Chapter One

It was like the worst day of my life; I have never felt so betrayed and neglected. I have always wanted to marry someone I'd truly love, but here I was, preparing to get married to a billionaire I had no feelings for.

A lot of thoughts ran through my mind as I sat quietly in a chair watching my mom make me up. She kept polishing my face with different make-up items.

"Here you go, darling," she cheered, dropping the brush. "You look so beautiful; I'm sure Donald would love to see this."

"Mom," I called out faintly, "I can't do this, I don't love him, and I barely even know him. Please, mom."

But again, she ignored my complaints, like she never heard. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said, taking out a shiny gold necklace from her purse.

"Here, this suits just fine," she beamed with a smile as she wore the necklace round my neck. "Your dad has always saved it for your marriage."

"Stop it, Mom!" I snarled, bursting uncontrollably and rising on my feet as I shoved her hands away from me. "Just stop it! I'm not marrying that monster." 

She glared daggers at me, and with a wave of fury, her hands connected to my face. Clutching my right cheek, tears welled up my eyeballs.

"Do you know what this marriage means to this family?" she growls, her voice mixed with fury. 

"Is this why you slapped me?" I asked, mucus dripping down my nostrils.

"I will do more than that to you if you prove stubborn."

She continued, "Your dad is on the verge of death, our family is going bankrupt and your brother will be dropping out soon. We aren't asking for much, Cecilia, so please, stop making it difficult already."

"But mum–"

"But what, Ceci? Is this because of Ronin?"

I kept mute, processing the grief within me.

"I'm trying to do what's best for the family, and here you are trying to blow it all away because of your selfish reasons??" she yelled.

She slapped me again, and I stood up, clenching my phone into my fist, and headed to the toilet. When I got inside, I locked the door and dialed a number on my phone.

"Pick! Pick!" I cussed as the phone rang for the umpteenth time. I broke down into tears, about to face reality, when I received a call from the phone.

Instantly, I picked it up. "Stop calling me, Cici. It's over between us," the voice came on from the other end."

"D-don't do this to me, baby. We can still elope. I love you very much, Ronin," I stuttered in a whisper.

Ronin and I attended the same High School and the same university, which we graduated from three days ago. We dated ever since High School and planned to get married after our convocation.

Returning home after five years of being in school, Mum broke the news that Dad was going bankrupt. Then she went further and said they'd arranged my marriage to the cruel billionaire to pay off his debts.

I didn't even know who he was. I've never seen his face but the way people react to his name speaks fear and danger.

I shared the news with Ronin yesterday and proposed that we elope, but he refused and instead, broke up with me.

"My hands are tied now, Cecilia. I have to go now and I'll appreciate it if you don't call me again. Move on with your new life and husband," he asserted in a broken tone and hung up before I could say a word.

Bawling my eyes out, I flinched when a security man broke down the door. Mum stood in front of me, her face eliciting anger as she approached me, seized my phone, and dragged me out of the toilet.

"What do you think you are doing?" she queried curtly, and softened her face after some minutes, wiping off my tears, "Let's just get this over with, everyone is expecting you."

With sadness buried in my heart, I stood in front of the altar, ducking my head as the tall huge groom entered the hall and stood beside me. 

His cold aura and presence suffocated me, and I wished I could run out of here. I felt no emotional attachment towards him and I hated that my family traded my happiness for luxury.

Lost in thought, Pastor Patrick jolted me out of my reverie. "And do you, Cecilla Maxwell, accept Mr. Donald Coleman as your lawfully wedded husband?"

The hall buzzed with murmurs and tension grew. My eyes fell on Ralph, my immediate brother. He was holding my dad's hands as he sat him in his wheelchair.

I exhaled a breath, forcing back the tears that welled up in my eyes. If I had to say yes today, that would be because of Ralph. When I had kidney failure, he donated one of his kidneys to me.

"I do," I said finally.

"I hereby declare you husband and wife."

There was a loud applause from the crowd.

"Mr. Coleman, you may now kiss your bride."

Donald came closer, took off my veil, and with his hand behind my head, he pulled me in for a kiss. I closed my eyes and could feel his lips pressing against mine. 

He was in for a more passionate kiss, but I quickly withdrew myself from his hold. He showed disgust, but I didn't care.

After the wedding came to an end, Donald said nothing and didn't give me the chance to say farewell to my family. He just swept me into his broad shoulder and carried me to his blue Rolls Royce.

He refused to let his men drive us and collected the key from them. This got me thinking. What kind of husband would he be? Why did he choose to marry me in the first place?

I sobbed silently as Donald focused on the steering, whistling loudly and smiling to himself as he drove. Once in a while, he glanced at me and I rolled my eyes at him.

Getting to the airport, I found out a jet was waiting for us and we boarded it. Thirty minutes later, the jet landed on a helipad built in an estate and I marveled at the mansion straight ahead. 

Different species of blue flowers beautified the whole place, the lawns were trimmed, and a look at his garage, a fleet of blue cars were parked. 

Everywhere looked like paradise, and from what I've noticed, it was evident that Donald loved the blue color. Blue was my favorite color too.

As I entered the foyer which was big enough to occupy thousands of people, the first thing that caught my attention was a large, framed picture of Eden Hazard, a Chelsea football club's legendary player; no wonder he loved blue so much.

Eden Hazard was Ronin's favorite player too. 

Even after seeing all these, I'm still not attracted to him. It would have made a lot of sense if Ronin was my husband and he was this wealthy. Ronin was rich, but not to this extent. 

All of a sudden, Donald left me in the foyer and many confetti balloons began to burst on my hair. Before I knew it, the light hanging below the chandeliers changed into dim blue, and unknown people sashayed in with noises.

Everyone looked dashing in their suits and gowns, congratulating me. Two seconds later, everything went dark and the light from an inscription that says "HAPPY MARRIED LIFE, BROTHER" lit everywhere.

Donald approached me and handed me a drink. Not been a fan of alcohol, I refused the drink, but he shoved it down my throat, ruining the wedding dress, and I gasped for breath.

"You don't say no to me!" he growled and I recoiled backward.

I got furious that as I was about to choke to death, all everyone could do was laugh.

"Hey, man!" I heard someone called Donald, squeezing himself through the crowd.

When he got to us, I was bending my body to clean the gown. "I'm sorry I couldn't grace your occasion, bro. I was preparing this surprise for you."

The voice sounded familiar, and as I jolted upright, I saw Ronin's smiles replaced with a flicker of surprise and retreating step. My heart fluttered and I almost lost my bearings too. 

"Quite a surprise," Donald taunted and turned to me, "Cecilia, meet my stepbrother, Ronin. Do I still need to introduce her to you, Ronin?"

"N-no, bro," he stammered. "I've something to do," he said and left hurriedly.

Is Donald the stepbrother Ronin has always been talking to me about? What will I do? I'm still in love with Ronin.