Pretty and Painful

marriage?

BLAQUE -

"Morning sunshine," my mom said as I approached the breakfast table outside our house in the garden where everyone was there.

"Morning, Mom, and everyone," I said smilingly.

"Morning," everyone said in unison.

Everyone was acting strange, like something had happened. My mother looked nervous, Sofia was giving me a sad smile, Alvey and Harvey seemed tense, and my father's whole attention was directed toward me instead of the newspaper.

"What's happening here? Why is everyone acting so strange since yesterday?" I raised my brows. Yesterday, too, everyone was being weirdly nice to me.

I was waiting for their reply, but nobody answered. Then my father broke the silence.

"Blaque, we need to talk after breakfast in my office."

"Sure," I said. I don't know what is happening, but I know it's serious because my father never calls me by my name unless it's something important.
The table was silent the whole time. Harvey also didn't annoy me, which he does every morning. As soon as we were all heading to our house, I quietly asked Harvey, "What's going on here, asshole? You didn't say anything to annoy me?"

"You'll know shortly, Blaque," he said and left.

Blaque. Wait, did he just call me by my name? I stopped short in my tracks. He never calls me by my name. What the fuck is happening? I ran upstairs to my father's office because I was growing impatient.

As soon as I entered my father's office, he looked up at me and motioned for me to sit on one of the chairs in front of his desk. This office is my father's favorite place in the whole mansion.

"How are you, princess? How's work going? I see you are working very hard," my father said.

"I am fine, Dad. Please get to the point; I'm growing impatient." I said.

"I don't know how to put it nicely, but you know that you're 25, right?" he said.

"Yes so?"

"I think it's time you get married," he stated.

"What ?" I knew that this was coming, but I didn't know it was coming this soon, and I haven't even found a man that I love and want to get married to.

"Yes, princess, you are 25 and I think it's time you get married," he said.

"But Dad, I haven't even found a man I love," I complained.

"You don't need to," he said.

"What do you mean?" I squinted my eyes suspiciously.

"I have already found a man for you," he said.

"You what? You can't be serious." I was stunned. My father has already found someone for me.

"I am, and your marriage is fixed with Heath, son of Mr.Donato from Donato Enterprises. Alvey is going to take over the mafia soon, and as he is going to take over, he needs a strong alliance to settle in. I believe Heath is the best alliance we could have, as his mafia is the biggest in Italy. And a marriage is a great opportunity to bind two families," he said.

"You fixed everything without asking me?" I was startled.

"I did."

"Then why did you even bother to tell me? You could've just told me to wear a wedding gown and walk down the aisle," I said abrasively.

"You are going to get married in two weeks, and you are going to meet Heath at the engagement party this Friday," he said, clearly ignoring my whines.

"Have you even heard about Heath? Because if you didn't, then let me tell you that he's a cold, ruthless mafia boss who does not bat an eyelash before killing someone. Last I knew, he killed his uncle over a family dispute. Not only that, he's also known to be a player who sleeps with new chicks every day. Do you want to marry off your daughter to someone like that? What if he kills me?" I said it horrifyingly. Heath is one of those men in the mafia who is known for his ruthlessness, and I have heard several of his misdeeds from Alvey.

"He won't do such things, and how can you judge someone just by rumors without meeting them? I have met him once, and he's everything but a player," he said.

"If you want me to leave this house, then say so, but don't do this," I said.

"Princess, this is a family tradition. Your mother and I had an arranged marriage; your brother and Sofia had an arranged marriage," he said.

"Family tradition, my ass."

"Blaque language," he said.

"If an arranged marriage is all you want, then why not let Harvey marry Heath's sister?" I retorted, hoping that maybe something could change. 

"No, princess, that's not how this works," my father said.

"You know what? Never mind. I am going," I said, getting up. I will lose my mind if I sit here for another minute.

"To where?" he asked.

"To the office. It's not like I have somewhere else to go." I said that and left for the door.

"Get ready this Friday for your engagement party," my father said, and I left without saying anything.

As soon as I went out, I saw my mother, Harvey, and Sofia outside the office eavesdropping on our conversation.

"Did you all know this?" I asked.

They all nodded their heads.

"And since when?" I asked.

"Yesterday," my mom said, and Sofia and Harvey nodded in agreement.

I sighed and left for the office.

As I reached there, everyone was looking at me, and I knew that they all knew about my marriage. It doesn't take long for the words to spread here.
I quickly went to my office, asking my assistant, Kesley, to send me some files to my desk. A few minutes later, she came in with the files and asked me, "Are you okay, Ms. Anderson?"

"Yes, Kesley, thank you for asking," I said.

"You know, I heard about the marriage thing," she said, stopping in front of my desk.

"I know. I also heard about it too." I said.

"You'll be okay. Don't worry about it much," she tried to comfort me.

"I should not worry! I haven't even met the man." I said.

"Want me to find out things about him?" she asked.

"Find it if you can," I said, clearly upset. I have only heard about Heath; I have never seen him.

"You know you have to smile and look happy because everyone thinks that you are marrying him out of love," she said, raising her brows on my sad face.

Kesley has been working as my assistant for the last 4 years, but she has been working for my family for more than a decade, and she knows that this is an arranged marriage.

"I know," I said.

"Alright, I'll leave. Call me if you need anything, and I'll try to find out about your future husband," she said, walking out.

Future Husband. I sighed and called Bree.

"Where the fuck are you?." I snarled.

"In my office," he said. Bree is the CEO of Martin Industries. He started his own company because he didn't want to take any part in the mafia, like his dad.

"Come to my office as soon as possible," I said.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Come here, and I'll tell you," I said while ending the phone without giving him the chance to speak.