My whole life is about to be a hell of a rollercoaster. I stare at the beautifully dressed woman standing before me with a resolute look and for the second time this morning, I find myself unable to utter a word. The chairwoman of the Martinez empire is standing before me and announcing in front of the entire staff of Giancarlo- which is only one of the many establishments that her family owns- that she wants me to marry her son! I count to five in my head and try to steady my breath to form a sentence. "Ma'am, I can't possibly marry your son. I don't... I can't... I don't know...." "Nonsense!" She says pleasantly. "You don't know my son but you must have seen pictures of him all over the news. He's the sort of man that any girl would be happy to get married to." She's not wrong, I know. Brandon Martinez is the heartthrob of Seattle, Washington. He is 6ft tall, built like a Greek god, and controls an empire worth billions of dollars. Who wouldn't want to be with a man like that? Th

After Brandon leaves, the chairwoman brushes his insult off as childish exuberance and asks me to do the same. Well, easy for her to say but the man that walked out of this room was certainly no child. She ushers me to the dining room and we eat quietly. With servants on both sides of the dining table, all of our needs are met to.In my head, I start to think of what it would mean if I lived like this every day of my life. In all honesty, I believe that it would be exhausting. I like the simple life that I lead and with Brandon's obvious contempt for me, I make up my mind while enjoying the heavenly chocolate cake dessert to turn down the chairwoman's offer.Back at home, I sleep the rest of the day off after the chairwoman's driver drops me off. A loud, incessant knock at the door wakes me up in the evening. With sleepy eyes, I head towards the door. Hailey stands at my door ready to burst with excitement."Tell me everything!" She shrieks.I shrug as I let her in and close the door

The wedding is a quiet affair. True to Brandon's words, it happens three weeks after our discussion. While the Martinez family is duly represented by the chairwoman, aunties, and uncles I didn't know existed and Anthony, Brandon's best friend, Hailey is the only person I have with me. After we leave the court, everyone heads towards the Martinez empire where the lush garden has been decorated beautifully for the wedding ceremony.Several people try to strike up a conversation with me but I am not interested. I just stand next to Brandon and smile politely at them while willing the entire ceremony to be over. In truth, it is not that I am completely averse to this marriage, it is the celebrations that bother me. Why put so much effort into something that isn't real? Although there are only a total of 50 guests at the wedding ceremony, it is evident that so much has been spent to uphold a standard of luxury.When people finally start to leave, I breathe a sigh of relief and try to loose

Breakfast goes by in a blur. The chairwoman is chirpy and excited, talking about our honeymoon and living arrangements. Unfortunately, neither Brandon nor I are interested in talking about our future together. After breakfast, the chairwoman tells us that she has to be at an orphanage for a charity event. At first, I'm bothered that I'd have to spend the day alone with Brandon but he leaves the house almost immediately after his mom.Alone with barely anything to do, I start to wander around the house. God, this house is so big, I feel like I can get lost inside it. In the kitchen, three maids are scurrying around, preparing what I suspect is lunch for the family. They are startled when they see me in the kitchen, but I smile nicely and ask for their names. Because I can tell that they're uncomfortable and distracted by my presence, I do not spend too much time there but go to find the butler, Miguel.Although he is initially unwilling to converse with me like an equal, he soon lets d