Bound to The Wolfe

3

DREA

Philip avoided my gaze completely and glanced at his mother.

“I never agreed to this.” I thought out loud.

I can’t get married to a stranger. I will not. Yeah, my life here was bad, but who knew what it would be like if I married a stranger?

I’m not willing to take that risk.

“Drea. Don’t ruin this” Ivanka gritted out while smiling, wrapping her fingers around my forearm and gripping tightly.

If it were any other day, it probably would’ve made me cower in fear but today, that was just not happening.

“Mr Smith, I am not going to marry anyone. I did not even agree to this.” I cried out, my vision becoming blurred by tears. I was desperate for someone to tell me that this was just a huge joke.

“I'm afraid to say that this is a legally binding contract. One that was signed by your father before he died. It cannot be breached easily.” He explained.

“Her father?” Philip spoke for the first time since this whole thing started. Oh so now he can speak?

“Yes. It was agreed upon and signed by your father and Mr August Wolfe.” He continued.

Philip seemed to be deep in thought, his face scrunched up with confusion.

Why would my father arrange a marriage I did not want? Why would he do this??

“Why would such a thing be agreed upon without MY opinion?” I sniffled, the tears finally falling.

I just could not hold it in any longer.

Mr Smith looked at me, a look full of pity written all over his face.

An awkward silence settled in the room as Mr Smith cleared his throat uncomfortably.

I looked at Ivanka to see her staring at Philip. It seemed like they were having some sort of silent conversation.

Why?

I was about to say something when Mr Smith spoke up.

“If you have any more questions, Miss Drea, Mr Wolfe advises you to see him at his company.” He continued, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a business card.

I collected it with shaky hands, my chest tight with fear.

With that, he cleared his throat and stood up.

“Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the arrangement.” He stated calmly, handing a card to Ivanka which I assumed was his personal business card.

“Thank you, Mr Smith.” Ivanka smiled, getting up and escorting him to the door.

As soon as I heard the click of the front door, I completely broke down.

“Come here.” Without even thinking, I fell into Philip’s open arms, each sob harder than the previous.

“You’re alright.” He murmured, stroking my hair as a means of comfort.

“What is happening?” I choked out, my body feeing numb.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, wiping my tears which was pointless as more just kept falling.

I heard him sigh, his arms tightening around me.

“I’m sorry Drea. It wasn’t my place to tell you.” Wasn’t your place?

“What aren’t you guys telling me?” He tensed, his entire body becoming rigid as we pulled apart.

“It’s nothing Drea” that was clearly a lie.

I was about to say something when Ivanka walked in, a familiar smirk etched onto her face.

“Why are you overreacting? The guy is a billionaire.” Ivanka commented.

“I don’t want to get married to a stranger.” I exclaimed truthfully.

“Well, that doesn’t matter to me because you’re going to whether you like it or not. Finally, your father has done something beneficial. We are going to be rich!” She gleamed, sighing.

“You didn’t arrange this?” I asked.

She scoffed, flipping her hair and staring directly at me.

“Of course I didn’t. Your Father did. Why? I have no idea.” She muttered the last part to herself.

I looked at her for a second, studying her facial expressions. She did not seem to be lying about not being the one who arranged it.

Why would Dad do this to me?

“I can’t do it.” I stated, wiping my tears with the sleeves of my shirt.

The smile fell off Ivanka’s face as she stood up and inched closer towards me. She bent down to my level, her eyes glaring down at me bitterly. My hands became shaky and my chest tightened.

“Yes, you will. You don’t have a choice. You’re lucky someone wants to marry you. A rich man at that. ” She replied.

“Mom.” Philip warned.

“We all know that’s the only way she can ever be useful in her life. So you…” She started, poking at my chest. Each poke of her finger felt like a nail being hammered into my chest, that heavy feeling settling deep within.

“Are you getting married.”

“All I know is, after all I’ve done for you, I need a reward.” And what exactly has she done for me except torture me emotionally?

“It’s either that or you are kicked out.” With that, she stood up and practically danced her way out of the room in excitement.

“It’s going to be okay.” Philip reassured me as I sniffled, trying to stop the tears from streaming down my face.

“No it’s not. Why would he force a marriage on me?” I asked.

“Maybe you should go and see him.” He answered.

“Who?”

“August Wolfe.”

I was about to protest when he cut me off.

“He might be able to give the answers you are looking for.” He replied.

I did have a lot of questions. My dad wasn’t here and the only person who would be able to answer was the other person who signed the contract — August Wolfe.

“Okay. I will.” I mumbled through the tears.

He laughed, wiping the tears from my face and giving me a quick hug.

“Whatever happens, just know that I am the only one who is going to be here, and I will always support you in whatever you decide.” Phillip smiled reassuringly, making me smile instinctively.

The churning in my stomach had reduced thanks to Philip’s reassurance. I no longer felt as nervous as I was.

“Okay, I have to go to work. You’ll be okay, right?” He asked, getting up.

“I’ll try to be.”

Maybe I actually needed to see him. No one in my house seemed to be honest, and I desperately needed answers from someone. Especially someone who knew my father.

My Father.

I barely thought about him as much as I should’ve. The years we spent together were the best years of my life. It was like…having someone you knew you could always fall back on. Someone who was always there to support and protect you. He did not have any relatives and I was an only child.

*FLASHBACK*

“Dad.” I sobbed, clutching my injured knee.

“Drewdrop! What happened?” He exclaimed, running towards me and looking at me.

His brown eyes that resembled mine held so much worry as he gazed down at my bloody knee caused by those kids.

I was a pretty quiet child. Quiet children were always a bully’s perfect target.

“I fell.” I lied, avoiding eye contact.

If I had told my dad, I would just be bullied harder. I remembered thinking that.

His eyes studied my face for a minute before he sighed, sitting on the grass like I was.

His knee was propped up to his shoulders as he looked around before finally settling his eyes on my small 6-year-old figure.

“Drew.” He called out.

I looked up at him to see his eyes staring directly at mine.

“You fell?” He asked slowly without breaking eye contact.

He always knew how to get the truth out of me. If I avoided eye contact, he knew it was a lie.

Without having a choice, I shook my head no and broke eye contact.

He sighed, pulling me close with his arm. “What did I tell you about lies?” He asked.

“Lies break trust and make people feel sad” I repeated the same words he preached for years.

He nodded, standing up and picking me up with him. He sat me down on one of the park’s benches.

“I’ll be right back, okay drew?” He stated, bending down to my level to examine my face. I nodded, and watched him walk into the pharmacy situated in front of the park.

He came out with a bag in his hand and sat on the same bench with me.

He slowly took my injured knee and placed it on his lap, pulling out a cream and cotton buds from the bag.

He applied ointment on the bud, and slowly applied it on my wound.

“Daddy!” I hissed, the pain becoming increasingly worse.

He chuckled, smiling down at me.

“Sorry, I’ll be gentle.” he laughed.

After that, he took out a hello kitty bandage and placed it over the wound.

“All done.” He smiled.

“It’s pretty.” I grinned as he kissed my forehead.

There was a comfortable silence around us until he spoke up.

“Who pushed you?”

I looked down at my hands, debating on telling him or not.

Lies were not good. I told myself.

“Bianca and her friends.” I told him truthfully.

“I thought Bianca was your friend” He asked curiously.

“She said we were not friends anymore.” That was partly true. But not the whole truth. She said she could not be friends with girls who did not have mothers. I couldn’t tell dad that because mom was a sensitive topic for him.

“Okay Drewdrop. Let’s go home.” He sighed, getting up.

He bent down and looked back at me with a smile.

“Piggyback ride?” He asked, and I squealed with excitement.

I later found out that he confronted Bianca’s parents and got them punished for what they did to me.

Bianca and her friends never bullied me again.

*END OF FLASHBACK•

Drewdrop.

I missed hearing that name so much.

When he died, I wasn’t able to comprehend the situation. I always looked at it as him taking a short trip. He would come back. I reassured my twelve-year-old self every night.

But he didn’t.

I was left alone in this world.

He was a very private person. No friends either. So to find out that he signed a contract giving me away to someone, there had to be a connection between them.

Lying down in my bed with a sigh, I couldn’t help but think over the entire situation.

Was this actually happening? I was to be married to a billionaire. What was his name again?

I sat up, picking my phone up to Google him.

August Wolfe.

I wanted to see the guy I was supposed to wed.

No pictures of him came up but the company and its achievements were displayed all over my screen.

Wolfe systems.

Established in 2015.

Founded by August Wolfe, son of Ethan Wolfe of Wolfe holdings, a real estate and investment company.

Started as a small accounting firm but grew into cybersecurity and data systems for banks.

Wow.

They were actually billionaires.

He seemed to be a private person as I could only find images of his father.

What kind of man hides his face from the world…but binds himself to a stranger for life?

Was this a lifeline or a death sentence?