Two

**The Marriage Clause**

(Chapter Two)

Two days passed like it wasn't even anything and Elizabeth groaned deeply as she was reminded all thanks to her phone that it was the day of her father's reading.She slowly got out of bed and reluctantly barged into her bathroom,placed her hands on the toilet sink to look into the mirror and God was she horrified by what she saw.A broken,devastated and fatigued woman with duffel bags under her eyes.She was holed up in her apartment for two days straight,not taking calls from anyone or even leaving the premises—thank God for the online food delivery system.

‘You look a mess Beth'.Her voice was hoarse after she stepped out of the shower and placed some beauty bags under her eyes,she yawned loudly as she stepped into her closet rummaging and rummaging until she settled for a black pristine tailored suit with some stone embellishments on it.All it took was some vitamins to calm her increasing anxiety,light makeup and her Gucci glasses and in a minute she looked like she was ready for a red carpet—well she was going to a red carpet for the movie premiere of Henry Goodman's ‘Will Reading' and Oh boy was she ready for any catastrophe.

An hour later and she was at the Goodman Palace which was where the will was going to be read,she stepped out of the car and ignored the shabbily dressed man who she probably thought was one of the workers in the house,judging from his faded jeans and simple t-shirt which was very neat but looked like it had seen better days.Thankfully as she walked into the house,no one was present yet which gave her enough time to get some breakfast from the cook and have herself together.

However still outside,Marcus frowned deeply after the snobby woman with the perfectly tailored suit walked past him without giving any form of acknowledgement.She was Uncle Henry's daughter no doubt,he thought,judging from the striking resemblance she posed with the dead man—Marcus had an instant dislike for her.She looked like model,very tall but not taller than him, slender but with the right curves in the right places,defined cheekbones and a tiny mouth which obviously spilled nothing but venom.....as much as he hated to admit it....she was actually a very beautiful woman.

He doesn't know much about Elizabeth Goodman but one thing he knows was that she was a woman who liked to keep things private, which was why no one knew anything about her and why she wasn't popular like her father,he respected that even though he doesn't respect her judging from the way she walked past him.Come on Marcus she's still grieving,his conscience pricked him but he blatantly ignored it as he walked into the house.He was here for the will reading not to make acquaintances,and when that was done he was taking the next flight back to Michigan.

Elizabeth noticed the brooding stranger on the couch from the dining table and she frowned deeply as she ate her ham sandwich, obviously he wasn't a worker like she assumed and after a while of studying his face she instantly knew who he was.He was Marcus Sheldon,the son of her father's best friend Alex Sheldon whom she had never met but heard so much about.Her father would always brag about how much of a good friend Alex was,he even showed her pictures of him and his son who happens to be the same person seated few feet away from her.

‘Nice to meet you Marcus'.She muttered trying to be cordial even though she didn't want to be, grabbed her sandwich and went over to where he was seated.Marcus in return frowned deeply as his eyes narrowed down to the sandwich she was eating,one would think that with her stature and sexy body she would be eating greens and power shakes but no—here she was,eating a sandwich with ham,mayo and every fast food condiment....it amused him a little but not to the point of breaking his frown.

Elizabeth held her scoff as she turned the other way,she took an instant dislike to the man who looked like he wasn't in the mood for any form of conversation.How dare he? her frown only creased deeper,their fathers were best friends and the least they could do was exchange pleasantries.Marcus also noticed how annoyed she was with him,he was also annoyed with his lack of social skills but who cares anyway? the house even though ten times better than his seemed void and without emotion,it made him miss his shack of a house.

Thankfully the lawyer and the rest of the Goodman family arrived, ranging from aunts to distant cousins which was a miracle in his book.However,it took an hour and more before the will reading could begin since everyone exchanged pleasantries,he had to explain how related he was to Henry Goodman since a huge percent of them mistook him for one of the house workers—maybe I should've worn the shirt Maurine picked out,he thought as he winced just as he sat down on the couch.

‘Now that everyone's—'.

‘There isn't any need for formalities sugar,just go straight to the will'.One of Henry's aunt cut the lawyer off and Elizabeth couldn't help but roll her eyes in disgust,any more putrid comment from one of them and she would be spitting venom inside each of their eyes.... including the extremely rude Marcus Sheldon who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.The lawyer threw a dirty look at the obviously power hungry aunt which shut her up, before he continued with his statement.

‘Henry Goodman my client,was a good man with a heart of gold.He loved helping the needy,he loved his deceased wife,he loved his best friend Alex Sheldon who is also deceased..... thanks for being here Marcus Sheldon,and most of all he loved his daughter Elizabeth Goodman'.He said and paused expecting to see some teary eyes,well Elizabeth was the only crying from what he noticed—the rest just didn't have a crap.

‘Like I said,Henry Goodman was a man with a heart of gold and I would have loved to read every word to his daughter and family members....but I guess we should go straight to the point.The sum of a hundred million dollars is to be donated for a good cause and by that I mean charity, then his company and every asset under the Goodman name is to be inherited by his daughter and his daughter alone and lastly—another sum of a hundred million dollars is to be given to his best friend's son Marcus Sheldon'.He finally closed the file and chaos erupted through the whole room.

Elizabeth just couldn't believe her ears,her father left her every single asset in the Goodman name which was worth more than a billion dollars.Marcus also couldn't believe his ears and after a moment of daze he was starting to love his decision to come—a million dollars!! he had a hundred million dollars to his name which was more than enough to solve his problems for a lifetime!!.....hours ago he couldn't even boast of having ten thousand dollars in his bank account,now he had a hundred million!!.

One by one,every single family member left with their heads bowed in shame.It was evident that they weren't getting a dime which was a victory in Elizabeth's book,she lost her father but at least the bastards who never showed him genuine support didn't get a dime from his money—well except the damn Marcus Sheldon who is also obviously shocked from the amount of money left in his name by his father's best friend.....what in the world is going on?? she thought as she locked the door when the last family member left.

‘Okay please tell me what in the world is going—'.

‘Calm down miss Goodman.Your father left you and Mr Sheldon a fortune but there is a clause'.The lawyer interrupted and brows rose in the room.

‘What clause are you talking about?'.Elizabeth blinked in confusion and he sighed deeply,God help him there was going to be an eruption right after.

‘A marriage clause Miss Goodman, there's a marriage clause in the will'.