Chapter 1: "Please Get Married."

Callie watched the sunrise on the balcony of her penthouse and sighed in satisfaction. "This is nice." A soft smile graced her face as she sipped from a mug filled with newly brewed tea.

It was 6 am and she was taking a short break before going back to her manuscript.

Apparently, this is one of her favourite things to do. Writing 5 crappy drafts after waking up is a draining routine.

Now, Callie is just enjoying her reward before she goes back to her office to work on her manuscript again. Watching the sunrise is reward enough for her.

A ping resounded from her phone.

Usually, Callie ignores all her notifications when she's on break. She didn't want to get distracted. However, she clearly forgot to put her phone on silent mode and it's tempting her from the series of pings she's getting. Which usually 'does not happen.

A tired sigh came out of her lips. Callie is tempted to go over to the table and pick up her phone, but it would obviously distract her from the work she's going to do afterwards.

"2 minutes." She tells herself. "Just 2 minutes." Next time, she will silence her phone for sure. Callie picked up her phone and instantly regretted it afterwards.

She saw a barrage of comment notifications, and it wasn't for her. They were all congratulatory comments on a friend's wedding post.

Apparently, Facebook sends you notifications if a new comment appears on the post you commented on.

Callie opened the post and saw 4 different photos of her friend smiling happily with her husband at their wedding reception which she attended yesterday.

It was indeed a joyous moment for the couple. Her friend, Christine, has been engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Johnathan, for 5 years before they finally tied the knot. Their relationship was not without its share of fights and struggles, but they pushed through, and now they are legally – and in the eyes of God – bound together in marriage.

A small tinge of loneliness pricked Callie's chest. Unlike Christine, Callie's been single since she was born, and the only guy she fell in love with was a fictional character she first read when she was in high school. In short, real men (and by real means outside the pages of a book) are not attractive to her, not even a little bit. And the end result? She's alone, and single at the age of 29.

Callie rolled her eyes and locked her phone so she could stop dwelling on her loneliness. She swore off marriage because she believed she didn't need a ring to be happy.

That is her belief. And it's a personal viewpoint which has nothing to do with being feminist or anything. She just detests the idea of getting married and getting emotionally attached to a person. Her siblings, friends, and even her acquaintances can get married all they want but Callie wasn't doing the same as them.

Callie's dark brown eyes squinted when a ray of sun hit her eyes.

She sighed. "Time to get back to work."

Bringing her half-finished tea, Callie left the balcony and made a beeline to her office. She passed by her luxuriously decorated living room and her state-of-the-art kitchen area.

Callie was living the life of her dreams, and she wouldn't be able to achieve all of this if she didn't run away from an arranged marriage 4 years ago.

Her father, Edmund Simmons, was a real estate tycoon. He was born in a family rich in generational wealth, and as his second and middle child, he wanted Callie to strengthen their family fortune through marriage.

Callie didn't like it. And so, she rebelled, run away before her wedding could be finalized, and her father disowned her. Which was fine. Now, she's a bestselling author, selling millions of copies worldwide with her stories. If she went with her father's whims about her future, she would be unhappily married to a man she didn't have any affection for.

Callie shook her head to forget that moment in her life. She still needs to finish 5 more crappy pages before she could get a break.

She needs to focus.

***

Callie's face crumpled into an expression of utter disbelief when her father, Edmund Simmons, said the words she hated with the straightest, most unremorseful face possible.

She blinked. "Come again?" He was kidding, right?

"Please, get married." Her father spouted every word with intention, he wasn't kidding, and Callie's feelings were crushed.

Four years. For four freaking years, they didn't see each other. And now this? This is what he tells her?

She couldn't believe this.

Callie's body trembled in anger. "Are you kidding me right now?" Her voice trembled as she used to have a lot of respect for her father, but now, she just couldn't stop herself from being rude to him.

Couldn't he do small talk? Or ask how she's doing, before dropping a bomb on her like that?

"Unfortunately, I am not." Her father replied. His usual response would've been an annoyed, 'Since when have I joked around this matter?' But her father was being weirdly patient with her.

An hour ago, Callie received an unexpected call from him asking her to meet up, and she agreed.

She was about to relax from work but his call intrigued her. So, she chose a Japanese restaurant located on the ground floor of her condominium building and selected a private room for them to talk.

In the private room, there's a low table- a traditional Japanese dining table called chabudai- for them to use, and two tatami mats for them to sit on. In this setting, there is no head on the table for her father to take advantage of, and Callie liked it very much.

He couldn't display his authority here, so now, they sat in front of each other as equals. An opportunity she always wanted to have with her father.

Prior to the meet-up, Callie had already guessed something was up before coming to meet him. And knowing her father, he doesn't go about his way to meet people unless it was something very important. Usually, he just sends his lawyers or her older brother, Edward, to take care of it in his stead when a meet-up was necessary.

But it has come to this, and Callie was curious. She regretted afterwards when her father dropped the marriage bomb on her.

She thought her father wanted to make peace. Unfortunately, she was mistaken.

Callie couldn't stop scoffing as her father's words chimed inside her head. Get married? Ha! Such a classic move coming from him. Her father did the same thing to her, 4 years ago, when he told her to get married to a complete stranger.

She already heard their family business, the ES Real Estate Group, was having a hard time getting back to its feet after her older brother, Edward, made a very bad investment choice. Which was then followed by another one, and another one, until their emergency fund was spent.

Callie can still remember the throb in her temples when she heard the news. She was so shocked and angry, that she almost raced to the ES group to choke her older brother for being stupid, but she stopped herself before she could deal real damage to her brother.

She already cut herself off from the family, and she obviously had no right to interfere even though she loved them.

Callie massaged the point between her brows and studied her father's face. He looked older, more tired than she last saw him. The company's situation must've taken a toll on him. And knowing her father's health condition, he wouldn't be able to sleep when his family's legacy was on the verge of crumbling from the ground up.

"I thought Camilla was getting married," Callie said, diverting their topic. "Shouldn't you and mother be focusing on her marriage right now?"

Camilla, Callie's sweet younger sister and the youngest amongst the Simmons' children was supposed to get married to a tech billionaire next year.

The news hasn't reached the media yet since an official announcement has to be made, but Camilla's marriage was an unbreakable deal and an obvious solution to their family's crisis.

Edmund's expression became gloomy at the mention of his youngest daughter's marriage. "Her wedding has been called off."

"What?" Callie couldn't believe her ears. "What happened? I thought everything was going smoothly."

Her father ground his teeth as if the next words he was going to say were almost painful for him to speak. "Your sister… she's pregnant."

Callie's eyes widened at the unprecedented news. "Pregnant?" Camilla, her sweet, obedient little sister…. was pregnant. Like having a baby. For real. "How can this be? I mean," Callie felt like her brain was having a malfunctioning moment. "Camilla would never make a mistake like this, especially if it's against you and the family."

Looking pained, Edmund Simmons closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't respond to his daughter's words. He also thought the same thing about his youngest and was surprised when his favourite daughter dropped the news on him before he could announce the engagement to the media.

"Oh, God." Everything made sense now, Callie thought as she stared ahead, lost in thought.

Her father calls her out to talk, his request for her to get married, and her sister's shocking pregnancy. Her family was on the edge of a cliff and the only way for her to help them get out of this mess was…

"You want me to marry the tech billionaire in Camilla's place…"

Seeing his daughter getting the situation they are in, Edmund nodded. "Yes. It's the only way to save the group from falling into bankruptcy."

Callie couldn't stop laughing humorlessly at herself. The very situation she ran away from, 4 years ago, came back to her like karma. Now she's trapped in a situation wherein it's hard for her to decline, especially because it involves her family.

Callista might have distanced herself from them, but the news articles about their family business and the text messages she had with Camilla from time to time are proof that she will always love them, she will always care. Even if her father is using her as a tool to save the family business, she still empathizes with him, because the group was important to her too.

[To be continued]