His Independent Baby Girl

This young lady has a lot to say to her mother. She isn't willing to join them for the introductory dinner tonight. She can't be in an arranged marriage. She just can't digest the fact that her parents are the ones instigating this whole scheme.

The door opens and Mrs Valerie Summers steps into the room with a tray. On it sits a glass water vase and a cup. Her smile fades on seeing Adrien seated at her dresser, not at all ready for dinner. Valerie is about to say something when Adrien cuts in.

"Mum! Please don't let this happen. I barely know this man. I can't believe you and Dad are making me marry for business gains. Most marriages that begin this way end up badly. I ran into his sister at the mall the other day and she wasn't nice at all. How will I keep up with a family of snobs!"

"Adrien!"

Mrs. Summers flings the glass vase onto the wall. The young girl uses her hands to cover her ears as the glass vase shatters loudly. She looks up at her mother who towers over her with a glare and accusing fingers pointing at her.

"Now, shut your mouth and listen to me, girl. Our family's business is crumbling. Your father has tried all he can but with his current state of health, he can't keep up as well as before. We're at the brink of poverty and I'm sure you wouldn't want to see what poverty is like. You won't be able to handle it. The Alphonso family is good and they have the resources to help our family business from crumbling. Their first son, Theophilus, is a nice man, marry him and all our problems are solved. Since you both are heirs to both families' businesses, we can merge them and grow together. The future of this family is in your hands. We have done enough for you for the past twenty-two years. You have lived a luxurious life. All we're asking is that you get married to Theophilus Alphonso. I'm sure we aren't demanding much, so stop being selfish!"

Valerie sucks in a beep breath to relax herself before continuing.

"I give you five minutes. Finish up and meet us outside. And make sure you wear those heels I got you the other day. They make you a bit more sexy and you want to make a good first impression on your groom."

Valerie Summers's tone held no emotion but she meant every word she said. With that, she leaves the room and slams the door loudly behind her. A teardrop rolls down Adrien's face and she breaks down in sobs. How did they get to this level? Her family has never been so low. They have been rich right from time and now they want to sell her off to a family that just came into the limelight only ten years ago. No one cared about the Alphonsos before now. They might have just been another impoverished family before garnering wealth and societal appraisal. She cleans the tears off her face and stares into the mirror. Her make-up is a bit ruined, but who cares?

She gets dressed and is about to leave the room when she remembers the broken pieces of glass on the floor. She wants to pick them up but she rushes out of the room instead, not wanting to waste any more of her mother's time.

She meets her father downstairs and her mother is in the living room. They both smile at her as she walks down the stairs.

"My beautiful baby girl. I can see you're really happy to meet your to-be husband," says Mr Summers.

Adrien smiles and walks into his embrace. He doesn't know about the pain she's hiding deep down in her heart. Her mother wants it that way. Besides, marrying Theophilus Alphonso is the only way she can help the family. If her father knows about her disapproval it would only cause him more pain. He isn't fit for such problems and that's why Adrien has decided to keep shut and go along with the plan.

"We should start going so we won't be late. You know we want to make a good first impression," Valerie says from the living room.

Adrien moves away from her father. He still has a smile on as he takes her hand in his and leads her out of the house into the car.

Adrien tightens her grip on her purse as they drive through the gates of the highly luxurious and fancy house the Alphonsos live in. Her father places his hand on hers reassuringly.

"It's going to be fine," he says.

Adrien nods and glances at her mother who only glares at her.

They drive into the car park and come out of the car. No one is in the compound except the security man who directs them to the car park.

"They won't even come out to welcome us," Adrian says to his wife and daughter.

The security man leads them into the house. He hands them over to the housemaid and leaves immediately.

"Good evening sir, good evening ma'am, and a good evening to you, miss. The Alphonsos are aware of your arrival and will be with you shortly. In the meantime, you can entertain yourself with the beautiful artwork in the guest lounge. Please come with me, it's this way."

They quietly follow the middle-aged woman to the guest lounge and she leaves them.

After staying for more than five minutes without anyone attending to them, Adrian starts to complain.

"How long do they expect us to wait? I can't be treated like this just because I want my daughter to marry into their family."

"Darling, be patient, they will soon be here," Valerie tries to calm her already annoyed husband.

"Keeping us like this shows they have no regard for us. That's unacceptable."

Adrien gives her mother an 'I told you so', look.

"If they don't change this attitude we might just call off this wedding."

Valerie sits up in her chair immediately. "No, no, don't be too quick to judge. Maybe they have something really important to do."

"And we don't?" Adrian snaps at his wife."This isn't the first time they're doing this."

Valerie sighs and relaxes back in her chair.

Adrien continues to walk from one painting on the wall to the other, trying desperately to distract herself from her worries. It is her first time visiting the Alphonsos and if what her father says about them is true, she has a lot on her plate. She can deal with a snobbish sister-in-law, but if the parents are truly snobbish, then she's in for a lot.

"Do you care for some biscuits?"

Adrien turns around sharply and moves towards the maid who has a huge smile on her face. She takes the plate of biscuits and cookies from the maid and thanks her politely. Finally! She has something more distracting than the paintings on the wall.

She tries not to eat in a hurry so her father won't sense her uneasiness. He always detects when she binge eats out of worry.

Everything is going fine until she spots the Alphonsos coming in their direction and she begins to stuff her face with the cookies. Her mother scolds her for her gluttony and she accidentally drops the plate on the floor in fright. Her act earns her a glare from her parents. She bends down to pick up the broken pieces of the plate. Her heels make her unstable and she falls, bumping her head on the table.

"Argh!" She groans and places a hand on her forehead. She stands up to meet five pairs of eyes on her.

Her father has a look of concern while her mother has a look of disappointment as expected. Mr. and Mrs. Alphonso have a look of disapproval but their expressions aren't the ones which bother Adrien.

She looks up at Theophilus Alphonso, her future husband and he looks back at her in amusement. His look has the most effect on her and at that moment, she confirms her hatred for him. How rude of him to find her pain and embarrassment amusing. She has always wondered how she would feel about meeting with the man her parents believe is a good match for her. Now she knows, it's hatred at first sight.

Boy! How stuffy it is to sit at a table with your parents on one side, stylishly trying to sell you off, and the buyers on the other side, not so stylishly sizing you up. For the past fifteen minutes, Adrien and her parents have been trying to validate themselves under the judgemental stares of the Alphonsos who do not even bother to apologize for their delay.

"So tell me, Adrien, what does a beautiful girl like you do for a living?"

Adrien is just about to answer when Theo cuts in again. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to do anything too strong for a soft girl like you."

Adrien drops her fork on her plate and cocks her head at him. His statement feels like a harmless comment and an insult at the same time. "I'm a social media influencer."

"And what's that?" Theo asks, feigning ignorance. Adrien is one hundred percent sure he knows who a social media influencer is. He is just trying to make her look ridiculous so she decides to play him at his own game.

She picks up her fork again and continues to stab at her vegetables. "I'm sure someone as knowledgeable as you are would know who a social media influencer is. Except you don't follow trends and are not up to date."

"Well, I follow a lot of trends but indulge us. We would like to know about this trend."

Adrien laughs uneasily. "I expect you to be a versatile man from the many wonderful things I've heard about you, but it turns out you're just like anyone else."

"I hope it's not something common with you to be so delusional about people. If that's the case you must frequently mislead yourself. Anyway, it's good you're clear on the image you have of me. In my case, I'm not so unrealistic in how I think of people. Evidence of this fact is seeing how you turn out to be just as I predicted." The boastful lad turns to his mother and asks, "Isn't she, mother?"

"Oh yes, she is," Mrs Natalia replies.

Adrien cannot believe what just played out before her. She suddenly loses her interest in talking.

"So tell us about your trend, Adrien, what exactly do influencers do?" Natalia asks. She seems interested in Adrien's work or on the downside she just enjoys making jest of her.

"We help in promoting people's business by sharing them on our social media platforms which have a lot of followers."

"How many followers do you have?" Asks Mr Erikson.

"I currently have thirty-seven thousand," Adrien lies. If she tells them the real amount of followers she has, they will look down on her.

"What's your social media handle?" Theo asks and Adrien turns to him with a frown. She senses some sort of ulterior motive behind his question.

She returns his steady gaze with her fiery glare. She thinks of not replying to him but that will only make everyone suspicious of her. She decides to give him a fake name.

"Bethsheba summers," Adrien replies, then continues with her food. That's her sister's name, Bethsheba Summers. But the Alphonsos won't know since they can't check it right away. And her parents won't call her out on her lies except if they want the wonderful evening to become more unbearable than it already is.

Theo's fork makes a loud clink on his plate as he drops it. Adrien looks up at him as he reaches into his pocket and brings out his phone.

Adrien feels her heart sinking in her chest. She opens her mouth in shock.

"Theophilus," Natalia calls, dragging all the attention to herself. "You're not supposed to operate your phone while eating. Put it away, please."

All eyes are on Theophilus now. "Okay, Mother," he says and puts the phone back into his pocket.

"Thank you," his mother says to him.

A victorious smirk spreads across Adrien's lips as she continues to look at Theo. Theo catches her gaze and smiles at her mockingly.

Valerie takes her cue and makes the most out of the moment as she says, "Look how cute they are, smiling at each other." Her words make Adrien cringe inwardly. She and Thoe turn to look at Valerie. She had misinterpreted what was going on between them.

Before they can say anything in protest, Valerie cuts in. "Why don't we give Theo and Adrien some time alone? My husband and I have something to discuss with you, Mr and Mrs Alphonso. I suggest that we move to the living room since we're done eating."

The table is quiet and all eyes are on Mrs Valerie. She nudges her husband slightly and he speaks up.

"Yes, we have something important to discuss with you and it's getting late already," he says and checks his wristwatch.

"Okay, then. Let's meet in the living room," Mr Erikson agrees.

They all stand up and begin to leave the room.

Adrian leans closer to his daughter and whispers in her ear, "Be nice."

Adrien nods in reply. Her mother comes next and whispers, "Be naughty." To this, Adrien scrunches up her face in annoyance.

As soon as the parents are out of sight, Theo breaks in with the first question. "Why did you lie?"

"I don't have to give you an answer," Adrien snaps, "you should be smart enough to know why."

Theo relaxes back in his chair and studies her for some seconds. "You truly don't have much to brag about."

Adrien looks straight at him. "My ego isn't half as inflamed as yours, so don't worry I'm content."

"I want to believe I'm not getting married to some sort of proud, puffed-up spoilt daddy's girl."

Adrien smiles at his statement. "You are right about me being a daddy's girl. But for the pride and rotten behaviour, well let's just say your influence is so much that it's rubbing off on me on our very first meeting."

"I have a reputation to keep. My family has a standard that I would want to carry on and even make better. I can't do that with an impudent girl who is clumsy, dishonest, and highly dependent on her parents. I just can't."

Theo's words leave Adrien dumbfounded.

"In the agreement between our two families, you're meant to be the reward. But I fear that you're not as resourceful as we think."

Adrien looks away from Theo as tears threaten to drop from her eyes. Theo's words hurt her deeply and she doesn't like the fact that he sees her and her family that way. It's so humiliating.

"Your family depends on my family for business growth. Now it seems you'd be another burden placed on us."

"Enough!" Adrien shouts, slamming her hands on the table as she stands up from her chair. "My family and I are not so desperate. We will not do anything with you disrespectful and snobbish people. I do not even desire to marry you. I will put an end to this. The highly dependent daddy's girl will put an end to this."

"Then you better be fast. The wedding date will soon be fixed and I'm sure your parents will want it anytime soon. My parents' schedules are tight, there's only one free time in their schedule for the next six months."

"And when is that?"

"October."

October is just two months from now. Adrien suddenly feels tension building up in her. A wave of doubt floods her and her breathing suddenly becomes shallow. She looks over at Theo. He seems calm and composed. Out of annoyance she turns and leaves the dining, away from the one whose presence alone chokes her.

Restrategize, yes, that's what she needs to do. She will make up a new plan that would save her from having to deal with the Alphonsos. But how?

Theo is right. She lacks the resources to grow her family's business. No, she can do this. She is highly capable. Theo is wrong.

"How was the talk with Theo?" Adrian asks his daughter. Ever since they got into the car she has been silent.

"It went well," Adrien replies with a smile.

"What did you guys talk about?" Valerie asks and Adrian tries not to glare at her.

"It's private."

"Nonsense! What's there in your discussion to keep a secret? I'm your mother you have to tell me."

"And they are lovers," Adrian tells his wife, "you need to give them some space."

Valerie raises her eyebrows at her husband. "Fine. But I hope you guys are bonding well. Tell me, what do you think of him?"

Adrien sighs. "I think he's handsome, intelligent, composed, has a way with words and quite nice."

Her tone has every hint of sarcasm but her parents just want to believe the illusion that she and Theo are in love. She sighs and looks out the window of the car as they drive home.

When she is in the privacy of her room, she plops down on her bed and begins to remove these torturous heels. She rubs one foot after the other in relief.

"I can't believe I have to go through so much stress for that messed up family," she mutters.

There's one thing she knows for sure, she's not attending any more family dinners at the Alphonsos'. Theo is such a brute! Of course, she's not a highly dependent lady. She is a strong woman capable of carrying out her own business.

Theo's tone held a bit of spite but he sounded sincere. It's demeaning that he sees her in such a manner. She has promised him, nonetheless. She's going to find a way to stop the wedding.

"Mum has a big temper," she says to herself, "how can I call off the engagement without her throwing a tantrum? I need to be very careful so my plans don't fall through."

"Adrien?"

Bathsheba barges into the room, startling Adrien.

"Bethsheba! I've told you to always knock before entering my room!"

"You weren't answering my knocks so I just came in," Bethsheba says in defence. She walks straight to Adrien's bed and sits on it.

Bethsheba is Adrien's only sister. She's the second child of the family and is nineteen years old.

"What do you want, Beth?"

"What? Can't I just stay in my sister's room?"

"No, you can't. Besides, you only come here when you need something."

"Sometimes I come here to discuss with you. You know, to have some sisterly time." She playfully reaches for Adrien's nose with her forefinger. Adrian slaps her hand away.

"You mean, seek advice when you have a major problem. Which are mostly boy problems."

"That's not true!"

Adrien glares at Beth who is now lying down on her bed with her feet touching the pillows. Adrien pushes her leg away and lies down. Beth laughs and sits up to face Adrien.

"Someone followed me on Instagram and liked all my posts. He commented on one of my pictures, see."

Beth passes her phone to Adrien who reads the comment out loud.

"You look so much like your sister, I wonder if you guys are the same person."

Adrien checks the name of the person who wrote the comment. It's no other than Theophilus Alphonso.

Adrien passes the phone back to her sister. Theo's comment doesn't faze her one bit. But Beth seems very concerned about Adrien's betrothed and his strange comment on her photo.

"You gave him my Instagram handle in place of yours, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You crook!" Beth laughs, "I think he knows."

"Yes, he does."

"What? He didn't get mad or anything?"

"He did. We argued."

"You don't sound like you care."

"Do I?" Adrien laughs. "I wish I could just end all of this. I can't get married to Theo."

Beth's expression suddenly changes to that of worry. "I'm sorry you have to pass through this, Adri, but mum is adamant. She says this wedding must hold."

"I just have to manage her, then, because I'm adamant too. I hate them."

Beth becomes quiet with thought.

"What is it?" Adrien asks her.

"I'm just thinking of how we can handle all of this."

"Don't get worked up, Betty, I'll find a way, I must. Theo has already shown me signs of how abusive and manipulative he is. I can't imagine a happy life as his wife. He's rich, yes, but it's not all about the money."

"Our family situation is so messed up. Mum and Dad were talking about our unsettled bills the other day. We might have to sell off some of our stuff soon."

Adrien looks away from her sister. She hisses and slaps her hand on the bed. "I've told Mum countless times, we need to move to another house with lesser bills. If we sell this house it would help in settling a lot of our bills," Adrien says in anger.

She reduces her tone as she notices its effect on her sister who suddenly looks more depressed than before.

"Mum only cares about what people say or think. She can't live in a smaller house because the people would talk. She continues to live a billionaire's life when she's facing a financial crisis. I wonder how long she can keep up with this fake life?"

"Until we're dead broke," Beth says and looks up at Adrien.

They both laugh.

"This isn't funny," Adrien says.

"No it's not," replies Beth and they remain silent for some seconds before Beth speaks again. "So what do you plan on doing?"

"I want to call off the marriage. But to do that, I need to prove to Mum and Dad that we don't need the marriage anymore. And you know why the marriage came up in the first place."

Beth sighs. "It's so frustrating to think that the Alphonsos own the biggest media and advertising company in the country. They weren't this famous before. We used to be wealthier than them."

"I know right? And their services are so expensive, we can't afford them now."

"What if you lure Theo into doing you a favour."

"He hates me. Besides, how do you expect I lure him?"

"You seduce him."

Adrien eyes her sister. "Typical of Bethsheba summers to lure men with her beauty into doing her bidding."

Beth laughs lightly.

"A woman has so much to offer than her beauty, keep that in mind."

"Okay, what if you sell our house?"

"Beth! I can't do that."

"Says, who?"

Adrien raises an eyebrow at her sister.

"Remember when Dad said you can claim some of the family's properties when you get married to Theo?"

"Oh... But I have to get married to him first."

"Well, you can have a fake wedding."

Adrien laughs. "Fake wedding? No way."

"Come on, it would be fun to plan," Beth urges.

"You know who we're dealing with right? It's Theo Alphonso. I would rather stick my head in a gutter than plan anything with him."

"Jeez, I didn't know you hated him so much."

"Now you know, so steer off anything that has to include him in our plans."

"But Adrien, if we can't tell mum and dad about the plans we have. They would not have it."

"Dad would."

"But mum has a great influence on him."

Adrien groans in frustration.

"Okay, I'll have a fake wedding with Theo. It'll be hard to fool Mum and Dad though. I'll talk to Theo about it. Hopefully, he agrees."

"And please talk to him in person so you can ensure your secret is safe."

Adrien feels like she's about to cry. "Theo would mock me."

"Well, you don't have a choice."

Adrien glares at Beth who merely shrugs at her.

"So we would have the fake wedding and when I get a claim to the properties, I will sell this house and we would move to the hotel."

"That's the plan!" Beth exclaims, smiling, but her expression changes suddenly. "Wait, what? I can't live in the hotel there's no room for privacy."

"Well, the hotel is quite big and we can stay there on a low key. No one would know," Adrien says convincingly but Beth can see through her bluff.

"So, you're up to make the first move. Call Theo and tell him to meet you up in a secured location where none of his friends or associates would see you guys."

"Wait, right now? Don't you think it's late to make such a call?"

"It's never too late to speak to your boyfriend."