Love Me Not

Ella's POV

After the night I had the last thing I need in my life drama. I have had about enough for one day. Last night my boyfriend cheated on me, I took a day off to his special day and he ruined it all. Physically I look fine but my heart is in pieces, the announcement did not make things any easy. I had just gotten out of a relationship and now I wake up and there's a press conference announcing an engagement to the one person I despise the most. I mean after what happened I don't even know if I can stand to be in the same room with him let alone be married to him.

It was clear that my day was going from bad to worse. There was a loud banging on my door.

" Ella it's me, open up dear." I heard my mother's voice.

" I'm coming." I said. I let my mother in.

" I have been trying to call you all morning!" My mother said.

" I had to switch it off, reporters have been calling me non stop, can you please tell me that you saw that announcement." I said to my mother.

" I think the whole world saw it baby, that is why I tried to call you, I didn't want you to find out about it this way. " She said.

" Find out? You knew?" I asked her with horror in my eyes.

" Look baby, your father and I discussed this and we think that Alexander Black is the right match for you, he comes from the right family and he is successful. " My mother said with a smile.

" Are you kidding me? What are back to the stone ages? Mum this is not the tenth century, you can't just marry me off to someone." I said.

" We might not be in the tenth century like you put it but we are Royals and this is what Royals do, it is our tradition and you my dear will respect it. " My mother said.

" No, I have no interests with the crown, even dad didn't want to take his place, he left his home country and came here to start a life away from all of his royal duties. " I said. She was being a hypocrite and I was trying to show her that she wrong.

" Do you think that Lady Liana wanted to marry the crown prince? No but she did it because she knew that she had to do what was right, just like I had to do what was right, Ella if you don't do this your father will cut you off and baby we both know that without the family name and business, you would end up homeless and in the streets. " She said.

" I am his only daughter, he wouldn't do that to me." I said to her.

" You don't want to find out, your father has a lot of influence, do you think that anyone would hire you if they knew that he has turned his back on you? He sent me here to talk to you because he thought that I would get through to you." She said.

" Mum you can't be serious, not with Alex." I said.

" You have a choice, you can turn your back on your family or you can do what is expected of you, Ella you know that one day this day would come, I prepared you for this." She said and stood up. " Now we will be hosting a party this evening, if you don't show up then we will have our answer. " She said and stood up.

" So that's it? " I asked her.

" I'm sorry baby, your father wants this marriage. " She said and took her purse. I spent the next few hours thinking about what my mother said. It took a lot from me but in the end, I decided to go. I at least owed it to myself to hear what my father had to say about this. I got myself ready and I went to my parents house. Of course my mother was the first to see me. There was people everywhere so this was clearly a huge party. My mother had on the biggest smile on her face. She hugged me tight.

I don't know if I was in a dream but all that I knew was that I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me, I wanted to die. My parents are litterally forcing me to marry a man I don't like or love, a man I am supposed to meet tonight.

" Come on dear, we can't keep the guests waiting, your future husband is waiting for you. " my mother said with a happy smile like it was the happiest day of my life when she knew very well that this is not what I want. Chad is probably waiting for me to come home and here I am standing in the piano room with my mother. Looking at my mother, I felt like I was trapped, I felt like my chest was getting tighter by the minute, like I couldn't breathe.

" I can't do this..." I said to my mother.

" Yes you will, do you think that I wanted to marry your father? Do you think that he was my first choice? No but we have been together for almost thirty years and we have you so you will do as I did, you will hold back those tears, lift your head and when we get out there, you will smile like this is the happiest day of your life. " My mother said with a firm voice, I had no choice.

" Okay..." I said and we walked out to the pool house. I will give them an A for effort. The whole garden was transformed. It looked like a whimsical enchanted forest. There was trees painted in gold, small lights on a string lighting up the garden. People where dressed to their nines and as I walked, I couldn't help but feel like someone was starring at me. Granted that I was wearing a beautiful dress but everyone else was looking fine too. I saw my father standing there with his old friend and the man I hate. My mother pinched me.

" Smile dear, people are watching. " She said through her teeth as she waved at her guests with a huge and proud smile on her face. I smiled, even if it was forced. We walked to where my father was standing with non other Harvey and Alex Black. The father and son duo.

I don't even know if my parents know the kind of man they are selling me off to, this is all about the money, no one cares about me or my feelings, all that they care about is their company and if I don't do this, my family's dynasty could be lost forever and I don't if I can live if something like that happened but Alex Black is a womanizer, changing girls like he changes his underwear.

We finally reached the table and once again, I had to smile and grin like I was happy, even if every fibre of me wanted to scream. I might be quiet but inside, I was screaming like a mad woman but I was born a lady and so I shall act like one. I shall be the obedient daughter they all expected me to be.

" At least she's pretty..." Alex said with a smile. Even though I could see a smile on his face, I sensed something much more darker and cold, it was like he too was feeling the way I was feeling about this whole arranged marriage thing.

" I think that we should give them a few minutes before we make the announcement. " My mother said with a smile.

" Announcement?" I asked her with a puzzled face. I know that my mother told that it was my engagement party but I didn't think that she was actually serious about this, we have just spoken about this and now she is making announcements? I felt a knot deep down in my stomach, I felt sick to my stomach but I had to stand strong, the press is here so by morning, everyone is going to know about this, that would include Chad. I thought that I would have more time, that I would get the chance to explain to him what was going on.

" Yes dear, I told you that you are getting engaged tonight and as you can see, Alex is ready to go down on his knees. " My mother said.

" Yes, I am more than ready. " Alex said with a smile, I didn't buy his act because I could tell that he was taking it.

" I thought that we would at least get a chance to talk, maybe get to know each other a little better. " I said to Alex.

" We will have plenty of time to do all of that when we get married. " He said.

" Young man, you got that right, actually I think that you should do it now. " My mother said to Alex with a smile.

Alex took out something from his pocket and came to where I was standing, he looked at me deep in the eyes and when he went down on his knees, he kept his eyes on me. People started to pay attention to what was happening as he was now on one knee. I think this guy took acting classes because from where I was standing, he was playing his role perfectly, he took my hand in his, I was trembling and he gently kissed it. Again it looked so real but I knew better. He opened the box and took out the ring, everyone was watching us.

" Ella Swiss, will you make me the happiest man in the world and agree to be my wife. " He said with his eyes stuck on mine. I had so many questions, especially since lying came so easy with him. Here I was standing in front of all this people with Alex Black asking me to marry him and I couldn't even move.

" Ella..." He said and brought me back to reality.

" Yes I'll marry you. " I said to him and he slipped a ring on my finger. It was a beautiful smile with a huge red rock. I have never seen anything like this before, especially since it looked like an old cut, there was no doubt in my mind that this was an expensive piece of jewelry.

Everyone started to clap and my mother hugged me, she was definitely more happy about this engagement than I was. People started to come and congratulate me. I will say that smiling when you don't want to is a lot harder than I imagined.

"Now everyone may I have your attention. " My father spoke. Everyone turned and looked at him.

" Now I want you all to know that by this time next month, our lovely couple will officially be husband and wife. " My father said with a smile. I was shocked but I held it in. Alex took my hand and kissed it. Flashes of camera's started to blind me as every reporter wanted their fair chance of the couple. The louder people clapped the harder he squeezed my hand.

After what seemed like a lifetime, he finally let go of my hand which was now throbbing. I didn't say anything but I moved away from him.

" Please excuse me, I need the powder room. " I said and excused myself and went back into the main house. I didn't go to the powder room but instead I went to the kitchen and took a bottle of champagne. I took a glass on the table and I went upstairs to my room old room.

I realised that I was right about Alex Black, he is not a good man, I know that he doesn't want this as much as I do, I also realised that my parents are too caught up in this to even care about the things I want. All of this feels so wrong and I wish that I could walk away. I wish that I can just go out and live my life, for the first time in my life I hated being the only child. I popped the bottle of champagne and poured it in the glass. I sat on the bed and I drank the champagne.

" Ella..." my mother said on the other side of my door. I didn't say anything.

" Ella Swiss you better open this door right now!" She said.

I stood up and went to the door. I unlocked the door and she made her way Inside.

"Why are you hiding out here? " my mother said.

" I am not hiding, I just needed some time to myself. " I said to her.

" Alexander is waiting for you. " My mother said to me.

" I'll be down in a minute, I need some time to think. " I said to her.

" Let me look at that beautiful ring of yours. " She said with a huge smile.

" Mum so you are telling me that you are perfectly fine with everything that is happening? and why do we have to rush to the altar?" I asked her.

" Ella the sooner we do this, the better it will be for everyone, remember that this is not just about you, this is about our family and baby this is the sacrifice you have to make, just like I did, the Black family is a good family, you will never need for anything, you will have a great life " My mother said to me.

" I hope that this is all worth it. " I said to her.

" Yes baby, it was worth it. " She said and smiled as she looked at me. I put on my shoes and we were on our way back to the guests.

Alex gave me a smile when he saw me, it was still a cold smile so I knew that he was faking it. I don't know why he agree to this when he clearly didn't want it.

" So my dear Fiance, your father and I discussed this and we both think that it's better to do this as soon as possible, we are getting married next Saturday. " He said.

" What? Why so soon, I thought that we had atleast a few weeks. " I said to him.

" Well you let me do the thinking in this marriage and we will get along just fine, we are getting married in a week, I am sure that is more than enough time to plan a wedding. " He said with a smile.

" Fine, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. " I said.

" Not so fast, this is our party so you can't leave just yet, you'll go later. " He said.

" No, I am leaving. " I said and walked away from him. At this point I didn't even care if this was our party because I wanted to part of whatever it is that was going on with him. I had to talk to Chad, he deserved that much.