chapter 1

Alexander Bennett could not believe he was getting married today. Three weeks ago, he was having a conversation with his father in his study and now he was waiting for his bride to walk down the aisle. If someone had told him he would be getting married one day he probably would have just ignored them “Not in this lifetime”. 

He had had his own fair share of heart break and betrayal from women and had vowed never to give his heart to any woman again. He had been in a long time relationship with a woman he had given his heart to. Lainely Parker was the best thing that had happened to him. He loved her more than he thought possible. She had this look on her that could always brighten up his day. That si until he found her in bed with his cousin Aaron Wesely in his own house.

He looked at them in shock when he walked in. “Get out”, was all he could muster out. From that day, his hatred towards women had grown.

But this was business; he had to put his feeling aside and do what was best for him. The wedding needed to happen. 

His father Damien Bennett CEO of Bennetts enterprise had stated it clearly, if he refused to marry the daughter of their business rival who was to become a partner through the merger, the CEO position would fall to his cousin and so would his father’s shares.

Alexander had worked at Bennett Enterprise as soon as he left college. He was not just going to let his cousin take all his years of hard work away from him. Aaron had taken too much already; he was not going to lose to him this time. 

“Why do I have to marry her at all? Her father’s company is dying as it is. We can buy it out from under them without going through with this”, he asked his father.

“Son, I am not going to pressure you, this is strictly business. You can imagine what this merger would do to our rates and the company really needs this turning point”, his father answered intentionally ignoring the question he had asked.

“If you don’t want to, your cousin would gladly take up this position. He has been dying for an opportunity like this for years. But, you are aware that by doing that he earns my shares and my position on the board of directors”, Damian added.

“That would make him the largest shareholder on the entire board”, Alexander replied with a frown. 

“Think about it son, it’s a splendid idea. She’s a pretty, well-mannered and a decent girl who just got out of college. She’s young and you aren’t getting any younger. It’s only a matter of time before your mum comes after you requesting for grandchildren”, Damien said with a chuckle.

Alex would rather jump out of plane than let his Aaron own even a little part of his father’s company. This was a small price to pay and he was ready to pay it. He had agreed to it immediately. 

“I will marry the Sterling girl; we do not have to involve Aaron in this. I’m assuming you already have everything planned out. When is the wedding?” Alexander replied

His father was surprised and couldn’t hide it.

“I was expecting you would ask for some time to think it over”, his father responded

“There is nothing to think about. I will marry her”, Alexander responded with a tone of finality.

His father couldn’t hide his smile he was really pleased with his decision.

“I knew I could trust you to make the right decision. The wedding will happen as soon as possible so we can finalise the merger. The contracts will be signed the day after you wedding”, his father said.

“Three weeks should be enough time to get things ready. Don’t worry about a thing your mother and I would get things sorted out as soon as possible. You should go shopping. You can’t wear your work clothes to your wedding you know”, his father added. 

“I’ll leave that up to you and mum”, Alexander added as his gulped what was left in his whiskey glass. 

         

“It’s my wedding day”, Anais thought with tears in her eyes. You would expect that the so-called bride would be more excited. People had gathered together to celebrate her wedding. Everything had been planned with utmost care from the wedding date, to the decoration and even down to the wedding bands had been taken care of with precise detail. After all, her family was known to be one of the most influential families in the entire city. Her father’s company was one of the leading real estate companies in the world or so she thought. 

Anais Sterling couldn’t believe she was actually getting married, she was feeling too many emotions at the same time; she didn’t know how to respond.  She knew running away would be a total waste of time; her father would make it his life’s mission to hunt her down and make her life more miserable than it already was.  

Her step-mom never failed in reminding her not to embarrass their family and telling her she should be grateful for this opportunity. 

“Ana, he is a well-mannered gentleman and comes from a good family, do not mess this up for your father, it’s the least you could do after all the sacrifices he has made”, she sneered.

Ana ignored her, she knew she was the sacrificial lamb, they were marrying her off to seal the merger between both family companies.  She knew, her father, Rowland Sterling didn’t even try to sweet talk the situation; he said it as it was. He had called her into his study two weeks ago to tell her she was getting married to the only child of the Bennett’s, Alexander Bennett.  

Sitting alone in the room, she remembered how it had all played out. She had just come in from her evening stroll when she heard her dad and her step mom talking in hushed tones in the study.

“The company is losing funds Calista, and if we don’t do something about it now we’ll have to declare bankruptcy”, her dad said.

“You can’t do that. What will our friends think about us? We’ll be the laughing stock of the entire town not to mention the entire business community. There has to be something you can do about this”, Calista almost screamed.

“I spoke to Damian Bennett, he has agreed to merge our companies to save us from losing the company completely”, he added

“That’s great”, she said looking more relaxed.

“But there’s a clause, he wants his son to marry one of our daughters”, he said with a sigh

“Well it’s not going to be Nadine, he can marry Anais. You can tell her she’s doing it to save the family, besides it’s the least she can do for us after all the pain she caused you”, she remarked.

And just like that her whole life had been flipped on its head. She didn’t have a choice; she was going into a loveless marriage just because her father said so. 

“Ana, your mother will be helping you get ready for your wedding; we as a family have decided that it will be in your best interest to pick a partner for you”.

She felt like she had just been hit by a brick

“Everything has been decided and the wedding will be in two weeks, your mother would help you pick a dress. It’s nothing too extravagant as we have decided to hold a small ceremony and the groom’s family is in agreement”, he father had told her with no emotion.

He had said it with a tone of finality. She could feel her throat tighten; she made a fist trying to stop tears from falling in his presence as she knew it wouldn’t make any difference. If anything he would be pleased with himself when he saw how much his words affected her. 

“This is the least you could do for us; you have made no contributions or whatsoever to this family. I have been a good father and provided all you could possibly need and now I am helping you settle into a good family. You should be grateful”, he added.

“You won’t ruin this as it is very important to me. The marriage would lead to the merger of the two companies, so you better act right and do what is expected of you. You may leave”, her step mom had told her from her seat.

She practically ran to her room and had cried her eyes out.  She knew he hated her and blamed her for her mother’s death but forcing her into marriage was too much for her to handle.  She wished she was the one that died that day instead of her mother.