Chapter 1 -

Emma's POV

"What do you mean I'm getting married, dad?" I question my dad, tears running down my face fast and hard. I haven't ugly cried like this in years but right now, I didn't care how ugly I looked. All I cared to understand was what my dad meant by I was to get married in two months.

"I realize how sudden and unexpected this news comes, sweetie, but it's what needs to be done," he replies me, taking gentle strides towards me.

I step back. Usually I like the comfort of being in my father's arms, but not today. Maybe not ever again. Not with what he's saying to me right now. "This is so unfair!" I shriek really loudly as I begin to pace round the living room where my mum, dad and I stood as they broke the news to me.

At this point I was livid. I don't think I'd ever been this angry before in my life, and especially towards my parents, but today I was. I was upset, confused, and especially furious at them.

"How could you let this happen, mum?" I stopped pacing and faced my mum with my hands placed on my waist and my eyebrows raised, tears still streaming down my face freely.

"Honey, there was no other option. Would you have rather your dad went prison?" She responded to my question with a face full of empathy. I knew the correct answer to that question, but in that moment I didn't care.

"Yes!" I all but said quietly. "Why couldn't he have opted to go to prison? Why did he have to sell me off to Liam Henderson?" I yelled.

"I did not sell you off, Emma. Never you repeat that statement ever again," my dad replied sharply without giving my mum a chance to respond to me. At this point he and I were in a staring contest with each other, none willing to break contact and look weak in front of the other.

Right from when I was a kid, my dad's mother had always told me I acted just like my dad did when he was younger. She'd tell me how we had similar reactions to particular situations and how we had the same temper. She'd say, "I wonder how arguments go down with you both at home". Truly she was right. My dad and I did have the same temper and today proved it.

I wasn't going to back down from the stare though, and he knew that. He eventually gave up and relaxed his shoulders. "Emma, I truly am sorry for this. I'm sorry that this is the reality of your life right now, but this wedding, this marriage, it's happening. Whether you like it or not. The deal has already been made".

"I hate you, dad. I really do".

Of course I don't and could never hate my dad but that was what I was feeling in that moment. I felt nothing but hate towards him.

"I know you don't mean that, my love," my mum said to me as she approached me and engulfed me in a tight hug. That was what I needed but didn't realize. That hug. I immediately melted in her arms and slid to the floor, clutching my stomach because I felt sick to it all of a sudden.

"I just got my first job offer, mum. I was supposed to move to New York by the end of the month. Why this? Why now?" I say in between sobs, my voice shaky. "It's not fair. I've worked really hard," I continued as I was able to get my voice back to a steady pace.

"I know, sweetie, and I promise this isn't going to be a forever thing. It's for three years and then you could get a divorce and do whatever you want with your life. I'll make sure it doesn't exceed these three years my darling. I assure you that", she strokes my hair and caresses my back as she whispers her words softly into my ear as an attempt to calm me down.

It works but my mind fixates on one part of her statement.

Three years. I'm going to be married to a man I don't know, a man I don't love, a man I have met just once in my entire life, for three years. Three good years of my life down the drain, just like that. Why me? Who did I offend? I think to myself. I'm quickly broken out of my thought cycle, however, as I feel my father's hand on my shoulder as he squats next to me on the ground.

"I blame myself completely for this, Emma, trust me, I do. I know I should've listened to your mother and my advisor, but I didn't and it fucked me up".

I shoot him a quick glance to show I heard his language loud and clear.

"Excuse my language," he continued. "I messed up and I want to make things right. My going to prison would only put you guys in a very difficult position and I don't want that. Knowing the Henderson family, especially the father, Samuel, locking me up won't be enough for him. He would make sure whatever moneys I have in any accounts would be frozen by the bank, and our assets would be seized," he ends with a tone that's supposed to sound convincing, but it of course wasn't working.

Why wasn't it working? Because my whole mind was fixated on the fact that I get married in two months, to a man I don't know, and for three years.

"There's really nothing you want to say right now that's going to make me feel any better, dad," I wiped off my tears and picked myself up from the ground. "As you've said, it's a done deal. This is my life now and I get it. But just know that I-"

I get cut off by the loud ring of my father's phone.

"Hello," he says as he puts the phone up to his ear. "It's for you," he tells me as he looks at me with an emotion I can't quite comprehend and hands the phone to me.

"Hello?" I question with my brows furrowed.

"Hello love," the person on the other end responds with a deep sultry voice I almost instantly recognize.