SuperCorp - Arranged Marriage

Chapter 1

Lionel's pov:

Today is the day, I can feel it. One last day of living with this horrible disease (and no I don't mean Lillian), then I can rest in piece. Sadly, with Lex being in prison, that leaves poor Lena all alone. Lillian will be around scrutinizing her every breath of course but that is as good as being alone. 

I am not afraid of death, in fact I welcome it. I have made many mistakes throughout my life and I am not proud of any of them except one. Lena. Lena is not the mistake, the mistake was how I treated her mother, I should have done more and treated her better.

When I met Lena's birth mother, I instantly fell in love, that would have been amazing of course if I were not already married to Lillian. Anyway, Lena's mother and I, I won't mention her name because I am not worthy of speaking it, Lena's mother and I met at a business meeting, she was stunning, and Lena is her younger twin, she is so much like her mother, from her long raven hair and her beautiful blue and green eyes to the way she dresses and holds herself. 

At first we didn't speak to one another, it wasn't until she called me out for being rude that we spoke. I was scolding one of my assistants for mixing up my files by dropping them when she kindly stood up for him and took the blame, she claimed that she had been the one to bump into him thus being the cause for the useless man dropping everything. As an apology she offered to by me a drink after the meeting. That drink led to a few more drinks on different occasions and eventually changed into us going out for meals or just spending time together. After about a year we slept together, we weren't in a relationship, although I suppose it was thinking about it now. A month or two passed after the incident and she announced that she was pregnant with Lena. 

I was ecstatic, I was so happy, I was in love with this woman and I knew that she felt the same way. The problem with the pregnancy was Lillian. Lillian and I had not been happy for a long time, hence I fell for another woman. I still loved her of course but she became power hungry and money obsessed. When I came clean to Lillian she was furious, I told her that I was going to leave her and my reasons for doing so but Lillian being the conniving and manipulative bitch that she is black mailed me into staying.

If I had not of stayed with Lillian she threatened to kill Lena's mother and tarnish my company. She also told me that she had done some dodgy dealings in my name that I didn't know about and said she would frame me leaving my "bastard child" without her father. The threats towards myself I would have been able to live with but It was the threats on Lena's and her mothers life that made me stay. Lena's mother was sad of course but she understood why I had to stay.

Whilst giving birth to Lena her mother died, she hemorrhaged and the doctors couldn't stop the bleeding. I was heartbroken. The last thing she said to me was "take care of our little girl" with a weak smile. 

This may sound wrong but I mean it in the best way; If I had of known that Lena's mother was going to die anyway, I would have left Lillian like I had wanted to. I would have treated Lena's mother like the queen that she was, I would have given her the world. 

That however is not my biggest regret. My biggest regret is knowing that I am unable to keep my promise of looking after and protecting Lena. With me soon to be out of the picture, there is nobody left to stop Lillian from mistreating Lena, if Lex had not of gone insane I know that he would have protected her, those two although only half siblings, were thick as thieves, much to Lillian's disgust. Lex was always a good boy, it makes me sad knowing that my little boy is no longer all there.

I think I need to speak to Lena, I need her to be strong, I need to know that she will look after herself and not lose hope no matter what happens when I leave. I reach over to my nightstand, its a bit of a struggle due to my body being so weak but I manage. Once my phone I have my phone in hand I dial the only housemaid I can trust.

"Jess, hi. I am sorry to disturb you at this time of night but I need you to fetch Lena for me, I must insist that you do this as quietly as possible... Brilliant, thank you!"

I didn't have to wait long for my daughter to arrive, after about 10 minutes she quietly poked her head round the door. "Father, you wanted to see me. Is everything alright?" she asks, concern evident in her voice.

"Lena, Darling. Please come and take a seat, there are a few things I wanted to talk to you about without the prying ears of Lillian and the servants that are loyal to her.-" I pause to take a breath before continuing. 

"- Lena, we both know that i do not have long left, I am almost certain that today could well be my last day... No, sweetheart, please do not cry, not yet. Darling I need you to be strong for me, once I am gone I will not be able to protect you from Lillian and that honestly scares me. I need you to turn those tears into your strength, not forever, just whilst you are living with Lillian, if she does not see your weaknesses then she cannot exploit them. One day you will leave this place and you can live in happiness. I know that you will go on to do extraordinary things, you do not show it but I know that you are an exceptionally smart young woman"

"Father I do not know how to be strong. You are all I have, Lex no longer responds to my letters and thanks to Lillian I no longer have any friends. I am going to be alone" Lena says, her voice breaking at the last part.

"Lena you are never going to be alone. I may no longer be here physically but I will always be watching over you, along with your mother. You will not be living in this house forever and when the time comes for you to leave, I truly believe that your happiness will follow. Things will be difficult for a little while, I need you to stay true to yourself, do not lose sight of who you are and do not let that godforsaken woman get to you" I tell her firmly.

"I cannot wait to leave this place, however I am not so sure about happiness following. You have given me almost everything I could ever ask for, you have been an amazing father but once you are gone I will have nobody. When I leave this house I will literally have nothing but the clothes on my back, father I do not care whether I have lots of money, I do not need to be rich, but I cannot see me ever having happiness" Lena says sadly.

"Lena, you will not have nothing,I have made sure about that. When you turn 21 you will get a visit from your mothers best friend. I have not spoken to her since your mothers funeral to make sure that nobody ever found out about what I have set up. I can not tell you exactly what I have done but just know to expect a visit from a woman in her late 40's, a red head with green eyes named Katherine Kane, It does not matter your location at the time, she will find you. Two years Lena, all you have to do is stay strong for two more years." I reach my hand out so that I can take a hold of hers. 

I know that Lena is confused and upset but I have every faith in her, as long as she stays strong I know that she will be okay. Life is difficult and full of disappointments but if Lena is anything like her mother was, and I know that she is, she can accomplish anything.

"I have something to give you Lena, I shouldn't but I will anyway on one condition..." I look at my beautiful daughter, waiting for her to respond.

"Anything," She says eagerly.

"Can you fetch my wallet from my night stand?" Lena nods gently and stands to fetch my wallet. When she hands it to me I open it and pull out a photograph. It is a picture of Lena's mother and I, on the back is Katherine's number, I wrote it on the back of the photo because I knew I would never lose it that way. I hand it to Lena and she looks at the photo, confusion masking her features.

"That is a photograph of your mother and I. On the back is Katherine's phone number. You can keep that photograph on the condition that you only use that phone number in the case of an emergency. Nobody associated with Lillian, including Lillian of course, can know about this photo, do you understand?" Lena looks at the photo and gently runs her fingers over her mothers frame. That is the first time she has ever seen her mother, I know she will treasure the picture.

"You should go back to bed now Lena. Before you go, please promise me that you will stay strong," I plead. I need to know that she will be alright.

"I promise father, I am going to miss you greatly" she says whilst placing a gentle kiss on my forehead, then she left just as quietly as she entered.

Now my time has come. Be safe my daughter.