One

"Are you guys seriously demanding I marry a man I've never even met before?" I asked my parents in disbelief. This had to be some kind of joke. "Are you seriously trying to sell me off?

That was basically what they were doing, asking me to get married into the Monroe family just so they could strike up a partnership and make a ton of money.

"Try to understand, Cassie," my mother consoled me in her singsong voice, lightly touching my shoulders. "You can leave him after the partnership is over, you know. If your father loses this opportunity, everything we've ever worked so hard for will all be gone in an instant. Don't think of it as us trying to sell you off. Think of it as a way to repay us for all we've provided for you."

I pushed her hands away from me in both surprise and disgust. I knew my mother was shallow, but hearing her say those words out loud just angered me to another degree. "All you've provided for me? Last I remember, you're my parents and I'm your responsibility. I never asked to be here. If I'm a burden to you just send me away, not use me to gather some extra cash like a slave. I can't believe you can be this selfish."

"Why are you blowing this out of proportion?" My mother asked in a bored voice, sitting down. I could tell she was tired of trying to convince me. She just wanted me to get married into the Monroe family already, and procure the partnership, so that she could get started on planning her next vacation cruise already.

"Your father and I got married the day we met and look at the beautiful life we've been able to build together."

Beautiful life? How could she even say that with a straight face? My parents were the most detached people I ever knew. Seeing them in my room together was already a rare occurrence. It didn't help that they were always either one business trip or vacation away from each other.

Was that the kind of marriage they hoped I'd have?

When I realized arguing with my mother was going nowhere, I turned to my father, who I perceived to be more reasonable in general. He'd remained quiet all this while, the guilt of his abnormal request eating him whole. I planned to use that guilt to my advantage.

"You won't let me sign my future and happiness away to a man I don't know, just because of some money, will you Dad?" I asked in a quiet voice, even though he was the one who'd thought up the idea in the first place. He glanced around for a few moments before his gaze eventually settled on me.

"Who knows, Cass. You might end up falling in love with him…" he said, shattering my last resolve.

"I'm already in love with someone else, Dad! His name is Kayden and he's my boyfriend!"

"A boyfriend who's nothing but a dead weight!" my father countered, raising his voice back at me. "A boyfriend who can't even take care of himself not to talk of you. Do you even think about your future at all?"

His words pierced me like a dagger. So just because Kayden was not as wealthy as they had once been, they were willing to toss me to the next available money well. As I stared at my father, the man who'd treated me like a princess all my life disappeared, and a selfish ogre who valued money more than his daughter replaced him. My mother was smiling at something on her phone screen, already done with the conversation.

"He just needs to get better," I say quietly, trying not to think of Kayden in that hospital bed. "I just need a few million dollars from you so he can get a new heart and we'll both be out of your hair for good."

Kayden was suffering from a coronary heart disease which had slowly begun eating him up over a year ago. My parents should have been able to help since they'd had the money back then, but because they didn't approve of our relationship, my father instead made a dumb investment in an importation business which sucked up all his fortune. And now, he wanted me to bail him out of potential poverty, by using my boyfriend's health as bait.

"Look on the bright side. If you marry the Monroe heir, you'll be able to pay for Kayden's surgery and have a lot left to give him and at the same time, you'll never have to suffer financially ever again."

I shook my head, a sick feeling crawling into my stomach. I didn't like this. I wished I could just disappear.

"Have you ever even stopped to wonder what parents would be willing to pay someone else such a huge amount of money just to get married to their son?" I asked, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. "Have you ever asked yourself how horrible he'd have to be that even his parents don't want him?"

"These things are complicated," my father said, looking away.

I couldn't stand them any longer. I'd never hated anyone like I hated my parents at that moment. Bending over, I picked up my handbag and began to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to see Kayden," I said, not like he even deserved to know.

My father looked at me for a long moment before picking up his car keys.

"Alright, I'll drive you."

"What?" I asked, confused at the offer.

"Well, I suppose it's only fair. You deserve to say goodbye to him. What better time to do it than on the day of your wedding."

I froze.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You're getting married today…"

***

"If he doesn't get a new heart by the end of the week, he will have a zero percent chance of survival," the doctor said, reading Kayden's prognosis while my father sat a few feet away giving me a look that said, 'I told you so."

"What can I do to quicken the arrival of the new heart?" I asked, pushing back tears, even though I already knew the answer.

The doctor gave me a sorry look as she flipped through the papers in her hand.

"You have two options," she began, counting with her finger. "One is to wait for a new heart from any organ donor and that can take any time from a week to a year since the patient is not very high on the list of recipients. The second is more realistic at this point. To push him up the list and get a new heart as quickly as possible."

"How much?" I asked, already knowing where this was leading.

"Two million dollars," she said, without lifting an eyelid.

As I looked down at the love of my life, lying unconscious on the large hospital bed, I was reminded of our years spent together, before his very unfortunate sudden heart disease.

"I love you, Kay," I whispered in his ear even though I knew he couldn't hear me.

As I sobbed, I slightly rubbed his bony frame and knew just what I had to do.

***

As I walked down the aisle, escorted by my father who was smiling at the crowd, I couldn't stop the tears that flowed down my cheeks.

My wedding veil covered my face, so fortunately, no one could see just how unwilling I was to get married to this stranger, just to save the love of my life.

I wished the aisle would go on forever. I had already imagined the worst about the Monroe heir who I didn't know and never got the chance to find out about.

What if he was too old and dependent and his frustrated parents only wanted him out of the house because he was a disgrace to them? What if he had committed some grievous sin that they were only trying to cover up as quickly as possible? What if he was a very ugly, wicked violent person who would turn me into a punching bag?

The moment of truth came when her father left my side and I saw the figure of a man place his hands on either side of my head to lift the veil. My heart pounded in my chest as I saw the face of my husband for the first time, and the world went still.

He was handsome.

Scratch that.

He was breathtakingly gorgeous.

Even with the scowl that covered his face as he lifted the veil, his entire features seemed perfectly handcrafted by God himself.

But, he didn't look pleased…

"I know I messed up, but making me marry this ugly clown is too much punishment," he said, staring with displeasure into my mascara-smudged face.