Condition Battle

The next morning as Jason had said his whole family arrived at Mona's house.

"I presume, you have made your decision about this matter." Mr. Hopes asked eagerly.

At this moment all the eyes including the bodyguards were on Mona.

"Certainly." even Mona couldn't identify her voice which was similar to that of a kitten.

She cleared her throat and said again.

"I will accept this marriage but I have 3 conditions." Mona subconsciously glanced at Jason who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"And what are they?" this time it was her father who questioned her.

"1st. I want to stay in India till July of next year.

2nd. I don't want to get married right now. I will only get married after I turn 20 years." she paused and observed everyone's expression as if asking if they agree to it. There was long dead silence when finally Mrs. Hopes spoke.

"Well, if you want to, you can. We can get you both engaged now and you can marry whenever you are ready."

"And your 3rd condition?" Mr. Hopes continued.

Mona took a deep breath and said, "I want to complete my studies and get my degree."

"Alright we have no problem but we also have 2 conditions for you. If you agree we will agree too." true enough Mr. Hopes was a businessman.

"1st after you move to the USA you will change your name to Jessica Hemington till you get married and will cut all ties with your family. And 2nd you can continue your studies but you have to take over the position of CEO in our Indian branch of Hopes group as a practice for future."

"You want to change my name, break ties with my family, and take over a god damn company????" Mona shouted at top of her lungs.

"Monalisa." Her father and Jason shouted at the same time.

"If you will excuse me, I would like to talk to Monalisa alone," Jason suggested.

All the elders nodded and Jason raised from his seat, grabbed Mona from her elbow, and rushed upstairs.

"This is not what we agreed on Jason." once Mona was in her room, she started shouting on Jason," change my name, take over a company, is this some sort of joke or something"

"I am sorry but I can't do anything more than this. They wanted to take you away as soon as you agreed to this marriage."

"So, shall I be happy and thankful to you that you let me off for a year." Mona started sobbing.

"Mona. I don't want this either but we have no choice, you have to accept it. I promise when the time comes I will bring you back and make sure you live your life properly." Jason took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her.

She cried till she choked and was out of breath. No one knew when she wrapped her arms around Jason and both slipped to the floor. After calming down she pushed Jason away and turned to go downstairs. Jason was surprised and ran after her.

She stood in front of her room and looked down after taking a breath she started "I will take over the company and accept the other term too. But this 1 year no one will interfere in my life." she sounded firm and clear.

After discussing the marriage. Hopes' family went home while Mona went back to her room after telling everyone not to disturb her till she came down on her own.

She locked herself till dawn, crying and weeping throughout the afternoon. After feeling must better she took out a new diary from her bookshelf and wrote in it.

"Dear diary, today I am crying but tomorrow things will change. I will clear my name and prove that they were wrong. Once everything is done I will leave this place and never turn back again. Never turn back to the people who betrayed me and didn't believe me. I will start anew and try to live a happy life."

After she was done, she took a shower and went to sleep. Before entering deep slumber she promised herself that tomorrow will be different and she will win this fight.

Completely unaware of the person currently standing near her window and reading her diary, before he put it away and murmured under his breath that he will fight along with her and will always care for her.

Jason turned around and went back to his hotel room, lying on the sofa his mind drifted back to the night his father called him into his study.

"I know you don't want to get married because of your passion for the military but you need to live a normal life whether you like it or not."

"I said I won't marry a stranger on top of one from another country." Jason was so angry that his veins were popping on his forehead.

"I know that but that girl needs you, I have been watching her grow up ever since she was adopted. She never hurt anyone but she is hurt now by her own people...."He was about to continue when Jason interrupted him.

"Adopted?" he sounded puzzled.

"Hmm. She was the daughter of a businessman who was also my friend. Her whole family died in a car crash caused by their enemy. She was there too, she was only 5 years old. She created a barrier on her own which made her forget about it. After which she was adopted by her so called present parents who were responsible for the crash but took a pity on her. Or else why do you think that they would agree to marry off their daughter to a complete stranger. I just told them to choose whether jail time or giving up Mona. And they clearly made their choice." He scoffed before sighing. And continued.

"I want the child to live a happy life now. They may seem like a happy family from the outside but from inside they exclude her from everything and that has been happening ever since their son was born." He paused and took a deep breath and continued.

"I wish that both of you get together and live happily."

"I will try my best." Jason was feeling sympathy for her but he knew that was all just temporary and will go away.