Chapter Three: The Ultimatum

CALISTA

I stepped into the grand living room of the Adams mansion, the one place that had never felt like home. My adoptive parents sat side by side on the plush beige couch, their postures rigid, as though this moment required all their strength. Vanessa, my perfect adoptive sister, lounged on the armrest, smirking as if she already knew how this conversation would unfold.

The air was thick with unspoken tension, and my stomach churned with unease.

“Sit down,” my father commanded, his deep voice slicing through the silence.

Reluctantly, I perched on the edge of a chair, my back straight, bracing myself for whatever was coming.

“What’s this about?” I asked cautiously, though a part of me already suspected the answer. Discussions like these never ended well for me.

My father leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “We’ve made arrangements for your future, Calista.”

I blinked. “Arrangements?”

“You’re getting married,” he said bluntly.

The words echoed in my head, disorienting me. I looked between them, searching for some sign of a joke, but their faces were grim.

“Married?” I repeated. “To whom?”

“Cassius Dario,” my mother interjected with a tone that suggested I should be grateful. “The youngest son of the Dario family.”

My heart stopped. Cassius Dario? The reclusive CEO who had disappeared from the public eye after a tragic accident? Everyone in New York whispered about him—the brilliant heir turned bitter recluse, bound to a wheelchair.

“No,” I said, standing up abruptly. “I’m not doing it.”

“You don’t have a choice,” my father said, his voice devoid of warmth.

“I do have a choice,” I snapped. “This is my life! I won’t marry a stranger just to fix your business problems.”

My mother sighed, her expression one of feigned disappointment. “Don’t be dramatic, Calista. This isn’t just for us—it’s for you too.”

“For me?” I scoffed. “How is selling me off to a man I’ve never met for business ‘for me’?”

“Do you think we don’t know?” she said softly, her words dripping with menace.

I froze. “Know what?”

My mother’s gaze sharpened as she leaned back. “Aaron.”

The name hit me like a slap. My chest tightened, and my breath caught in my throat.

My father cut in, his voice like steel. “Your son. Did you think you could hide him from us forever?”

My hands trembled as I clutched the armrest of the chair. “How do you—?”

“We have our ways,” my mother said smugly. “And don’t think for a second we’re going to let this scandal ruin us.”

“Scandal?” I whispered, my voice shaking.

“An illegitimate child,” Vanessa chimed in with a laugh. “How very cliché of you, Calista.”

I glared at her, my throat tightening. “He’s not a scandal—he’s my son.”

“Exactly,” my father said, his tone cold and calculated. “And if the media ever finds out, it’ll be the end of us and you. Yes. More of You. Do you think our investors will stay loyal if they know we raised a daughter who had a child out of wedlock? And if our investors leave, do you think we will let you have a beautiful doctor career?”

“You’re blackmailing me,” I whispered, feeling the ground slip away beneath me.

“We’re protecting you,” my mother countered smoothly. “Do you think you can raise him on your own? Without our support?”

I opened my mouth to argue, but my father cut me off. “And what happens if we take custody, Calista? Do you think the courts would side with a single mother with no stable family support?”

The room spun. They wouldn’t. They couldn’t.

“Don’t look so shocked,” Vanessa said, her tone mocking. “It’s not like you’ve ever been able to stand on your own two feet. You’ve always needed help, whether you admit it or not.”

My nails dug into my palms as I fought to stay composed. “So, what’s your offer?”

“You marry Cassius Dario,” my father said. “The union benefits both families. His company secures us financially, and we... take care of your son’s future. In return, you keep Aaron, and no one has to know about the circumstances of his birth.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then we’ll take everything from you,” my mother said flatly. “Your son included.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I hissed.

Vanessa chuckled. “Oh, they would. Do you think they care about your feelings? You’re not even their real daughter.”

Her words sliced through me like a blade. I turned away, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill.

Aaron’s face filled my mind—his bright smile, the way he clung to me when he was scared, the way he looked at me like I was his entire world. I had fought for him every single day of his life, and now they were threatening to take him away.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“And what happens to Aaron if I agree?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Nothing,” my father replied. “You’ll keep him, and you’ll continue... whatever it is you do. But the marriage must happen.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “You have no idea what you’re asking me to do.”

“We’re asking you to save your family,” my mother said sharply.

“No,” I shot back. “You’re asking me to save myself—from you.”

The room fell silent, my words hanging heavy in the air.

“You have until tomorrow to decide,” my father finally said, standing. “But don’t be foolish, Calista. Without our support, your life as you know it will fall apart.”

They filed out of the room one by one, leaving me alone in the suffocating silence.

I sank into the couch, my body trembling with rage and despair. There was no decision to make—they had already made it for me.

Aaron’s face appeared in my mind again, his tiny hands clutching mine, his laughter filling the empty spaces of my heart. He was my reason for everything, and I couldn’t let him down.

But the price they were asking me to pay was too high.

As the door closed behind them, I buried my face in my hands. I had been backed into a corner, and the only way out was through a marriage I didn’t want.

As I sat there in the silence, one thought echoed in my mind: I was being sold to a man I didn’t know, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.