Emma Livingston never thought she would end up in an arranged union. The twenty-four-year-old fashion and event planner, who just finished her master's programme, is heartbroken to learn that her father has signed her up to wed 30-year-old billionaire barrister Liam Henderson in order to pay off his enormous debts. Liam consents to the convenience marriage because he feels pressured by his father to provide a family-friendly image. Emma and Liam start to see surprising aspects of each other as they work through their unplanned union. Beneath Liam's cold, entitled exterior is a compassionate guy battling familial demands. Emma is unable to ignore the rising sentiments that are emerging between them, despite her initial resentment of the arrangement. With the support of their best friends, Samantha and Ryan, Emma and Liam must decide whether to surrender to the love blossoming between them or fight against the odds stacked against their happily ever after.
View MoreEmma’s POV
“What do you mean I’m getting married, dad?” I question my dad, tears running down my face fast and hard. I haven’t ugly cried like this in years but right now, I didn’t care how ugly I looked. All I cared to understand was what my dad meant by I was to get married in two months.
“I realize how sudden and unexpected this news comes, sweetie, but it’s what needs to be done,” he replies me, taking gentle strides towards me.
I step back. Usually I like the comfort of being in my father’s arms, but not today. Maybe not ever again. Not with what he’s saying to me right now. “This is so unfair!” I shriek really loudly as I begin to pace round the living room where my mum, dad and I stood as they broke the news to me.
At this point I was livid. I don’t think I’d ever been this angry before in my life, and especially towards my parents, but today I was. I was upset, confused, and especially furious at them.
“How could you let this happen, mum?” I stopped pacing and faced my mum with my hands placed on my waist and my eyebrows raised, tears still streaming down my face freely.
“Honey, there was no other option. Would you have rather your dad went prison?” She responded to my question with a face full of empathy. I knew the correct answer to that question, but in that moment I didn’t care.
“Yes!” I all but said quietly. “Why couldn’t he have opted to go to prison? Why did he have to sell me off to Liam Henderson?” I yelled.
“I did not sell you off, Emma. Never you repeat that statement ever again,” my dad replied sharply without giving my mum a chance to respond to me. At this point he and I were in a staring contest with each other, none willing to break contact and look weak in front of the other.
Right from when I was a kid, my dad’s mother had always told me I acted just like my dad did when he was younger. She’d tell me how we had similar reactions to particular situations and how we had the same temper. She’d say, “I wonder how arguments go down with you both at home”. Truly she was right. My dad and I did have the same temper and today proved it.
I wasn’t going to back down from the stare though, and he knew that. He eventually gave up and relaxed his shoulders. “Emma, I truly am sorry for this. I’m sorry that this is the reality of your life right now, but this wedding, this marriage, it’s happening. Whether you like it or not. The deal has already been made”.
“I hate you, dad. I really do”.
Of course I don’t and could never hate my dad but that was what I was feeling in that moment. I felt nothing but hate towards him.
“I know you don’t mean that, my love,” my mum said to me as she approached me and engulfed me in a tight hug. That was what I needed but didn’t realize. That hug. I immediately melted in her arms and slid to the floor, clutching my stomach because I felt sick to it all of a sudden.
“I just got my first job offer, mum. I was supposed to move to New York by the end of the month. Why this? Why now?” I say in between sobs, my voice shaky. “It’s not fair. I’ve worked really hard,” I continued as I was able to get my voice back to a steady pace.
“I know, sweetie, and I promise this isn’t going to be a forever thing. It’s for three years and then you could get a divorce and do whatever you want with your life. I’ll make sure it doesn’t exceed these three years my darling. I assure you that”, she strokes my hair and caresses my back as she whispers her words softly into my ear as an attempt to calm me down.
It works but my mind fixates on one part of her statement.
Three years. I’m going to be married to a man I don’t know, a man I don’t love, a man I have met just once in my entire life, for three years. Three good years of my life down the drain, just like that. Why me? Who did I offend? I think to myself. I’m quickly broken out of my thought cycle, however, as I feel my father’s hand on my shoulder as he squats next to me on the ground.
“I blame myself completely for this, Emma, trust me, I do. I know I should’ve listened to your mother and my advisor, but I didn’t and it fucked me up”.
I shoot him a quick glance to show I heard his language loud and clear.
“Excuse my language,” he continued. “I messed up and I want to make things right. My going to prison would only put you guys in a very difficult position and I don’t want that. Knowing the Henderson family, especially the father, Samuel, locking me up won’t be enough for him. He would make sure whatever moneys I have in any accounts would be frozen by the bank, and our assets would be seized,” he ends with a tone that’s supposed to sound convincing, but it of course wasn’t working.
Why wasn’t it working? Because my whole mind was fixated on the fact that I get married in two months, to a man I don’t know, and for three years.
“There’s really nothing you want to say right now that’s going to make me feel any better, dad,” I wiped off my tears and picked myself up from the ground. “As you’ve said, it’s a done deal. This is my life now and I get it. But just know that I-“
I get cut off by the loud ring of my father’s phone.
“Hello,” he says as he puts the phone up to his ear. “It’s for you,” he tells me as he looks at me with an emotion I can’t quite comprehend and hands the phone to me.
“Hello?” I question with my brows furrowed.
“Hello love,” the person on the other end responds with a deep sultry voice I almost instantly recognize.
Emma’s POVAfter hours of work that were mixed with hours of contemplation following me and Liam’s conversation from that morning, the work day was finally over, and it was time for me to go home. I knew that if I went home, I would have to confront the situation at hand between Liam and me, which I was not prepared to do, at least not before talking to Sammy first, and since I felt this was a conversation that I had to have with her face to face, I did the same thing of calling Liam ahead to let him know I’d be coming home late. “Hey,” his raspy, tired voice spoke up as he picked up the call. “How are you?”“I’m good, how are you?”“I’m okay”.“Are you sure,” I asked, worried. “You sound tired and stressed out. Are you still at the office?”“Yeah, I am. I’m tired, but I have a case I’m working on right now and want to try and make some progress with it before leaving here”. “Hm. Alright then. Just take it easy please”. “Yeah, I will,” he said. I could practically hear the smile i
Emma’s POVThroughout my drive to the office, all I could think about were Liam’s last words to me before he left the house. Considering how shocked I was by everything he had said, it goes without saying that I had no adequate response to give him at that moment. All I could muster at that point was, “I’ll think about it”. Shit. One thing for sure was that I know I definitely didn’t even say those words in a reassuring tone or anything, because the way his face fell once the words left my mouth was enough to let me know that he was disappointed. In my defense though, it was all too sudden. I felt cornered and just didn’t know what to do.“Emma! Hi!” my coworker, Dina, startled me out of my reverie as she knocked on my window. “Hey, Dina,” I rolled down my window and smiled at her. “You startled me”. “I’m sorry,” she laughed. “One of the janitors mentioned he saw you pull in a few minutes ago and, since you hadn’t come in yet, I decided to come down and check on you”. When she sa
Emma’s POVIt had been a bit over four months since I gave birth to Amelia, and it was finally time for me to go back to work. Normally, I should’ve resumed last month, but the management of the Fashion House asked me to stay back a while longer because they didn’t want to stress me out and all that. I definitely wasn’t going to argue with them, so I obliged, but I kept it down to a month extra because, truth be told, while I’ve been having the time of my life caring for my daughter, it’s been very exhausting and I need a break. I need to get some normalcy back in my life and the only way I can achieve that is by going back to work. Thankfully, today was finally the day. “Emma!” my mum’s voice called out to me from behind the front door after she had knocked. “Coming!” I responded, placing Amelia down on one of the chairs in the living room and rushing to open the door for my mum. “Hey, mum,” I hugged her. “Thanks for coming,” I said, stepping aside for her to walk in. “No need to
Emma’s POVAfter close to forty-three hours of labour, my baby was finally here. “I was told you were unaware of what the baby’s gender was before now, so it’s my pleasure to tell you that you’ve just delivered a beautiful baby girl,” the doctors said to me, her voice overlapping my baby’s cries, as she handed me my child. “Hi, there,” I cooed, poking her nose a bit as I looked back up to the doctor with a smile on my face. “Thank you, Dr. Bailey,” I said to her. “You’re most welcome, dear,” she smiled back. “Alright, I’ve got to go now. The nurses will help get you cleaned up, then I’ll see you again in a few hours, okay?”“Okay, I nodded. Please can you help call in Liam on your way out?”“Of course. Take care now,” she said and walked out of the room. “Baby!” Liam said as he rushed into the room, pausing when he saw our daughter in my arms. “She’s beautiful,” he breathed. “Yeah, she is,” I smiled at her. “Shame on you for not being in here for the birth,” I smacked his hand.
Liam’s POVIt has been nearly nine months of Emma’s pregnancy and God knows that these past two months of it have been hell. Not just for her, but for me as well. Unlike at the start of her pregnancy, over the past two months have been when Emma has been experiencing terrible morning sickness and all the pains that come with being pregnant. For some reason, the first six months were a breeze for her. She barely showed, she barely felt pain, and she was rarely sick. Now though, where do I even start?At about four months in, her bump began to appear and with how well-rounded it looked, there was no way we could lie and say she was merely gaining weight. So, Emma and I decided it was finally time to expand the number of people who knew about the pregnancy from Ryan and Sammy to her parents, my mother, and all our friends and colleagues who cared to know. As expected, both our parents were ecstatic about the pregnancy; my mother was more than her parents, of course. Considering I am all
Liam’s POVIt had been days – nearly a week actually – since Emma and I had held a proper conversation with each other. To be specific, following that little bicker we had during our last hospital visit which lasted until we got home later that day, she and I had yet to talk to each other. We were taking this thing so far between ourselves such that she hadn’t slept in my room since that evening, and we hadn’t shared a meal since then either. What was funny was that appointment of hers was last Saturday. It was currently Thursday morning and I had only gone to work one day this week, and she has not at all, meaning that we were spending much more time in the house at the same times during the day, but we just weren’t spending them together. If I was upstairs, even though it was in my room, Emma would be downstairs. Then, if I was downstairs, she would be upstairs. Obviously, it was clear that she was behaving in this petty manner that she was, because she wanted me to give in first
Emma’s POV“What do you mean?” Liam asked me again, in a smaller tone this time. Honestly, my heart broke at how heartbroken he sounded by my words, but let’s be real, this marriage of ours isn’t an ideal one for anybody at all, and I do actually love him and want to be with him, so why not just come clean about exactly how I feel now?“Liam,” I took a deep breath and turned back around to face him, grabbing his hand in mine. “I love you and that much is real, but let’s be true to ourselves right now, this marriage isn’t real, and I need you to recognize that. Maybe it’s because I was the one who was forced into the marriage, so I recognize it all the time”. “And what makes you think that I wasn’t forced into this marriage too?” he asked, visibly upset now as he pulled his hand out of mine. “You think I wanted to have to settle down at the time that I did, let alone get married?”“Oh,” I responded in a low tone. “You really think that this marriage was on the top of my bucket list
Emma’s POV“And that right there is your baby’s bead,” my OBGYN said as she pointed out what looked like a small rock on the screen of the ultrasound machine. “Perfection,” Liam gushed. Yeah, that’s right, I told Liam everything. Three months ago, Liam and I had a lengthy talk about my being pregnant and what that meant for us. As expected, even though I had a lot of doubt in my mind, he was in full support of me, willing to ensure I was okay and that everything about the pregnancy went smoothly. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any man as excited to have a child as Liam was that night. Now, with about two ultrasounds out of the way, he and I are finally starting to see our baby take proper shape and, judging from his expression as he stared hard at the screen while the doctor spoke, I think it was safe to say that he was most definitely more excited than I was. If I’m being honest, it’s so crazy. Because this was a man who first presented himself to me as this st
Emma’s POV“Is this seriously something that you’re considering, Emma?” Sammy asked again as she let me out of her grasp. This time, her tone was filled with disappointment. “I can’t believe this”. “Are you seriously judging me right now, Sammy?” I asked in disbelief. “Yes I am,” she answered with a straight face. “If I wasn’t judging you right now, then I would be the worst friend, but that’s not me, Emma. I’ve known you for far too long to believe that getting rid of this pregnancy is something you really think is the right thing to do. Hell, I want to believe that you’ve known me for far too long to even think I’d support you wholeheartedly if you made a decision like this”. “Wow, Sammy,” I chuckled dryly. “You know what, Emma,” she hissed. “Keep up whatever act this is that you’re putting up for as long as you want, but deep down, you know that what I’m saying is the truth. This isn’t a pregnancy that came from a one-night stand that we’re talking about, Emma. This is somethi
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