Chapter 2

DYLAN

"You are kidding me, right, Dad?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

This was obviously some sick joke he was playing on me. No need to get worked up. Dad took the newspaper from my hands and read the headline on the front page. A smile immediately formed on his gracefully aging face. He looked somewhat satisfied. 

"Well, at least the media did everything right this time around,” he commented before tossing it away on his desk. 

My dad then leaned against his desk and put all his focus on me. I was fuming. He motioned for me to sit down and I did so reluctantly. I just needed a simple and straightforward explanation but my dad seemed to have a different plan. 

“Dyl, my son, you have to get married," he said softly in his convincing voice. 

I raked my hair with my hand trying my best to look calm. I failed terribly at it. I lowered my tie and unbuttoned the neck button. I poured myself a glass of water and gulped it down then looked straight into his eyes. 

“What on earth is this drama? Have you finally decided to ruin my life, Dad?" 

"I'd never ruin your life on purpose, son. Trust me when I say this was harder for me than you can ever imagine." 

"You look damn proud of yourself and pretty calm about this whole nonsense, Dad!" 

"This has to happen. Both companies need each other for the future success of the companies. For this to happen there has to be some sort of strong connection plus in the past this has been a tradition of collaborating in projects and lending a hand. Our company will get shares in their successful business and so will their company," he explained, swinging a pen. 

"The other major reason is to close off opponents. We will be collaborating on multiple projects this year. We are stronger this way as we can get access to Weston family benefits and so can they to ours. No one will question us as we will be family. You know how some board members react to non family members receiving private benefits. I’m building your future, son." 

"I can't get married. You know I can't. I don't mean to disrespect your decision or anything but I will not get married. You could have at least told me before spilling it to the media," I explained to him my thoughts running wild. 

"It's not a life commitment, Dylan. One year only." 

"One year can screw up my entire life, Dad." 

"It won't. You have to go and get ready, son. We have a few hours left," he was avoiding eye contact. He looked calm but his eyes were much of a ruckus than mine. 

Benjamin Cameron was my everything. My dad. He had been part of every moment of my life and held my hand through the darkest phases ever. 

Losing my mom five years ago to cancer when I was just twenty one was a blow to me because she was my everything. She was Dad's everything. 

My mom had the solution to almost every problem in the world. She loved us both unconditionally. It was quite a hard blow for the two of us. 

He always did what was best for me and I always tried my best to obey him at all times. This time it was different. This was not just a matter of my heart. Gwen's heart was at stake too. 

"You know I love Gwen, Dad. We've been together for two years and I want to be with only her. She'll be my wife. She'll be the mother of my children. Your daughter-in-law, Dad. You already approved of our relationship." 

I could feel my heart bleed and beat wildly. Gwen was too perfect and fragile to handle the idea of me marrying another woman. I had promised that I'd marry her come hail come thunder. 

"Gwen Carter is the love of your life, that I know perfectly well and I have no objection to your relationship. You can marry her after a year. I made this decision after getting her consent." 

"What? You talked to her about this?" I asked, clearly shocked. I couldn't even imagine what she was going through. 

"Dylan, you don't have to develop feelings for the Weston bride you'll marry. You just have to be her husband publicly. In private you guys can maybe settle for friendship and live your lives peacefully. This should be easy for you son." 

"I'm disappointed in you, Dad. This is not the life I wanted to live," I admitted. 

I didn't want to prolong this discussion. Dad had done a lot for me and right now he needed something from me desperately. I could tell he was hurting. I was hurting too. A hell lot. I had to leave his office immediately. I didn't want to say stuff I'd regret. 

"I'll be there. I don't want a grand wedding." 

"It's a small ceremony so don't worry. Dylan, I'm proud of you and I know you'll respect your wife. I'll let you calm down then we'll talk. Ezra has the details. He will fill you in." 

I had nothing to say so I simply stood up and marched out. 

I was currently in an emotional rollercoaster. I needed to breathe. I needed to see my baby. I needed to know she was okay. Only she could give me strength to pull through. 

I collapsed into my office chair and closed my eyes. I was frustrated. I left the door open. I had to think of the perfect words to tell Gwen. I needed to see her urgently and hold her tight in my arms. 

“Hey hey. Guess who's getting married tonight," Ezra said, walking in with his perfect smile plastered on. He had always been the carefree and bubbly type. 

I had found more than a best friend in him. He was my brother. My day one. 

“Drop it, Ezra. I surely don't need your nagging right now," I told him as he sat across me and crossed his legs. 

He looked like he had been busy. “What's up, my man? You look worked up." 

"Seriously, Ezra. Is that a question to be asking me right now? I'm about to get married to a stranger here." 

"Oh, please. Don't stress about your future bride." 

"I'm not worried about her obviously. It's just that I… I”

"Dylan, you know I have your back, bro. I know Gwen is your major concern right now. I already did the job for you." 

I shot my head back up and opened my eyes. "You did? How so? Did you see her? Is she okay? Was she crying?" 

"Woah woah, bro. Damn you are so freaked out right now. Don't worry your bestie is right here. So, your dad came to her apartment last night," he began playing with the ring on his finger. 

"What were you doing there?" 

"I drove her home from her shoot. You weren't answering your phone so she called me and I saved the day," he looked proud of himself. He just had to make me feel it with his dreamy tone. 

"When will you get into the details?" 

"Right. Your dad came around 8 and laid out the issue at hand. I won't lie to you, Dyl, Gwen was shattered but she was strong enough to pull through the conversation." 

“She cried a lot right?" I asked the obvious. I could see her beautiful face in my head, tearstained. 

"Yup, buddie but after your dad left. He's really a nice man, you know. He was good with her and assured her you'd always love her. After he left she broke down and cried her eyeballs out. Man, she loves you a lot. I held her hand through it all, comforted her and told her words I knew you'd say. I then ordered her favorite pizza, ate some ice cream, watched a movie then she fell asleep comfortably in her bed. She was good this morning and left for another shoot out of town. She said she would call you and made me promise I would see to it that you were okay and coping well. Confirm I'm doing a great job." 

What would I ever do without this psycho?

I took a deep breath as Ezra poured a glass of wine. He handed me one and poured one for himself. 

"You are amazing, Ezra. Thanks. For everything," I really meant it. 

"Don't embarrass me like this, Dylan. What are friends for anyway." 

"Yeah, right." 

"But hey, you still have to pay me back for all the times I've covered up for you plus writing your homework in high school." 

"Well, hello. Who helped you get through all your break ups back then and survive through your nightmares. Not to mention holding your hand in the dark in case there was a monster somewhere out there?” 

"Going back to kindergarten now, are we? Should I start?" 

"Save me, please. Some memories are way too embarrassing," I chuckled thinking of our crazy memories. We had come a long way. 

"Now that you are in a better mood let's address the elephant in the room." 

"Right. Let's get it over and done with. Who is this Weston bride? Tell me you did some research." 

"Um, yeah. I spent my entire night looking into the Weston family. You know Lynette, Steve and Celeste right?" 

Of course I knew them all, especially Steve. We had worked on some projects together plus we were in the same class in high school. 

As for Celeste she happened to be friends with Gwen. We were together in high school plus now they were both signed under the same modeling agency. We had met a couple of times before. One awkward thing would be having Gwen's best friend as my wife. 

"Allow me to read your thoughts. It would be awkward marrying your girlfriend's bestie, right." 

“Bingo,” I replied, snapping my fingers. 

"Awkward is fortunately out of the picture although in your case I'd prefer the awkward." 

“Enlighten me." 

"It's not Celeste you'll marry. It's the youngest Weston. Alena Cora Weston," he filled me in, refilling his glass. 

"Who's that? I've never heard of any other Weston apart from Steve and Celeste." 

"Right. I was shocked too. Well, she exists and she'll be your bride.” 

"Well since she is a Weston at least I won't get stuck with some socially awkward freak who has to be taught how this world works." 

At least, right? 

"Eh, I wouldn't be so sure. She's the unpopular one. According to some sources she barely speaks." 

"That's a good thing for me." 

"She has no social life. She's been described as boring, plain, Weston unworthy, etcetera etcetera. Some sources give positive remarks too." 

"Don't tell me I'm about to get stuck in some boring marriage. She doesn't sound like my type at all. I bet we can't even pass for friendship." 

"Wait until you meet her then judge later." 

"Is she cute?" I asked, making us both laugh. It was like our cliché phrase from high school. 

"See for yourself, Dylan. Personally, I think she's fine,” Ezra said, handing me his cellphone. If she was just fine then it meant she wasn't anything close to Gwen. 

The girl in the photo was sad. She looked young and innocent. She wasn't my type. I had no hopes of us ever getting along. 

Everything came crashing back. All the stress and depression of this unwanted marriage. My mood changed. 

"That's an old photo, Dylan so don't judge using that one. There isn't much about her on the internet. Maybe she is better in person. Give her a chance." 

"We just can't be." 

"If that's what you want, fine. You can always change your mind. Time's ticking, buddy, let’s go." 

I hated this. I hated her. Why did she have to come into my life? She was an unwelcome change in my life.