Chapter 1 - Rose

All her life, in movies and romance novels, Rose Springs had been told so many times that her wedding day was the happiest day of a woman’s life that, even subconsciously, she had believed it would probably be hers, too. But, at that moment, looking down at the mothball-smelling

white linen pants her mother had forced her to wear, she could only think it was a shame that little dream wedding myth couldn’t apply to her right now.

“What the hell, Rose! Fix that posture of yours! Do you want Mr. Vamcap see you bent over like a shrimp and give up on the marriage?” as if that irritated snarl wasn’t enough, a pair of rough hands grabbed onto Rose’s shoulders and straightened them forcibly, surely eliciting a cracking sound from her bones that couldn’t be heard, because her mother still hadn’t stopped her litany. “I told your father those etiquette lessons would be missed at a time like this! But he had to want to skimp on something so important…”

“I doubt that Mr. Vamcap would mind if I was literally a shrimp.” Rose sighed, keeping herself as straight as possible, hoping that this way her mother would leave her alone, “Didn’t you two make it very clear that the last thing he cared about in this marriage was the bride?”

“Don’t make a fool of yourself, Rose! You know very well that this marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so it will have to last as long as possible. Years, Decades! A century, if possible! And unfortunately, that only depends on you.” Elisabeth complained, looking at her daughter with irritation “Mr. Vamcap might only be interested in making a deal for now, but if you play it right, you can convince him to stay married to you for quite some time...”

“For God’s sake, Mom.” Rose grunted, disgusted; her parents had told her that Aaron Vamcap wasn’t much older than she was and not even ugly to look at, but she wouldn’t be surprised if everything Michael and Elisabeth had told her so far had been a lie and her future husband was a disgusting bald old man who was taking advantage of the situation to marry a woman three times younger than his age.

“You’d better improve your behavior, young lady, and accept that, from today onwards, you must do everything to please your husband. And I don’t care if you have to sleep with him, find something dirty about him to blackmail him, or even get pregnant, to make sure of that!” Elisabeth snarled, with that furious expression Rose had seen many times before, usually before being slapped when she was a child, “Because if I find out you’ve done anything to ruin this marriage or piss off Mr. Vamcap, I will marry Grace off to the oldest and worst of your father’s friends, so you will finally learn what happens when you dare to defy me and your father!” she threatened, making Rose grit her teeth but still lower her head in submission.

“I’m here, aren’t I? I already obeyed you, so just leave Grace alone. She’s not even old enough for that.” Rose tried to convince her mother, her heart heavy at the thought of her little sister.

Grace was the only reason she’d been able to endure 21 years of living in the Springs mansion, which had gotten more run down with each passing year. In fact, despite sharing blood with Michael and Elisabeth, she and Grace were each other’s only family, and if Rose was there at that moment, in a stranger’s house, about to be married, it was only to protect her.

It still hurt to remember how, just three weeks ago, she was walking home full of dreams of a better future and her economics degree in hand, after spending the last three years struggling to graduate earlier than usual in college just to get back to her sister as soon as possible. Even knowing that looking at them would only make her even more depressed, Rose had brought in her suitcase the papers with the plans she had made for herself and Grace... Before her parents informed her, on the same night that she had returned home that they had arranged a marriage for her to a man Rose had never seen in her life, just to make money out of it.

And under normal circumstances, Rose would have done anything to not be used as their pawn, from running away from home to giving her new husband hell until he kicked her out of that gigantic mansion and said he never wanted to have anything to do with her and the Springs again...

But then they had threatened to send Grace in her place if she didn’t obey them. Which had left her with no choice.

She could never do that to her sweet little sister. And not just because Grace had turned 18 just a week ago, but because she deserved to experience a bit of what life was like, rather than being used as a a commodity by his parents. Rose, at least, had the opportunity to get a scholarship and attend a university her parents would never have agreed to pay for. She had learned things, met people and made plans for the future, even if it meant leaving Grace alone with their parents, suffering for three whole years, until Rose could fulfill her promise to come back and get her out of that house, so that her sister could also create a life for herself, as she always dreamed of...

And, if marrying Aaron Vamcap meant she could keep that promise, so that's what Rose would do. As hard as it was to be.

"Uh... Mom..." a shy, hesitant voice sounded nearby and they both turned to see Grace standing in the doorway, wearing a short satin dress much like the one Rose was wearing at that moment, although wasn't white “Dad is looking for you. He said that Mr. Vamcap is getting impatient...”

“What the hell, Grace! I told you to let him know I was going to need at least an hour to make Rose look like a minimally proper lady instead of a failed librarian!” Elisabeth complained angrily, making Grace flinch as she approached her “Can't you even do that right, you useless! Look at your sister! Do you think I can present this to a billionaire and say it's his wife-to-be without him feeling the urge to shoo us out of here?" she pointed at Rose, as if she was talking about a mouse “Now, because of you, I'm going to have to go over there and sort this out, as your father doesn't have enough etiquette knowledge to deal with such a fine family as the Vamcap’s!” Elisabeth snapped, “You two stay here! And don't you dare try to pull any jokes or I guarantee I'll make you regret being born as much as I regret ruining my body giving birth to you!" their mother threatened them one last time, before stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind her, leaving Grace and Rose all alone.

“I'm sorry I'm about to leave you alone dealing with these two again.” Rose sighed sadly, her hands on her temples.

"What you mean? It's my fault you're marrying a complete stranger in the first place.” Grace sniffed, her big brown eyes starting to fill with tears, “Mom and Dad are terrible, of course, but… What about the Vamcaps? What if they are even worse?” her sister looked around, terrified, as if she were on the set of a horror movie “What if you're in danger? What if your husband wants to keep you trapped here forever...? And what if...?"

“Grace…” Rose got up from the dressing table where she was, going over to her sister and cupping both of their hands like she used to calm her down since Grace was just a baby. “Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

“You can't be sure. And I can't just stay calm knowing that some strange man might be about to hurt you. Especially when it's all my fault...” Grace's lower lip quivered. “Please let's talk to

Mommy. I can marry this guy and then try to sneak out of here at night. Then the two of us can...”

“It's too dangerous, Grace.” Rose sighed sadly, hugging her sister, “I appreciate you being willing to do this to protect me, but it won't do any good. Michael and Elisabeth will never leave us alone as long as they know we can be of use to them in the future. Plus, you just got the scholarship you wanted!” she tried to cheer her up, even though her vision, already blurred from her missing glasses, was getting even more blurry from her tears “Now it's your turn to go to college and become the best data analyst the market of games has ever seen! I already had my chance. Besides, I'm not the one who should be scared of Aaron Vamcap...” Rose sniffed, straightening her shoulders to try to look as confident as possible in front of her sister “But he should be the one who should be scared of me. Because I'm going to make his life hell until he agrees to divorce me. And when that happens, I'm going to take the first accountancy job they offer me and we're both going to find a nice apartment to live in together, like we've always wanted.” She assured, trying to keep her hope alive, even though her fear was making it difficult.

“Mom and Dad will be furious if you get divorced so easely.” Grace sighed, clearly worried about her sister. "I've heard them talking about how they're going to get the most money out of Mr. Vamcap, while you're here.”

“Well, that's their problem. Because I'm going to get away from this house and we're both going to make our dreams come true. Together, as always.” Rose hugged her sister, placing a soft kiss on her long, straight hair honey brown, exactly like hers, as she tried to hold back her own tears as she felt Grace’s start to wet her shoulder.

“You promise?” Grace sobbed softly and Rose’s heart broke as she realized how frightened her voice sounded as when they were children talking through the cellar door, when their parents used to lock one of them in that dark place to punish them.

“Of course I promise.” Rose swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to sound firm, “I’ll be back before you even miss me.”

“Oh, but what a touching scene...” The sound of the female voice made the two break their embrace, alarmed, and, looking at the now fully open door, Rose saw the last person she expected: her cousin Violet , wearing a long, elegant cream-colored dress that would make anyone think she was the bride there. “And I’m glad you know that this deal with Aaron won’t last long, Rose. If I know him well, I think he’s going to want na annulment as soon as he looks at you. Don’t get me wrong, but you’re not exactly his type.”

“What are you doing here, Violet?” Rose quickly wiped the corners of her eyes as she stepped forward to stand between her cousin and Grace; as much as they hadn’t seen each other since Rose left for college, she still remembered perfectly well that the most dangerous thing about Violet was her tongue. “My parents never said you knew Mr. Vamcap...”

“Oh, it’s no big deal. We are just childhood friends.” Violet shrugged, with the same radiant smile she used to wear when the three of them were kids and she wanted to point out how much better her new doll was than any of the ones Rose and Grace had “You know, my father’s third wife was his mother’s cousin, so we ended up practically growing up together. I was particularly worried about Aaron wanting to marry a complete stranger. But when he told me that he was specifically negotiating with my uncles and that the candidate they offered was you, then I was extremely relieved. So I will be much more at ease knowing that Aaron will have a wife by his

side who will not threaten him or tempt him in any way.” Violet cheered, looking Rose up and down as if she was silently asking who she could tempt anyway.

“You two seem very close.” Rose raised na eyebrow, surprised that her cousin, who had always been so fond of showing off her things and keeping others from touching them, was so at ease with the fact that she was marrying a man Violet was clearly interested in.

“Oh, we are.” Violet sighed, like a princess in a fairy tale talking about her prince. “You see, he sure would have preferred to marry someone he knows, trusts and likes, like me, of course. But Uncle Michael and Aunt Elisabeth insisted that they would only accept the terms of the contract if he married someone with the Springs surname. So he was forced to settle for you.” Her cousin sighed, as if that was the worst possible thing, “Can you promise me to be patient with Aaron, Rose? He can be a bit of a difficult man to get along with and very selective about the types of people he likes to be around. I know he’s going to look down on you and criticize your appearance from day one, especially since he hates women who are talkative, don’t know etiquette, and aren’t well versed in the arts, like a good society lady, but still... ”

“Don’t worry, Violet.” Rose cut her off, already tired of all that chatter, “I’m willing to fulfill all my obligations in this marriage for as long as it takes, just as I imagine Mr. Vamcap is. It’s just that. Whether we like each other or not is irrelevant.”

“Oh, Rose, if there was still the possibility that he might like you... But, I’m afraid not.” Violet sighed, moving even closer to the two sisters, “Anyway, don’t worry. I’ll always be around to help you and make sure Aaron isn’t too mean while you’re living here at the mansion. Just don’t get your hopes up just because you’re becoming a billionaire’s wife, okay? Know how to keep quiet and you’ll live just fine while I deal with Aaron.” Her cousin suggested, giving a wink that makes the double meaning of that sentence very clear.

“Like I said, you don’t have to worry, Violet.” Rose sighed, couldn’t care less that she was about to marry Violet’s lover; after all, that probably meant that her cousin would make sure her husband kept well away from her, especially in bed, and Rose couldn’t be more grateful to hear that. “My plans include staying as far away from Mr. Vamcap bussiness, as well as him personally.”

“Excellent!” Violet cheered, pleased “It’s like I imagined. You were the best possible option to become his fake wife!”

“Violet.” Michael Springs’ voice interrupted their conversation, while she and his wife began to quickly approach their daughters, side by side, with closed expressions that made them look like two people who hated each other and who were only together because they had goals in common; which, in fact, they were “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much, Uncle Michael. I was just congratulating Rose on her marriage and telling her how she can please Aaron.”

“Oh, my dear Violet, always so kind. I wish we could have had a beautiful, elegant and obedient daughter like you.” Elisabeth praised, with a disappointed sigh “Lord knows I tried to convince my husband that you, as my niece, would be a much better fit to marry Mr. Vamcap and securing our deal, especially knowing that you two already know each other and, well, look at you! A beautiful young woman like you has a much better chance of making this marriage last than someone like my daughter who can’t even do a simple make-up right...”

“But she is our daughter, Elisabeth. Blood of our blood,” Michael interrupted his wife, staring at Rose with dark, cold eyes. “The greatest guarantee that we can always trust her, without fear of being betrayed. Isn’t that true, Rose?”

“Yes Dad.” Rose lowered her head, trying to hide her dismayed expression.

“Let’s go.” Michael held out his arm to her, in a clear commanding tone, “It’s time to you met my future son-in-law.”