Chapter One

If I was meant to be controlled, I would have come with a remote. Quote by no idea?

Noah glared at the frail old man standing before him, leaning on his cane heavily. “Let me get this straight. You want me to marry your seventeen-year-old daughter?” April had come along late in the old man’s life. He had been in his 60s when April had been born.

Her mother had caused a scandal by running off with the gardener when April was only 3 months old. Gail had only been in her early twenties at the time of April’s birth. She had been a city girl. Living in the country with an older husband and a baby may not have been the life she signed up for or thought she would be getting. Everyone believed she had been in it for the money. But hadn’t been able to stomach it in the end when a younger, sexy man had been available.

There was no doubt in everyone’s mind that William Harrington would have had April’s DNA tested after that.

It only proved she was the true heiress to the Harrington family because she hadn’t been farmed off somewhere and never seen again. But why was William trying to marry her off now?

Noah knew it was legal for a seventeen-year-old to get married with their parents’ consent, but in his eyes, it was nothing short of pedophilia. He wasn’t attracted to girls.

He had been nice to April when he had seen her. Her father often brought her to events. April had always looked uncomfortable, and he felt sorry for the girl. Often making sure he paid attention to her. Trying to bring her out in conversation. More often than not, she spent the evening looking at her feet, trying to hide behind her father, aiming to be as invisible as possible. Poor girl, she was chubby, socially awkward and out of her league with some of the bitches in society. He had seen how her cousin, Porsha Harrington, had spoken to her younger cousin. April wasn’t equipped with a mean bone in her body, so did fight back.

Now her father wanted to marry her off like she was a prized mare or something. “I’m sorry William, but I’m not marrying April.”

The old bastard eyed him. “I’m afraid that’s exactly what you will do, Noah.”

Noah laughed. “Unless a shotgun is involved, I’m really not sure how you think that will be possible.”

“I don’t want you to marry her until she is eighteen, which will be in one month’s time. But I need someone to look after her. I’m not sure how long I have to live,” William explained.

Tellling Noah without explanation, something medically was wrong. Because why the rush if there wasn’t? “William, while I’m sorry to hear that.” Noah really was. He liked the old man, the sly old dog that had been able to run his empire on his own. “It doesn’t change the fact I will not be marrying April. She doesn’t appeal to me at all. She isn’t woman enough for me.” After all, she was just a child. She still had a bit of puppy fat. Noah wasn’t sure if it was even politically correct to call it that anymore. And she had braces on her teeth. Her eyes were absolutely mesmerizing. They were a captivating shade of sea green, although her long bangs often obscured them when she wasn’t making direct eye contact.

April was coming in from the garden. As she headed to her father’s office, she thought she would freshen up his dark, masculine office with the beautiful flowers she had just picked from the garden.

She noticed that his door was slightly ajar, and the voices coming from inside caught her attention, causing her to pause. She hesitated to enter, in case he was with someone important. However, just as she was about to walk away, she recognized the voice of the person accompanying her father. It was Noah. Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing his voice, and at first, she was so captivated by the sound that she didn’t even register the words being spoken.

When she did, and then she wanted to die. “It doesn’t change the fact I will not be marrying April. She doesn’t appeal to me at all. She isn’t woman enough for me.” It hurt. She had been secretly crushing on Noah for years. She knew he was completely out of her league. His next words made her heart break. 

“She is socially incapable of holding her own. She is so shy, insecure and doesn’t even look like wife material, let alone act it.” Noah said from inside the office.

April clutched a hand to her chest. She wasn’t sure what her father was doing, but it didn’t matter. She had always thought Noah was her friend. But to hear him talk about her like this proved to her he had never been her friend. Had he using her to get close to her father?

Not wanting to hear him shred her character anymore, she left the house through the backdoor. April walked through the garden, thinking. She hadn’t ever thought she was in Noah’s league and believed nothing would ever come of her crush. Not when he dated women like Willow, a famous runway model, and before her, it had been that indie filmmaker and surprise - surprise she had been gorgeous as well.

Knowing she was out of his league hadn’t stopped her from daydreaming about him. His intense gaze had the ability to make her knees go weak. His smell could render her speechless. But she wasn’t woman enough for him. It hurt. She didn’t know why she let it hurt her, but it did.

Noah had always been so nice to her. That was until today. He hadn’t said it to her face, but did that really matter? He had voiced it to her father. Not realizing she was there listening to him.

It wasn’t like she didn’t believe he wouldn’t say it to her face. Noah was known for being honest and not always having a filter when he didn’t like someone. April drifted across the garden, not really seeing it, and she sunk down near a flower bed under a tree.

Putting her gardening tools and the flowers she had already cut this morning to one side, she automatically started pulling weeds out, forgetting to put her gloves back on. Not that she cared about getting dirt under her short nails.

Noah looked outside the office window, frustration humming in every line of his body. Noah watched as April moved past the window before sitting down near a garden bed. He felt sorry for the poor girl. He hoped he was the only person Harrington had approached with this offer. The man wasn’t selling frigging cattle here, but his daughter. Talk about a control freak.

He couldn’t understand why William was so insistent on him marrying April. Noah had no interest in her, and he couldn’t fathom why her father couldn’t see that. He had always treated April with kindness, but that was out of sympathy, not a romantic attraction.

She reminded him of himself when he had first gone to university on a full scholarship and most of the students there had been blue bloods, rich and well to do. He had felt like a cuckoo in the nest. That’s how he saw April. She was a bookish young woman who had more interest in reading than parties.

“I’m sorry. You know I’m with someone.” Noah had no intention of talking about marriage to Willow, who he had been seeing for months now, but William didn’t need to know that. Willow was easy to be with. She wasn’t demanding of his time. Because she was often overseas modeling. She was hot property right now in the modeling world. Noah was sure he wasn’t her only benefactor in more ways than one. He hadn’t had a lot of time for her lately. Work. He was working fourteen to sixteen-hour days. Work was all he worried about lately.

William smirked at him, waving off his girlfriend as if she was unimportant in his eyes. “I know what worries you Noah and I can be your worst enemy or your father-in-law.”

Noah felt sick. He had told no one about his worries, not even his best friend, Ryan. “What are you trying to hint at?”

“How you expanded your hotel business buying up more hotels just before covid hit the world? The shut downs damaged your business.”

“Mine and thousands of others.” Noah wasn’t going to give the man anything. Let him play his cards first. Even though he had a sick feeling about where this was going. He had started in the investment world until the opportunity came to buy his first hotel. Which he had remodeled and then, as that had grown, bought another. Who would have guessed that covid would spread like it had, causing mass global shut downs and devastation not only emotional but financial.

“Do not toy with me, Noah. I have acquired your debt from the bank. I can demand payment immediately, or you can choose to marry April instead. In that case, we can forget about the debt, and you will become my son-in-law, securing a better future for April and yourself.” Noah had an intense urge to leap towards the old man and choke him, but he restrained himself. William was unwell. However, without uttering a word, Noah walked over to a chair and settled himself into it.

How had it come to this? Noah couldn’t believe it. If it wasn’t for covid, then he wouldn’t be in this mess. But he refused to let it defeat him. Why hadn’t his bank told him that William Harrington had bought his debt? The news had blindsided him.

William waited in silents for a few moments before saying. “I’m going in for an operation after April’s birthday. There is only a 10% chance of it not killing me on the table. She is eighteen in four weeks. If I don’t have the operation, then I’ll be dead before the year is out.” William sighed and moved around behind his desk and sunk down heavily into his own chair. Facing Noah across the large oak desk. “Even with the procedure, they have given me five years max. I’m an old man, Noah. I need someone to look after my daughter.”

“Why me?” Noah knew if he didn’t do what William wanted, he would lose everything.

“I know you Noah. I have had to deal with you in the investment world before you started buying hotels. It’s cutthroat out there, but you still hold a reputation of someone that can be trusted. You’re working yourself to the bone so you don’t have to lay anyone off within your company. Let me fix that for you.”

Noah sat in the chair, head down and elbows resting on his knees, his mind racing. He had worked hard to build his reputation in the business community, but he never expected it to come back to haunt him like this. The thought of marrying April, someone he had never been attracted to, was unacceptable. But did he have any choice? It was marry the chit or lose everything.

“I can’t just marry her because of a debt,” Noah finally spoke, his voice filled with frustration. “I have my own life, my own plans.”

William leaned back in his chair, his gaze steady. “I understand your concerns, Noah. But think about it. When I die, April will be a very wealthy woman. She has no interest in running a company the size of mine. She finds enjoyment in flowers, gardening, horses and the children in the village. It’s time you settled down.”

He had been living a relentless, work-focused life, neglecting any personal connections. His relationships had been shallow since his involvement with Ashley at university. April and Ashley both had the same initials, A.H Ashley Hamilton and April Harrington. One was a fucking slut and the other a fucking virgin. Talk about polar opposites.

But what about Willow? Noah didn’t love her, but he had been with her longer than he had ever been with anyone since Ashley.

“I need time to think,” Noah said, his voice heavy with uncertainty. “I need to talk to Willow. I won’t make any decisions until then.” But he knew he was backed into a corner. He just couldn’t ring his long-time friend and ask him to help him out. Ryan, like him, had been sitting tight since covid had hit. Ryan had loaned him the money to start out on his own after university. His best friend would help him in a heartbeat if he just asked. But it would hurt his pride to tell him he needed help again.

William nodded, understanding the weight of Noah’s dilemma. “Time is not on my side. April’s birthday is approaching, and the clock is ticking. I would like to have the operation as soon as she is married.”

Before looking out the window to his daughter as she knelt in the garden weeding. “Come to dinner tomorrow night. I will give you until then for your answer.”

Leaving the office, Noah’s mind was overwhelmed with conflicting thoughts. He felt trapped, faced with choices that were far from ideal. If he agreed to the marriage, he would be committing to someone he didn’t love. While he held affection for April, it wasn’t love. After Ashley, he wasn’t even sure he was capable of love. On the other hand, refusing to marry her would result in William calling in his debt, leaving Noah financially devastated. Fuck! this was a mess.

However, Noah acknowledged that it wasn’t April’s fault; she was an innocent caught in the midst of her father’s manipulative games. He needed to consider the consequences of his decision not only for himself but also for April and her future.

Walking through the garden, Noah glanced at April, who appeared lost in her own thoughts while tending to the plants. He made a solemn vow to himself that he would never reveal to her the truth about her father’s actions, believing it would only upset her. Who would want to know that their own father was essentially selling them? Noah saw himself as an honorable man and made a firm decision that he would never lay a hand on her. She would remain pure and untouched.