Chapter 1
~Katherine~
It was our second wedding anniversary. I waited for my husband, Ace Parker, the CEO of Parker Group, to arrive home. The Parker Group was a big entertainment industry in Solaris City, and it hurt, seeing pictures and videos of my husband in the arms of other women. But Ace never acknowledges it and brushes it off.
I was hopeful that tonight will be different, and he will make love to me for once and seal our wedding vows. However, I remember how I married him.
**Flashback**
Two years ago, my mother was hospitalized, and we were begging and soliciting for help to pay her hospital bill. We created an online advertisement and also posted her pictures online, asking the netizen for fundraising.
There, Mr. Gideon Parker, Ace's grandfather, saw the post and cleared off my mother's hospital bill, and from there on, he proposed to my father that he wanted his grandson to marry me.
There was no room for negotiation. I wasn't allowed to choose my husband. But then, when I was invited to the Parker residence, a multimillion-dollar empire, I was shocked by the grandeur of this mansion. Tall walls, tall curtains, and doors like a royal palace.
I was a 23-year-old woman and came from a humble background. I had to wear one of the best dresses that I had, as I arrived at the Parker's residence.
I was welcomed by the butler of the house, a middle-aged man who smiled at me and welcomed me. But when the entire family in the living room saw me, they frowned and paused and looked at me like I was an unwanted guest.
"Good morning, sir, madam," I nervously greeted the whole family, trembling before them. They were six of them: Ace, his father, mother, brother, sister, and his grandfather.
"Who are you?" Mrs. Noelle asked me first. She was Ace's mother, donning a red dress, and her gaze darkened at me. She was very beautiful, and even the white dress she wore was sparkling at that early hour of the day.
I wasn't up to their level. I could be termed as a maid before them, and before I could explain myself, Ace's grandfather, Mr. Gideon Parker, spoke with a warm smile on his face.
"This is my special guest that I told you all we are expecting today. She is Katherine Colter. You can call her Kate. She will be Ace's wife, as I have already spoken to my son about her," Mr. Gideon announced, and the entire family gasped.
"What?! Grandpa! This dirty girl that came from the village!" They rejected me, and my gaze fell as tears welled up in my eyes.
"Silence! This calls for no negotiation. Ace," Mr. Gideon said, his voice stern and cold, making me shudder.
"I have seen the women you are frolicking around with. They are not befitting for a wife for you. I watched Katherine when my assistant offered to help her mother in the hospital. She is a decent girl and will make a good wife for you. And I have already settled everything with her family. So she will be living here with us," Mr. Gideon concluded, and silence fell in the luxury living room. It was so quiet that even a drop of a pin could be heard.
"Is this a joke, Father?" Ace's father, Zion asked. He donned a white shirt and white trousers and was fair in complexion, too. They were all fair-skinned and handsome like angels from above, but you wouldn't believe their hearts were as dark as charcoal.
"Yes, Zion," Mr. Gideon shifted his gaze to look at his son. "I do not want to see my hard work, the Parker Group, go down the drain when I finally join my ancestors. So I would like for Katherine here to become my grand-daughter-in-law of this family."
"Haha! Grandpa, I must comment. This is a joke, and it's your 80th birthday party. Now, you choose to select this local, dirty woman as my wife," Ace said, glaring and pointing at me as his voice was loud enough for anyone standing outside the mansion to hear.
Grandpa Gideon said, "I have already rewritten my will, Ace. You can only inherit the Parker Group after my death if you agree to marry Katherine Colter. No room for negotiation."
Ace glared at me, and I shivered, standing there in their presence like a sacrificial lamb, and he couldn't refute. After seeing that his grandfather was serious.
"Grandpa, how can you decide on this?" Ace asked after a while, and everyone was silent, looking at Grandpa Gideon, who walked out to welcome me, not minding his family who were angry.
"I have a woman that I am in love with, and you don't expect me to break up with her because of this useless woman!" Ace shouted, his voice breaking my heart into multiple pieces.
"Ace! I will not tolerate you bullying Katherine!" Grandpa Gideon turned to face Ace and the rest of the family. As they all donned white clothing.
"If you dare to divorce Katerine or kill her, you will lose all my wealth to the orphanage!" Grandpa Gideon stated sternly, and the living room turned silent.
Grandpa Gideon then approached me, holding his walking stick for support, and smiled at me.
"It's okay, my dear. You are welcome to the Parker family," his trembling, cold hand held mine, and I accepted his hand for a handshake as he turned to face his family, who were all glaring at him.
"This is my new granddaughter-in-law, Katherine Colter. Ace Parker's new wife. The wedding will take place on Monday," Grandpa Gideon announced, and the living room turned dead silent.
