Chapter nine

9

Anna

The grand ballroom buzzed with celebration, but my heart echoed a different tune. Feeling stifled, I slipped away, finding refuge by a moonlit fountain. Tears flowed freely, a silent release for the turmoil within.

"I can't handle this," I murmured into the night, my voice strained with emotion. "Marriage now? I can't. There's so much still to achieve the company. I had hopes, you know? Hopes they'd get it, that they'd wait until at least a while before the wedding."

I heard footsteps come from behind me, I quickly wiped my tears away.

Josie appeared, She settled beside me.

"Hey Anna, you don't look so good" she said.

I was trying so hard to hold my tears. "I don't feel good Jo. Like not at all. I feel… ugh I don't even know the word"

"Annabel, it's fine," Josie reassured softly. "You don't have to go through with it if it's not what you want. Your dreams matter."

Yet, my heart still throbbed. "Josie, he thinks I'm... he sees me as a whore. How can I marry someone who thinks