The Billion-Dollar Secret

ARYA

The cake I was holding in my hands fell out of them, plopping to the ground, as I opened the door to my boyfriend's bedroom in the middle of the night to find him sleeping with my stepsister.

"Brian," I called out to him, my voice wavering as I teared up at the sight.

"Arya," he said back, both of them pulling away from each other and hiding their nude bodies under the sheets. "What are you doing here?"

"Seriously?" I frowned, not quite sure which one of them to look at in that moment; which person whose betrayal pained me more. "That's your question. What am I doing here? Why are you... oh, my God!"

I turned around and slammed the door as hard as I could as I left the room, walking away.

If I hadn't gone to get a cake to celebrate his birthday in a desperate attempt to be the first person to wish him a happy birthday, I wouldn't have known that my boyfriend was sleeping with my stepsister. I started to wonder if it was better if I didn't have to find out, or if it was for the best that I did.

"Arya, wait! I can explain!" I heard his voice behind me as he ran downstairs, now in a pair of pants but still shirtless.

He grabbed me by the hand to get me to wait, but I pulled away from his grip immediately.

"Why, Brian? Why did you do this to me? And with Rose, of all people?! My stepsister?!" I didn't care that I was raising my voice in that moment. He didn't have any neighbors anyway.

Just then, Rose stepped down the stairs, tugging the zip of her dress up with a neutral expression on her face. I searched for a hint of remorse on her face, but I was slammed with a brick of nothing.

"How long has this been going on?!" I demanded loudly.

"Let's not talk about that right now, Arya. We need to talk," Brian said.

"Talk about something other than this? Brian, I drove all the way over here so we could celebrate your birthday together, I find you with my stepsister, and you can't tell me how long this has been going on? I've been nothing but a fool to you two this whole time, is that it?!"

My eyes caught Rose's gaze, and the mere nonchalance in them was the drop that made my cup of anger overflow.

"Why aren't you saying anything?!" I screamed, lunging for her.

She flinched in alarm and fear, taking huge steps back, but Brian held me back and prevented me from reaching her.

"Why did you go after my boyfriend? You knew how much I loved him! Why did you do this to me, Rose?!"

"Arya, just calm down-"

"Is this how much you hate me?! What do you think my mother and your father are going to think about this?!"

"I guess you'll have to tell them to find out," she replied with a shrug.

I pushed my way out of Brian's arms and made my way for her again when he caught me and struck me across the cheek as he screamed: "Enough, Arya!"

The shock of it had me standing in one spot for the first ten seconds.

"Arya, I didn't mean to-"

My palm connected with his cheek in return, and his eyes widened at the slap I had given in return.

"How dare you?" I challenged. "How dare you think you can cheat on me and slap me right after it?" I glanced at Rose and spoke to her in silence, reminding her that we lived under the same roof and our parents were going to find it.

"Happy fucking birthday, Brian," I turned around and left before they could see the tears in my eyes and realize just how much I was hurt.

I ignored his constant calls for me to stop and that he had something important to tell me. Whatever he had to say, he could swallow the words and possibly choke on them. I didn't want to hear a thing from him.

~~

"Rose has been sleeping with Brian!" I announced when I got into the kitchen to find my mother and my stepfather having their usual late-night sips of red wine. I sniffled, wiping my tears, but that only gave an opening for the new tears to show up.

"Brian? Your ex-boyfriend?" Mom questioned.

"He wasn't my ex until I found them in bed together, Mom. He was my boyfriend. I can't believe this." I shook my head, sitting beside her and pouring myself a glass of wine as I tried hard to come to terms with it. It still felt like a strange dream that haunted me in reality.

"Bad things happen, Arya," was the only reply my mother saw fit to give me in that moment, causing me to whip my head in her direction and frown at her.

"What? That's it?" I questioned.

"I'm saying Brian cheated on you because he's not good for you. There's someone better for you out there. Granted, what he did was horrible, but remember how I always warned you about him?"

I looked at David, my stepfather, expecting him to speak up and say something about it, but he only looked at me as if he agreed with what my mother had just said.

"It's because of Rose, right?" I spoke up, but my voice was barely above a whisper. "You're only reacting this way because he cheated on me with Rose and not just a random lady."

"No, Arya. We just don't think..."

The kitchen went silent as Rose walked into the kitchen and sighed as she sat beside her father, both of us now sitting opposite each other and getting involved in a staring competition. I was the first to look away.

"You've always favored her," I said, not just referring to David – who was her father – but my mother. "Ever since you got married to David, and we moved into their house, you shoved me aside and never cared about me."

"That's not true," Mom protested. "Do not act like a child, Arya."

"She's only your favorite child because she's the heir of all of David's wealth and his business. You want to get on her good side because that's why you married David in the first place – you married him for the money."

"Arya!" Mom and David scolded me at the same time.

That was the first time I ever said something like that to my mother, and a part of me regretted it, but I was telling the truth, and even she knew it.

I stood up and nodded in confirmation – it was pointless talking to them about this. Rose would get everything she had always wanted; just like always; even if it was something that was supposed to be mine. I was always second to everyone, right since birth. There was no point in hoping someone would see me as the first in their life.

I walked into my room and took off my clothes, heading for the shower and breaking down.

How could everyone be so blind? My father had died in an accident, and it didn't take my mother over two weeks to get married to David; she had obviously married him for nothing but his money.

Ever since then, Rose had always had her favor. It was absolutely ridiculous, and I started to wonder if my mother had always been that greedy or she had suddenly developed it after my father died.

Maybe that was the cause of most of their fights before my father died. Was she already cheating on him with David Deville?

It took a long while for me to get the fragments of my heart back together and walk back into my bedroom, where I found my mother standing at the doorway.

"What do you want?" I asked weakly, changing into my pajamas.

"Don't be so difficult, Arya," she started, walking into the room. In seconds, David and Rose walked into the room as well.

"What are you all doing here?" I questioned, alarmed. It reminded me of high school; I would be crowded by my peers who only wanted to hit me and see how much it would hurt me.

"Look, I'm sorry you didn't know about it. We all thought Brian had told you about it and that you were both broken up," Rose explained.

"You didn't ask me if I was okay with it," I pointed, looking at the floor. I had never been confident enough to look at someone whenever I was in the middle of a confrontation. Sometimes my mother would say I was spineless, and it pained me to admit that she was not wrong.

"I didn't think I needed your validation to date whoever I want," Rose responded, her demeanor switching back to nonchalance as she glared at me.

"Look, Arya," Mom started, "Brian was never going to get married to you, I always warned you about what kind of a person he was and what kinds of people he likes instead. He fell in love with Rose, and I don't see why we need to stop something like this. Now that you know, why don't we all accept things the way they are and move on?"

I stared at my mother for a long time, wondering if she really was the one speaking or if they had gotten a stunt double for it.

As if annoyed and exhausted by my inability to comprehend and accept what they were all saying, David cleared his throat with a frown.

"We're doing this for our family, Arya. You would benefit from this union, too, and it would only be selfish for you to ruin something like this," he said, trying to manipulate me.

"They're getting married in two weeks," Mom finally announced what they were all in there to tell me. "Brian is getting married to Rose in two weeks."

ARYA

I looked from my mother to David to Rose, and back to my mother; I was waiting for one of them to double over in laughter at how I had fallen for their prank.

Nobody was laughing. Nobody was calling me stupid and naive for believing a lie as outrageous as that.

"What...? What do you mean Brian and Rose are getting married in two weeks?" I chuckled, fresh tears heating my eyes up as I waited for something; anything; that would hint at this being a large and expensive joke. Perhaps Brian could even pop out of my closet and announce that it was all a joke, and I wouldn't even be angry about it.

"You will attend the wedding with us, and you will congratulate them without causing a scene," Mom informed, drilling the information to me so painfully slow like I was a child with comprehension difficulties, and that triggered me even more.

I wanted to scream on top of my lungs and ask them if they had all gone crazy, but I had neither the courage nor the strength for it.

"This has been going on long enough for you all to plan a wedding coming in the next two weeks? When were you all going to tell me? If I hadn't caught them in bed together, would I have even known until the day of the wedding?" I asked.

"As Rose said, we all thought Brian had told you. This is nobody's fault," David said in a patronizing tone.

"Please, leave. All of you," I commanded quietly.

"Arya-"

"Out!" I raised my voice, watching them file out of the room, save for my mother, who closed the door after Rose and David walked out.

"If everyone else was in on it except for you, I wouldn't have had much of a problem with it, you know," I told her, expressing my hurt.

"Arya, you have to understand our reason for taking this path." She walked up to me, using her thumb to catch my stray tears and wipe them off my face.

"I totally understand. Rose is the heir to David's fortune, so she has to get married to an equally strong heir of another company like Brian so you and David can benefit from it," I deduced.

I looked at my mother as her sorry expression morphed into a frown of annoyance.

"What is so wrong with that, Arya?" she questioned, her hand leaving my face and rendering me cold. "What is so wrong with doing something for the benefit of the entire family?"

"You're doing it at my expense," I reminded her.

"I'm doing this for you. Stop being selfish." It was comical, being called selfish by her, but I chose to leave things the way they were and not address them. I barely had any energy left in me for another fight, especially one with my mother.

"You can go now," I told with a sigh, walking towards the door and opening it.

"If this wedding does not sit well with you, and you're sure about causing a scene, do not attend the wedding," she warned before walking away.

~~

I hadn't talked to my family in two weeks on my own free will. I only gave monotonous replies whenever they asked questions. I had avoided dinner with them all because of what they had all done to me, and I had accepted the dress they had given to me to wear to my dear stepsister's wedding without saying a word about it.

The only place I had been spending hours of my day was in the hospital, where my little brother, James, was fighting for his life.

The one thing I could not avoid, even if I wanted to, was the wedding.

Even if I chose to not attend, I would always have the sickening thought in my head that they were probably kissing on the altar or having their first dance. Maybe if I went, I would have closure.

"Oh, honey! You look amazing," Mom marveled when I got down the stairs and into the living room in the light pink dress she had picked out for me. It was so tight; I could barely move without the constant fear of it ripping.

"I don't feel amazing," I retorted with a frown.

"Don't," she scolded as we waited at the foot of the stairs, waiting for David to bring Rose down with him.

It didn't take a long while before a cloud of white flooded our vision. I raised my brows at the heaviness of the dress, taking it all in as even David struggled to walk by her side.

"You look so beautiful, Rose!" Mom commented, her voice wavering. She used the tissue she has been holding to wipe tears out of the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you," Rose chuckled when they finally got to the bottom of the stairs. She turned to me, and her smile faded. "It's been a while, Arya."

"Let's get this over with," I said, turning and walking towards the door and away from them as fast as the tight dress would let me.

"Remember what I told you, Arya," Mom warned. "It's not too late to turn back and go to your room if you believe you're going to cause a scene. Nobody will fault you for not attending."

Without giving a reply, I got into the car and remained quiet for the rest of the ride to the venue.

~~

"Do you, Rose Deville, take Brian Baxter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and respect him for all eternity, till death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you, Brian Baxter, take Rose Deville..."

My head went blank as I stared into space, almost as if I was staring through the officiator. I couldn't bear to be mindfully present in an event like that. If I tried to focus on the unbelievable thing that was happening, I would probably find myself crying and causing a scene, and that was the last thing anyone wanted, not even me.

By the time my eyes came back into focus, they had just kissed, and everyone around me was cheering for this new union.

They looked happy. They looked perfect for each other. I was being spoon-fed my own bad luck and forced to chew it down, swallow it, and get over it.

By the time we got to the reception, my mother refused to leave my side.

"Don't look so down. There are cameras everywhere," Mom told me. "Besides, we need to talk."

"About what?" I questioned.

"Rose was supposed to be married to someone else, and I know that. In fact, I'm sorry all of this happened. You don't know how sorry I am that we did this to you, but I'm also grateful that you're mature enough to take it like this." She took my hand in hers.

"To make up for it, I've set up your own wedding to the man who was supposed to be married to Rose!"

"No." I shook my head, about to protest when she blurted the one thing I never thought I would hear her say.

"You killed your father and put your brother in that condition, don't you remember?"

ARYA

I withdrew my hands from my mother's hold, frowning in nothing but disgust and shock.

"Arya," she called out in a warning tone. "Do not cause a scene."

Even I didn't want to cause a scene, so I turned around and walked out of the reception hall.

"Arya!" Mom called out to me, catching up to me and holding my hand again. "Please don't do this to me. He's a good man. His name is Jaxon, and he's in the reception hall now. If you could just-"

"Forget the man for a second." I waved her suggestion aside. "Let's talk about how you just called me a murderer. You just... Oh, my God! Mom, you should know just how much guilt I have dealt with over this. I can't believe you're trying to manipulate me."

"That's not what this is at all-"

"It's exactly what it is! First, you all plan this whole wedding without telling me, and I still don't believe it's real even after witnessing it, and now you're trying to sell me off as Rose's replacement by going as far as telling me that I killed my own father?"

"They got into that accident because you wanted them to come pick you up, remember?" She squeezed my hands, and tears started to blur my vision of her.

"What's going on here? I've been looking everywhere for you, Ciara," David said as he saw us, snaking his arms around my mother's waist and kissing her on the cheek.

"She doesn't want to get married to Jaxon. I'm so tired, David," Mom expressed in an exhausted manner, sounding just as if I was a child refusing to have her meal or something way more trivial than me refusing to get married to someone, almost as if she had not blatantly accused me of being the reason for my father's death and my brother being on life support.

"Jaxon is a good man, Arya," David said.

"How come Rose didn't marry him as planned, then?" I crossed my arms.

"It's the business world," David lectured. "Most of these marriages are done for the sake of business, you know. Jaxon was the perfect match until he wasn't. His father went bankrupt and-"

"And that's it," I laughed without an ounce of mirth. "That's where it all lies, isn't it? Money. All of this is just-"

"Arya, that's enough!" Mom raised her voice, turning to David and signaling for him to give us some privacy. "Even a child wouldn't be as difficult as you're being right now. What is wrong with you?!"

"What is wrong with me?" I pointed to my chest. The real question was what was wrong with them. How could they have gone so far in their greed that they didn't see anything wrong with what they were doing.

"All of this – everything – that I have been doing, I have been doing for you and your brother. Do you think it's easy for David to pay James's medical bills all by himself? This family will do everything for you, including sorting out your brother's bills. Isn't that something you should be thinking about? You should know I would never drag you into something like this if it weren't for your own good. All I ask of you is to get to know him by going on one date. He's already accepted. After that, you can make your decision."

I stopped to ponder for a hot minute. I didn't care much for my mother and the Devilles, but if this Jaxon and his family were willing to keep my brother alive, I immediately saw no harm in trying. My brother was the only one left for me to nurture and protect at all costs, and getting married to a stranger was not too far.

With a defeated sigh and to the excitement of my mother, I nodded. "I'll see where this date takes me."

~~

I hadn't met a lot of arrogant people in my life, but I knew when to identity an arrogant person when I encountered one and had a conversation with them.

Jaxon Pierce was as arrogant as they came.

The only forms of politeness he had been oh-so-kind enough to offer were arriving not too late for the date and apologizing for wasting my time.

I had lost count of how many times he checked his wristwatch, a sign that he could be somewhere else now and probably wanted to be there.

I wondered if he knew that I wasn't wanted to be there as much as he also didn't, but I didn't spend every five minutes looking at the time.

"So, why exactly is your family willing to give you as some form of peace offering for withdrawing your sister?" He questioned.

"Stepsister," I corrected as I looked at the plate in front of me, "and I am not your peace offering."

"Alright, then." He leaned against his chair, looking at me with raised brows. "Why did you decide to give this a shot?"

"I guess you could say I'm only trying to look out for my brother and save his life. I cannot afford to lose him. I'd rather be somewhere else right now," I replied, and as soon as I said those words, I regretted them immediately. It had slipped my mind that the marriage was something both of us had to agree to, not just me, and I needed to get my brother's medical bills cleared.

Jaxon raised his brows at me as if in doubt of my words. Then, he cleared his throat.

"That's the first time someone has ever said something like that to me on a date. Not even your stepsister was this eager for the date to be over."

I could imagine.

I also couldn't tell if Jaxon was surprised at the fact that he wasn't as much of a big shot as he thought he was, or if he was annoyed at me.

"You do know my father went bankrupt, right?" He questioned me out of the blue.

"I heard." I nodded.

"And you're still here?" He frowned, suspicion clouding his eyes.

"I have a brother whose life I need to preserve, and I heard that you and your family are willing to pay his medical bills and expenses," I finally admitted the real reason why I was there, and he leaned against the table, staring at me.

"You're a strange one," he commented, and I watched his eyes go towards his wristwatch.

"You know, you can always leave and call it a date if you have somewhere to go. I don't want to be the person keeping you here against your will."

"I have to eat first, at least." He gestured at the plate containing the food he had ordered earlier. "I also have a lot of places to be right now, and this isn't one of them. It was nice sitting here and talking about mundane things, but that's it. I would like you to know that this is not going to be a regular thing; not even after marriage. You're only here because David convinced me. He and I made a deal on Rose, but she made her own choice, and I now have to work with what I have.

Right then and there, I made up my mind – I was not going to marry this man.

My phone vibrated, and I picked it up after looking at the caller ID and seeing that it was my mother on the other side.

Before I could even say a word after picking up the phone, I heard my mother's frantic voice.

"Your brother is dead, Arya!"