Chapter Five

Amelia's POV

Mrs Domitia and her husband were still yelling at me, but I could barely hear anything. Everything was muffled like I was underwater, and my ears were filled with white noise.

The Domitia family's business was failing.

The family was going bankrupt.

My dreams of living in luxury for the rest of my life had turned into a nightmare. I thought I was leaving my unfortunate life behind, but all I had done was walk right into another billionaire family that was going bankrupt just like my family did.

How could this happen to me again? I thought, already panicking.

"Isabella!" Mrs Domitia yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you even listening to us? You disgraceful child, you don't actually feel sorry for what you did, do you? You don't realize the damage you've caused for this family!"

I didn't do this, I thought with frustration. It wasn't me, I'm also a victim here.

That was when it hit me. Isabella, a spoilt heiress raised in a wealthy family, had suddenly decided that she wanted to run away from home and go somewhere far away with her lover, leaving everything behind. The whole thing should have been fishy from the start. I had thought that she was simply a hopeless romantic whom love had made into a fool. But now I knew that she had run away because she knew that the family was not going to be wealthy for much longer. She knew the whole time, and she threw me in here anyway.

"I've had enough of your careless behavior," Mr Domitia was saying. "You're a disgrace to the Domitia name. Running around with one useless man after another, stealing from your own family… we have had enough, Isabella!"

"Dad, I—" I started to say, only for Mrs Domitia to cut me short.

"We don't want to hear your excuses," she said harshly. "We really should disown you right now, but we're going to show you mercy you don't deserve. Now, while you were you having fun being a terrible daughter, we were coming up with ways to save our family business. And luckily for you, there is a way you can atone for your misbehaviors and save our finances at the same time."

"What do I have to do?" I asked numbly.

I had no strength to argue. If their gazes weren't pinning me to the spot, I would have collapsed from sheer tiredness. I've received far too many blows in these few minutes.

"Good for you that you're finally being cooperative," Mrs Domitia said with a disapproving sniff. "The only choice we have is that you have to marry Julian Lake before the year runs out."

"What?" I blurted out, my mouth dropping open in shock. "You want me to marry Julian Lake?"

I couldn't help wondering if I had been cursed or something. First, I found out that my new parents didn't like me very much, then my new family turned out not to be billionaires after all, and now there's a contract marriage planned for me too?

Who exactly did I offend? I thought miserably.

I might not have heard of Isabella Domitia before I met her, but I had heard of Julian Lake. Everybody in the city knew about Julian Lake. He was the CEO of Lake Gaming Company, the wealthiest and most successful gaming company in the city. He had been nominated as the richest man in Goldcrest City for four years now, he was said to be the most handsome as well, and nearly every woman fantasized about dating him.

He really was such a prize, and I should have been happy, but there was something else everybody in the city knew about Julian Lake. He had been married for two years to Jessica Blake, a fashion icon and his girlfriend since college.

However, just last year, she cheated on him with some big shot model and then divorced him, moving to another city with half of his property. Julian Lake had not dated anybody else since then. In fact, it was common knowledge that he no longer believed in love, and had not even been seen speaking to a woman since that incident. My new parents wanted to marry me off to a man who was guaranteed to hate me before he even set his eyes on me?

"Wait a minute," I said, "how even did you get Julian Lake of all people to agree to a contract marriage?"

Instantly, Mr and Mrs Domitia clammed up, looking uncomfortable.

"What?" I said, confused.

They had been talking quite freely this whole time. Why were they suddenly uncomfortable and reluctant to speak because of this one question?

"What, did you blackmail him?" I asked.

"Actually…" Mrs Domitia said, "he hasn't agreed to the marriage."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"What your mother means," Mr Domitia added, "is that Mr Lake isn't aware of our plans to get you two married."

"You haven't told him?" I asked.

"More like… we aren't going to tell him," he replied.

My jaw dropped.

"You want to marry me off to Julian Lake, but you aren't even going to inform him?" I asked. "What the hell? So what's the plan, to make him marry me without realizing that he has married me?"

"Of course not!" Mrs Domitia blurted out, looking offended.

"So why the heck aren't you telling him?" I demanded.

"Because we have nothing to offer him, you foolish child," Mr Domitia snapped.

"A contract marriage should be beneficial to both parties involved. We need Mr Lake's money, but he doesn't need a wife.

He wouldn't be gaining anything by marrying you."

"You can just sell the family business to him!" I said.

"And lose everything?" Mrs Domitia retorted with a glare. "The money we can receive for it won't be enough to restore the family to our previous status. Our best option is to use his money to keep the business from going bankrupt, and that's where you come in."

"So, what exactly is it that you expect me to do?" I asked.

"We want you to win Julian Lake's heart," Mrs Domitia said. "Make him fall in love with you, and marry you."