2. Her bully

MIRABEL

I am seated in one of the best five star restaurants in the country, nervously pulling at the uncomfortable yet classy dress I am wearing while I wait for the man that is supposed to be my husband in a few days from now.

Before Mom married my father, she was supposed to marry into a wealthy family whose head was grandfather’s business partner, a marriage deal that would have created a huge opportunity for his business but Mom had refused to marry him and gone ahead to marry my Dad, for doing that, she lost everything, all her inheritance.

And now, I was seated in her place, to carry out a contract marriage in exchange for her medical bills getting cleared.

That was the only reason I was doing this, for Mom.

I would never be able to survive losing her too, not after we lost Dad so that was one of the main reasons I needed her to stay alive and the only person that could help make that possible was grandfather.

So doing what he said was no longer a matter of choice, it was something I had to do.

I fought back the tears that threatened to spill because every single threat he made still resonated at the back of my mind, he even made me sign a non-disclosure agreement.

“Giveon Jameson.” I mumbled to myself as I struggled to stay calm even though I was freaking out and had no clue how to process the whole thing.

As the name rolled off my tongue, a mysterious feeling briefly settled over me but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

I had no idea who this man was and I was supposed to be married to him in less than a week. The articles on him online showed he was from a very wealthy background and had built a name for himself in the business world yet he was tagged as someone with no social life.

Most called him weird and some called him cold, but I didn’t have the time to dive into the details so I just tried to find some of his pictures, at least to know what to expect but…

“Excuse me Miss, your date is here.” The waiter said as he pulled back the chair in front of me.

I looked up sharply and tried to force a smile but that smile immediately faltered when his face came into view.

My heart skipped a beat and for a whole minute, the whole world around me seemed to have drowned out.

Giveon? He was Giveon?

How did I not notice that the name had sounded a little bit familiar on my tongue when I had pronounced it? How did I not notice that it was the same Giveon Jameson , the only son and heir of a business conglomerate, that had bullied me and made my life a living hell in high school.

I grabbed onto the table so tightly as my chest heaved heavily, I was desperately struggling to accept seeing his face again after all these years and the goosebumps that popped out all over my body at the sight of him, just like it did in high school, returned with full force.

Everything about him depicted casual luxury, he was dressed casually but nothing about it was cheap and he looked so much more intimidating than he did before with his broad shoulders.

His presence was commanding and overwhelming and I could see that in how the waiter was fumbling in front of him before he took his seat.

“Ugh… so, this isn’t exactly necessary, we don’t need to know each other to sign some damn papers so if you don’t mind, I’ll like you to never call for something like this again.” His tone was harsh and cold, just like it had always been but there was now a manly edge to it.

He had not changed one bit.

With everything that was going on with me, he didn’t seem to have recognized me nor did he notice that my eyes were wide open in shock as I stared at him.

“I…uhm…”

“Listen, I have a girlfriend and I love her. The only reason I am here is because of my parents and my duty to the company, so do not expect anything from me, do not think that we can try to make this work because it isn’t going to work. It is simply a business transaction, a marriage of convenience and you can do whatever the hell you want but just make sure your name doesn’t start appearing in the media because I am definitely not cleaning up after someone I don't even wish to marry in the first place.”

With that said, he rose sharply to his feet without even giving me an opportunity to speak, he turned and began to walk away but suddenly turned to glance back at me,

My heart skipped a beat, has he noticed?

“And please don’t run away, I can’t deal with any sad bride drama right now.”

That was all he said and he walked right out of the restaurant.

I had no idea I had been holding my breath until he was out the door. The relief that came with not being in his presence made me remember just how terrified I was of him in high school, he made my life such a living hell and he didn’t even remember me?!

He bullied me so badly that…

Tears welled up at the corners of my eyes as I stared at the door in front of me and wondered how my life had ended up like this?

My mom was sick and there was a possibility that I could lose her, my own grandfather would rather use me for his business deals than just help me and now, I was supposed to marry someone that had bullied me through high school.

My phone screen lit up almost immediately and when I opened it, it was a text from the nurse at the hospital to confirm Mom’s surgery date.

He had really cleared the bills.

I was about to call the hospital so I could talk to her when I saw it. On my browser was an image of a campaign against bullying in schools funded and led by Giveon Jameson.

He was funding a whole fucking campaign online against bullying when he had done the same thing in school?! It was part of their company’s charity programmes and for some reason, that made something snap inside of me.

Why would anyone even believe him? He was still a jerk, just like he was in high school and he had said all those mean things to me even though he had no clue who I was, classic Giveon move, bully them into submission and obedience.

Giveon didn’t want a wife, he wanted a puppet, someone that could play the part while he had fun with his girlfriend. Someone that wouldn’t dare leave a taint on his company’s image and at the thought of that, my hands began to twitch out of anger.

I was furious that all of them thought they could just force me to do whatever they like. He had done that in high school and I wasn't going to let him do that to me again.

So, I was going to do what grandfather said, I was going to marry him but the marriage would be nothing like what they expect because other than buying myself enough time to get the deposit grandfather promised in our deal, I was going to expose Giveon Jameson to the world.

And what better way to do that, than to be married to him?