His Selfishness Fated My Wish

Chapter Two: The Sacrificial Lamb

"Alaina, you know Apollos demanded Laura be given in return. Has she told you about it" Andra queries, digging her teeth into a red apple she plucked from the garden.

No! Didn't hear of it.

"Dad knows but as always, anything for the company".

An arranged marriage was something Laura never prepared for. She had high school dreams of marrying a sweetheart whom she desired unfortunately the family business started dwindling.

They mended till it was beyond mending. The Glovers Enterprise stepped in to ameliorate the situation for the benefit of both companies, but to seal the audience’s trust and create a sense of responsibility and integrity, a marriage was arranged. You see, in the business world, nothing goes for nothing.

You must be giving something away to get something.

The Glovers weren't very affluent but they are one of the top five firms in cooperation with The Alphas, a fintech industry. To an extent, they had influence and wealth. When they were consulted to nudge The Alphas headed by Laura's father, they agreed, however, they requested an arranged marriage between the second daughter and the company heir. A union that will strengthen business relations between the two companies and push them ahead of others.

An arranged marriage devoid of genuine feelings. Laura pleaded against it, no one listened but she resolved to learn to love Richard since she had no reason to hate him. The question remains, "Does love from one party sustain a relationship?"

Well, it worked for a while till fatigue from being the only one trying to love kicked in. The business couldn't sustain itself majorly due to controversies, inadequacy, and investors showing a lack of interest. The company released multiple news to debunk the rumors which worked for some time till it escalated.

"Why do I always have to be the sacrificial lamb, the saving grace, the lamb who's always slaughtered so that others can live?"

Richard came with his uncle who was his manager and the company's secretary to finalize the marriage and success of both companies.

Laura has always been chatty and naive, probably one of the reasons Richard was having a hard time getting along. While the meeting was ongoing, Laura signed the orderly to call Richard's attention.

Laura called his attention to the inner room where she told him "I'm Laura. I am sorry for calling you out of a meeting. I believe we both genuinely do not want this but we have to make it work because it seems we have no choice left". Laura asserted, her stare piercing through Richard's eyes while she bit her nails intermittently. A bad habit she cannot let go of.

"Okay," Richard responded with his hands firmly inside his pocket. Laura was disappointed and confused because she never expected the short response.

Laura's clumsiness is always evident when she is nervous, while trying to bear her weight by placing her hand on the little ceramic table beside her, she accidentally flipped the glass on top of it, and it fell and broke.

Laura heard a thousand curses from Richard's facial expressions of disgust, disapproval, distaste, and total rejection. She could divulge from his expressions that her actions must have given him a sour taste.

"Sorry," she blurted.

"You know I genuinely don't want to marry you, it's all for the business" Richard established. "By the way, I didn't ask for your name".

"Sir, your attention is needed," said an orderly.

Richard walks out on her to answer the call. Laura burst into tears because for some reason she is already smelling hell. He made her feel worse than he found her.

"That was so rude, he repeated the exact things I said," she thought.

She stood motionless for a few minutes, lost in thought. Andra walks in, "What's that stern look on his face, both of you couldn't figure something out?" her sister queried.

"He stares at me like I'm fo foolish" she stammered with tears trickling down her cheeks.

Andra looked down and saw the shattered glass, she picked up the glass bit by bit and swept off the remaining little particles of it.

Both families had their conversations and signed the necessary documents. Her father walked in to ask her whether she had packed her belongings. She glared at him without saying a word.

She looked at their family picture hanging on the wall and thought of nothing else other than shattering it. But she believed assuming the worst for the marriage wouldn't make her feel any better.

She had a little faith.

Three weeks after the marriage, Richard came to pick her up with his convoy, Richard was calm and said no words.

After a while, he broke the silence, "You know, I will organize a little honeymoon, you do your thing, I do my thing, do we understand each other?"

"Yes, where?" she queried

"Monaco"

"Oh, I have never been there before, I heard..."

"Can you increase the volume of that television, I want to hear that announcement from CBS News clearly,"

She felt awkward, angry then silent.

After they got to their new home, they settled in. The house was highly staffed and Laura had to demand privacy in some areas.

Richard was not chatty but very domineering. One thing she had here was a certain amount of freedom and privilege she never had at home. She had to figure out how to stay happy for herself.

Richard organized the honeymoon, they took the jet. She was so happy and stared at some things. They checked in, unpacked, and headed for Casino De Monte-Carlo where he met up with some old friends. The cheers when they walked in meant he's known there, he is highbrow afterall.

"Madame, Bienvenue,"

"Thank you," she answered.

Richard joined some of his friends at the table while they drank and conversed, after some time he joined the casino table.

"Madame"

"You can call me Laura,"

She stared at her for a while trying to figure out who she was. She remembered.

"The flight attendant?"

"Yes,"

They both giggled. Laura offered her a seat beside her.

"Thank you, you know we come here a lot. This is such a nice place to relax. You are his sister, you both look alike a little bit. Beauty runs in your family."

Laura was disappointed at how unprofessional she was but on second thought, she wanted to have fun as well so she decided to play along.

"Your brother is a good man. Where have you been?."

"Oh, I I was in school. I just graduated." Laura stammered.

"He said something about your marriage failing to be the reason."

"Yeah, I was married and studying in school. It failed and I had to come back home."

"Alright, I am sorry for that."

"You don't need to be, marriage is not a do-or-die affair anyways".

"Excuse me," Laura left and made way to her room. She couldn't hold the tears, she let some escape while trying to open the door.

Apparently, Richard told her she was his sister instead of his wife. She stood in front of the human-sized mirror and looked at herself for a few minutes. Her hand made its way to a small pimple on the tip of her nose. After she satisfied the urge. She put on her makeup and left the room.

In the hallway, a strange man stopped her and said "Hello, you know you look beautiful when you cry," Laura blushed for a second not knowing what to say, and then he extended his hand for a handshake "I am Lamiel,"

Laura extended hers too

"Laura,".