Chapter 2: Bombshell

Emily’s footsteps paused as she arrived at her father’s French office doors.

On both sides of the door stood people under the great influence of tension. Mr.O’Brian was worried about the way Emily would take the news and Emily on the other hand was scared at the sound of her father’s tone.

“Come in baby” replied Mr. O’Brian after hearing her footsteps.

The term of endearment calmed Emily down. She took a sit on the comfortable leather seat.

Looking at his daughter, Mr. O’Brain never knew that a day like this would come when he would be short of words.

“Dad is anything the matter? You are scaring me.” said an anxious Emily.

“Emily I would first of all like to remind you that I love you so much and everything I do is for your good .”

“Okay Dad I'm very scared now “panicked Emily

“Baby do you remember the day some bank workers came over about 2 weeks ago?” asked Mr.

O’Brian

“Yes, Dad. I think I was doing some schoolwork at home with Nessa. Is there a problem? Did something happen ?”

“Umm, you see the company is not doing so well. The company has fallen”

Emily screamed as she couldn't believe it.

“How come Dad what happened? What will we do? Are we in debt?”Rambled Emily.

“No baby everything is fine .”

“ Everything is not fine! She deserves to know the truth. That's the least you could do right now.”Yelled Jenna as she burst through the office doors looking at her husband with extreme anger.

“What's Mum talking about Dad?”

“The thing is um..I um. I had to...”

“No there's no Um in this situation. You don't have any right to stutter. You sold shares inappropriately. You made deals with dishonest manufacturers and then got stranded. You made us go broke and now to solve your problem what did you do? Huh? What did you do?”

“Come on Jenna don't do this “begged Mr. O’Brian.

“ Dad please can someone explain to me what’s going on ?”

“Baby we're so broke that we can't even afford this house. The bank has asked us to evacuate the house .” Mr.O’Brian sighed and carried his head in his hands as he felt ashamed.

“We’re indebted” added Jenna.

“What I don't understand Is why you are so calm about the matter.”

“Baby there's a solution. We’ve arranged a marriage between you and a friend of mine’s son.”

“What? You must be joking Dad” exclaimed Emily

After a moment of silence, she realized that her parents were not joking.

“I want to believe that this is a joke. Mum? Dad?”

But her parents bent their heads in shame.

“This is impossible” concluded Emily after which she left her father's office to her room.

Minutes passed by and Emily couldn't stop the train of thoughts that ran through her head as she lay on her comfortable bed. She felt empty and disappointed. She knew that they were filthy rich but she wondered how one could go broke in the blink of an eye.

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. Looking up at her door she found her Mum standing there with a weary look.

“Can I come in ?” asked Jenna, but Emily was too angry to reply to her.

“You know baby the last time you got angry at us was about three years ago when we asked you to steer clear from that Jonas guy. Everything we ever did was did your interest.” by this time Jenna was already seated on Emily’s bed as she spoke.

“We’ve done our best so far for your sake. You are our only child and we love you so much. All the travels abroad and within the country have always been for you. The late nights were also to provide you with a bright future. We have indeed let you down but I don't want you to ever think that we don't love you. We love you to the moon and back my baby. Your father made some wrong decisions but baby we are only humans and are bound to make mistakes. Honestly, I was very mad at him but I came to understand that he tried resolving the problem. He sold some property, even some that he held on to badly that belonged to his late father. Baby, he did it for us, and most importantly for you. He had to beg his friend to negotiate a deal for an arranged marriage to his son. This is not only to boost the company but it assures us that in case of anything you will always be in good hands.”By now, both ladies were crying and hugging each other.

“Mum but how am I supposed to cope? My day hasn't even been celebrated. Could Dad not wait one more night before dropping this bomb?” sulked Emily.

“Baby it's fine don't worry. Everything will work out for the best” assured Jenna.

“Baby I know that I’m to encourage you and make you see reason but then a dinner has been arranged with your In-laws for tomorrow evening.”

“What!? Tomorrow? Mum did you even come here to console me or to just impose your ideas on me.”

“Come on now Emily..”

“Mum please leave my room.” Emily begged as she stared at the beautiful cream-white carpet on her floor.”

“As you wish baby. But remember, I’ll always love you.”

As Jenna walked out of Emily’s room. Emily burst out in tears. She lay on her bed stomach flat and she screamed into her fluffy pillows.

“What if I escape ?” she thought. But as soon as the thought came into her mind she shunned it away After all where would she run off to? Yes, she had money but for how long will she use it? That’s if the bank doesn’t collect it.

Finally, she dozed off into a sound sleep that carried her to the next day.

Sun rays peeked through the blinds of Emily’s glass windows and woke her up. She woke up with a smile as she loved the morning sun but then the harsh reality of life dawned on her like cold water poured on a cat. And she slumped back on her bed contemplating how the dinner would go through. How does the guy even look like? Is he even young?