THE ONE FOR BLAIR

CHAPTER ONE

“Dad, she passed away last week. You can’t possibly have gotten over Marie’s death so easily. Could you?” Blair asked her father, who had called her into his study to discuss business affairs.

Blair had just lost her sister in a car crash a week ago, and it had been the longest week of her life. Marie’s death had a great effect on the family and had left everyone dazed and confused. The doctors had done everything to save her that night and after 12 hours of operating, they had lost her.

“You are being harsh, Blair. Marie was my daughter too. You know I loved her.”

“Did you? Because it seems to me like it’s so easy for you to carry on. Just sitting behind your laptop starting your day normally, while I can still hear mum in the room sobbing her eyes out. I can hear her, Dad,” Blair said accusingly.

She knew her dad loved Marie, she was the first child, and they were automatically conjoined at the hip. They carried on the affairs of the business together, and he termed her as his “twin from another generation”. So Blair didn’t understand why he was acting as if she hadn’t just died a horrible and painful death.

Pete Cornwell looked up from his laptop for the first time since his daughter entered his home office. His eyes were puffy, and he hadn’t combed his hair in weeks.

“I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t bear to hear her cry and wail for her daughter that she will never get back. That we will never get back.”

Blair’s eyes softened slightly as he spoke.

“Her tears are a constant reminder that Marie is gone, and sometimes I don’t want to remember. So here I am. Burying myself in the urgent business of our pending bankruptcy. I don’t know what else to do,” He looked down at his shaky hands, “There’s nothing else to do.”

Blair nodded, understanding that people grieve differently. What had happened to her family was still an open wound, and it would scar them for life.

Calming down, her dad said, “Sit down. I called you for something really important. Have you checked your email lately?”

“No I haven’t,” Blair replied, taking a seat opposite her dad. She already knew what was coming. Her father had sent some documents to her email address, and he knew she always checked her mail.

“You’re lying,” He said curtly.

“I’m not. I’ve not been on my laptop.” She had.

He nodded, seeming to believe her at the moment.

The room was quiet for a little while and all that was heard was the sound of her father tapping away on his keyboard. She was sure he was pulling out the email he had gotten from Jason Lee, the CEO of Nancicorp Enterprises. It was the same mail her dad had forwarded to her.

He turned the laptop to face her.

“This came three days after your sister's death,” He flinched as he spoke. He was obviously still coming to terms with saying those words.

Blair leaned in to read what she had already read before. It was a letter from the head of Nancicorp, Jason Lee, regarding the death of Marie. According to him, he sympathizes with the family but now that Marie has met her unexpected end, he would still need to marry the next daughter if Pete knew he wanted to save his family from bankruptcy. Her father was watching her so she had made it look as if she hadn’t seen the email.

“So you want me to marry Jason Lee.”

Pete squinted his eyes a little, “You did read the mail that I sent you.”

She nodded and sighed. “Yes I read it. I didn’t want to believe what I had read so I chose not to dwell on it. But you’re really supporting this aren’t you?”

“I’m not supporting anything. I don’t want you to marry him.”

“Yet here we are.”

“Yes. Because it’s something you need to do. Left for me alone I wouldn’t want you to do this. I never wanted Marie to do this either, but she was going to because she understood.”

“So make me understand,” Blair said to her father, slightly raising her voice.

“You need to take on some responsibility. Your sister isn’t here anymore, unfortunately. I need you to take on her role and this was one of them. She was going to marry Jason and now that she’s gone, you have to fill in those shoes.”

There was a pause as Pete turned his laptop to face him again, “We are on the verge of bankruptcy, Blair. You know this. We need this marriage. It’ll help us restore our financial standing.”

Blair nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. Her family needed her help. She looked at her father and it looked to her like he was on the verge of tears. She softened thinking about what it must be like losing one daughter to death and another to the hands of a ruthless billionaire all for the sake of their financial status.

“I don’t have a say in this, do I?”

“You actually don’t. This decision has been made,” Pete said to her.

“Then I will marry Jason Lee,” Blair said standing.

“I’m really sorry, Blair. You have no idea.”

She looked at her father one last time before leaving his home office and said “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Pete hoped so too.

That evening, as the sun was setting, casting a warm golden glow through the windows of her room where Blair stood frozen in shock. Her heart pounded in her chest as she clutched the phone to her ear trying to process the bombshell news her father gave her in the morning, relaying the news to her best friend, Martha. She had spent the day thinking about her dilemma and eventually cried herself to sleep. She cried for a number of reasons, the loss of her sister, her marriage to Jason and her family’s pending bankruptcy.

“Married? To him?” Blair whispered into the phone, her voice daring to tremble again with disbelief.

On the other end of the line, Martha’s voice crackled with concern.

“I can’t believe it either, Blair. And your dad seems so adamant about the whole arrangement. I’m so sorry.”

Blair paced the deluxe carpet, her mind swirling with a whirlwind of emotions.

“But I don’t even know him at all. He’s twice my age too! Gosh, how can this be my life?”

Martha sighed sympathetically. “I know it’s unfair, I know it. But you need this. Your family needs this unless everything will crumble. Marrying you off to a billionaire like Jason Lee is something that will help your family’s finances.”

Blair’s stomach churned at the mention of Jason’s name. She has heard rumors about him and whispers about his ruthless business tactics and his string of failed relationships. She wondered why the man wouldn’t just settle down with one woman already. The thought of spending her life with a man like that filled her with so much dread.

“But what about what I want, Mar?” She pleaded, her voice breaking. “What about dreams and my aspirations? I can’t just go into marriage with someone I don’t love!”

Martha’s voice softened with understanding and concern for her dear friend.

“I know, Blair. And I’m here for you, no matter what. We’ll figure this out together, okay?”

Tears welled up in Blair’s eyes as she sank on to the plush sofa, feeling absolutely defeated. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m trapped in some sort of nightmare and I just want to wake up.”

Martha’s comforting words flowed through the phone like a lifeline.

“You are not alone, my love. We’ll find a way to get through this, I promise.”

As the night descended outside the windows, casting shadows across the room, Blair clung to her best friend’s words of comfort like a beacon of hope. Despite the submerging sense of despair that dared to preoccupy her, she knew she had one person she could always rely on and that was Martha.

With Martha’s unwavering support, Blair wiped her tears away and straightened her shoulders, a spark of determination burning in her eyes. She resolved to find a solution to her dilemma and refused to let the obstacles that lay ahead define her. As she bid Martha a grudging farewell and set the phone down, she felt a little bit better that she had spoken to her friend and willed herself to cry no more. With her friend by her side, she would defy the odds and make her own way in this new situation she found herself.