4 meeting her

NATHAN

My uncle's call sounded so urgent. He made it clear that he wanted me to be at his place yesterday as he needed to discuss something important but I was too tired to go to his place. I need a long nap, lately I've been too drowned in work to even think about my mental health.

I walk into my uncle's living room and his lips curve into a half smile as he looks at me.

"You sounded so urgent" I sit on a couch opposite him and one of his maids serves me a cold juice.

"And you came today" my uncle scans my appearance coldly as he clears his throat. My uncle is one hell of a character, very mean by face but kind at heart. I know that because he was so kind to me, he saved me and took care of me even when every other person in my family wanted to dispose me, he took me in as his child and currently I'm his son, his nephew, his business partner and friend.

"I'll just get straight to the point" he pauses and closes the magazine he's reading and tosess it on the table. "I've gotten you a wife"

I choke on nothing particularly and I cough. I gulp the juice to stop the cough but it doesn't help much. My uncle wears an amused expression and I glare at him.

"Please tell me this is a joke" I gulp more of the juice in hopes that my uncle is just kidding

"I'm serious, I can't keep waiting for you to find the perfect girl" he uses air quotations for the last part. "You have to get married before I hand over this business fully to you, besides you know your grandma won't approve me handing this business to you as you're unmarried and I need to finally retire from all these responsibilities" my uncle's calm aura fills the room slowly drowning away my feeling of rage.

"I'm not ready to marry" I deadpan as I run my hand through my hair. Truth be told, I don't think I'll ever be ready to marry.

"You can't be a rake forever Nathan" he adds coldly.

"I'm not a rake" I defend and he waves his hand in the air dismissing my defense.

"We need to keep the Kriss name alive Nathan and that's on you" he uncrosses his legs and leans back on the couch.

"I don't want to marry" I blurt out in annoyance and my uncle lets out a disagreeing laughter.

"That is not up to you"

"Oh yeah? If you want an heir so badly why don't you marry yourself" I stand up from the chair and pace angrily.

My uncle blinks twice and I'm sure I've crossed the line even though he manages to maintain a stoic expression but I do not care, he should've asked me about this first not just swoop in and make a decision like this for me. I'm 25, I can make my own decisions for myself!

"There's no way out of this Nathan, you have a wife!" He says sharply and I grab the backrest of the couch to prevent me from punching something. If he's said it, then there's really no way out of this.

"She's here already and I think you should be dying to see her"

"I don't even know her, how did you even get her to agree to this, I know it wouldn't be hard given that most girls would practically melt if thrown an offer like this"

"Rest assured she wants nothing to do with this. She hates my face already and she doesn't know she's married to you"

"Then how did you get her to this?" I know how some women could be pretentious sometimes

"She doesn't have a choice. She's Mr. Ray's niece, practically not his niece but his wife's niece"

My lips curl up in disgust as I remember Mr. Ray, our greedy employee who stole so much from our company.

"I got her in exchange for his debts, figured out he'll accept easily as he loathes her. You don't have to worry, I did a total check on her and she's quite different"

I can trust my uncle's choice because he's so meticulous about his choices and I think that's the reason he's happily single till now.

I know I had to do this sooner or later so I could take over the company but I'm just mad that it's sooner.

My uncle tells me a little about her background and all I need to know about her. I need a long rest because everything is making my head more heavy.

"Her name is Ashley and she even tried running away from this, luckily we caught up with her just before she did"

Unluckily you mean?

"So I'm betrothed to an 18 year old girl who hates our guts?" I laugh and my uncle nods. This seems interesting and if marrying this girl will make me live in peace and pacify my uncle, then marriage it is.

"You're going to be wedded to her when she hits eighteen exactly and that's in three days time. We need a child from this."

I let out a breath and sit back on the couch.

My uncle signals one of his men to come "Bring the girl here" he says to the guard and then turns to me "you're taking her home, I'm already feeling sick of keeping her here"

The guard comes back soon but I don't see any girl with him. "She's still adamant as ever" the guard says

I smile and look at my uncle. Now I just want to see her face, I want to know who she is but most importantly, I want to talk the terms of this silly marriage with her.

"I told you to bring her here" my uncle snaps and the guard leaves immediately. "She hasn't been out of that room since I brought her here, she hasn't eaten anything"

The guard comes down again but this time he leaves the view and for a minute I think everything is still.

Swollen eyes, from crying probably. The baggy pants she's wearing doesn't conceal the fact that she's curvy. Her hair is packed in a messy bun with some strands out, resting on her shoulder just above the mounds of flesh on her chest. Oh God! I'm checking her out.

I indeed am a rake!

She wears a confused look and she crosses her hands on her chest and rests all her weight on one leg. She looks confused but above all she looks scared.

I think my uncle notices how I check her out because he clears his throat suggestively. "Ashley, this is your husband, my son Nathan"

I swear I see a wave of relief wash through her features and I bite the insides of my mouth to stop me from laughing. I know she probably thought she was going to be married to my uncle.

"Get her stuff, we are going now" I say to the guard and I stand up and nod at my uncle before looking over at her.

"Let's go home" I don't intend on wasting any more time at my uncle's place, I need to be home in time, there's so much that needs to be done.

She looks like she wants to say something but she decides against it and I lead the way outside to my car.

The guard puts her bag in my car and I'm about to open the door of the car but her voice stops me.

"You rich people feel you can get anything you want from someone even if it's against their wish" she snorts

"Oh dear I want nothing to do with this trust me"

"Then stop it" she crosses her hands on her chest glaring at me.

"I can't, you're my only hope at getting what I want and I'm your only hope at saving your family"

I think what I said angered her more because she glares at me harder as if there's just a thin line that's holding her sanity.