Billionaire Sworn Enemies Turned Passionate Lovers

~Janelle~ I screamed “No Dad! I will not marry Mr. Carter!!” My voice was loud enough to alert a nurse on standby outside my dad’s ward like a pager. Lucian Laurent, my father, looked at me in shock as though he expected a positive reaction from me “What do you mean you will not do it, Janelle?!” I shook my head vigorously not giving his request a second thought. I felt like something broke inside of me. My heart started racing. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. ‘Damien Carter… Damien Carter, that pompous man’, I thought to myself ‘I can’t stand him. I can’t even debate with him for more than a minute without choking. No! I can’t marry him. He would be the end of me’ “Dad, I can’t! I won’t!” I snapped. “It is already a sealed deal. You cannot decide otherwise” He sternly warned. I couldn’t take any more of this. I stood up from the armchair. “It’s my last wish. Wouldn’t you do this for my sake?” he said a little more calmly like he was trying to plead. A nurse dashed into the ward. “Is everything okay?” She hurried toward my father, quickly checking his patient monitor. “It’s fine. I was just talking to my daughter. That’s all” Turning to me, she said “Madam, I am so sorry to interrupt your conversation but I would really need you to keep it going as mildly as you both can” I folded my arms, looking straight into her eyes, and reluctantly blurted out “I’d try.” I thought ‘This was no calm matter. You don’t know what just happened. My life is about to be ruined and I am supposed to keep it calm?’ When the nurse walked out, my father muttered. His sharp, steady, dark brown eyes that once commanded boardrooms had turned gentle now. “My dearest Jane, you know that I really don’t have much time left. I have given years of thought into how you would spend the rest of your life when I am no longer with you…” “Oh dad! Stop this talk about ’when I am no longer with you’. You know you are all I have left” He smiled “Not anymore. Sweetheart. You have blossomed into the most beautiful flower in my garden, the best thing that has happened to me. I just want to keep you safe” “Dad, being unfair to me isn’t keeping me safe. You know that I try to do as many things you tell me but this…” I said breathing heavily. Remembering the subtle warning of the nurse, I still stubbornly raised my voice “No dad! I don’t want Damien Carter. I don’t understand. But we barely deal with the Carters. You taught me that, dad” “Come closer, child” he said softly beckoning to me. As I did, he held my hand “It’s not just about the fact that we don’t see things the same way the Carters do. We’re arranging this marriage to seal a corporate alliance. We need to maintain our control, image and legacy…” “Is that why you didn’t want Vincent Steele around me?” “I thought you have outgrown this…” his voice became hoarse. “It’s not about how I felt a few years ago. Vincent was a great guy. He made me feel special!” I said, almost sobbing at the memory I had with Vincent which were dashed away by my dad. “Vincent was good, but not good enough for you- you as Co-founder of Laurent Research Institute” “Dad, please!...” I held my hands against my ears not wanting him to repeat this same statement that had torn my heart into tiny pieces. “Honey, don’t you trust me to give you a wonderful man for a husband who you can grow to love? Damien would give you what Vincent can’t. Besides, it’s not just about you. You are my only heir. We need another and it has to be done in a way that would preserve our lineage, wealth and heritage. In my humility, I actually owe Damien a debt of honor…” This was the very last straw that completely broke me and I was done with this conversation. I stormed out of my father’s majestic ward. I held my chest in dismay as I found the closest balcony to lean over. How can I get married to Damien Carter? That’s going against everything I am about. Oh, how he must gloat over this. He would consider this a surrender on my part. Especially after what happened this evening… My phone buzzed. I fidgeted to take it out of my hard-case purse. Who could this be? I don’t remember leaving any instruction to any member of our staff. I looked at my phone screen. Vincent. Vincent Steele. The man I took an interest in years back. “Hello there, Janelle” I forced a gentle smile “Hey Vincent… what a surprise” “I know I don’t call enough…” I stopped him before he could finish “No. It’s, it’s okay. I understand. I think we both do” I wasn’t ready to bring him into my family drama and tell him about my father’s “wish”. “You don’t sound okay” he panicked softly. “I am not actually. I had a rather rough evening. I came to see my father” “Ooh I see. Was there an emergency?” “Kind of. But it’s been sorted out” “Great, great. How about I come see you? I’m a near drive to the hospital” “Sure, I could use a friend” “Okay. See you soon” Vincent was already at the reception in time for me to have already wept a little and get myself together. I hugged him- tight. “You look gorgeous in your gown. A gala awards night?” “Yea and we won” I smiled proudly. “Congrats! That’s amazing. Let me take you for a drive” “I like how you understand me” I asked him to just keep going on the drive. Some place. Anywhere. Like some low-class neighbourhood. The streets started narrowing, lonely under the night sky. I took in the view. It just seemed to take my mind off my dilemma and into the world of people with real problems. “We can’t be around this area for long. It’s very rough out here”. He warned. I nodded in agreement. As we turned to leave the area, I spotted out a figure sitting by a corner. It was a woman. “Pull over for a bit. Let me just reach out to this woman” Vincent pulled over and I alighted. Reaching out to the woman, I asked “Hey madam, are you alright?” She looked up at me. Scared. Maybe intimidated at my couture gown or surprised like I walked out of a fairytale. All of a sudden, she screamed “Look behind you!!!”