Forbidden Desires

Amelia Montgomery tried not to let her trembling hands crease the delicate lace on her ivory ball gown as she smoothed it down. She took a very deep breath, searching for her courage. Today marked the beginning of the end of her freedom. "You look worried, my dear," her mother's voice cut through the dressing room. Amelia's eyes shone with pride, but her mother recognized the fear simmering beneath her smile. "Honestly you were born for this." Born for what? To be sold off like livestock for the family's gain? Amelia swallowed hard against the bitter rise of resentment. She knew her family's financial condition. Her father's failed business ventures, their mounting debts. This was the only viable option they had left. "You won't lack anything as Mrs. Romanov," her mother assured her, misinterpreting Amelia's silence as nerves, "And the grandchildren you'll give us..." Us. Their motives laid bare with that single word. Amelia tuned out her mother's familiar persuasions about duty, legacy and status. It was too late for protests. She was committed to this plan event hough it made her sad. It was for the family. In the towering mirror, Amelia studied the prim, elegant bride reflected back. Her shining dark hair had been swept into an intricate updo. With rosy makeup and that lavish lace gown hugging her slim figure. She looked like royalty. Yet beneath the exotic appearance, Amelia wondered if she would ever see the bright free-spirited woman she used to recognize staring back. This society spectacle felt like dressing her soul for her own funeral before it was forever entombed. "You'll be the envy of everyone," Ava said thrilled, oblivious to her daughter's inner turmoil. She handed Amelia her fitted lace gloves and sparkly clutch to complete the look. "The entire world will be at your feet, just as your grandmother once had." "Not quite the entire world, mother," Amelia whispered, finally finding her voice. "Just the boundaries approved by my husband." "Know your place and you will lack nothing in that union. You are extraordinarily fortunate for this path." Amelia simply nodded, she was broken in the face of her mother's stern glare. What could she say? Their family's estate in the English countryside had nearly been repossessed. All their opulent possessions and social currency meant nothing against creditor's invoices. And then as if by divine providence, the reclusive Russian billionaire Vladimir Romanov showed interest in joining their decaying bloodline through matrimony. All for a mere six million pound dowry owed by the Montgomerys. Out of desperation, their once prestigious family gave into the old man's demands. It did help secure their legacy though. And now here stood Amelia, freshly turned twenty, about to be carted off and married to a man closer to her father's age than her own. A polite knock at the door stole her away from her daydreaming. One of the Romanov's estate staff, an older Russian woman leaned into the dressing room. "Miss Montgomery... they are ready for you." She spoke with such grace. At her side, Amelia's own mother gave her a beaming smile. "Our future begins now." Heart pounding, Amelia dutifully took her first steps towards the ceremony that would seal her destiny. Outside the magnificent double doors leading to the Grand Ballroom, they were hundreds of elites, affluent guests filled the place like swarms of flies. Cameras flashed left and right from the media pool covering the occasion. Amelia had heard romantic fable about her soon to be husband. Of how he scoured the ends of the Earth to find his bride. For unless his palatial English country counted as a colonial outpost, then he most certainly had bought his blushing bride on the spoils market from desperate, fading aristocracy. Still, Amelia held her chin high as the looming oak doors finally swung open. An orchestral wave of classical music swelled to greet her entrance. She glided forward with her back straightened.