Caroline

"Why would I be getting married? To who? Why?"

"I told you about the multimillion-dollar job. It's a contract. Listen, Carol," he sat to face me well. "You only need to marry him for a year, you'll get paid and that will be all,"

"Come on, baby!" my mum added.

I don't understand why they think it's that easy 'and that's all' he said.

"Hold on, you want me to get married to a man I don't even know? Someone I haven't met, someone I don't even love?"

"He's actually someone you know. He's quite famous. He's the son of the famous businessman, Mr. Trenton,"

"You mean, Richard Trenton? Why would I get married to him," the uncertainty than dawned on me was becoming unbearable.

"You are getting married to him and that's final!" my dad said angrily.

"What do you mean that's final?" I was equally getting worked up as well and sitting wasn't portraying that fact, so I stood.

"What do you mean that's final?" I repeated. "You think you can just make a decision behind me and have me acknowledge it like I am some teenage girl trying to sort out her life?"

Even if I'm trying to sort out my life right now, my dad is not the rightful person to show me that.

"Caroline," my mum cautioned but I wasn't having that.

"You think you have your life planned out? No, you don't, Caroline. You need this job and we know it,"

I scoffed before I continued. His audacity was quite shocking.

"I have always followed your decisions over my life since I was a kid and now that I can make one for myself you are depriving me of that? You have always put your best interest over mine and you're going to do that till the end?" at this point, balls of tears were already dripping down my eyes.

"You think everything we do is for ourselves, right?" my dad asked.

"You are so unbelievable. You were never there for me. You came back to my life a few years back and you think you can take total control over my life like you are some good father? Stop acting like one!"

Before he could stop himself, his hand landed on my cheeks. The stunned look on his face showed his instant regret.

"Mike!" my mum yelled. Outrightly shocked.

"You never disappoint!" I held my cheek and cried out before running over to my room. My mum called after me but I never bothered to look back.

I was on the verge of losing my mind but as I laid on the bed with my eyes tightly shut, all I could think of was a cup of coffee at that time of the day.

My mum knocked persistently on the door, disrupting my thoughts.

I knew nothing could change my dad's mind, not even my stubbornness but I still wanted my peaceful space. I still wanted to stand my ground.

If at all there was something I'd have thought would happen in my life, entering a contractual marriage with a rich man's son for a year was the least.

I am an adult and I deserve to be heard.

I was so hungry that my head hurts after continuous weeping. I wasn't even given the chance to finish my meal before the unpleasant news was broken.

I looked at the time and knew my parents must have slept since the endless knock had ceased.

I quietly unlocked my door and at the doorstep was a tray with orange juice which obviously was dropped by my mum.

I shifted it to the side with my left leg and walked to the fridge in the kitchen. I wasn't ready to accept that.

After an immense search throughout the cold object, I settled for water though it wouldn't quench my hunger.

I dropped the glass of water in my hand after I closed the door to the refrigerator and saw my mum standing, arms akimbo.

"Oh my God. Mum!" I exclaimed. I hurried away to clean the spill up.

"Sorry, sweetheart," she said before sitting.

"I thought you were asleep," I said, trying to start a conversation which she would have started with the subject known to us both.

"How could I when my baby is upset," she replied and I sat by her.

"You were always my baby even now that you're twenty,"

"That rhyme could fit for a rap," I smiled and she did in return.

"Come here," she gave me a very tight hug and I could inhale her fragrance__Victoria secret.

"You know we love you a lot. Your dad might seem so bad at exhibiting that but you are the best thing that happened to him,"

"We wouldn't force you into a home that wasn't meant to be built. Not even a marriage that wasn't meant to be. This marriage would be a turnaround for us__for you. You know we always want the best for you,"

A mother's word has its effect, an effect no one can overlook. I looked at her with admiration.

"But mum. I don't know this man except that he's famous and rich. I don't even love him. This all feels like a dream. I find it so hard to accept,"

"Listen, baby," she said, tucking in a strand of stray hair behind my ear. "Love is a feeling. It grows over time without either of you knowing. You don't have to love him now you'd grow to love him subsequently. By then, you'd see this whole thing isn't a bad idea after all," her words were convincing but still, it was hard to accept.

"It's a multi-million dollar contract, Carol. We shouldn't say this much to earn your acceptance. You are only living with him for a year," she concluded. The money is quite enticing, to be honest.

"I want you to think about it overnight. I would never allow anything that would hurt you and you know that," she said before pulling me in for another hug, rubbing my head to soothingly.

"I love you, mum," I acknowledged because it was true. I love my mum so much.

"I love you too, sweetheart," she replied, kissing my head.