Way Down We Go

Chapter Six

I rushed out of the house and back into my car, quickly ordering the security guards to take me to the hotel as soon as possible.

"We're not going through with this business merge!" I yelled at my brothers through the phone as soon as I got back into the suite.

"Woah, woah, woah! What happened?" Jamie asked.

"Henry and somebody have arranged an engagement! Between me and Francis! They can't force me to marry somebody I can't stand!"

"Wait, what?" CC asked. I rolled my eyes.

"What don't you understand?!" I yelled. "They want him and me married! I won't do it! We're severing all ties with Henry's company and getting me out of this ridiculous engagement! We're stopping this right now!" I yelled.

"Francis is your old boyfriend, right? When you were fourteen?"

"Yes! The one who broke my heart! I'm not marrying him!"

"Can they even do that? I've never heard of arranged marriages in this day and age," CC added.

"No! They can't force me to marry him! Call Victoria and get me out of this!"

"Alright, alright, we've made the call now. They can't do anything to us. They're the ones who need us. We help them. They can't force you to do anything."

"I don't know what to do. I've got Madison looking into it and it says that the engagement was signed just before I came back to them when I was fourteen."

"Who signed it?"

"Claude, most likely. He's sold me." I admitted. It was true. My uncle had sold me to the highest bidder, lovely people from the house of de Guise.

"No, he hasn't." Jamie said strongly. "We've gotten the appointment with Victoria for first thing tomorrow morning. She'll get you out of this."

"And if she can't?" I asked.

"She will." CC encouraged. "Victoria can get a murderer caught at the scene acquitted. She can do anything. She can get you out of this. She will."

"I hope so." I admitted, looking over at Madison's laptop. We'd been looking into this engagement for hours and were finding more and more about this ridiculous circumstance my uncle had put me in. "It's not Claude." I revealed, staring at the names. "I have no doubt he had influence, he's mentioned in paragraph three. But, the people who sighed are James and Marie. My parents, they did this to me." I sighed. "It's them. Them and Henry signed the deal when we were children. They would get the help they needed and we would expand into the hotel sector, but they're bankrupt! They can't do a thing for us, bar steal our company as we can do nothing but stand back and watch!"

"Calm down. We'll figure out a way out of this."

"And if she can't? The deal's been signed, I'm sure sure how we can spin this and avoid being manipulated."

"It has been signed, but not by you or him. It's against your wishes, they can't force the marriage, it's illegal."

"We can try to pay them out. Tell them to name a figure for a one time payment, and let that be the end. With the way things are going, we can double what we have now easily." CC said.

"I know, I know. I just hate feeling this trapped."

"I know, sister. But, we can help. And we will. Trust us."

I wish I could.

The phone call quickly ended and I lay in my bed, not sleeping for even a moment, simply laying and staring up at the dark ceiling. The hours passed by like an eternity, before I complied with the hour and rolled out of bed, slipping into the shower and washing up.