BETROTHED TO THE BILLIONAIRE

Ryan’s POV

Like an erupting volcano, I burst into my parent’s mansion with anger coursing through me and stormy red eyes.

I stalk towards the second living room when no one is in sight the moment I enter, except for the maids whom I do not feel like talking to.

The person I want to see is my mother. And dad.

They both caused this. If only they didn’t try to force me or blackmail me into marrying that crazy woman in the penthouse, maybe I won’t be this frustrated, angry, and sad, and I would probably be on my way to work, excited for a new day’s challenge.

They caused this so they should answer for this.

During the wedding yesterday, I realized mother was the one behind it all. She was the one who reminded my dad about it and pushed him to force me into this.

This is just unfair. This is unfair.

This is sheer wickedness.

Just before I get to the living room, Nita appears. When she spots me, she smiles and waves her hand but I shove her away and enter to see mom sitting on her usual chair, sipping wine with her legs crossed.

“Ryan?” She calls when she looks up to see me standing without a word.

“Are you ok, Ryan?” My sister, Anita who I just shoved away in anger asks me as she comes in front of me, with confusion written all over her.

Anita is still in college. She goes to school in Boston and she only came home because of the wedding.

Mom examines me from head to toe and finally fixes her gaze on my face, with a curious expression.

“Are you going to work? What about your honeymoon with your…”

This is when I can no longer hold it back in. “Honeymoon my foot, mom!” I snarl in anger, pointing my index finger at her. “Why did you let me marry that woman?”

Anita and my mother both look confused but I am not in the mood to tell them what happened and how that woman has been frustrating the hell out of me since we tied the knot. It is just a day but it feels like a year of torture.

“Do you have any idea what I am going through right now? No, you don’t because of your selfish reasons. Just because she is your friend’s daughter doesn’t mean I should marry her. Just because you like her doesn’t mean I will like her as a wife. If you really wanted me to be married, why didn’t you give me the choice to find a woman myself? Why does it have to be her?” I rasp out, ignoring Anita’s wide eyes.

Silence ensues and mother isn’t attempting to give me an answer. She is calm looking and quiet.

I explode again.”Mom, will you please answer me? Can you give me one good reason why you let me marry that crazy woman? Do you even know who she is? You don’t, yet you let this marriage shit happen despite my protest.”

“You should be on your honeymoon”, she says slowly and sips her wine again without breaking eye contact with me.

“What?!” I exclaim in disbelief. Is she still talking about the honeymoon despite all I have said? “Honeymoon?”

“Yes. That way, you two will get to know each other better. Your flight has been booked…”

“I don’t f***ing care and I won’t let you control me, henceforth, ok? Just stay out of my life. I no longer care about the f***ing construction company, you can do whatever you want to do with that.”

I twirl back to go when she stops me. “Ryan.”

Anita and Mother called my name at the same time. Mother’s own was raised while Anita’s came out as a gasp.

I have never been this way to my mother. Father and I have always been the ones to argue and fight but Mother and I are the closest. She loves me.

I know it’s normal for a mother to love her child but the love between us is different. It is unconditional just like every mother’s love but what makes it different is that I am not an only child, yet she directs all the love toward me.

When we were little, I used to think Anita wasn’t my biological sister because of my mother’s full-swing attention toward me. But as we grew up, I realized there is more to it but Anita didn’t care as she used to when we were much younger.

Instead of using that against me or hating me for taking away every one of our mother’s love, she took comfort in our dad. She became closer to dad and I was close to mother.

Mother tells me everything. Every secret. Every truth. Everything that comes to her head whenever we are together. And we talk about women and love.

The only topic I don’t feel comfortable talking to her about is sex.

I hear footsteps approaching behind me and I guess it is mother’s because Anita is just a meter away from me.

I turn round to face her and she raises her hand in the air to strike my face.

“Mother?” Anita’s voice stops her and her hand hangs in the air. With tears brimming in her white pupil, threatening to trickle down her face, I begin to wish she had actually slapped me, maybe she won’t be this emotional.

I shouldn’t have shouted that way to her. I am just angry that she is involved. She ought to be supporting me. I have my reasons for saying Valerie is not a good woman. I have my reasons for saying I didn’t want her as a wife but they did everything they could to convince me. They forced me, persuaded me.

“Get lost!” She shouts and brushes past me, her shoulder hitting mine. I watch her take the staircase up and disappear into a room.

Feeling stupid, I sigh. Coming here to shout at her isn’t doing any good. My anger is still very much present and Valerie will still be in my house because we are married.

If I had come here two days ago to do this, maybe some things would have changed. Maybe they would listen to me and then we will call the wedding off but it is too late already.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

Valerie and I have married already and nothing can change that except the contract we are supposed to sign.

The contract is the only thing that can give me hope that this will be over soon. Without the contract, I am hopeless.

All I need to do is just be more patient with her. When she begins to throw a tantrum, I will ignore her. I will only talk to her when necessary.

Now that we are going back to the main house, I have no reason to have direct contact with her because we have separate rooms.

I don’t eat breakfast. I don’t take lunch either. Except on special occasions when we have a lunch-out meeting.

This way, Valerie and I won’t meet even at the dining table. At night, I only eat in my room. I don’t go downstairs to eat because most times, I come back home late from work.

I also enjoy eating while working and the only way that can happen is when I am comfortably sitting on a sofa with a laptop in front of me.

Nodding to myself, determined to make this work till it is finally over, I take long strides the way I came.

“Ryan?” Anita calls to me but I don’t stop until she runs in front of me, blocking me from going out.

“I need to go to work”, I find myself saying calmly without staring her in the eyes. Maybe it is because I feel ashamed for acting immature that way or because my mother almost slapped me in her presence.

“You don’t know anything, Ryan”, her voice is breaking and I stare up at her in curiosity.

What is she saying? I know nothing? What is this about?

A tear rolls down her eyes and another follows but she quickly wipes them away and smiles at me sadly.

“You shouldn’t have said that to mom. She is heartbroken….”

“I know but I am frustrated, Anita. That woman is crazy, I know what I am talking about. We can’t work. I don’t even know her. She keeps showing different kinds of behaviors…”

“Stop it already, Ryan”, she stamps her feet on the ground and begins to cry again. “Stop being selfish.”

Selfish? I am selfish because I said Valerie and I won’t work. Is there more to this? Of course there is, we need each other. Her parents need our money and partnership and I need her to get the company.

Now that I am ready to give up the company if only she would go, will she be ready to give up her vengeance also and let her parents contine to suffer the bankruptcy problem they are facing?

Should I use that against her, maybe she will become more cool-headed?

“Valerie is nice. Mother did this for your own sake.”

Now I am sure Anita is also supporting them too. She would never support me, why did I even think of that?

“Get out of my way!” I speak up with a voice full of authority. I am done with all this shit. I will do things my way now. If Valerie wants things to be hard, so be it. If she wants a fight, a fight she gets. I won’t let her get to me ever again.

“Can’t you see?” She cries out again. “Can’t you see the very reason in front of you? Can’t you see that mother is dying?”

My hand on the doorknob goes still and I squint to be sure I am not imagining things or hallucinating.

Before I can turn to her, she breaks down in tears, muttering to herself. “She is sick. She is dying.”