The Billion-Dollar Secret

CHAPTER 2

ARYA

I looked from my mother to David to Rose, and back to my mother; I was waiting for one of them to double over in laughter at how I had fallen for their prank.

Nobody was laughing. Nobody was calling me stupid and naive for believing a lie as outrageous as that.

“What…? What do you mean Brian and Rose are getting married in two weeks?” I chuckled, fresh tears heating my eyes up as I waited for something; anything; that would hint at this being a large and expensive joke. Perhaps Brian could even pop out of my closet and announce that it was all a joke, and I wouldn’t even be angry about it.

“You will attend the wedding with us, and you will congratulate them without causing a scene,” Mom informed, drilling the information to me so painfully slow like I was a child with comprehension difficulties, and that triggered me even more.

I wanted to scream on top of my lungs and ask them if they had all gone crazy, but I had neither the courage nor the strength for it.

“This has been going on long enough for you all to plan a wedding coming in the next two weeks? When were you all going to tell me? If I hadn’t caught them in bed together, would I have even known until the day of the wedding?” I asked.

“As Rose said, we all thought Brian had told you. This is nobody’s fault,” David said in a patronizing tone.

“Please, leave. All of you,” I commanded quietly.

“Arya—”

“Out!” I raised my voice, watching them file out of the room, save for my mother, who closed the door after Rose and David walked out.

“If everyone else was in on it except for you, I wouldn’t have had much of a problem with it, you know,” I told her, expressing my hurt.

“Arya, you have to understand our reason for taking this path.” She walked up to me, using her thumb to catch my stray tears and wipe them off my face.

“I totally understand. Rose is the heir to David’s fortune, so she has to get married to an equally strong heir of another company like Brian so you and David can benefit from it,” I deduced.

I looked at my mother as her sorry expression morphed into a frown of annoyance.

“What is so wrong with that, Arya?” she questioned, her hand leaving my face and rendering me cold. “What is so wrong with doing something for the benefit of the entire family?”

“You’re doing it at my expense,” I reminded her.

“I’m doing this for you. Stop being selfish.” It was comical, being called selfish by her, but I chose to leave things the way they were and not address them. I barely had any energy left in me for another fight, especially one with my mother.

“You can go now,” I told with a sigh, walking towards the door and opening it.

“If this wedding does not sit well with you, and you’re sure about causing a scene, do not attend the wedding,” she warned before walking away.

~~

I hadn’t talked to my family in two weeks on my own free will. I only gave monotonous replies whenever they asked questions. I had avoided dinner with them all because of what they had all done to me, and I had accepted the dress they had given to me to wear to my dear stepsister’s wedding without saying a word about it.

The only place I had been spending hours of my day was in the hospital, where my little brother, James, was fighting for his life.

The one thing I could not avoid, even if I wanted to, was the wedding.

Even if I chose to not attend, I would always have the sickening thought in my head that they were probably kissing on the altar or having their first dance. Maybe if I went, I would have closure.

“Oh, honey! You look amazing,” Mom marveled when I got down the stairs and into the living room in the light pink dress she had picked out for me. It was so tight; I could barely move without the constant fear of it ripping.

“I don’t feel amazing,” I retorted with a frown.

“Don’t,” she scolded as we waited at the foot of the stairs, waiting for David to bring Rose down with him.

It didn’t take a long while before a cloud of white flooded our vision. I raised my brows at the heaviness of the dress, taking it all in as even David struggled to walk by her side.

“You look so beautiful, Rose!” Mom commented, her voice wavering. She used the tissue she has been holding to wipe tears out of the corners of her eyes.

“Thank you,” Rose chuckled when they finally got to the bottom of the stairs. She turned to me, and her smile faded. “It’s been a while, Arya.”

“Let’s get this over with,” I said, turning and walking towards the door and away from them as fast as the tight dress would let me.

“Remember what I told you, Arya,” Mom warned. “It’s not too late to turn back and go to your room if you believe you’re going to cause a scene. Nobody will fault you for not attending.”

Without giving a reply, I got into the car and remained quiet for the rest of the ride to the venue.

~~

“Do you, Rose Deville, take Brian Baxter to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and respect him for all eternity, till death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Brian Baxter, take Rose Deville…”

My head went blank as I stared into space, almost as if I was staring through the officiator. I couldn’t bear to be mindfully present in an event like that. If I tried to focus on the unbelievable thing that was happening, I would probably find myself crying and causing a scene, and that was the last thing anyone wanted, not even me.

By the time my eyes came back into focus, they had just kissed, and everyone around me was cheering for this new union.

They looked happy. They looked perfect for each other. I was being spoon-fed my own bad luck and forced to chew it down, swallow it, and get over it.

By the time we got to the reception, my mother refused to leave my side.

“Don’t look so down. There are cameras everywhere,” Mom told me. “Besides, we need to talk.”

“About what?” I questioned.

“Rose was supposed to be married to someone else, and I know that. In fact, I’m sorry all of this happened. You don’t know how sorry I am that we did this to you, but I’m also grateful that you’re mature enough to take it like this.” She took my hand in hers.

“To make up for it, I’ve set up your own wedding to the man who was supposed to be married to Rose!”

“No.” I shook my head, about to protest when she blurted the one thing I never thought I would hear her say.

“You killed your father and put your brother in that condition, don’t you remember?”