The Billionaire's Condition

"You are getting married, tomorrow," Jeremy said without bulging an eye, his voice flat but firm, like the iron grip of a judge pronouncing a sentence, and May felt as if the world had tilted violently beneath her feet, that words alone could not hold the chaos inside her chest, that this man, her brother, who she had once trusted to protect her, was now the one who betrayed her the most. May smiled continuously, forcing it to be bright though it trembled and felt more like a mask than a true expression, "you are joking, right?" she said, and she wanted to laugh, though the laughter would have been bitter, a sharp edge that could cut glass, and she could feel her throat tighten as if the air itself was conspiring against her, suffocating her from speaking the truth she carried inside, the truth that she had never even met this man, that she didn’t know if his hands would be gentle or cruel, that she didn’t know if her heart would shatter on the altar or if it would simply harden into stone. "You think this is a joke? We are losing everything as we are wasting time in here, everyone is on our neck and we don't have s**t to pay back our loans, business isn't running smooth like before," Jeremy said again, his tone now sharper, edged with desperation and irritation, and the words hit her like bullets, like shards of ice sliding into her chest, freezing her thoughts, freezing her movements, and for a moment she could not even speak, could only stand and let the words settle like ashes in her lungs. May stood in front of her brother, tears dropping down her cheek despite her attempts to remain composed, as if her body had betrayed her, as if her sorrow could not be contained, and she yelled, louder than she intended, louder than the polite voice of reason would allow her, "That marriage isn't happening, not now, not tomorrow, not ever, how can I even love a man I don't love, and do not let me even talk about how I have never met this mysterious man," and every syllable felt like fire on her tongue, like a dagger she was pointing at the heart of their fragile bond, and Jeremy just looked at her, his face unreadable, like a mask of steel, like a man who had no other option, and yet she could see in his eyes the desperation he tried to hide, the fear that maybe this gamble would destroy them all. "May, you know how much this marriage is important to me, to us, I am doing this for our father, the business is the only legacy we have of him since he died in that plane crash with mum, I am not selfish, May, this marriage will save us from a lot of financial doom," Jeremy said, and May could hear the pleading in his voice, though it was buried under frustration, as if he thought mere words could justify the chains he was about to place on her life, and she shook her head slowly, trying to let the disbelief wash over her like a tidal wave that would leave her hollow and numb, but instead it only made her stomach twist and her hands tremble. "No, Jeremy, I won't marry someone because it is convenient for you, and do not talk about dad's legacy, who went about taking loans only to spend it on girls, on frivolities," she spat, every word sharp, each syllable a reflection of the years she had carried anger in her chest, the years of watching their father’s dream crumble, the years of silently enduring Jeremy's recklessness, the years of telling herself she would be the responsible one, the one who would never betray their family, and now he demanded she betray herself. "Only you did, why do I have to suffer for something that is only your fault, why do I have to be involved in all this mess you put yourself in?" Her voice cracked as the tears slid faster, stinging her eyes, leaving trails of pain that she wanted desperately to erase, but could not, and she could see Jeremy’s jaw tighten, his lips pressed together, like he wanted to say something that could never reach the surface without shattering the fragile armor they both wore. Jeremy sighed, the sound heavy and laden with exhaustion, "May, you are only being selfish, I thought you called yourself selfless, mum and dad will never be proud of this because the daughter they saw before dying cared about others before herself," and May felt the weight of those words like a hammer pressing down on her chest, a reminder of all the guilt and love she had carried silently, a cruel comparison she could never win, and yet she refused to bow. "Maybe you are right, I cared about others before but now I choose myself above other people, and don't you dare say mum and dad because even they know that you are the selfish one, you only think about yourself, where is my happiness in all of this," she cried, the sobs wracking her body like waves crashing over her, and she could feel every atom of her being scream against this injustice, scream against being treated like property, like a solution to a problem she didn’t create. "I won't do it and it's final," she said, stepping back, feeling the weight of the room pressing on her shoulders, the walls closing in as if to witness this confrontation, and she turned abruptly, the tears still streaming, the sobs trembling in her chest as she left the room, leaving Jeremy standing in silence, his fingers clenching and unclenching, his mind racing with every possible consequence, the financial ruin, the scandal, the possibility that May might truly defy him, and yet in that moment she didn’t care, because for the first time in years, she chose herself over the life they had dictated for her, over the legacy that had been twisted into chains, and she let herself run, run into the night, run into the storm of her own rebellion, knowing that the world she had known was ending, and a new one, terrifying and uncertain, was beginning.