Chapter 2: Mr. Darren Wright

Her father's rough yet warm hands enveloped Callie's that were clenched into a fist on the table.

"Callista… please save our family."

When Callie looked up, her father's eyes were pleading.

"Our family needs you..."

Callie removed her hand from her father's touch with a heavy heart. She can feel that he is using this moment to force her to decide right away. It was his method of manipulating his children, especially her. She knows because she's been in these situations many times.

The confusion was evident in his eyes when Callie took her hand away. She used to say yes to all of his requests, but that was before. If it was for the sake of their family, Callie would offer anything she could to help. But now, she taught herself to learn from her past. She will help. But not like this.

"Give me 2 days," She said, determination burned in her eyes. "I'll think of something." Her father wanted to protest but she already stood up. "It was nice seeing you again. I'll visit home when I'm free."

And then she left.

***

The next day...

"I still can't believe you're getting married though." The woman sitting across from Callie said, a playful spark in her green eyes. The woman's name is Olivia, and Callie glared at her, telling her to shut up before going back to reading the document in her hand once again.

But...

After a few seconds of silence, Callie corrected her. "I'm not getting married."

Olivia's eyebrows rose at that. "Oh really? Is that a definite 'NOT' or a huge 'NOT YET'?" She grinned. "Which is it?"

Callie frowned at Olivia and decided to shut up, refusing to answer. She was baiting her, she can feel it, and Callie will not let herself fall into that trap because her questions were annoying her.

Her name and Marriage aren't something she liked hearing in a sentence.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Olivia's auburn hair bounced on her shoulders while she leaned back to the cushioned backrest of the u-shaped chair she shared with Callie.

Silence enveloped them once again and Callie went back to reading the document Olivia brought for her while waiting for her order to arrive. They're currently in a coffee shop that was luckily near Callie's building.

"You know what I think?" Olivia said, pausing while giving Callie a knowing look.

Callie looked up from the document, her face impassive. "What?"

"I think it's a good deal." She said.

Callie's expression became unreadable as she looked at her friend-slash-manager rolled into one. "Huh?"

5 hours ago, she asked Olivia to dig some information on Darren Wright, and that's what she did, giving her a 6 paged stalker information about him.

"How is marrying him a good deal?" Callie asked, her voice rising a pitch higher than normal and her eyes narrowed into slits of incredulous annoyance.

"Well..." Olivia smiled, "he's handsome, for one."

Callie frowned. "That's stupid."

Olivia shrugged like it was reason enough for her friend to marry the man. "I bet your babies would be cute."

"Right..." Callie rolled her eyes, shaking her head and continued reading the document to forget what she heard from her friend just now.

Callie flipped to the next page, and her hand stopped.

"Is this all of it?" She asked.

Apparently, she reached the last page.

Olivia leaned in to peek at the document and then nodded. "Pretty much. Your future husband seemed to be a very private guy."

Callie flipped back to the previous pages she had read. "I don't understand. Is this really all of it?"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. Aside from his family background and career accomplishments, that's pretty much everything I could find out about him."

Callie shook her head in disbelief. "This is not enough." She tossed the file on the table, feeling unsatisfied. "I need dirt. Anything on him that I could use as leverage."

Olivia frowned. "Then you should hire a private investigator." She said.

"I can't do that." Carrie tapped her fingers on the table, shaking her head. "I don't want my father to know I was digging dirt on his future son-in-law."

"Well then, suck it up," Olivia said, "Because seriously, this is as far as I can help you, princess."

Callie sighed.

When Olivia calls her a princess, it means she's acting like a brat again, and she was right. She was asking too much of her.

"Right. I'm sorry."

Hiring a private investigator is a bit much though. It's not her way of handling things. Plus, she doesn't know where to find a legit private investigator in the first place. She's never been desperate enough to find dirt on someone like this. But what can she do? Callie groaned. This is so not her. In fact, this must be her father's blood working her up, since he was the cunning one in the family.

Fuck it, Callie groaned.

She knew she was only delaying the inevitable.

Suddenly, the waiter came, finally bringing their drink in a nice circular tray. "One Frappuccino and one Violet Potato Latte…"

Thank God!

Callie smiled and gratefully took her order. Hers is a violet potato latte, while Olivia was the Frappuccino.

Callie sniffed the sweet smell of her coffee and sighed. All is well, as long as she could have this drink.

After Callie took a sip of her drink, Olivia spoke. "Have you met him?"

Callie paused at that question. "No." Her eyes went back to the opened file and it had a couple of pictures of Darren Wright in it.

Both of them belong to the same social standing, but they have not seen each other in person, even at parties before.

Surprisingly, Darren Wright was a very handsome man. He had raven black hair that was styled in an undercut. He also had a pair of dark obsidian eyes with dark circles underneath, clearly from the lack of sleep, making him look distant, a type of person you didn't want to disturb.

He also has this expressionless yet tired angular face. And he never smiles in his photos, not even once.

Callie wouldn't admit it, but she's attracted to her husband-to-be. She doesn't know why, maybe it's in the way he presented himself, but she felt like there's more to him than his distant facade to the public.

Plus, why is this handsome man so determined to marry into their family?

Olivia can see it across the table. Her friend, Callie, was intrigued by the tech billionaire.

Finally! Olivia thought Callie would never find a real man attractive, only fictional ones, but apparently, there is one exception to that rule.

Callie never stares at a man's face for more than 10 seconds, and she's been looking at his pictures for 2 minutes already. Olivia grinned as she counted.

"I think you should meet him," Olivia said, and Callie's head immediately whipped towards her, a disbelieving look on her face.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Go. Meet. Him." Olivia was serious, emphasizing her words one at a time. "Be direct with him, tell him you don't want to get married."

"No." Callie shook her head immediately. "He wouldn't agree to that."

Olivia smirked. "Maybe not." She answered. But the spark in Olivia's eyes didn't waver. "But there's no harm in trying." She said. "I mean, what makes you think you'll fail?"

Callie avoided her friend's penetrating gaze. "I just know it." Her eyes found Darren Wright's picture again. "This man is still determined to marry me after his engagement with my sister was called off. I think that's evidence enough that he'll never agree to what I want."

Olivia shrugged. "Then... talk to him. Make a deal. Set limitations. Better yet, sign an agreement."

That got Callie's attention.

And Olivia continued. "Since you think your marriage will push through, I think you have the right to demand, whatever it is, that'll make you comfortable in this marriage. Surely, he would not deny that to the woman he's forcing to marry."

Callie immediately considered her friend's words. She does have a point. If she's marrying this man, then it has to be on her terms.

Seeing her friend contemplating her suggestion seriously, Olivia picked up the file and searched for UM Tech's main address. "Here." She slid the file towards Callie and then tapped her well-manicured finger on the address. It's just a 5 minute drive from where they're at. "There's no better way to settle this than face to face."

Callie looked at Olivia, an uneasy expression spreading on her face. "Right now?" She asks, her voice stuttering.

"Yes," Olivia looked straight through her. "100 percent."

Callie felt nauseous all of a sudden. "Nope. I-I don't think I can do this."

Olivia frowned, her friend was having second thoughts. She couldn't let that happen. "You're starting to overthink this, Callie. You know you can't trust everything you think."

"But…" Callie wanted to protest, however, Olivia was already there to cut her off.

"Oh, don't be a pussy and do it."

"Olivia,"

"Being decisive will give you an advantage in this situation, and you know that," Olivia said, making Callie sigh. "You get what I mean, right?"

"Yeah." Callie nodded as she finally gave up on her argument. She knew she was only trying to run away from this. Olivia's words made sense and blackmailing a billionaire from backing down in this marriage was an impossible task.

Her family is in a dire situation, and they needed his help to save them from falling into bankruptcy.

Callie didn't want this. But marriage is the only way. And to make it less painful for her, she needs to tell her future husband about her views on this marriage, and how she wants this to work between them.

"I'm leaving."

"Attagirl!" Olivia grinned. "Stay strong. You got this." she nodded.

"Yeah..." Callie nodded back. "I got this."

"And don't forget to send me a wedding invitation." Olivia winked.

Right.