Chapter 0024

•ELIJAH•

<8 YEARS AGO>

"We have arranged your marriage with Benjamin Miller's daughter, Darla. She's a good girl with a good figure and will be able to bear us heirs."

"You arranged my marriage to who?" I scolded. Fuck, if I wanted a wife, I was very much capable of getting myself one.

"Do you remember that property project that we were discussing while you were in Austria? We decided to be partners with them and to seal our deal, you're going to have to marry their daughter to ensure that all the wealth that will be generated from the project once we are gone, will still run in our families."

I scoffed as I shook my head in disbelief. I knew that my mother was capable of doing the most outrageous surprises, but this one surpassed them all, and I was shocked.

"She's educated and was able to obtain her degree in communication. She will be an important asset when you attend business trips with her."

"Do you mean to tell me that I went to Austria to complete my PhD in Business Studies just to come back here and be told that I have to marry a girl I don't even know and who has a degree in communication? Who studies communication?"

My mother rolled her eyes as she picked up her glass of juice on the contour next to her couch and took a sip.

"That's not the point," she sighed as she placed down her glass and leaned back on the couch. "She's not just any girl. She's Benjamin Miller's daughter, and that means that her family is loaded and she has so much money that you won't have to take care of her when you agree to the arrangement."

"I'm in a relationship, mother, and you know that." I frowned because she knew about Abigail and that she was in Japan furthering her journalism studies and doing well for someone who came from a disadvantaged background.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me about her. She won't help you with anything but be a liability in your life. I'd be out of my mind if I approve of your relationship with a woman who won't even help you make a dollar."

"Doesn't it matter to you that she's the one that I want, and she's the one who makes me happy?" I asked. "I'm a man, mother, I don't need a woman to help me provide. She can study and be the most educated woman in the world, and I wouldn't even expect her to add anything to my estate."

I honestly didn't care if she couldn't help me with anything. She was my woman, and my main purpose was to take care of her.

"She will suck you dry and take all the money that we've made for her family," my mother retaliated, insisting on proving her point. "I know girls like her, and she won't love you for anything else but your money."

"I'm not going to marry anyone but Abigail, mother, and that's final. I am your son, and you're not going to force me into anything," I stood up from the couch and looked down at her. "I hope we won't have this conversation again."

"Are you going to decline your father's dying wish?" She stood up from the couch and looked at me.

I furrowed my eyes in confusion and couldn't believe what she had just said.

My father died four years ago, and he never would've forced me into doing anything that was going to cost me my relationship with Abigail.

"My father would've never suggested such a crazy business deal. Not when it meant jeopardizing my happiness with the woman I love!" I snapped.

"Then hear it from him yourself," she replied as she gave me her cell phone with my father's video in it.

She took her glass of juice on the counter and left me. I sat down on the couch and couldn't believe that my father had made a video about me marrying Benjamin's daughter four years ago before he died.

"By the time you see this, Elijah, I think I'd be dead," he laughed and then cleared his throat. "I'm sure your mother has told you about Darla Miller. Her father and I found a land together, and to keep it in our families for generations to come, we made a pact that our children would marry. Darla is a very good girl, and I wouldn't have agreed to the pact if she wasn't going to be a good woman to you. I know this may come as a shock to you, my son, but help me to keep this promise to Benjamin."

After watching the video, I sighed.

***

"You can organize everything, Mom. I'll meet with Darla and try to form a friendship with her before the wedding."

"That's my boy," she squealed as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

It didn't take long for my mother to set up everything and have Darla brought to the house for dinner.

When she walked in, her smile was the first thing that caught my eye and because she was going to be my wife, I had to find one thing to like about her and it was her smile.

"Sit down, my dear. Our chefs will bring food very soon. We had them prepare your favorite dish," my mother couldn't help but make her feel welcome.

She sat down opposite me next to Harper, and even though I thought that I would imagine Abigail's face whenever I looked at her, she was incomparable.

"Thank you, Mrs. Houston." She smiled at my mother, and my heart skipped a beat.

"I'm sure you haven't met my son, Elijah." My mother looked at me.

I simply smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you, Darla."

"Likewise."

Her parents also arrived and sat next to my mother. They were very happy that we finally agreed to the arrangement and set the date for the wedding.

But because my heart was still with Abigail, I pulled Darla to the side and asked to have a word with her before she left with her parents.

"I know this is a very crazy arrangement, but I'll be a good wife to you and make our family arrangements successful," she answered something out of a script, but that was a good thing because it meant that she would understand what I had to say to her.

"I know you will be a good wife, but I hope you will also understand that you can not expect anything from me but a business marriage as it is. I'll do my part and be a good husband to you, but I can't promise you love."

"Yes. I understand."