Fated attraction

CHAPTER FOUR—JUSTIN

“She came over to my office again! I thought I made it clear I am not going to marry her,” I almost yelled at my grandmother. Grandma Green’s face was unimpressed by my rage. She sat on her designated gold chair in the broad living room, hands folded on her thighs, watching me rant. She was grey-haired and bespectacled; she looked exactly as she had always looked when I was a child. I knew that screaming at her would be of no help. Grandma Green’s decisions were usually final. She ruled the family with a tight fist and we all deferred to what she ordered but this was the one time that I found myself unable to follow her demands.

Iris and I grew up together and, since childbirth, there had always been some sort of understanding between our families regarding our future marriage. My grandmother loves Iris, but mostly, she loved the security that a merger between our families would bring. If I married Iris, our families would become intertwined not just in blood but also business. The Martin family owned one of the largest shipping and retail conglomerates in the city. Together, our families could do great things. I always knew what was expected of me but I had tried hard to voice my disapproval. I did not love Iris. Not when I was younger and certainly not now. Iris, of course, had always been infatuated with me. Sometimes, I was convinced she did move love; she only loved the idea of me. Back in college, we had tried to date and it had ended disastrously, at least on my end but Iris had not been able to move on. She still dreamed of becoming Mrs. Green and I had no way of letting her down gently. I loathed the idea of marrying her. It would make me unhappy but my inheritance was a lot more important to me.

“Iris Martins will make a fine bride. Unless, and I hope I’m mistaken, you’ve decided that I made the wrong choice for you. Which would be the first of its nature. Are you openly defying me, Justin?” Grandma asked, leaning forward. My stepbrother, Marcus, was sitting beside her giggling. It took everything in me not to roll my eyes at him.

“Grandma, I am not defying you. I am saying that I don’t like Iris. I am not comfortable marrying her!” I said with my best voice. I came from a long line of Green family – one of the wealthiest families in the city. My grandmother had always guarded the family heirloom with great care. In her will, it was impossible to inherit the family heirloom without a wife and a child, preferably a son who would continue the legacy. Grandma had arranged the family marriages for as long as I could remember. She arranged my parents’ marriage and as much as I remember of my childhood before my parents’ death, it had not been a happy marriage. It was a lukewarm marriage at best. But my father had been able to produce me before he started cheating with his mistresses and impregnated one of them who gave birth to my stepbrother, Marcus. I hated this family tradition for all my life. In fact, I think at some point, I blamed my grandmother for my parents’ deaths. If they had not been forced together, they might still be alive. They would not have been on the helicopter that crashed and killed them. But grandmother had not learned from my parents’ deaths. Now, it was my turn to become the heir and I had to bend to her rule. It was driving me nuts.

“The Martins have been wonderful business partners for us. Your marriage with Iris Martin will only solidify our long-term relationship with the Martins, Justin. And besides, you remember your great-grandfather’s will. No heirs of the Green estate will be unmarried upon inheriting the estate,” Grandma said. I was about to argue when a thought occurred to me. what did it matter to whom I could be engaged to before I could inherit the estate? The wording of the will demands was pretty clear: I just needed to be married to inherit the will; I didn’t have to be specifically engaged to Iris Martin. A small, victorious smile lifted the corners of my face. Grandma and Marcus stared at me suspiciously.

“Fine, I’ll get married. You want me married so badly? I will do that, just give me some time to pick out the perfect ring for my bride,” I said.

“I knew you would give in at last,” Marcus said, rising and buttoning up his suit. Marcus managed the family’s real estate chain of companies. He was as determined as I was to get his hands on the family estate. I would never allow that to happen. In fact, I think it was some petty part of me that was pushing for this inheritance just to keep it out of Marcus’s hands. Our childhood, together, had not been a harmonious one despite Grandma’s best efforts. Marcus was as conniving as his mother. It didn’t escape my attention that he was trying to fulfill his mother’s wishes. I had never been able to forgive my stepmother, Cecelia, for taking my father away from my mother and for forcing her way into our lives and hoping to get her grubby hands on MY inheritance. It wasn’t always as dramatic as a soap opera, but I felt it was my duty to protect my family heirloom.

“Just shut up and get the hell out of here,” I said. Marcus shook his head at me. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that he was in cahoots with the Martins and they were trying to force me into an unhappy marriage to force me to give up my inheritance. Again, I vowed to never let that happen.

Already, an idea was starting to form in my

head.