Marry Me Instead

Anna stared at him as he hurriedly took steps to slip the 10-carat diamond ring into her finger.

Just as it slipped an inch, she flicked her ring finger causing the ring to fall on the floor, rolling until it got out of sight.

“Anna! That was expensive.”

“Anna!”

The gasps of the guests filled the hall, their hands closing around their mouths in shock at the turn of events.

“Oops! I guess it’s too cheap for my finger. Maybe my finger deserves something more. I deserve more than a mere 10-carat diamond ring.”

“Annalise Cooper.” Anna turned to the owner of the voice behind her. Her stepmother stormed angrily towards her. “What has suddenly gotten over you? You were so excited about this and insisted on getting married to him. Do not disgrace our family,” Gritting her teeth, Sylvia warned.

“Mother, but I no longer feel excited. What should I do?”

“You think you’re worth more than a 10-carat diamond ring? Go with the plan and stop complicating things.”

Anna flipped her brunette hair backward with so much sass that the guest wondered if it was really the first daughter of the Cooper family whom everyone called naive, slow, dumb, and incompetent, unlike the other daughter.

She glared at Jason, her gray eyes staring into his soul and he felt shivers run down his spine. The Anna that he knew would be excited to receive such a ring.

“Right! That might be very expensive for you, Jason. Considering your worth. Here, I’ll give you these.” Anna unhooked her necklace and bracelets before placing them on his hand to the shock of the guests. “This should be enough compensation. We’re done. Our engagement and relationship. Find someone else to play games with.”

Turning to the guests, she addressed,

“Thank you all for coming but the party's over.”

If it was her past life, Anna would have believed Jason was in love with her from his shattered looks at her announcement. A chuckle escaped her lips. She had just shattered his dream of being the Cooper son-in-law, his dream of owning a fortune. That look on his face, she was going to make it twice as worse as he imagined.

The whispers of the guests began. They murmured about how unfeeling she was for breaking the heart of the one man who loved her genuinely.

If only they knew.

“Sister, what are you doing? You were crazy about him, weren't you?” Elle stepped forward.

“My eyes just cleared. Looking at him now.” Anna’s eyes raked over Jason’s body, disdain dripping from her gaze. “He’s not really my type.” She wondered what she had seen in him in her past life that made her fall head over heels for him. For a piece of trash like him.

They had met years ago while she was shooting her debut movie and afterward, she found out that he was the legal director of a big company. He was incredibly good to her, like a knight in shining armor, helping her with things she never imagined anyone would and eventually, she fell head over heels for him. When he'd proposed, she accepted without a second thought.

Looking at him, she realized he was never her type. His short chubby stature was a total turn-off to her and he was nothing like the tall striking figure that she desired.

“Why don’t you tell everyone, Jason? Tell them why you’re getting married to me, come on.” She urged. “Fine! It doesn’t matter anymore.” She walked closer to him so that they were standing toe to toe, her face a few inches away from his. “You know what? Go to hell.”

At that, Anna whirled around. The guests parted ways in the middle like the Red Sea, her heels clicking as she walked past them with her head up high.

Making her way out of the hall, she walked through the hallway, she couldn’t control her tears any further and let them stream freely down her cheek. She knew that nothing would be enough to thank the almighty for giving her a second chance to correct all her mistakes and live a good life.

Wiping her tears, she turned abruptly, her head banged into a six-foot-tall wall of muscle causing her to almost hurl backward if it wasn’t for the hand that snaked around her waist and held her in place. She raised her eyes to see who it was that she bumped into only to be stunned by the familiar ocean-blue eyes staring back at her.

“Now where is little Anna running to on her engagement party?” His voice rang, releasing her from his hold.

“Ca…Caspian?”

Anna stared at him, her eyes raking over him as she blinked back her tears. He was looking younger than the last time she saw him, on her death day. He was the last person that her eyes fell on before she finally succumbed to the darkness.

“Go back to your party, Anna.”

She shook her head.

“Di…did Brother Elias send you an invite?” Caspian Riordan, she chanted in her head. He was her brother’s close friend. She and Caspian were never friends but they weren’t enemies either. They just spoke.

In her past life, Caspian had suddenly stopped speaking to her after she got married to Jason and she only heard about him in the news. Until that day. She had seen the panic in his eyes when he rushed in and saw her in the pool of her own blood. But the main question was, why was he at her house that day, on the day she was killed? Why did he come after all those years?

“I came for business.”

He intended to walk past her but she stood in his way.

“What business?”

“Since you’re getting married, it would be only fair if your sister gets married too, right?”

Her eyes widened, her memory imprinting images. She remembered that in her past life, her stepmother had proposed marriage to him and at her engagement party, he had agreed to get married to Elle. Elle was crazy about him, everyone was aware of that. Aside from acquiring power and wealth, Elle’s desire was to get married to the son of the Riordan family, getting his love and wealth.

Anna found herself smiling. She just had a perfect idea. Very perfect.

“Wait, Caspian.”

“I don't think your future husband would appreciate you calling me so casually.” He took steps toward her and their body became a few inches apart, their faces incredibly close. His hand fell on her hair, patting it. “So little Anna, listen to your elder for once. Go get engaged.”

Anna stood rooted on the floor as he gave a smile everyone else except her would take as charming before walking past her, his hands buried in his pocket. She felt her anger rising, her fist clenching and unclenching. They were back on the ‘little Anna’ phrase which she hated. She almost forgot he was best at annoying her.

If he went in there and announced his agreement to the wedding, he was going to ruin things for her. In her sight, he was a treasure she couldn’t afford to lose to her enemies. She swiftly turned around before he could walk out of sight.

“Well, I have a business proposal.” He stopped at her words. “One I know you’ll be interested in, Mr. Riordan.”

Caspian stopped. Head first, he turned to face her.

“What?”

Anna cleared her throat and awkwardly looked away from him. In her past life, she never thought that she would be saying these words to someone else from Jason considering how she was crazy about him.

“I’ll cut to the chase. How about, Mr. Riordan, you marry me instead of Elle.”