Emma’s POV“Oh,” he said, suddenly sounding dejected. “We need to talk,” he repeated after me. “That can never be a good thing,” he chuckled bitterly as he loosened his grip on my waist until he eventually let me go completely.“Can we sit?” I asked, still looking up at him.“Of course,” he smiled slightly. “After you,” he said, pointing to a couch behind us for us to sit on.“Thank you,” I said as I sat down, my eyes still trained on him, watching his every move.“Mhm,” he nodded as he walked over to the couch, sitting down on the spot not too far away from me.“So,” he clasped his hands together after heaving out a deep breath. “What's going on, Emma?”I was silent. Not because I didn’t know what I wanted to say, but I was trying to figure out the best way to say it such that I would seem like a person and not a completely horrible one.I sighed, letting out a deep breath as my shoulders fell further than they already had.“Okay,” Tony chuckled, bitterly too, if I might add. “What’s
Emma’s POVHis words hit me hard, even though I knew he was probably right. “Tony, I—”He held up a hand, cutting me off gently. “It's okay, Emma. I'm not angry with you. Hurt, yes, but not angry. You can't help how you feel”.I felt a fresh wave of tears spill over. “You're too good, Tony. You deserve someone who can love you wholly, without any doubt or confusion”. A sad smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Maybe. But I fell for you, Emma. All of you, complications and all”. We sat in silence for a while, the weight of unspoken words hanging between us. Finally, Tony spoke again. “So, what are you going to do about Liam? You want to be with him, right?”I hesitated for a moment, thinking about my answer, until I eventually nodded my head. “Yes I do,” I sighed. “You know, this is honestly the first time since that day that I’m actually saying it out loud that I want to be with Liam, and it’s so crazy because even after running to Sammy’s house the moment we got back home, I s
Emma’s POVIt was now Sunday, so it was time for me to head back home. As I packed up the last of my toiletries, my mind wandered back to the events of the past few days. The emotional rollercoaster I'd been on since my trip to the cabin with Liam, followed by the heart-wrenching conversation with Tony, left me feeling both drained and oddly liberated.I zipped up my bag and took one last look around the hotel room that had been my sanctuary for the night. After leaving Tony's apartment yesterday evening, I couldn't bear the thought of going back to the home I shared with Liam. Although Liam and I were in a good place, it just felt unfair to me to immediately run back into his arms after what had just gone down with Tony. So, I needed time to process everything, and to gather my thoughts before facing him.As I wheeled my suitcase towards the door, my phone buzzed with a text from Sammy - ‘Hey, girl. What’s going on over there? Call me when you can’I smiled, grateful for her constant
Emma’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 wit
Emma’s POVIt was him. Liam Henderson. My soon-to-be husband.He was the one on the other end of the phone call.“Hello, Liam,” I said in a sharp voice to show my distaste for the fact he just called me ‘love’. Usually, I like pet names. But him calling me ‘love’ in this instance irritated me to my core.“What do you want?” I asked. At this point, my parents had stepped out of the living room to give me some privacy to talk to him.“Is that any way to talk to your future husband, Emma?” He asked with such a deep, dominant voice that made my body tingle for a second.“Anyway,” he continued without giving me a chance to answer his question. “I want you to come to my office tomorrow. We have things to discuss concerning this marriage.”I was shocked. I was taken aback.There was no way he just spoke to me like that. Who does this man think he is?“I have things to do tomorrow. I can’t make it,” I replied sassily, making sure he was able to sense the attitude I was trying to pass across.
Liam’s POVIt’s been a few weeks since my dad mentioned that I had to get married to Emma Livingston.I was honestly fine with the idea of getting married, it’s not like it was going to stop me from doing the things I do on a regular. I just had to be more careful.What I didn’t understand was why my father thought it necessary to use this marriage as a debt collection method. It was crazy.“Dad, this marriage is unnecessary. He owes us money. He should pay,” I said to my father with my arms folded across my chest, sitting across from him in his home office.“We don’t need that money. You, on the other hand, need a wife. You’re beginning to attract a lot of public attention and it’s not positive. You know this and it needs to be fixed. I won’t allow your terrible public image to become an actual threat to this business,” he says pointedly.One thing about my father is that he’s always going to look out for the company first. It’s how he’s always been. He grew up poor and struggled to
Emma’s POVThe words sounded so venomous to me. Like they were filled with hate and spite.Is this man okay? I thought to myself, trying to comprehend why he was having such an attitude with me. We’ve never spoken before for Christ’s sake. So why on earth was he talking to me like we were fighting? Like I was a slave and he’s my master.There wasn’t anything that didn’t go through my head for the next couple of seconds as I tried to gather words to explain why I was late.Yes, I acknowledged the fact that I was late. But he should have acknowledged and appreciated the fact that I showed up.“Sit down,” he gestures towards the chair I was sitting on before for me to take a seat again.He walks past me to take a seat opposite me and watches me as I sit down. I don’t look at him, but I feel his eyes on me, watching my every move.“Hello, Liam,” I say to him, finally meeting his eyes. Of course, his gaze was already fixated on me.“Hello, Emma. You look lovely today,” he replied to me wit
Emma’s POVOne month down, one more month to go.It's a month until my arranged wedding, and I’m anything but calm.Considering Liam’s parents are doing this for the public eye, a lot has been going on concerning the preparations. According to his father, ‘nothing must go wrong’.Honestly, I’m surprised his parents are involving me in the planning at all. Considering the circumstances surrounding this wedding, I thought I was just expected to show up to the venue in my white dress and repeat ‘I do’ after the priest then move into Liam’s place.To be fair, it’s Liam’s mum that has been carrying me along in everything. She’s a sweet person and, for some reason, she treats me like her own daughter. I guess it’s because she doesn’t have a daughter of her own.Her face literally lights up when discussing the wedding plans with me, and it does make me smile, even though I’m not in the least bit excited about getting married to her son.It’s been three weeks since Liam last spoke to me. Every