Chapter 5.

Victoria POV.

This all seemed like a bad nightmare. Lying on my bed, while hugging one of my pillows, I couldn't stop crying. How could this all have ended this way? I was supposed to have a nice dinner at home today, surrounded by the people I love, with my parents, my grandmother, and my siblings. But instead, I just have... A horrible obligation.

So even denying myself to this truth, to what is happening to me, in my head I keep praying that this is just a bad dream, that from one moment to the next I will wake up in my bed, starting my birthday all over again, where I would just have to laugh at my silly dreams and have the 18th birthday I always wished for.

But as I keep crying and the minutes go by, I don't wake up from this "nightmare".

I don't know how much time passes, but after a very good while, soft knocks are heard at the door of my room. After leaving the meeting with those unknown people in my living room, I ran to my room, where I locked myself to be alone, even now I don't have many moods to talk to anyone in my house, not after feeling so betrayed and disappointed by all of them.

But as the soft knocks on my door don't go away, and I understand that there is someone outside who is determined to talk to me at any cost, I have no choice but to get out of bed to go to the door, opening it to talk to whoever is outside; if only to tell them to leave me alone.

Removing the latch on my door, I slowly open it, meeting my grandmother face to face, who asks me: "Can I come in for a second, dear?"

My grandmother was a very kind old lady, probably the only person at home I couldn't yell at or get angry with because I loved her too much. My parents knew that, so they probably sent her with me for that very reason, because they understood that I couldn't get mad at her or send her away in a rude way; no matter how mad I felt.

"Well... I..." I say in a whisper, not knowing how to deny her entrance.

"I'll just be a second Tory, I have something to tell you," My grandmother asks me.

Realizing that I won't be able to get rid of her, having no other choice, I simply step aside at the door, allowing her to enter my room. Following her silently, we both go to my bed, where we sit next to each other. My grandmother was carrying a gift-wrapped package and some documents in her hands, which immediately catches my attention.

"Do you understand why your grandfather did this arranged marriage?" she asks me without beating around the bush.

With a long sigh of frustration, I answer: "No, and I don't think I will ever understand..."

"I know it's not your duty to fulfill other people's dreams, no matter how much you love them or if they're your family even. But your grandfather suffered a lot when he lost his company when he had to leave it, part of his soul stayed with that company almost 50 years ago. So helped by his great friend and business partner, Derick Meyer, the two of them could only devise a marriage between the two families to try to reunite the companies with their founders."

Lowering my gaze, I preferred not to respond to those words. At a certain point, I stopped caring about that nonsense, about the companies and my family, because I was so angry...

"Are you angry with your grandfather?" my grandmother asks me.

"No... I mean, maybe I am. I just don't want to do it, grandma, I don't want to get married and ruin my life for it, didn't my grandfather consider that I could have my own dreams besides his? It's too selfish..." I complain, thinking I would burst into tears again.

"Sometimes, people prioritize their own desires before the desires of others" My grandmother tells me.

"I just... I don't understand how they could do something like that" I keep complaining, as I can't help myself anymore and start crying, "Why didn't my grandfather ask me before he did something like that to me?"

"Tory, sometimes... Other people's wishes get in the way of yours. I'm not asking you to forgive your grandfather or me, I'm just asking you to read the document that talks about your arranged wedding, and try to consider what is best for your family" My grandmother tells me.

Coming closer to me, she gives me a gentle hug and kisses my forehead, leaving on the bed in my room my birthday present and a document with many sheets, then finally leaving my room and leaving me alone.

I was alone again, and for several minutes I remained blank, staring at the leaves and the gift that my grandmother had left for me. I think that now I understand or begin to understand the reason why all this had happened, why they made such an arbitrary decision that would affect my life so much, but understanding the reasons does not mean that I will accept them.

Resigning myself to my fate, after a long sigh, I decide to take the documents my grandmother had left me. I wasn't planning to accept the arranged marriage, but at least I want to know what I'm refusing about.

The document binding my arranged marriage was much longer than I would have expected, it seems that my grandfather and my fiancé's grandfather thought of absolutely everything that could go wrong, and put many clauses about that in the document so that everything would go "right" or as best as could be defined as "right" in the end.

But in a nutshell, the document obligated me to marry the heir of the Meyer family for only one year, in which we were to live together for the period of our marriage, plus we were obligated to have a honeymoon of at least one month's duration, and we were to spend five hours a day together. And if either of us broke these rules, we had to pay the other the sum of one million dollars. And not only that, if either of the families or the betrothed refused to get married, they also had to pay. So in a nutshell, if you made any mistake or went against what the document stipulated, you had to pay.

But at the end of the year of marriage stipulated in the contract, there would be no reprisal for any of us who wanted to get divorced, plus there was a little extra...

Reading the documents, I think I begin to understand why my grandfather and my fiancé's grandfather made this arranged marriage. When my grandfather left the company he had founded with his friend, for the unknown reason he did not take his share of the company with him, giving up his share of the company forever. But after reading this document, I wonder, did my grandfather really give up his share of the company?

It is obvious that my grandfather was not an idiot, not for nothing is he a great inventor recognized in many places. My theory is that for some reason, when my grandfather left the company, he couldn't take his share with him, but he didn't give it up as such. With his friend, the two of them planned perfectly the time when it might be possible to divide the companies, and even after 50 years, return to my family what had always belonged to him.

So there was a very small but important clause in the document. It stipulated that upon marriage, the assets of the company that belonged to my grandfather, that is, half of all the assets of the Meyer family, were to be given to my family and put in my name in the middle of the year during which my marriage lasted. So when I got divorced after the year I was obliged to comply with the contract, I would take with me what belonged to my grandfather, returning to my family what should have always belonged to us.

I read and reread the document all night long, so when the dawn lights come through my window, I practically have it memorized. So pushing the pages of that stupid document aside, I look at the birthday present my parents bought for me, a box wrapped with bright purple paper and a pretty bow adorning it. Taking this gift setting the leaves aside, I carefully peel off the wrapping paper of the present, looking at what my parents bought me.

It was an IPad, a simple one, which they surely bought me with a lot of effort. We weren't in the best financial situation in my house, so I'm sure that to buy that simple device, my parents had to save for several months since we didn't even have enough money to be able to buy me a computer for college, so they could only give me this with all their effort.

Holding my new IPad against my chest, I stand up and walk to my bedroom window, looking out into nothingness in silence. My dream has always been to give back to my family the wealth they once had with my grandfather, now I have a chance to do it but... Is it really worth it?

Wondering what to do, I just stand silently looking out my window into nothingness, watching the sunrise.