Chapter 6 – The Proposal
Amelia closed the front door so hard the glass vase on the coffee table vibrated. She took off her heels, tossed her purse onto the couch, and paced the living room like a caged animal, the maid quickly carried her things to her room.
This is crazy! Completely crazy!" she shrieked, her voice echoing in the high ceilinged room. "That man is insane, I swear he should be locked up. Who just appears out of nowhere and informs me that I'm his wife? He should be arrested"!
Her parents sat on the couch, quietly. Too quietly. Mrs. Janaya's hands were folded in her lap, while her dad sat back, his eyes on the floor instead of his daughter.
Amelia interrupted her pacing, looking at them. "Why are you guys so quiet? Do you hear me? Someone insane is walking around town pretending to be my husband, and you're just sitting there?"
To her surprise her parents didn't say a word, her breast rose and fell, indignation burning hotter. "What in the devil is going on? Why are you not telling me anything?"
Mrs. Janaya glanced at her husband before turning to Amelia, her eyes uncertain. "Because… because he's telling the truth, Amelia."
Amelia blinked, then let out a sharp laugh. "I'm sorry...what? You can't be serious."
"You're married to him," her mother said again, her voice barely above a whisper.
Amelia laughed again, harder, clutching her belly. "Wow. Okay. You've all officially lost it, I was drunk mom and it fucking Vegas. People do crazy things in Vegas all the time, and then they annul it...end of story."
Her father finally spoke up, his voice was serious.
"It's not that simple. Do you even know who Ryan is?"
Amelia folded her arms. "Oh, please dad fill me in, who exactly is this psycho?"
"Ryan Casterton," her father stated.
Her father's eyes focused on hers now. "The youngest billionaire in the city, the son of Casterton Corp and the holder of the biggest contract propping ours up."
Her lips parted but she made no sound.
"If he cancels it, Amelia, our business collapses overnight," Mr. Janaya continued. "We'll lose everything, everything your grandfather worked for, everything I've spent my whole life building and protecting."
Her mother's voice shook. "Do you know what that does to us? We'll go bankrupt and that will bring shame to your father and our family name ruined".
Amelia's hands trembled at her sides. "So what...you want me to just go along with this? Be a wife to a stranger because you don't want to lose money? This is blackmail, not a marriage!"
"Call it what you want," her father snarled, pounding his fist against the armrest. "But you don't have a choice.".
Tears welled up in Amelia's eyes and her voice shook. "Dad, please…My dreams are coming true....My fashion line....it's growing. People are recognizing me, I'm not a failure anymore. Isn't this what you've always wanted? For me to prove to you I'm not worthless? Let me fight for this. Let me do something with myself before you barter me off like a bargaining chip."
Her mother's eyes softened for a moment, but her father's jaw only clenched harder.
"Dreams don't pay bills, Amelia. Dreams don't rescue businesses only Ryan can do that right now."
Amelia's head jerked back and forth in refusal, tears streaming down her face. "No! You can't just take this away from me. I've worked too hard...this is my chance!"
Mrs. Janaya reached out her hand, but Amelia drew it back. "No one told you to get drunk and wed some stranger," her mother whispered. "But you did. And now you'd have to face the consequences."
Amelia's knees buckled and she fell onto the couch, sobbing, her chest felt heavy. "I don't love him. I don't even know him."
Her father's next words came down like a sentence of death.
"Ryan doesn't just want to keep the contract, He wants you. And he's made it very clear that he wants this marriage recognized in the proper way that is in public."
Before she could respond, Headlights flashed through the window as a black car pulled into their driveway.
A quick knock echoed on the door and the butler moved to answer it and returned with a box made of velvet clutched in his hand. He put it on the table between them.
"This was delivered to Miss Amelia," he told them and left.
Her mother opened it, inside it lay a pure diamond ring, the stone glinting with merciless brightness.
On top of that was a note, in Ryan's handwriting.
#This time, marry me properly#
Amelia couldn't take it much longer, her world was falling apart. Her mother turned around to her, her face pale. "You have no other choice, Amelia."
Her father's voice was final. "You will wed Ryan Casterton."
And in that instant, Amelia realized she was trapped between her family and their survival and herself and her freedom.
That night, Amelia lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. The room was dark, but her mind would not rest. Every time she would try to close her eyes, Ryan's patronizing face would appear in her mind, his voice echoing as though it were an order that she belonged to him. She tossed, pulled the blanket over herself, and then kicked it off again.
Why had she even gone out that night? Why had she let the pressure from her family persuade her to go clear her head? She was not the type of person to get drunk until she couldn't think anymore. And now one stupid night had made her life hell.
Her palms were against her face. "Why me?" she whispered, her voice shaking.
She remembered her parents' words at dinner. They were supposed to protect her, not push her toward this. But all they were interested in was that stupid billion-dollar deal. She was less than a bargaining chip, a pawn Ryan had manipulated with a twisted kind of luck.
Amelia curled up onto her side, clutching her pillow tightly in her arms. Her chest ached. She didn't want to cry, but the tears poured down anyway. If she hadn't imbibed so much, if she hadn't signed whatever piece of paper Ryan pushed under her eyes, all of this wouldn't be done and now she was stuck.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. For a second she thought of ignoring it, but the vibration wouldn't stop. She reached over and saw a message, one she wasn't ready for.
It was from Ryan.
#Sleep well, wife. Tomorrow we'll discuss our wedding#
Amelia's eyes frozen, souring her body. She carelessly threw the phone across the bed as if it burned her and buried her face in the pillow, she hated him, she hated herself and hated worst of all that there was no escape.