Chapter 3 MARRIAGE ALLIANCE

Annabel walked absentmindedly into her room, collapsing on her bed. She stared at her ceiling as her mind recalled the kissing scene.

From the blue eyes she could never get out of her mind to his hot kisses.

Annabel covered her eyes as she blushed at the thoughts of his lips softly against hers, the feeling of his tongue licking hers.

"Oh my God!" she squealed, grabbed her pillow, and buried her face in it, kicking her legs several times on the bed.

Why did she let it happen? She could have stopped him.

She grabbed her pillow, buried her head in it, and screamed.

The memory of how close he was to her, the way he looked at her, how he kissed her-it made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

Suddenly, the door slammed open. Annabel barely registered the moment before Samantha barged in.

Without warning. A pause. No explanation. She went straight to Annabel and landed a hard slap across her cheek.

Annabel staggered back, holding her face in shock.

"How dare you!" Samantha snapped, her expression dark and filled with rage.

Annabel stood still; she expected as much.

"I told you we needed Nathan's money, I begged you to save us, but what did you do?" Samantha's voice shook with rage. "You ruined us."

She leaned forward, pressing her fingers against Annabel's forehead. "You are so stupid."

She pushed, not hard enough to hurt her, just enough to make her take a few steps back.

"Dad always loved you; he gave you everything. He even abandoned us just for you," Samantha said as she took slow steps toward Annabel.

"Now that he needs you-you abandoned him. We don't even have enough money for his treatment; we are about to lose the company," she paused, leaving Annabel in a daze.

Samantha turned toward the door, her head turned slightly toward Annabel, "If anything bad happens to Father and the company..." her eyes narrowed, shifting into something darker, "It will be all your fault." She hissed before storming out of the room.

Annabel felt sudden weakness in her legs as she dropped, drained on the bed. A teardrop escaped from her eyes.

At noon, Annabel stood beside her father, who was lying almost unconscious on the bed, with a set of IV treatments and drips inserted into his body.

Annabel fixed the mattress, covering him properly. She stared at him with a smile filled with silence.

"I miss you, Dad," she whispered softly.

She sat quietly beside him as her thoughts drifted back to her childhood days in a large field filled with flowers.

Samantha ran after Caroline, laughing in the field. Annabel stood opposite them, watching them run with excitement. She felt the need to join the fun as she picked up her doll and ran toward them with a wide, innocent smile.

"You loved this doll; if you can take this doll from me, I will give it to you," she said, running away laughing. "Catch me if you can."

Samantha and Caroline stared at each other, a wicked smile curving on their lips as they ran toward her, pushing her forcefully to the floor.

Caroline snatched the doll from her as they both laughed and teased her.

Annabel's eyes slowly clouded with tears as she checked her leg, which had been sprained; she then cried out, "I just wanted to play with you."

Samantha narrowed her eyes, giving her a wicked glare, "You killed your mother; you are bad luck," she smirked.

Annabel's cries grew louder, "No, I am not bad luck!" she said as she stood up aggressively, grabbing her doll from Caroline as she ran quickly to her father, crying bitterly.

Before Caroline could chase after her, Samantha quickly stopped her. "But I want the doll!"

Caroline cried.

Samantha pulled out a tiny doll from her pocket, "Take mine," she said with a comforting smile.

Her head turned toward Annabel. "She will tell on us again. Dad always scolds us because of her; I hate her." Her expression darkened as she clenched her fists.

At the sight of Annabel, her father quickly dropped the book he was studying, allowing her to run straight into his arms. Annabel hugged him tight as she cried continuously.

"Why are you crying, princess?" he said softly as he hugged her tightly.

"I hurt my leg," she cried out.

Her father sat her gently down and took out his first aid box, applying a little bit to her injury.

"Listen to me, princess," he said calmly, "always take care of yourself because you are the most important person in my life. Your safety and happiness will always be my greatest joy," he said as he wrapped her leg up.

"Guess what I have for my princess," he said excitedly as he passed her a new doll, causing her to jump in excitement and hug him happily.

The memory made Annabel smile as she looked at her father with pain and concern.

She gently wrapped her hands around his. "You always said my happiness is your greatest joy."

Tears slipped down her eyes. "How can I be happy when you are in this state, Dad?" She dropped her head on his hands as she sobbed silently.

A few days had passed when a loud scream woke Annabel up. Her heart pounded with fear over what might have happened. She jolted quickly from her bed, arranging her lingerie and running down the stairs in haste.

"What happened?!" she shouted but was barely heard. Samantha and Caroline screamed in excitement, holding each other's hands as they jumped and laughed.

"Are you sure about this?" Samantha asked excitedly. Caroline found it difficult to speak; she could only nod her head in excitement.

"Yes! Yes! I am very sure about it!" Caroline screamed excitedly. "The Emersons want a marriage alliance with our family."

"The Emersons are the most powerful family in the country; do you know what this means for us? Samantha said before they both released a high-pitched squeal, laughing and jumping. "What's going on?" Annabel asked as she stared at them, both smiling but confused.

"Well," Samantha started, "since you have decided to be useless, Caroline here"-she threw her hand on Caroline's shoulder-"successfully arranged a marriage alliance with the richest and most powerful family in the country.

Samantha said with excitement. "Oh, wow!" Annabel laughed. "That's great news!" Samantha and Caroline's excitement immediately dropped. Caroline leaned forward."

Don't celebrate yet, my dear, because once I marry into the Emerson family, I won't be acknowledging you as my family," she let out a wicked laugh. "You bring bad luck everywhere you go. I don't want you to ruin this new beginning for our family," Samantha hissed before continuing her jubilation with Caroline. "Caroline Emerson-I love it!" Just then, a message beeped on the phone: "We will be arranging the marriage for Annabel Willow.

Caroline immediately paused, her breath hitched as her eyes widened. "WHAT?" She felt sudden chills, taking a few steps back.