Chapter 1: Married
Note: This is a billionaire romance where the FL learns to become stronger and more confident, therefore she may seem weak to begin with.
Also be aware of possible cheating depending on view point, mentioning of s****l abuse, and drug use.
-Megan-
It was not like I walked around imagining my big day. You know the dress, the cake, whether or not I wanted to be married in a church or maybe on a beach, or the party afterwards, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have some sort of an idea of what I would have liked to have happened. I certainly didn’t expect this intimate little dinner with our two powerful families, and me married to a man I didn’t know, and had only seen at parties, in magazines, and whatever headlines he had made.
We had barely even said anything to each other, except when we had said our vows, and while I had seen my day with joy and a wonderful and sweet kiss, that spoke of nothing of love, I hadn’t been able to stop myself from turning my head, so he kissed my cheek instead. Not like that, I had thought, and then we had left. Our families clapping and acting like this was some wonderful thing that had just happened.
It wasn’t.
I had no choice in the matter, and I wasn’t saying that Nathan, the grandson of a very powerful businessman, had. No, he had been dragged into this thing too. The way he made sure we had enough distance between our seats told me that, and the way he wasn’t even listening to his grandfather's speech, where he spoke of the wonders of being married and the hardships. He was actually giving some good advice, but Nathan was listening to none of it, and instead was on his phone.
His phone!
I mean, I didn’t dream of a fairytale wedding. I didn’t have a whole plan in my head, and it was not like I had a say in anything here anyway, but I would have liked to at least have said my vows to a man I actually loved… and knew. Our families might be friends, but Nathan and I had never before spoken to each other. I liked to stay in the background and Nathan had been gone from the usual parties for quite a few years. No one spoke of why, but I knew he had lived a lifestyle that wasn’t approved of. Now it seemed like he was ready to come back, or maybe it was his grandfather, who just didn’t want another black sheep in his family.
While Nathan’s brother was there too, and his wife, and his mother as well, his father wasn’t. While no one spoke of why, we all knew he was in jail for embezzlement. Quite the scandal, and it was only now after three years of his grandfather cleaning the mess up, finally not all over the internet, but who was I to judge? Not that I did. We all had our black sheep. Mine was my older sister. There were three years between us, and it was actually planned that she was going to get married to Nathan, but she went and f*cked that up, when she was sent to rehab after an overdose on coke.
Yeah … so here I was.
Our family’s last hope, since my father and my mother only had two kids, but it also meant there were a few good years between us. I had only just turned twenty-two, and Nathan was turning twenty-eight in a month.
I glanced over at him for the … I was not sure how many times I had glanced over at him. Nathan really was quite handsome to look at, not that he would ever have been my choice if I could have chosen who I wanted to marry. He had this dark blond hair, and a sharp jawline and nose that was so clear to me when I was looking at him from the side. He was wearing a nice black suit too, and I let my eyes run down to his big hands that easily held his phone between them. I quickly looked away, though, when a very naked woman suddenly appeared on the screen.
Jesus!
I knew this marriage would be without love, but we hadn’t even gotten over the dinner yet. Could he wait with the naked photos till after we got back from our honeymoon? Not that there was going to be anything special about it, but it was a good way for us to create a lot of distance between us. This was all play pretend, after all.
Nathan’s grandfather wanted him to settle down, and my family wanted something to take the eyes off their scandal, which was my sister Naomi, and it was a good way to throw the family businesses together, not that I knew what my father was doing, except he brought a lot of money in. Yeah, I was after all just a pretty girl, not even allowed to go to college like I had wanted to. My mother thought it was better that I focused on being a rich housewife, like she had, jumping from one rich father to one rich husband. Besides, no man likes a woman with a smart mind. They talk too much.
My mother’s words. Not mine.
It was not like I was going to study math or anything like that. I wasn’t aiming to become a scientist. I wanted to study art. It was something I was actually good at. I wasn’t smart. Never had been, but I knew how to paint. I knew how to draw. Was it really too much to ask for me to get a chance to be around people that shared that same passion?
Apparently so, because now I was here. Trapped in this loveless marriage, which was why I should probably pay a little more attention to old Neil, who was giving out such good advice. His own wife had tragically died of cancer a few years back, but it was clear they had actually had a good marriage.
“And as that old saying goes,” the older man said. “A happy wife …”
“Equals a happy life,” the rest finished, as he held out his arms a little to show he wanted us to finish.
Neil had had Nathan’s mother quite young, so he was only in his late sixties and still looking quite good. There were actually a lot of similarities between the two of them, like the deep blue eyes and the blond hair that was pretty much white now, but I had seen some photos of Neil from his younger days. He was like a spitting image of Nathan, or maybe more the other way around.
We all clapped as Neil went to sit, but Nathan didn’t even look up. It wasn’t until Neil almost pushed Nathan to ask me to dance, we actually left our seats and went to dance. It was so awkward, though. He tried his best not to look at me, and I didn’t try to make things less awkward either. I didn’t know what to say! What was I going to say?!
Nathan spun me around and I almost tripped on the puffy skirt. I didn’t want this princess-like dress. I had wanted something more fitting. Something that molded to my body, and not to show it off, but to make me seem smaller.
I was pulled back into Nathan’s hard body. He was so tall, I had to tilt my head to look at him, not that I did. It was easier just to find a spot over his shoulder to look at instead.
Please, let this dance end, I begged, but it felt like an eternity before we could finally let go, and then when it was finally time to cut the cake, Nathan took my hand, it felt so small in his, and said we should be on our way to the Bahamas for our honeymoon. He didn’t even want to cut the freaking cake! Was it really so hard just to pretend for the night? Soon we could have our separate bedrooms on the little island, and we wouldn’t even have to look at one another.
“Do I get time to change?” I asked, as I was led out of the room where we had the reception.
“You got ten minutes.”
“What?!”
Like he had waited for this, he actually had a bag hidden under a table where drinks had been handed out as we entered and threw it at me.
“Better hurry,” he said.
I wanted to scream or yell! I wanted to do something, but I bit my tongue and went to the nearest bathroom before going inside and pulling out another dress. A white one, which was a lot tighter and ended up mid-thigh, but I had an ass and big thighs, so all I had to do was bend just a little forward, and I would show everyone … everything.
I left my wedding dress in the bathroom, not caring what happened to it. I hated it and poked my head outside.
“This dress is too short!” I told him.
Nathan had his back resting up against the other wall, and his phone out again. He only lifted his eyes shortly before shrugging and looking at his phone again.
“Then wear your wedding dress.”
“No!” I said.
“Then I guess we are taking separate planes.”
Assh*le, I finished inside of me, as I held onto the hem of the dress and finally came out, still wearing the white and uncomfortable heels that had already given me blisters. Nathan looked up, letting his deep blue eyes run up my legs, which appeared much longer in these heels, and then up my thighs, my stomach, all the way up to my eyes. At least it seemed like he finally saw the problem here, but he didn’t do anything to fix it.
“Let us go,” he said.
He put his phone away and started to walk towards the exit, where a car was waiting for us with our packed bags and everything we would need for the next two weeks. It was his grandfather who had been so kind to prepare this trip for us, yet while I had thanked Neil, Nathan had not said a word about it.
It was not like I wanted to be trapped with you either, you arrogant assh*le!
I followed him outside, where the sun was now hanging very low in the sky, preparing to leave for the night. Nathan was already in the car. The chauffeur was nice to hold the door for me, but I had to hold the dress down with a lot of strength, as I got inside, doing it kind of funnily, by letting my butt enter first, and then getting both my legs and upper body inside. If it had looked strange, the chauffeur didn’t comment on it and just closed the door.
“You couldn’t just wait five more seconds?” I mumbled and looked out of the window as the car started to move.
“No.”
I looked over at Nathan, who was looking out at the other window and stared at him shocked. Did he have supernatural hearing?
“Don’t be st*pid,” he said.
Was he a mind reader too?
“You are speaking out loud, st*pid,” he told me.
Oh sh*t, I hadn’t even noticed.
“Don’t call me st*pid!” I hissed at him.
He didn’t say anything and simply turned quiet again, while I turned away from him as well. It was going well already …
