“Here! All done!” the make-up artist exclaimed. “Thanks,” I replied with a small smile. I’ve been trying to make myself seem happy but I just can’t. As you must have guessed, I’m getting married today. Yay! What was supposed to be the happiest day of my life was turning out to be the worst. Nothing was of my choice. Neither this extravagant venue, nor this annoyingly fluffy dress, nor these thousand of strangers as guests and definitely not the groom. What did I ever do to deserve this life? A loveless life. I was not loved by my parents and I would not be loved by my husband. He made it very clear. “I can provide you with anything you want but don’t ever expect me to love you.” If we would have been strangers this would not have been anything new but if after only one meeting I felt so many sparks, what would happen if we live together. “Emily! Let’s go! It’s time!”I mustered my most convincing smile and nodded. Time to sell my life away. I stepped out to find my father waiting
Emily's POV: I woke up to my alarm, I rolled onto my back staring at the ceiling. It felt so great waking up alone in my brother’s guestroom, one day after my wedding. Note the sarcasm. I never dreamed of the grand wedding and all the fairy tale bullsh*t. The one thing I dreamed about was someone to make a house our home. I guess it was too much to ask. I heard a faint knock on my door. “Em? You awake?” “Yeah, come in,” I replied my voice void of any emotion. He cracked the door open and peeked in. “Welcome to the kingdom of the unlovable.” “Don’t be like that. I love you.” “You might be the only one.” He sat on the side of the bed looking at me, worry flooding his eyes. “He’s a jerk for not even trying to love you. You’re amazing.” “Thanks, little bro.” “No fair! I can’t even tell you not to call me that.” “You can but it’s not like I would listen.” He gave me a look. I was about to talk but he cut me off. “Don’t you use the ‘I’m low’ card.” I grinned but it soon faded.
Emily’s POV: I sat there watching everyone crying and I sighed. Am I a horrible daughter if I’m not shedding tears? The only thing making me sad is seeing Gray sad. “Son, thank you for coming.” I looked up to see my mother hugging my ‘husband’. I’m tired of the self-pitying so might as well ignore him. “Emily come greet him. He had a long flight.” I internally rolled my eyes. It’s like she does it on purpose. I stood up reluctantly and walked to him. I plastered my fakest sad smile. Seeing he was holding a briefcase, I turned on actress mode. “Let me take that for you.” I grabbed the briefcase from him and our hands brushed sending sparks through my hands. Bad idea! Abort mission. “Get him settled in the guestroom.” I nodded and gestured for him to follow me. I made eye contact with Gray on my way out and he sent me a sympathetic look. I walked up the stairs and the sound of his footsteps assured me he was following behind. Unlike what I expected the silence between us was c
A series of shots rang out and Ela dropped to her knees.“NO!” Art’s scream pierced through the building. Ela slowly brought her hand to her stomach and blood covered her fingers. She fell onto her side and Art quickly bent down bringing her onto his lap. Jason took her hand in his.“Come on El! Stay with me! The team will be here soon! Just a few more minutes. Stay with me, please!”“You can’t do this El! We have to celebrate our victory! You promised! You freaking promised me!”Tears were flowing down their faces and they were struggling to speak. Suddenly, Ela’s face morphed with anger. Everything around faded. It was just the two of them now. She stood up and pushed Jason away hard.“I saved you but you couldn’t save me. I trusted you!”“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”“You’re pathetic and weak! How could you let me die? You should have tried harder!”“I did. El please-““You never could do anything useful, could you? Why are you still here? I shouldn’t have saved you! You should have di
Emily’s POV: The door of the jet lowered into a staircase and a gush of wind breezed past me. My hair followed the current as the air hit my face bringing the feel of home along with it. I sighed in delight. “I’m back New York!” I screamed at the top of my voice. It echoed back to me which brought a smile to my face. “I really missed you.” “Young mistress?” Jake, one of my father’s youngest bodyguards called. My father had insisted that at least a team of ten accompanied me back home which I find really unnecessary by the way. I’m not that famous. I think. “I already told you, please call me Emily.” “Sorry young- I mean Emily. The car is ready for you.” “Thank you, Jake.” He blushed a little. I sighed internally. I sometimes forgot that I was a past model. I knew the tricks to enhance every asset I had and as much as I hated the attention, I had to keep up appearances for the tabloids. You never know when a paparazzi might pop up. If they want a picture, might as well give them
Emily's POV: Say what? “What are you talking about father?” Gray was as surprised as I was. “I don’t want you to drag my name down if your company fails. You’re getting married to a billionaire who runs a successful company.” I was livid. How could he do that? And drag his name down? Is he serious? “Who says my company is going to fail? And drag your name down? The public doesn’t even know I’m your daughter! Or did you forget how you hid my existence from the whole world? For all they know you only have one son who will take over your company one day! So I don’t see why my marriage is necessary in any way.” “Please understand Emily. We only want to see you settled.” “Why do I have to get married for that? And what if I was dating someone?” “From your calls we assumed you weren’t-“ “From my calls!” I exclaimed, raising my arms in disbelief. “I’m sorry but out of everyone you should have known I never would have told you something like that on a call. Or at all. I may be your da
Flashback: I was sipping my wine, leaning against a wall, trying to attract the minimum attention possible. JAE often organised fundraisers which I only attended to be able to make donations under my name without drawing the attention of the press. I could easily merge in the crowd. Having the opportunity to meet investors is always a plus but most of the men approached me because of my looks. That’s why I was currently hiding. Not a very good hiding spot I know but it’s the best I could get. One step into the bathroom and I almost suffocated with the amount of perfume in the air. So, the next best thing is merging with the wall. My gown being beige was an advantage as all the walls were the exact same hue but it was extremely comfortable. Even having been a past model, dresses were never my thing. I’m mostly in jeans and pants for the office. Why did we even have to wear ball gowns? We ran businesses, not kingdoms! They could have gone with normal professional attire. “What’s a be
Emily' POV: We made eye contact and I saw his eyes widen in surprise. Wait? He didn't know who he was marrying either? Why did he even agree then? "Patrick! Morgan! What a pleasure to meet you again!" my mother exclaimed, greeting my 'future in-laws'. "The pleasure is all ours, Stella." Are my eyes playing tricks on me or did Jason just flinch? "How are you holding up, Steve?" Mr. Stag asked. "I'm surviving. For how long I don't know. That's why I'm rushing things a bit." "I understand. I understand." “Emilia, Grayson come here,” my father called. We moved forward. “You already know our son Gray who is currently running the company,” my mother introduced while the men shook hands. Gray then kissed Morgan’s hand. “This is our daughter Emilia, your future daughter-in-law.” “Pleasure to meet you and please call me Emily.” “The pleasure is all ours. You are even more beautiful than the last time we saw you.” I was surprised, they knew me from before? “You probably don’t rem