Mrs. Styles //h.s au//

Chapter 24

I was currently on the balcony of the hotel overlooking Paris. I didn't find out until we were boarding where we were going. I didn't think that Harry was actually listening to me when I said that Paris was one of the places that I wanted to visit.

We've been here for a week and I've been warming up to Harry more. I think it's because I don't have the pressure of my mother standing over me making sure I was perfect. Both my parents were fine after the accident minus the cast that my mother was sporting.

"You said that you wanted to know why our parents decided that we were going to end up marrying each other right?" Harry said as he came out onto the balcony and stood next to me.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Now before I tell you I just want you to know that I only just found out the whole story only a couple of days before we were married." He said.

"Okay." I replied. At this point I didn't really care when he knew I just wanted to finally get some clarity.

"Our parents met when they were in college. Our mothers especially grew really close. Then your mother became pregnant with your sister Erica. Your parents decided that the best option for Erica was to put her up for adoption because they were too young to raise a child and their lives were just starting to pick up.

It was after Erica was born that your parents decided that they wanted to be together forever so they got married. They all graduated and my parents went back to England and your parents continued their lives here.

Your father had a gambling problem that he hid from your mother for years and they were slowly slipping into financial ruin, but your mother didn't find out how bad it really was until you were two and she was at the store and they declined her credit card because he had gambled the rest of their money away.

At the time my father's publishing company was taking off and he was expanding it over to America. Since they were close my parents helped yours out of their situation. That's when our mother's began talking about our futures.

My mother didn't agree with all of the boys Gemma was bringing home at the time. She was fifteen and rebellious and typically did it to piss my mother off. My mother wanted me to end up with a respectable girl and she thought I was going to rebel just like Gemma did.

And although your mother loves your father she didn't want the same for you. She wanted to make sure that you would be taken care of for the rest of your life. So they decided that we would eventually end up together. And as far as I know your family is still struggling which is why they pushed the wedding to be sooner rather than later. Because if you were married off it would be less that they would be financially responsible for." He said.

I just stared in front of me. It was a lot for me to process. I'm stuck in the middle with how I feel. Upset that they felt this was the only way for them get out of the hole that they dug themselves. And relieved to know that they're going to be okay.

I still feel resentment for the childhood that I didn't have and the future that I didn't get to create for myself. "Are you okay Riley? I know that it's a lot to take in." Harry said rubbing my back.

"Yeah, I just don't know how to feel." I replied.

"It's okay. I think we should get dressed and head to the Eiffel Tower today." I smile.

"Are you sure? We can stay at the hotel today and relax." He replied.

"No that would be a waste of a day in Paris. I want to go out and experience everything while we have the chance." I smiled and he nodded. I figured that if I kept busy I wouldn't have to think about everything. "Let's go experience the city of love." I said before kissing his lips.