Capture Me

Chapter Twenty Three

"What?" My jaw dropped as I stared at him in disbelief. I thought those things were just stories or things that happened elsewhere. The thought had never occurred to me that someone close to me could have been in an arranged marriage. I wasn't the kind of girl who paid attention to history class or even the news so to me it was a shocker. I didn't know what to say as I looked at him.

"I was twelve when I found out about it." He sighed. "I was listening in on a conversation between my dad and uncle and I heard them talking about it. I knew I wasn't supposed to know about it so I kept quiet and I also didn't fully understand it.

"When I was 16, my father came to visit my mother and my siblings and he told me about the arranged marriage. I still didn't quite fully understand it then but I was given Alia's number so we could talk. I didn't dare tell my dad that I didn't want to marry my cousin because he would have not been too happy with me. He most definitely would have taken it out on my mother and myself so I went along with things. I think he probably threatened her because she would check in on me almost daily and ask how things were with Alia.

"She seemed more adamant about becoming friends and maybe that was because she was younger and less mature than I was. We would text nearly every day and it was always innocent but we started to become friends and we would go to each other when we had problems or just needed to vent. To be honest, I kind of forgot about the fact that we were going to get married. This was their plan. They wanted to have us become friends so it would be easier for us to get married.

"After I graduated high school, my father flew me out for a present and I met Alia. I'm not going to lie; I thought she was absolutely gorgeous because she is but I wasn't attracted to her like that. They gave us a few days together before they came to us and I was given an engagement ring to give to her. I barely knew this girl but I felt like I had to propose to her. I felt like I had a gun to my head because I knew that if I didn't I would be in serious trouble. At this time, I was still intimidated by father so I didn't dare speak up. We were 'together' for around 3 years and we only saw each other when my father would fly me out. I wasn't about to spend extra money to see someone I didn't have feelings for. One time, we had a meeting and our wedding date was set for nine months later.

"When we left and I went to my room, I felt so sick to my stomach that I didn't eat anything for the next day or so. The idea of marrying and having children with my cousin was and still is absolutely sickening. Alia, on the other hand, seemed overjoyed. She couldn't keep her hands off of me." He sighed. "I also couldn't stop thinking about how I was going to spend the rest of my life with someone I didn't choose or didn't even like."

"You didn't like her?"

"She was fine as a person but I wasn't in love with her at all. She's a spoiled brat and is very entitled. She gets everything she wants and if she doesn't, she had a temper tantrum like a two year old." He paused. "For the next few months, I was a mess but I didn't let anyone really see. I suspect Alia saw but ignored it because she was happy to be with me. We had a few meetings with my dad and her father and we were told that she needed to be pregnant within the first year of our marriage. Alia didn't have a problem with it but I did."

"Did you guys ever have sex?"

"No," He said. "She wanted to desperately. She would dress up in lingerie and she would put too much makeup on to try to seduce me. Nothing she did worked. For keeping up appearances, we did kiss but only when we really had to. She would try to kiss me more often but I would kiss her forehead as a way to get out of it. A few times she surprised me and climbed on top of me. She made out with me and tried to get me turned on so then we could have sex but at this point I was repulsed by her. We were cousins for God's sake and here she was trying to sleep with me. I would try to push her off but she kept coming for me so I gave up and let her do her thing until she realized I wasn't going to sleep with her.