Our Loveless Marriage

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 viewpoint, 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 afterward, 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 being married to a man I didn’t know—someone I had only seen at parties, in magazines, and through whatever headlines he had made.

We had barely even said anything to each other, except when we had exchanged vows, and while I had envisioned my day with joy and a wonderful and sweet kiss, one 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.

However, 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.

While Nathan’s brother was here too, along with 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, that his grandfather was able to clean up the mess.

But 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 messed that up when she was sent to rehab after an overdose on coke.

So here I was. Our family’s last hope.

I glanced over at Nathan for what felt like the hundredth time. He 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. Yet I quickly looked away when a very naked woman suddenly appeared on the screen.

Jesus! I thought. 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 until 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.

“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 indicate 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 that we actually left our seats and went to the middle of the room. But it was so awkward. He tried his best not to look at me, and I didn’t try to make things less tense either. I didn’t know what 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 that 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 he informed the rest that 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 to change?” I inquired, as I was led out of the room where we had the reception.

“10 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 remarked.

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 bit 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 exclaimed.

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 down again.

“Then wear your wedding dress.”

“No!” I protested.

“Then I guess we are taking separate planes.”

Asshole, I finished internally, 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, that 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’s go,” he said.

He put his phone away and started to walk toward the exit, where a car was waiting for us with our packed bags and everything that 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.

Not like I wanted to be trapped with you, you arrogant asshole!" I snarled mentally as I followed him outside, where the sun was now sinking low in the sky, ready to depart for the night. Nathan was already in the car. The chauffeur kindly held the door for me, but I struggled to adjust my dress as I entered, amusingly shimmying in with my butt first, then wriggling 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 stupid,” he said.

Was he a mind reader too?

“You are speaking out loud, stupid,” he told me.

Oh sh*t, I hadn’t even noticed.

“Don’t call me stupid!” 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.