Chapter 2 Framed

Abigail looked at Nora flabbergasted, not able to solve this new puzzle which was in front of her. She knew from the beginning, the woman was not as green as grass. Something was cooking up in her brain. And now she gets it. From the corner of her optics she could see a slight smile racing up on Zoey's features.

"Isn't the marriage of Zoey arranged with Nelson? Why am I pulled into her shit?" Abigail retorted.

Before Nora could reply wittily to Abigail, Zoey fumed from the bedroom. "Dad is right. Your mouth works sharper than a knife these days. I do not want to marry a handicapped guy. Addedly he is ugly and old, thirty five years old. Whereas I'm not even half of his age. I am young, smart and beautiful and I'm also pregnant with Liam's child." She spat her words on Abigail with vengeance.

The last sentence of Zoey turned the faces of the other three adults in the room into a clean sheet of paper. Many long seconds passed when Nora balanced herself and asked her daughter again, unable to believe her own ears. "You're pregnant with Liam's child while you are supposed to marry Nelson?"

"I already told you, I do not like him and I will not marry that disproportionate cow." Zoey shouted at the top of her lungs.

Richardson Firm owes Benedict Enterprises ten millions. Since they couldn't pay them back, in lieu of money Nora promised to marry her daughter Zoey to Nelson. But on a fateful day Nelson met with an accident and got attached to a wheelchair permanently. Thereby Zoey did not want to marry Nelly. Also she had been in love and secretly sleeping with Abigail's boyfriend.

Nora looked at Zoey with a temper and her ears literally fuming out. She then looked at Abigail with a spark nobody could decipher until she opened her mouth. "Nelson's father Emerson is a long time friend of William. When we had not even a penny to start our business, Emerson helped William with ten thousand dollars as capital to start our first textile shop with zero interest. His only wish to William is to marry Zoey to Nelson so that their friendship can change to a relationship. Thankfully neither Emerson nor Nelson had seen Zoey. So you...."

Abigail did not allow Nora to speak further. She was already a sun ball. "So to save your face for the sake of friendship and discharge your old time debt towards your family friend you want me to marry the desolate paralyzed man in place of Zoey. I know he had been sleeping for ages. It is all over the papers and I don't know how many kinds of STDs he got affected by now. And he is thirty six years old. Why are you doing this amount of injustice to me? What loss did I bring upon you that you're discharging your anger upon me like this?" She asked her pleadingly while crying.

Nora rose up her hands in surrender. No matter what the circumstances are, the woman doesn't lose her balance which is her biggest asset. "Darling, this is a fair exchange with no robbery. You marry Nelson and in return I save the life of your sister by helping with all her medical expenses. With your sacrifice your sister's life will be saved. There is no force. This is only an offer." Nora chose a clever way rather than openly blackmailing Abby and projecting herself as a materialistic and selfish woman. She knew undoubtedly she was holding an offer Abigail could never deny.

Her mind went in circles. Abigail thought for long minutes. Though it was purely an unfair offer to her she had no choice if she wanted to save her dying sister. Regretfully but cleaning the tears from her eyes she forces out her decision. "I agree to this marriage. But on one condition."

What is it?" Zoey and her parents were more than happy that Abigail had fallen into the pit designed by them so easily.

"This will be the marriage only on paper. I will not have any physical relationship with that guy. And I want ten million dollars towards the treatment of Grace no sooner I get the alien's ring on my finger."

This time it was not Nora's smart reply but of William's foolishness. "Agreed. By the way Nelson is an impotent now because of the accident. He has no interest in sex. That is why Emerson wanted this marriage deal. You need to get a baby for the Benedicts through artificial insemination and this is a secret which stays between the families. Nobody should know Nelson turned a gay with the accident." William's earth shattering diction felt like an awakening to Abigail.

"If Nelson is an impotent then I have no problem marrying him." In a way Abby was happy. But Nora was distilled red with the end result. She did not want Abigail to know the secret of Nelson before marriage.

A week later she arrives at the church for her arranged marriage with Nelson Benedict. The church had hardly any guests except her cousin Zoey with her boyfriend Liam who was sitting in the first row with a sly grin. "See, how hopeless is your marriage with not even a trace of any human. It is like you are getting married on another planet." Zoey snickered looking at the gloomy face of Abigail.

"I have not seen a selfish and characterless girl like you in my whole life. Actually I feel pity for you. You don't realize you should be grateful to me for hiding your sorry self behind the curtain while I come forward to save you and our family from the defame of Benedicts. I accepted this unholy matrimony to save you and it is high time you start behaving with maturity." Abby's words were like pelting stones on Zoey's face.

Why were there no guests for the wedding? What happened to Emerson? Neither the groom, nor any of his family members were present at the church. Is she getting cheated in some way?