Chapter 5

I looked at my aunt. It wasn't something I had not expected. The council had suggested it and I'm sure we would have suggested it if they hadn't mentioned it first. It just means that I will actually have to live with him. Although, this will actually help me with my plans. I straightened up in my seat and made to speak when my aunt beat me to it.

"We agree to your terms. But we have a few conditions of our own before they do" We had discussed this on her way here rather, my aunt and uncle had. I zoned out most of the conversation to speak with Bessie. I only heard snatches of the conversation so I have to listen extremely carefully now.

Kenneth motioned for my aunt to continue speaking. My aunt looked at my uncle who nodded at her before she continued. " Most of our conditions are basic ground rules. One, nothing, and absolutely nothing must happen to Rose throughout the duration of their stay together. Two, they do not stay with any of us, but rather in a separate house together, far from the interference of any of us. Three, if Rose decides she wants to leave at any time, she must be allowed to, but that can only happen after at least a week of being together," She looked at me as she said this. I'm sure I can endure a week of torture, that's enough time to do what I need to and get the hell out. She continued "Four, none of them must sleep outside the house at night during their stay together, the first person to break that rule will be dealt with severely. And five, they must stay together for a month. After this month, and they still hate themselves, they can then reject each other and live as humans for the rest of their lives. If any of them breaks the above rules, they'd be the ones to turn human. Do we agree?" Aunt Mel looked around the group. I don't think those rules are so hard that they can't accept them. Well, except for Nate, whom everyone knows is a big fuckboy and can't keep it in his pants.

"Of course, they are pretty easy to follow, right Nate baby?" Mary asked her son.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever" He looked pretty uncomfortable agreeing to it. Well, me too. It's not like I want to be shackled with the biggest player ever born in the last century. Which gives me an idea.

"I have one more rule" I spoke up. A lot of heads snapped in my direction, I'm not sure most of them were expecting me to speak up at all, since I've been mostly silent since we came. "I have one more rule" I repeated, solidifying the idea in my mind. I didn't want to say it at first, but I knew it needed to be done if I wanted protection in this "arrangement".

"What more could you have to add to what has been said?" Kenneth said, impatience laying thick in his words. I almost cowered but stood my ground, I won't let this murderer intimidate me, at least not again. I looked at him straight to the face, not directly in his eyes, lest he reads my mind and knows that I'm actually afraid.

"We must get married." I leaned back to observe the effect of my words. My aunt and uncle looked at themselves and then at me in disbelief. Kenneth and Mary looked like they were about to kill me for even wanting to have anything to do with their kid. I'm sure they were hoping I'd be the first to break any of the rules so they can have their precious son back. And Nate finally looked up and at me properly. I watched him pass through a series of emotions. Shock and disbelief which made way to anger and finally rage. They're such a bunch of angry people in this family.

"Rose, darling. Are you sure?" Uncle Jack, who has agreed to allow my aunt to take charge of the negotiations and all, spoke up for the first time since we sat down to speak with them. 

"Of what I said? Of course, Uncle. And I have my reasons for it. You guys don't think I would just start living with someone I hate to the deepest part of my core without some form of security?" I turned to look at Nate, "You think I haven't seen and heard about how you treat your whores? How you're such a sadistic egomaniac with a touch of psychopathic behavior in you. You treat women like trash, you derive pleasure from them being demeaned and dehumanized, and you beat them up and hurt them just for your own satisfaction. What guarantees that you won't do that to me too? I should just move in with you so you can see me as another one of your toys? Never!. If you don't agree with this, then reject me and live as a human forever. But you wouldn't want that now, would you?"

I was heaving when I finished all of that. I'm partly sure that's the most I've ever said at once. Everyone is still looking at me shocked, so I continued.

"You don't have to worry, it won't be a real marriage and will be dissolved once any of the rules are broken. Trust me, I'm not happy about it too, but I can't stay with a monster like him without that rule being established. Now, do we all agree?" The feeling of getting everything out was exhilarating. I've never talked to anyone like this before and it really feels good that I'm standing up for my own good.

Kenneth was the first to recover from his shock, "I'll need a few minutes to communicate with my family, please hold on a moment." He stood up and ushered his wife and son out. His words broke the spell of shock my aunt and uncle are still in and they nodded even though the Joneses' were already out of the door. 

"Oh, darling child" my aunt pulled me back to her on the chair. I wasn't even aware that I had stood up from where I was sitting. She hugged me to her and patted my hair. "I'm proud that you spoke up. And, I'm sorry I didn't think of that before"

I pulled her away, "It's fine Aunt Mel, it's not like you can hear everything about him that's circulating around. Most of them are just rumors but looking at the way they reacted, it must be true."

The last word had barely left my lips when we heard a raise of voice.

"NO. No, Kenneth, there's no way I'm going to allow my son to marry that girl. Did you even look at her? He can't marry such a low life." Mary's voice holds a lot of contempt, which is mutual, but calling me a low life is a low blow given the fact that they are the ones that killed my obviously well-to-do parents. 

"Mary, it's just for a while. It's not like it's real or permanent. Nate will be fine for a few weeks. He just needs to make her really angry enough for her to reject him and he'll be free" Kenneth said.

Wow, they must have had a lot of trust in their walls not to think that we might overhear. Really mature move. If they think I'll be the one to reject him, then they should have a rethink. I'm not turning human for a foolish child.

They must have realized they were being loud because we didn't hear anything for a while and then they filed out. Husband, wife, child. Almost like they practice it. 

"We've decided. And we agree to your terms. All of them" Kenneth looked at me as he said that, but I looked away, I am so not in the mood for him to try to scrutinize me.

Mary continued for him, "Our son has agreed to marry your niece." 

"Daughter, she's our daughter" Aunt Mel corrected her and I felt a strong wave of emotion, it was the first time she's ever regarded me as her daughter to outsiders. She looked at me and smiled. I gripped her hand that was in mine a little tighter as I returned the smile.

"Daughter, whatever" I'm sure Mary was resisting the urge to roll her eyes at us. "Nate here has agreed to marry her, and they'll live together in one of our houses that we don't use anymore. It's fully stocked and has its live-in housekeeper. They'll move in two days, and the wedding will take place at a location that will be communicated to you tonight. You don't need to do anything, just make sure she's ready then". 

Of course, they'd try to take control of everything, which suits me because I can't allow my aunt and family to spend money on a fake wedding.

After other minor details were sorted out, we stood up to go. The same butler appeared seemingly from nowhere and escorted us out back to where our car was. Goodbyes weren't said, because it's obviously not a goodbye. I was already exhausted from the events of the day and all I want is a cold shower and my bed, right after I try to talk to Bessie again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~•

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?!" Ugh, so much for peace. It's been barely thirty minutes since we came back. I've had my shower and after trying to talk to Bessie, which was fruitless, I tried to get some sleep. Or at least I was trying to before Jo barged into my room. I really should try to get a lock on there if I want to have a little time to rest.

"You can come in, Jo" I replied sarcastically. I sat up on my bed since it was obvious I won't be getting any more rest, at least not until she's still here.

"Oh, sorry about that. But you're getting married?? Mom told me about it just now but she asked me not to ask you until during dinner which you would tell us yourself or at least until you're comfortable enough with the idea but I couldn't wait till dinner which is why I'm coming to ask you now" She took a breath. "So, what happened? Are you alright? Were you forced into it?"

"You should listen to your mom, you know? I can't tell you now, because it would mean I would have to retell it to others at dinner and I'm not sure I can handle that torture right now, so you'll have to hold your breath and wait for dinner time which is in just a few hours. Now, shoo, I need to get some rest if I'm going to have to tell you guys about it" I laid back down on the bed and closed my eyes, pretending to try to get some sleep.

"Don't do this to me! I'm your favorite sister" I peeked at her. She pouted and folded her arms. 

"You're my only sister. Stop being dramatic and leave my room. I really need to rest. Seriously, Jo."

"Fine, but I'm going to be your maid of honor, right?" She grinned.

"I'm tempted to just ask Miranda instead because you're beginning to get annoying."

"Fineeeee, I'll leave. But this isn't the end of this conversation" She backed away till she got to the door.

"Trust me, I know" and with that, she left. 

It's going to be a long dinner tonight. I'm almost tempted not to go. But it's my family. And I can't possibly not go down for it. Trying not to think about it anymore, I shut my eyes and tried to get a bit of rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~•

A few hours later, I got called down for dinner. I braced myself for having to officially break the news to everyone, which means I'll have to give details.

Everyone was already seated when I came except Miranda who was with her parents. Everyone fiddled around with the food. It was obvious most of us weren't really hungry, except John, who wolfed down his food.

After everyone has played around with their food and made small talk for a while, I cleared my throat to indicate that I wanted to say something. They all looked at me expectantly.

"Well, I'm sure most of you must have heard that I'm getting married. Just without the details, except for Aunt Mel and Uncle Jack, of course, because they were there. And I'm sure some of you are dying to hear about everything" I looked pointedly at Jo, who was staring at me unabashed. I gave her a little smile before continuing, "All of you know we went to see Nate Jones and his parents today to find a solution to our predicament, and the only solution we had was for Nate and I to live together. But, I couldn't do that because we all know Nate's reputation as a sadist. So, I had to have some form of security and the only one that came to my head was marriage. So, here we are, I'm getting married in two days."

"And they just agreed to it?" Jaden asked, always the logical one. He's beginning to warm up to me a lot.

"Not immediately, but they saw reason eventually. They wouldn't want their son to die, would they?" I replied.

"Well, I just can't believe you're getting married before me, little sis," James said.

"I'm not little, please. Also, yeah, I can't believe it too" It was almost as if it was a joke and it actually isn't happening to me. But it actually is.

"Soooooooooo, does this mean I'll be maid of honor?" I knew Jo was bursting to ask me that.

I pretended to think about it. " Hmmm, maybe. I'm really considering Miranda." Everyone snicked. They knew I liked messing with Jo.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top," She was practically giving me heart and puppy eyes now with her hands clasped together.

"Ugh, fine, puppy. You can be my maid of honor to my extremely temporary wedding." I can see the grin spreading on her face before coming back down. 

"Now that you put it that way, it's extremely depressing that your first wedding will be to someone you hate. But cheer up and get some rest because we have a lot to do tomorrow. We have to shop for your dress, shoes, jewelry, make-up, and a whole lot of things. And we still have to help you pack to your husband's house and all of that so get a lot of rest. Lots. We begin at 9 am tomorrow. You're coming, Mom, right?" She turned to ask my aunt who looked sad and happy at the same time. I can relate to that.

"Of course, honey. I am. Now, clear the table. John and Jaden, help her. And Rose, you can go to bed now."

"Actually, Jo, I was planning on wearing some jeans and a top for the wedding. Good night, Aunt Mel" I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I couldn't resist teasing Jo one more time. I chuckled to myself as I heard her say "As if" as I ascended the stairs.