Arranged •{ONC 2020}•

《 Chapter One 》

Ashlynn Whittaker stared out the window of the limo. The sky was gray with clouds and the rain was falling like the tears she should be shedding.

Her cheeks remained dry.

The police told her there had been an accident. It was quick, painless. They hadn't felt a thing. Neither did she, if she was being honest.

Ashlynn's mother and father had never really lived up to the role of parents. They were too busy managing the company and travelling all over the country, thus leaving her in the care of nannies and butlers. For a while, Ashlynn fought it. She wanted to play board games and have tea parties like her friends did with their parents. She wanted to eat fast food and take road trips. She wanted to feel loved.

Instead, all she ever received was rejection. "Sorry, Ash," her father would say when she held up her drawings for him to admire. "I have a business meeting, and if I don't leave now, I'll be late."

So, she stopped fighting. And eventually, she stopped caring. At least then the feelings were mutual.

"Miss Whittaker, we have arrived."

Ashylnn blinked and collected her thoughts. "Thank you, Arnold." Gathering her bags, she exited the vehicle and scaled the steps leading to the front door of her family's house. Well, it's my house now.

A maid greeted her at the door. "Your great aunt is in the parlor with the lawyer. Would you like me to bring you some water?"

"That'd be great, María." Ashlynn left the bags piled around the entrance and kicked off her heels, grumbling all the while. "Whoever invented these things was a misogynist."

María chuckled and took her coat. "Did you manage to work something out with the funeral director?"

"That cranky old man tried to sell me the fanciest coffins they had. Twenty thousand dollars a pop! The audacity..." Ashlynn yanked a bobby pin from her bun, sending her hair cascading down her back. "I went with the cherry ones instead. And after half an hour of arguing, he agreed to let us have the funeral on Saturday."

"That's such short notice! How will you get invitations-"

"The fewer people the better. I don't want to see thousands of groveling faces claiming to have been close with my parents in an attempt to get a pay raise. My parents weren't close with their own daughter, how could they possibly have been closer to them."

"Now, chica, you know that's not-"

"Save it, María," Ashlynn cut her off. She regretted snapping at her dear friend immediately and sighed. "Sorry. Everything is a mess and I feel like downing a bottle of wine and sleeping for a month. Maybe two."

María rubbed her shoulder gently with a sad smile. "Entiendo. I'll put this away and bring the refreshments."

"Thanks, María." Taking a moment to compose herself, Ashlynn made her way to the parlor.

The room was normally dreary, but today it seemed especially so. The gray walls matched the sky outside, and raindrops hammered against the windows. The lit fireplace did little to brighten the room, and even the vivid landscape paintings looked paler than usual. The hardwood floor felt like ice beneath her feet as she tiptoed over to a sofa.

"Ah, there she is," an elderly woman greeted Ashlynn with a smile. "Fashionably late, as always."

"At least I'm not hungover," Ashlynn mumbled and collapsed onto the sofa, paying no heed to the lawyer's arched brow. "What's this about anyways, Aunt Leah?"

"Well, with your parents' sudden passing, we have to determine what you are inheriting. While they didn't put together an entire will, they did have one requirement for you to meet."