Bounded By A Deal

Chapter 8

Author's POV

It was a Saturday evening. The weather was quite fair - no too cold, not too hot. It was a perfect evening to binge watch a series, or read a good novel, but Isabelle was getting ready to leave, ready to meet her doom.

She stood in front of her window admiring her pleasant reflection. She caressed the thin gold necklace on her neck - a present from her future mother-in-law. It had come as a jewelry set, with a pair of matching earrings, a bracelet and a ring.

After applying another faint layer of lip gloss, Isabelle sighed. "Who are you, Mr. husband?" she asked no one in particular.

"Isa, are you ready?" Mrs. Seriake barged into her room, taking a full look at Isabelle. "You are looking stunning. Dash me your heels when you're done wearing them today, I know you wouldn't want to wear them again anyway."

Isabelle let out a little laugh, looking down at her feet, carefully placed in golden heels - another present from her future mother-in-law. "I look pretty, don't I? She spun around showing of her outfit. The dress stopped right above her knee, making it look casual, in a way. The dress suited her perfectly, making her look like a run-way model.

"You look absolutely amazing. Now, go get in the car, okay? I just got a call from Mr.Jide's wife She is already at the venue with your husband-to-be. Isn't that nice? Anyway, we need to leave soon, we wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

Mrs. Seriake left the room with a smug smile on her face. Isabelle was quite shocked at her attitude. Normally, her mom doesn't care about anything concerning her but ever since she found out about her arranged marriage, she has been acting sweet. Taking one last look at herself in the mirror, Isabelle sighed and left the room with a feeling of anxiousness, nervousness and... fear?

. . .

Bryan's palms were shaking. His thoughts were all over the place. He was pacing about the neatly decorated fast food/restaurant he was in.

There were red and white heart-shaped balloons scattered everywhere, LED light strips were organized in some corners, hanging across the walls. A circular table was in the center with two chairs opposite each other at its sides. The place looked nice, it gave a romantic vibe that was a little off for a dinner between a fourteen year-old and a thirteen year-old.

It was also important to acknowledge that it was Mr. Jide's wife that organized the interior.

'Why was she so happy about getting a daughter-in-law?' Bryan had thought when he found out about his mother's involvement with the interior. 'And why has dad put in so much effort to make sure the dinner/meet-up goes well?'

Mr. Jide had requested that the restaurant's staff be absent. He sent his cooks and caterers to organize the food and catering aspect of the 'event'.

"Quit pacing around! My daughter-in law and her mother are almost here." Bryan's mom stared at him blankly. "Get - your - act - together," she emphasized.

"She's not yet your daughter-in-law. We are not yet married. You don't need to call her that."

"But I want to... and I will." She put on a more serious face." I know you don't want to marry her, and that you hate her and all, but try to love her and treat her right, or at the very least don't hurt her, for my sake."

Bryan was stunned. "Why do you care? You've never cared about me and Flora that much. Whether we are hurt or treated right... you don't care about that. So why do you care so much about her, huh?!" Bryan was expecting her to yell at him for being rude or for questioning her actions, but she just glared at him and then walked away.