WANTED : RUNAWAY GROOM

The room fell silent when the boy suddenly stood up and shouted, "Are you playing house right now?!"

"Behave, Alexander!" His dad, Michael, sent a slight glance to warn him. "Sit down." His tone was still calm.

Alex chuckled, "Hahaha…" Then he laughed sarcastically, covering his eyes with his palms. "Wait, who in this world still honors fucking arranged marriages?"

"And how old is she again?" He looked at the girl young enough to be his sister sitting beside her father, a man he never even met.

She had been looking at the floor the whole time, and Alex couldn't even get a glimpse of her face. 

"You are turning me into a dirty old man. Do you know that?"

"I'm not asking you to get married right now," Michael answered. He knew Alexander was hot-tempered and wouldn't agree to this arrangement, but he still proceeded with his plan.

"I don't want to, dad. Why pick me?" 

He pointed to his brother's room. "Why not Adam? Why?" 

Adam was his eldest brother and one and only sibling.

"Alex..." Michael's tone sounded different this time. It was like he was sending Alex a warning, to stop there and then.

"Don't tell me…" he frowned, looking at Michael, "Is it because of what grandpa wrote in his will? I can't believe you're obediently following that?" His eyes opened wide, showing his disbelief. "Dad, grandpa is already dead. He will never know."

"Alexander!"

"What?" He looked annoyed.

At eighteen, he was still in his rebellious stage, and anything that happened before his time was totally irrelevant to his existence. Why should he follow tradition?

"Since grandpa never mentioned which one of us is supposed to get married, I think Adam is more suitable. He enjoys keeping to tradition. I'm out." He waved his hand annoyingly and walked past the girl and her father before sending her a menacing glare, "Ugly!" He mouthed the word when the girl slightly raised her head.

"It has been decided. You will get married when the time comes." Michael's words rang around the living room and made Alex stop in his tracks, right in the middle of the stair.

"I decide what happens to my life, not you!"

The birds chirping outside the window snapped Alex back from this awful memory. He turned to his side and found the space beside him vacant. Without his girlfriend by his side, it felt so empty.

They had a huge fight for the third time last night, just because he proposed to her. Yes, he was seriously asking for her hand in marriage, but he still couldn't understand why she had these angry bursts every time he voiced out wanting to get married to her.

He was in a hurry and planned to bring her along because after twelve years in a foreign land, last week, his dad urged him to come home. By hook or by crook, he instructed.

His dad delivered some bad news. Adam, his brother, couldn't manage the company anymore, as he was very sick.

When Alex asked how sick his brother was, his dad refused to tell him anything and asked him to come back as quickly as possible.

The ringing from the phone startled him, and the name that appeared on the screen made his eyes widen in hope.

"Hello? Yes, Sarah." He greeted the person on the other line. She was his best friend, and they'd known each other almost all their lives.

"You're coming back for sure, right?" Sarah asked for confirmation before delivering the news.

"Yes! You know my dad. He gave me a month to settle everything or else."

He coughed. "I don't need to explain more, right?"

He swept his hair back while walking up to the window to look at the morning scenery outside. His dad had given him quite the freedom for twelve years and did not bother him about the company. It was because Adam was there to cover for him. And now that his brother was sick, their dad would surely do anything to bring Alex back.

"Okay, then consider everything settled. I told the school admin that you would be a contract lecturer while I go on maternity leave. Don't break your promise, and be sure to be here by next month. I am almost due, and I can't find a replacement if you do not show up." Sarah warned him. She was now in her thirty-fifth week, and she didn't know how soon the baby would come out, so Alex needed to be home on time.

Why is he choosing to teach instead of managing the company when he returns?

It's because Alex made a deal with his dad to give him at least three months to settle down, or he wouldn't come back at all.

And his dad agreed because Michael knew his son's temper. He could have dealt with Alex by using force, but if letting him teach could bring him back faster, then why not?

Plus, Michael was desperate. He needed both his sons by his side to help manage the company.

The feeble smile that appeared on Alex's lips showed how grateful he felt right now. He had poured every effort into what he loved for the past twelve years, and teaching would help him calm down before dealing with company matters.

Programming was his first love, but how he needed to sacrifice it for the sake of his brother. He realised that he had been selfish this whole time, so Alex decided it was time to help.

His informant confirmed that Adam was sick and on treatment at the hospital, but being the heir of the WT Group, his room came heavily guarded, and the details about his brother's illness were a well-kept secret. The informant couldn't get more information than that.

Alex walked to the wardrobe, opened it, and looked at his clothes. Then he turned to look around his small apartment. He had survived twelve years without his family's fortune, and no one knew he came from a wealthy family. From other people's eyes, he was just an ordinary man that worked daily to satisfy the need to survive.

Ah, Melinda!

His girlfriend for the past three years doesn't even know about his origin. They met through one of his colleagues, and he fell in love because of her character.

Melinda had never once asked him for money, or for him to buy her any expensive accessories, even though she was covered with branded items from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

Alex just assumed she came from a wealthy family, and to be honest, he asked little about her personal life. But if he based her salary on her job, a beginner yoga instructor could never afford the clothes she wore daily.

He always asked himself what made him think she was the one. It was because she never questioned him about his life or nagged him about money. She just accepted him for what he was.

Alex smiled while thinking of her. He needed to let her calm down before asking her to follow him back to their home country.

He had everything planned in his mind and was so excited to tell her everything about him, but then, a message notification rang in his ears.

Ding!

Let's break up.