The Contracted Alliance; Accidental marriage

LEENA'S POV

It had been three years together. Growing up as childhood friends, Zack and I had always had our lives planned out. We had been supportive of each other all through High school days. We were the inseparable Bonnie and Clyde. Yet, we had never once considered dating each other . Not until three years ago when he returned from the UK and both our families decided to take things to another level. That was when he changed, that was when he developed a sudden hatred for me. And I had no idea why that was. My mother had died when I was eight years old, and my father remarried four years after that. I could not blame him for deciding to do so. He had waited for a long time before giving love a second chance. His choice was not the best, Because she walked in with her daughter and they both despised me greatly. A part of me believed that she could not wait to send me out of my father's house. Zack and I had just gotten engage two weeks ago when I returned from a business trip. I thought about his deep, dark, hazel eyes, small lips, and tall, hard frame. I had always taken responsibility for him everytime when we were in school. He was extremely handsome, yet, I could not bring myself to love him beyond friendship. It was hard, but all my life, I had only ever done what my family required of me. What they had decided for me. I walked towards my mirror, dressed in a pink suit and matching jewelries, my hair was packed up elegantly, remitting an air of grace and poise. Anyone would think I lived in a palace. I put on my favorite beaded head band. Today was our court marriage. Zack's family ran an oil company which wanted to divert into raw materials trade. Our Company was involved in the refining of raw materials like crude oil and other resources for factories as well as other businesses. The oil business was good, but they wanted to expand, and Father thought it would be a great idea to link up with them. That was when the idea to get married came up. The idea to set up a relationship between Zack and I surfaced. I straightened out the lines on my dress. The Managing Director of Eastwoods Refinery, I had alot to stand for. I walked down the stairs to the living room where I was certain Zack would be waiting for me. They did not hear me walk down the stairs, because I was certain that if they had, they would not have been sitting so close to each other. Kara, my step sister, had always her eyes on the things that belonged to me, and so, when I saw her siting on his laps. That was the first mistake and I should have known better than to pretend I was strong, pretend I did not see what I had seen. I quietly walked down the stairs and as soon as my heels hit the last step, Kara jumped off him and adjusted her clothes. I watched her with cold eyes, unmoving, unaffected. I knew why this marriage was important to us, and I was not going to jeopardize it for anything else. Zack threw on a smile that was pretentious. A clout chasing, ass kissing kind of smile. I looked down at his trouser, ha! He had a boner. He liked it! He liked her! Yet, he had proposed to me. He had said that he loved me and getting married to me was the most important thing to him in the world. I had felt almost breathless, like the air in my lungs were being threatened. I knew he was lying, because the menace in his eyes had betrayed him. I steeled myself for the journey ahead. I knew there was no backing out now. I did not expect a man like Zack to love me. A man whose only concern was for the things beneath the skirts of a woman. Sometimes I wondered how I had called him my childhood friend. "Hey baby." He said, walking up to me and grabbing my wrist. He kissed me lightly on my cheeks, and I could smell the appalling fragrance of her perfume all over him, even on his breath. I turned away from him, hurt by his outward betrayal. I cared about him, perhaps too much. I did not demand anything from him but that he respected me. He respected our friendship and kept to the agreement we had. "She is my step sister, Zack." I whispered to him. His eyes shot at me. His dark hazel eyes accused me of being the less better person. "What does that have to do with anything?" He growled in a deep, husky voice. I knew he did not care. If there was one person in the world whom the statement, "I don't give a shit" was made for, it was Zack. He gave little shit for anything anyone thought, not his parents, not his family, and surprisingly, not even me. His grip tightened like a vice on my wrist. I twisted my arm slowly but it only became tighter. His eyes darkened even further as I struggled to set my wrist free from his bruising grip. How did we end up here? When har I become the enemy? How and when was my reluctance to go ahead with the marriage mistaken for a sole desire to strip him of his freedom? We had never even dated, and I had never even taken the time to see him as anything more than the handsome Billionaire friend that he was. Yet, my hand trembled now that I stared in his eyes, my stomach hurt at the hate I saw reflected in them. Beads of anger and storms brewed at the same time, stewing a venom that was going to poison me for the rest of our relationship. Why? Why did he hate me? I wanted to ask, but the words turned sour on my tongue as soon as I tried to speak. "Do not forget that this is only an agreement. A deal crafted by our families to suit their business thirsts. You and I are nothing but a contract. Don't overstep your boundary by questioning me again!"

LEENA'S POV

I struggled in his grip until I could not take it any longer. I had to scream. "Let me go, Zack! Jeez!" I said aloud. I saw Kara's eyes glint with amusement. I looked into his eyes with a look of horror, and a smirk flashed across his lips. He was satisfied with the idea of making my life miserable. "Are you ready darling?" He asked me coldly. I felt shivers run through my body as he spoke, yet, I was not going to let him have the last laugh. If he wanted to be less than a human being to me, I was going to show him how animals behaved. I straightened up and smoothened my hair back with my palm. My wrist hurt terribly where he had gripped me. I turned to find Kara smiling but when she discovered my eyes were on her, she immediately feigned innocence, and pretended she was not exhilarated by what was happening to me. Without a second glance at Zack, I picked up my purse and headed for the door. My Father and the rest had already gone ahead of us to the court venue. I was not going to let Zack put me on the spot. The drive to the court was a tension filled, quiet one. He refused to let me ride in my car, and forced me into his. It was disgusting sitting beside him. I could not stand him, yet, a part of me also refused to hate him. We walked into the court room together, holding hands forcibly, and pretending to be the perfect couple. "Don't you two look really beautiful?" Zack's mother, Mrs Ellie Stanford said to us. She was an angel in human form. A bit too naive, but an angel nonetheless. I smiled back at her, wishing she could see how horrible her son really was and not the other way around. "You both look really beautiful. I haven't seen a couple more suited for the other." She said with a smile on her face. "Thank you Mrs Stanford." I replied to her, laughing nervously. "Leena!" Father called to me abruptly. I knew that tone, and I was not ready to find out what was wrong. He grabbed me by my hand gently, and pulled me aside. Lily, my step mother sat on one of the court benches in a distance, unconcerned by whatever was taking place before her. If it were up to her, she would have her own daughter in my place instead, and frankly, I did not mind. Father was dressed in an off white suit which sat cooly on him. He was a tall man, strongly framed and was not very tolerant, yet, when it came down to the family's business, he was just as weak. "My daughter. Are you okay?" He asked searching my face for answers, before my words would bring forth its lies. "Yes, Father, I am very fine. How are you?" I asked him in return. Apparently, he knew better than I did when something was completely wrong. He knew I did not want this marriage, but he also believed that Zack was still the same angel like friend he was to me when we were much younger. "You don't have to do this, you know that, right?" My father said boldly. But I knew otherwise. If I did not do it, it would break his heart. It would ruin us forever. He, just like Zack's parents thought we would both be extremely suitable for each other. But that was just a lie. That was a tale fabricated by them to ensure that the images they had confined within their thoughts about our lives became their reality. I was tired up, threatening to scream, "what about us?!! What about me!! I am tired!!" But.the words never came. I sat beside the man I was beginning to despise beyond life, like a lamb led to the slaughter. I watched the documents being presented before us, and I picked up the pen which had been laid down before me. Zack had already signed the documents without thought. He zapped his hands across the paper roughly as if it did not matter to him if he tore the said document with his signature or not. He was not even happy about it, then why was he going ahead with the wedding? Why was he putting me in a tight spot? A place like this where no woman was supposed to be in. They had come to us with the proposal. His parents had made the suggestion, pulled the preparations and set us up for this marriage that we both did not want to be a part of! So why was he forcing it?? Why did he hate me for a path that he personally chose for the both of us??? What was my offense??! I held my finger suspended over the paper for over a minute. Everyone paused, and waited for me to sign the documents. What was I going to do about this now? If I signed it then that was it, he and I were married, and it would take another type of this process to get both of us out of this agreement. I turned with teary eyes to look at him, hesitant to the power of my own Will. Or perhaps the lack of it. I had no will anymore, and this was the path I had to tow in order to save my family's company from going bankrupt. I turned to look at my Father and I saw he had a stern look strained across his face. I feigned a smile and nodded at him. He did not believe me, but he nodded in return. With a heavy heart which tugged at my soul, threatening to wrench it from my body, I turned back to the table. I put the pen to paper, and with tears in my eyes, I drew my signature over the document. I held my head high and refused to let the tears which had surrounded my eye lids drop. No one could know that I was suffering emotionally. No one could find out that Zack and I were not the perfect, happy couple we were expected to be. No one.

ZACK'S POV

What had come over me? Why had I even decided to go through with this crazy marriage plan? I paced round the room the morning of our wedding. My parents were Catholics, and they demanded that we have a real, church wedding ceremony. Something I had urged against. It was enough that we got married legally, we did not have to spend so much money on an actual wedding. I lit a shisha pen and puffed out a cloud of smoke. I had been staring out the window for a really long time. There were some really beautiful young ladies walking in and out of our front yard. I admired them all. A smile played on my lips as I took in the generosity of their exposed skins and cleavages. Then, I saw her! And my mood immediately went sour. How and when I had come to detest the sight of her, and even the thought of her, I had no idea. This whole marriage was a sham! She was just trying to pull me along for money! Yet, she did not even have the guts to admit it! She was just a sad gold digger! But that was not even the problem! She did not care about me at all. She should have refused this marriage but she didn't! I knew that this was all just a business proposition between our families, but she had gone and played along with it, instead of holding on to her dignity. I angrily tossed the shisha pen aside and grabbed the suit jacket which hung on the back of a chair and walked out of the room. In a matter of minutes, I met her downstairs. She was busy barking orders at the decorators. She stood in her dressing robe, unashamed about her clothes and hair. I wanted to despise her guts, but how did you hate a woman who managed to look so damn beautiful with just her robes on and no make up. The car carrying more decorations parked in front of her and she walked over to the trunk and pulled out what I suspected was her wedding dress. It was how calm, casual and collected she was in spite of knowing that she was about to enter into a marriage she would regret for the rest of her life. I lit a real cigarette this time and sucked it in. I waited for her to approach the doorway with her dress before puffing out the cloud of smoke from both my lungs and mouth. The irritation on Leena's face gave me all the satisfaction in the world. She had no idea how much I loathe her for stealing from me. I had everything planned out for the miserable married life she was going to lead, and by the time I was done with her, she was going to beg to get a divorce from me. "What the hell do you think you are doing? Guests will be arriving any minute, do you really want them to see you smoking outside?" She asked me. I clenched my jaw and blew another cloud of smoke in her face. She began to cough, slowly and then seriously. "What... What the hell is wrong with you, Zack?? Put that away! Put that away now!" Karina, my older sister scolded me. "What is the fuss about anyway? It is just a smoke. " I said to her and turned and walked away. I heard Leena still cough as I left. The garden was full to the entrance. I stood on the wedding dias waiting to seal the deal with the evil woman I had once called my friend. The music started and that was the sign that she was about to actually take this step. She walked down the aisle, holding a bouquet of flowers. The white dress she wore was tightly fitted and clung to her body in the most sensuous way. I felt like throwing a feat of rage. I wanted a drink, alcohol, no rocks, just hot, bitter and painful. I thought I had drank enough of it, but I hadn't. I still loathed her. Inspite of the fact that some men would have found her extremely beautiful in that moment, I despised her dearly. Leena stood in front of me, her gaze strained on the ground. I stiffled a sarcastic chuckle. This was a sinister moment for me and I was not going to let her get away with ruining my life. The Priest read out the vows, one which I had not written myself, but had my best man, Fred write out for me. Her vows were equally read out to her. Ha! The useless woman had not even bothered to sound bitter. She just went out to the points, playing the part just like she had planned it. In order to sell out completely. "You are a man of honour, funny and kind... Inspite of everything we have been through together and will be through, I hope that our years of friendship, will keep us strong and I believe that our bond will continue to grow." Leena's words were as callous as the expression on her face, but what did I care! She could fool the world, but she could not fool me. "I now Pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." I lifted up the veil which had covered her face as the crowd shouted, "kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" I looked down at her. Her eyes remained cast down, even though her chin was held up with pride. What arrogance! I leaned towards her and nibbled on her ear lobe. I felt her startle in my hands. "Don't be scared, Leena. You are about to find out what hell really looks like, and I will make sure that I show you every corner of it in this marriage. If I'm not happy, then you won't be either." I whispered to her. As my words hit her ear drums, she froze. I seized that opportunity, and planted a stiff yet intense kiss on her forehead.