Arranged marriage.

~ Isabella ~

“Congratulations, ma’am. You are two weeks pregnant.” The doctor announced, her tone matching the atmosphere of the room.

“If you need anything. You can always reach out to the nurses.” The Obstetrician said, exiting the room to give June and I the privacy we desired.

“What would we do now, Bess?” She whispered, putting comforting arms around me. Her simple choice of words made me feel less alone. Though it didn’t settle the turmoil within me. I’d asked that we visit the hospital in hopes that the pregnancy test was wrong, but now?

“I don’t know!” I covered my face with my palms in shame. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me of all people! This only happened in fiction and not real life. So why was I dealing with this?

“Do you have any idea who the guy might be?” She asked again, already trying to proffer a solution to our problem.

“I honestly don’t know. I never saw his face… but he might be rich and famous.” That was simply a wild guess, since the mediocre room decor hadn’t given off anything significant. But wait… the perfume. Though he was absent when I awoke, the scent of his perfume was very unique, and for some reason… I had liked it.

“Um…”

….

“Have you ever wondered how you got so drunk in the first place?” Junie said later, handing me a cup of camomile tea, my absolute favorite.

“I did…” I replied, taking a sip. “The bartender was unusually nice and promised to help me prepare something that would make me feel better.

“Did it?” It was a rhetorical question, one I needed not to answer.

I grabbed my phone and saw that I had several missed calls, some of which were from Zach and Emily.

Ignoring it, I was about to drop my phone when my phone rang with an incoming call from Mom.

I stared ahead at June, who was now wondering why I wasn’t picking up my calls.

She urged me to pick up after I’d mouthed the word "Mom."

“Hello?” I wasn’t sure how I was meant to acknowledge the same woman who had refused to acknowledge my existence for the past four years after my dad’s death. As it turned out, he was the sacred cord that bound all of us together, and without him… we were in division.

“I need you back in Hong Kong in twenty-four hours, Isabella Yang!” She only called me by my full name when she was pissed, and I don’t think I’d done anything wrong to make her be. So I had to ask.

“What have I done, Mom?”

“You think I wouldn’t find out about your promiscuous ways? How could you cheated on Zach with a stranger and got pregnant by him?”

What the fuck…! I almost said but held myself back.

How the hell did she even know that?

Was she spying on me, or what?

“I will be expecting you… and if you don’t show up. I'm sure you know what I am capable of. Well… how could I forget how she locked me up in the attic until I agreed to take the final examination on Emily’s behalf? If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have managed to get into the three-star-rated university she was in.

….

“What will you do now?”

“I have no choice. I gotta go.”

“I’m sorry you are going through all this, Bell.”

“It’s a phase we all have to go through, isn’t it?”

“Maybe.”

….

I stared outside through the window at the city of Melbourne. The same one that had opened its doors to me when my mom shut me out after my dad lost his battle to colon cancer.

Mom has been completely against me going off to Melbourne University, while Emily had to settle for a third-rate university.

She’d tried to deter me from following after my dreams. But I couldn’t be stopped, and since she had nothing against me… I was free to fly. But now? It was different.

My right hand came instructively to caress my flat stomach. Though it’s been less than forty-eight hours since I had gotten the news of my pregnancy. I was beginning to feel protective of my unborn child.

Was I sad and angry that it happened this way? Yeah… definitely.

But I couldn’t deny one thing, and it’s how much I was already falling in love with the little one growing within me.

“Please fasten your seatbelts, as the plane will be landing in Hong Kong in less than five minutes.” The voice of the air hostess rang from ahead, and I leaned back on my chair. Trying to enjoy the few minutes of peace I had left until I got in face-to-face contact with my mom.

….

‘It no longer feels like home.’ Was the thought on my mind as I descended from a taxi in front of my parents’ house.

Though it was exactly the same structure that I had been born and raised in. It still felt very different from the last time I had been here.

And then it dawned on me: the meaning behind the saying and how it applied to me. The only reason this place had once felt like home was my dad, and with him gone… the homey feeling had been completely lost.

“Mom.” I said, startled at the sight of Mom in the frontal garden. She looked so different from the last time I had seen her. Younger and full of life, which was a contrast to what’s expected of a widow. But then… what could be expected of a rich heiress who controlled millions?

“Isabella.” Her tone was icy and without an ounce of warmth.

We stood there, staring at each other. Until Emily’s shrill voice interrupted us.

“Sis… Mom told me you got pregnant by a stranger. Is that true?” The mockery in her voice wasn’t hidden in the very least. Rather, it was as clear as daylight.

“You—”

“And… who gave you the right to speak, Husler?”

“You always claimed to be the most morally upright twin, and see where it led you?”

“But Mom…?!” I tried to defend myself, saying that it wasn't my fault. But as expected, I wasn’t allowed to.

“The good news is that… Emmerson Winters turned out to be the father of your baby.”

Emmerson Winters?! The engaged real estate tycoon?

How was that even possible?

“And his grandfather had offered a marriage proposal on behalf of his heir.” Oh… how could I forget that? Emmerson’s long-time girlfriend had been unable to produce an heir, and now? I was carrying the heir to the huge conglomerate.

“Be ready… the marriage will take place in three days.”

“I can’t get married, Mom…”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m only nineteen and besides, I can take care of my baby myself.”

“You mean you plan to abort the heir to the Winters conglomerate?!”

“I didn’t say that, Mom…’’

“Then what?” She glared at me, and I could only swallow the lump in my throat silently. But then… I was only nineteen. How could I get married so young?

“If you knew you didn’t want to get married, then you wouldn’t go around sleeping with unknown men.” Emily interrupted mockingly.

If it were a different day, I would have mentioned catching her in bed with Zach. But as it turned out, she wasn’t ashamed of it.

“But Mom—”

“It’s either you get married, or Junie Lawson loses her law school funding!” That made me freeze. Unlike me, my Bestie was an orphan who relied on government funding for her education.

“What do you say?” That was a rhetorical question. Given how sealed up my fate was.