Sold By My Own Father!
In August, in the middle of a hot dry season.
The aroma of fresh green tea escaped from the Royal Café. It was one of the elite cafes in the center of Surabaya City. Many rich and famous people had visited and spent their leisure time there. In one of the VIP rooms of the cafe, a shallow conversation was taking place.
Lilia Pangestu looked calm and confident. The slender woman sat down gracefully, sipping a glass of green tea. Her long hair hung down over her back like a jet-black curtain. She was putting down her glass when she felt a sharp gaze was directed at her. Lilia turned to the man sitting across the table. Her pair of eyes as black as night met the man's chromatic deep dark blue of ocean eyes.
Lilia's cherries curved into a polite smile. The man's sharp gaze made her uncomfortable, but she couldn't say anything because of the man's identity
The sturdy man in front of her was named Jean Widjaya. Born as the fourth son of a conglomerate family, he was the president of one of Asia's leading real estate companies at the age of 26. The young tycoon was powerful enough to destroy the Pangestu Family business with just a snap of his fingers.
Jean leaned lazily into the chair and folded his legs while giving Lilia a relaxed smile. The girl, however, felt uncomfortable seeing the man who sat like a tyrant in front of her. Lilia looked away quickly, not realizing that Jean's smile turned stiff because of it.
Suddenly, the man sitting beside Lilia cleared his throat and broke the silence. Robert Pangestu smiled broadly as he said, "Mr. Jean, my business is fully supported by the Widjaya Family thanks to you. I guarantee this construction project will be a great success!"
Robert poured green tea into a pair of cups, then handed one to Jean.
"My daughter and I are truly grateful to you!" Robert said as he nudged Lilia's leg under the table.
Lilia looked back at Jean reluctantly. She focused her gaze on the man's platinum blonde hair as she said, "… Thank you very much, Mr. Jean."
"You don't need to be too formal with me." Jean replied coldly as he crossed his arms. He ignored the tea that Robert offered, but his blue eyes were fixed on Lilia.
"Hey, you."
"…What?" Lilia asked curtly. She didn't like the way the man called her like a maid.
"How old are you this year?" Jean asked in a slightly warmer tone.
Lilia raised her thick black eyebrows, "24." The answer was short.
She was tempted to add, 'What business do you have? ', but Robert again nudged her leg as if he could read her mind.
Jean frowned, "You ..." He started, but in the end, he canceled his words. His blue eyes were tinged with irritation by Lilia's coldness.
The man got up from his chair with lazy movements. His 188 cm tall body forced Lilia and Robert to look up to see his eyes.
"If you don't have anything else to say, I'm already late for an important meeting." He said before leaving the room with a leisurely pace. The fourth son of the Widjaya Family didn't even say goodbye.
In the quiet room, there was only the sound of boiling tea. Robert broke the silence with a loud sigh. Lilia almost jumped out of her chair and turned to her father.
Robert asked, "How do you feel about Jean?"
Lilia raised her eyebrows with a confused face, "Dad, what do you mean? Does this have something to do with why you are forcing me to come here?"
Robert didn't reply to Lilia and instead took a sip of his tea. After putting down the cup, he opened his mouth but immediately closed it again. A few moments later, Robert began to speak, "The Widjaya family has approved your marriage to Jean. Today I was asked to bring you here to meet him."
"What?! A wedding?!" Lilia jumped to her feet and hit the table. She didn't care that she had spilled tea on the expensive carpet, "Dad, are you kidding ?!" Said Lilia while glaring
Robert just looked at Lilia with a calm and serious look.
Lilia kept on scolding her father, "Why did you suddenly get me married? I'm only 24 years old! I'm too young! Not to mention, how could the Widjaya family accept me?!"
"Lilia, our family is in a financial crisis. We need financial assistance from the Widjaya family. " Robert said, reprimanding Lilia, "This contract marriage is the only way our family can survive. You're a smart kid, you can understand that, right?"
The young woman glared at Robert, "So you sold me to them?"
Robert sipped his tea without answering, but Lilia already knew the answer to her question.
Lilia clenched her fists so she wouldn't hit her father. Even though Lilia had been treated coldly by her family all this time, she believed that they would never sacrifice their daughter for money. Now, she realized that money was everything to Robert. He would not even hesitate to sell his daughter for a profit.
*****
On their way back to home, Lilia and Robert didn't speak a word. Lilia stared blankly out the car window. The evening sky was cloudy and misty like her mood.
Once they got home, Lilia locked herself in the room. She refused to eat dinner and chose to be alone on the veranda.
She didn't know how long she stood there. When she looked up at the sky, the sun had set behind thick clouds and was replaced by the faint moonlight. Her hand gripping the phone felt stiff with cold air.
Her father's decision was inviolable. Lilia had no choice in this marriage.
Still, Lilia couldn't take the decision for granted. She had never met Jean before today. What's more, the Widjaya family was not an ordinary family. Looking at the other wealthy families, many of them married for business gain. Was there even a happiness in such marriage?
Lilia's career as a model was just taking off. She earned a nickname from fans as "Lady Snow White" and was even invited to attend Milan Fashion Week next month. This was the first step in realizing her big dream. Since childhood, Lilia had always dreamed of becoming a famous supermodel in the world. Surely, she didn't want to be confined like a bird in a cage with a wedding.
Finally, after thinking about this matter carefully, Lilia made a decision. She would fight this contract marriage in her own way. Lilia called the agency where she worked as a model, "Hello? Please give me Jean Widjaya's phone number. "