I married him to save my family

Chapter2

My eyes found him. Frosting covered part of his face and shirt. A piece of cake had fallen onto the table in front of him and the once perfect lemon cake was now a mess.

But that wasn’t what shocked me because I had expected it. It was him.

For a second my mind went blank. The ugly monster I was dreading didn’t exist. He was beautiful, dangerously beautiful.

His jawline was well chiseled, dark intense eyes and features so perfectly carved it almost felt unreal to look at him. Even with the frosting smeared on his face, he looked intimidating.

He was nowhere close to the ugly monster they described him as. He reminded me of the s*x Greek gods I read about in romance novels.

He didn’t look angry or amused. His expression was unreadable. I could feel his eyes all over me. My breath hitched. I wished I could disappear, I hated him so much.

“She’s your wife,” his father said to him. “As you can see, she’s very beautiful. I found the perfect woman for you. Her character needs to be worked but she’s a very beautiful young lady nonetheless,”

Lincoln stood up slowly. For the first time, I realized how tall he was. He was towering over me.

“I’m going home,” he announced.

My heart pounded. I should be thrilled my husband showed no interest in me but I was scared for my family. What if he didn’t want to marry me because of what I did to him? What did that mean for my loved ones?

No one stopped him from leaving.

“Darling,”

Mrs Canon reached for my hand. She was a tiny woman in her fifties. It was no doubt that Lincoln got his dark hair and eyes from her.

“You must not be rude husband,”

She pulled me into the seat beside her. Tears clouded my vision. This wasn’t the kind of life I envisioned for myself.

“Lincoln is strong headed but I am convinced you’re the right match for him,”

I stared at her like she was talking nonsense. There were so many beautiful girls to choose from, ones from wealthy families who would in fact be happy to marry him and have as many kids as they liked. So why me?

“You’re not going to stay married to him forever,” she said softly. “We just need an heir,”

I looked at baba who’s eyes were teary, I’ve never seen him cry before. Mama was dabbing her eyes with a paper towel.

Mrs Canon continued. “We aren’t asking for too much. All we want is an heir but if your father is able to pay off his debt in one year, then the marriage will be annulled.”

I scoffed. Baba owed them millions of dollars, he needed more than a year to pay his debt off.

It sounded simple, give the Lincoln family an heir and forget about their existence and the child. If all went as planned, in about nine months, my sham of a marriage would come to an end and my family and I would be free. It was a great price to pay but it was all going to be worth it.

“I’ll do it,” I managed to say.

Baba's tears fell. Everyday, he blamed himself for putting me in this position, he always asked for my forgiveness but I wasn’t angry at him. There was nothing in this world that I wanted for my family to return to normalcy.

“Eloise,” mama's voice cracked.

She had so much to say but she choked on her own tears. She reached for me, her trembling fingers cupped my face.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered even though we both knew that wasn’t true.

“I want to,” I lied. “Everything will be fine.”

It had to be.

She pulled me into her arms, hugging me tight as if I would disappear if she let go. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to wish everything away.

Papa cleared his throat.

“I’ll fix this,” he said hoarsely. “Eloise, I promise you, as long as I live, I’ll do everything to get you out of this mess,”

I nodded even though we both knew the weight of the promise.

“I’m sorry my brother is such a dickhead,” Damien Canon said, speaking for the first time.

Damien looked just like his brother, one could assume they were twins but Damien’s eyes held kindness.

I nodded, not knowing what to say.

If they wanted an heir so badly, they could have at least married me off to the kinder one.

“You mustn’t take Lincoln’s behavior personally,” Mrs Canon smiled

The man walked out on me. How could I not take that personally?

“He has a lot on his mind,” she continued. “He never wanted marriage,”

“Neither did I,” I muttered.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Everyone looked at me pitifully.

Baba pulled me to the side immediately.

“Ellie,” he held my hands. “I know how much you hate this but please behave yourself. Lincoln isn’t one to be messed with,”

I couldn’t remember the rest of baba speech because I stared into the empty space, feeling sorry for myself and hating the monster I just got married to.