Boardroom and bedroom

chapter three: No choice (Amy's POV)

The iconic Westbrook Mansion loomed before me as the sleek limo pulled through the ornate gates. My hands s twisted anxiously in my lap, stomach churning with dread. This was really happening - I was entering my new life as Jack Westbrook's wife.

During the awkward limo rid from our wedding reception, Jack had barely acknowledge my presence. He typed away furiously on his phone the entire time, clearly prioritizing business over his new bride. I shrank back against the luxurious leather seat, fighting a sinking feeling.

This cold impersonal attitude mirrored how utterly empty and with out meaning the ceremony itself had been.No tenderness, no warmth, no love behind the vows we had exchanged. Just two strangers bound by a business contract, plain and simple.

When the limo stopped, Jack opened the door and strode inside the opulent mansion without a second look at me. Squaring my shoulders, I trailed in after him, steeling myself.

The grand foyer was overflowing with extravagant marble and gold-framed decor. Persian rugs lined the sweeping staircases to the higher levels. The place radiated wealth and sophistication, an entire world far from the modest upbringing I knew.

An older man in a crisp suit descended the main staircase, his face set in a deep scowl as he approached Jack.

"Your grandmother wishes to have a word with you," he said stiffly. "In private."

Jack's jaw clenched ever so slightly before he gave a terse nod and accompanied the man down a corridor lined with intimidating portraits and archways.

Left on my own for the moment, my eyes swept over the lavish environment that had become now my home - although I already felt like an outsider. Expensive tastes and luxuries had been fully unfamiliar territory for a middle class girl like me. A pang of longing hit me for the simplicity and comfort I once knew, before my life was uprooted into this opulent madness.

The muffled upward thrust of voices from down the hall caught my attention, harsh tones reaching my ears. I moved toward the source unconsciously, something about the heated cadence prickling my curiosity.

"... Never should have gone through with this preposterous ideal!" An elderly woman 's shrill voice cut through loud and clear as I approached a slightly ajar door.

Peering through the crack, I saw Jack facing an intimidating-old - looking woman,surely his grandmother based on her regal bearing. Her haughty expression was pulled into a sneer of disdain.

"I agreed to the business arrangement, nothing more" Jack replied evenly, arms stuffed into his pockets. "My marriage specifics are no longer your concern."

"You ignorant boy!" The shrill voice raised once more, tinged with outrage. "Marrying a poverty-stricken nobody is against everything our family stands for. The Westbrook legacy is built on prestige and class, not associating with paupers!"

My breath caught in my throat as the meaning of her scathing tirade hit me full force. They where berating my lower-class upbringing and treating me like some worthless disgrace...All because I wasn't born into money.

Jack was stone-faced,seemingly unaffected by his grandmother's verbal lashing. "I made this choice for our family's financial interest and Westbrook business 's future. That's what matters to me, not the empty judgments of snobby socialites."

"How dare you!" she snared back at him. "After everything my son and I have done to groom you as the inheritor to this empire, is this the honour you repay us with? By thumbing your nose at our values and traditions?"

"I don't owe you or anybody blind obedience," Jack fired back, his temper flaring ever so slightly. "The companies success is my priority, not your archaic expectations."

"Watch your self, boy..." His grandmother's beady eyes narrowed to slits as she leaned in near, her voice decreasing to an ominous tone. "If you insist in this path of embarrassment and recklessly put your very own selfish interests first...You'll live to regret it most bitterly. Even if I have to take drastic actions to make you see reasons."

Jack said nothing, his jaw clenched tightly as the menacing words hung in the air. The old lady wheeled on her cane and stormed from the room, her biting glares lingering on him till the last moment.

Just then, the very young woman that came to meet me at the private room without saying a word, followed the old woman from the room.I could tell it's was her because she was still dressed same way I earlier saw her.

As their echoing footsteps faded away, Jack let out a deep, weary sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. For a split second, his stony outside faltered and revealed hint of something more...Hurt? Weariness? Regret? It was impossible to tell as he composed himself once more.

I remained frozen on the hallway well after he left, reeling from the ugliness I had just witnessed. Not only was I being utterly disrespected and looked down upon with the aid of his family as lower-class-filth...But there were clearly some deeply poisonous undercurrents threatening, to our already fragile marriage, before it had even started.

Slowly, my Initial dismay curdled right into a hardening defiance and determination. If they wanted to treat me like some unwelcome disgrace based on my upbringing and finances , so be it. I would show the insufferable Westbrook family that I could not be belittled or driven away that easily regardless of their wealth or condescension.

I may have agreed to this marriage under trying circumstances, but I am iJack's wife now - for better or worse. And I would not simply lay down and watch his family of elitist bullies walk all over me without putting up a fight.

Steeling my solve, I headed upstairs to find my new husband, refusing to slink away as their doormat. My fairytale dream of a loving marriage might also have died...However a new fire was lit inside me to stand up for myself and demand basic respect on this society world I married into.

No matter how harrowing the road ahead would prove to be.