Chapter 2 Spoken Deals And Broken Hearts

The next morning, Brielle woke up with a pounding headache. She had done critical thinking over night.

She picked up her phone and saw several missed calls. Hayden had called her six times, there were also a few text messages. But she didn't have the courage to open any of them yet.

She pulled the duvet over her head and groaned into the pillow. The whole scene from dinner still played in her head like a nightmare. She had made a decision -well, sort of. Something that was strong enough to make everyone believe she was okay with marrying Thomas.

She wasn't.

Her phone vibrated again, another call from Hayden. She listened to it ring away.

A knock came on her door.

"Bri?" Erielle's voice came through. "Are you awake?"

"No," Brielle muttered.

Erielle opened the door anyway, she walked in with a mug of hot coffee and a raised brow.

"Hayden been calling you like crazy".

"I know."

"Are you going to tell him any time soon?"

Brielle sat up slowly. Her voice was flat.

"What do I even say? 'Hey babe, I'm marrying someone else, It's a family thing. Hope you understand?"

"You could try telling the truth."

"Erielle, I don't even know what I feel right now."

Erielle handed her the mug.

"Well, you better figure it out soon, the press is already talking about it, someone must have leaked it. Although, it is not full-blown news yet, but it's bubbling."

Brielle sighed. "Oh..perfect."

Across town, in a high-rise apartment Thomas barely used, he stood shirtless in the kitchen, pouring himself coffee and ignoring the model seated on his couch.

Marina, his on-and-off girlfriend for the year, stared at him with narrowed eyes. She had just seen the article too. It wasn't detailed, just rumors about a private wedding between two billionaire heirs, but she wasn't dumb.

"So..," Marina said, flipping her long blond hair back, "you're getting married?."

Thomas didn't answer immediately, he stirred his coffee slowly.

"Are you not going to say anything?" she asked.

Thomas took a sip. "I didn't even know about it until last night."

"And you just happen agreed to it?"

"Well, I didn't say yes," he replied. "Then again, I didn't say no either."

She stood up, arms crossed. "Are you serious?"

"It's kind of a deal, one that could help my company expand faster than expected. It is nothing personal."

"So what am I? A toy you fling away when something new comes along?"

Thomas gave her a look. "You knew this wasn't going to last, Marina."

Her jaw clenched. "oh..right, because when it comes to you, it is that way."

He didn't respond. She picked her bag and stormed out.

Brielle eventually gathered the courage to call Hayden, her hands shaking as she dialed.

Hayden picked up on the first ring.

"Bri?" His voice was soft and calm.

"Uhmm...hey..."

"Are you okay? I've been worried-sick, you didn't answer any of my calls."

"I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I just... I needed some time."

"What exactly is going on? I heard something, My colleague said there is a talk about some wedding between the Marcels and the Ferdinands."

She closed her eyes tightly.

"It's true," she said.

Silence......

"It is about me..but I didn't agree to it fully," she added quickly. "It is complicated,our families are involved, they are trying to push this for business reasons."

"Brielle, did you agree to it, what about us?"

"I really don't know," she said. "I never expected this, I love you and you know that, but they are dangling everything I've been working for."

"And you're going to throw me....us away for it?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying-"

"It's exactly what you're saying."

She covered her mouth, trying not to cry. " I am sorry, please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you," Hayden said. "But I won't sit and wait around and watch you marry someone else."

Then he hung up.

The sound of the call ending felt like a sledgehammer on a rock.

Later that day, Brielle was forced into another meeting, this time with Thomas, their parents, and a few wedding planners.

They were seated in a large lounge room in the Ferdinand's city office, surrounded by color samples, flower samples, and cake menus. Brielle sat in a corner with her arms folded and a blank expression.

Thomas walked in looking just as annoyed.

"Don't say anything," Brielle warned as he sat next to her.

"I wasn't planning to," he replied flatly.

Their mothers were flipping through magazines and arguing over color themes.

"I think white and gold is classic," said Marianne. "It fits the image our families."

"I was thinking a touch of champagne rose," added Brielle's mother. "Something soft, modern and elegant."

The wedding planner, a tall slender woman named Jess, clapped her hands. "Alright! Everyone let's start with basics.

Guest count?"

"Keep it under fifty," Gerald said. "Just close family and friends."

Jess nodded as she wrote down a pink notepad. "Good, and bridal party?"

"No bridal party," Brielle muttered.

"That is better," Thomas added.

The planner glanced between them and smiled nervously. "Uhh....okay. Now, let's talk about the vows, will you be writing your own or prefer the traditional lines?"

"Whatever is faster," Thomas said.

"Yeah" Brielle added.

Erielle walked in late, holding a large plastic cup of smoothie. Her favorite since she started her pregnancy journey

"You all look like two prisoners heading to jail."

"We are," Brielle whispered.

After the meeting, Brielle and Thomas stepped outside together. It wasn't planned, they just needed fresh air.

The sidewalk was quiet.

The sky looked heavy, like it might rain soon.

"So you are really going through with this?" she asked him.

Thomas leaned against a wall, his hands in his pockets. "I don't see another option, let us give them what they want in order to get what we want and in a few months time, we are off from each other's back".

"So we're just business tools," she muttered.

"We have always been that." He said with a shrug.

She turned to face him properly. "Do you even like me at all?"

"No," he said. "Do you like me?"

"Eww..not even a little."

Thomas gave a small smile. "At least we're honest to each other."

"You told girlfriend already?"

He he faced an opposite direction. "Yeah."

"How did she take it?"

"She called me a selfish bastard."

"Well she is not wrong."

Thomas chuckled.

"What about your guy...that chef?"

"His name is Hayden. And... I think I broke his heart."

They were quiet for a moment.

"This was never how I thought my life would go," Brielle said.

"Same."

The silence stretched between them, for once, it didn't feel so heavy.

"Let's just get through this wedding," he said finally. "We don't have to like it, let us just mindlessly go with the flow."

"Yeah..whatever, but there is no way I'm sharing a room with you on that yacht."

"Me neither, I don't want to sleep beside someone who sighs every five minutes anyway."

Brielle gave him a stern look, hissed and walk again.