smoke.
Because only that can help me wrap my head around everything he said. And everything that's going to happen now.
