A Fishy Marriage Proposal

"We want you to marry."

The words sounded so ridiculous to Ariel that she wanted to laugh out aloud which she did. 

Ines' lips were pressed in a thin line. She clearly looked annoyed at the way Ariel was laughing at her words. 

"Henry has already looked for a guy. Everything is fixed."

Ariel stopped laughing as Ines continued, realizing incredulously that the latter was not really joking. 

They really thought that they had the right to marry her off and they had even looked for a guy. 

This was perhaps the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard in her whole life!

Leave Ines! Even her so called biological father didn't have any right to take any decision of her life. 

"The marriage date has been decided. You just need to..."

"Great! Enjoy the wedding but I won't be coming."

Ariel said to Ines coldly and stood up to leave. 

Ines opened and closed her mouth as she looked at Ariel's back. 

No she can't let Ariel leave. Ariel must agree to marry because if she didn't then Henry will force her lovely daughter, Adele to marry that man. 

And she would not let that happen at any cost. 

"Ariel!"

She stood up from the sofa she had been seated on and followed Ariel to stop her. 

"Listen to me! If you agree, I will help you with that old lady's treatment."

Ariel suddenly stopped amidst her steps when she heard Ines. Ines was a little relieved when she saw this. 

She walked hurriedly to stand in front of Ariel and continued speaking.

"The marriage...it's just for six months. After that, you need to divorce and leave without creating any drama. As long as you do that, I will give you more money. While you do all this, I will ensure that the old lady will receive proper treatment and care."

Ines twisted her fingers in tension as she waited for some kind of response from Ariel. However, Ariel was completely silent and she couldn't guess anything from Ariel's face. 

The more silent Ariel was, the more scared Ines felt. 

Ariel was silently noticing all this. She looked at Ines with narrowed eyes and asked coldly

"Is there something wrong with this man?"

She was quite sure that Ines won't look for a great marriage proposal for her. Even if Henry found this man, why would Ines be so eager for her to agree? 

Ariel could easily sense that something was fishy. 

Ines gulped and said genuinely. 

"I don't know. I never met or saw him."

When Ariel continued to look at her suspiciously, Ines emphasized again. 

"I am not lying! As to why I want you to agree, it's because if you didn't agree... Henry would marry Adele off in your place. I don't want my daughter to be bounded in a six-month marriage."

Regardless of how her married life had been, Ines wished for a happy married life for her own daughter. She wished that Adele would marry a rich man who would love her a lot.

She did hear that this family was very rich but everything else she heard about the family was very fishy. 

That's why when Henry told her about this marriage proposal, she somehow made him agree to search for Ariel. She even put her own people to find everything about Ariel. She knew that Ariel lived with an old lady. 

She knew that Ariel worked in some restaurant as a waiter. 

She knew that she was trying to gather money because the old lady she lived with was suffering from some life threatening disease. 

Ines had not thought that she would need to use all this information. It was stupid of her to think that Ariel would be that same ten year old girl. The meek girl who could be threatened by just raising her voice. 

But things has changed and Ines needed to act wisely. 

Ines came out of her trance when she heard Ariel asking

"Six months it is..."

"Yes! Six months and you will be allowed to take a divorce and leave peacefully. You won't be asked to birth an heir also."

Ariel had a deep frown on her forehead as she considered everything. Her grandmother's treatment required a huge amount of money. She could gather the money but it would take her a lot of time and she was not sure if her grandmother had that much of a time. 

She wondered if she would regret later on if she denied this proposal. 

"So do you agree?"

She looked at Ines who asked her this question. A moment later, Ariel nodded her head and finally said 

"Alright."

Six months it is! What could go wrong in six months! 

She would be back in those slums and her grandmother would be fine after getting treatment. 

If only Ariel knew...