The date is set

ARIA'S POV

The words resounded in my ears again.

"You'd have to marry Dominic, there's no other way we can settle our debts.

And I couldn't reply. I had no words to change my fate. I was silent. I thought when they would officially tell me, I would scream, argue, tell them No, tell them over my dead body, but here I was silent as a dead mouse.

What can I do? My mum is begging me in tears to just endure. 

“Aria.” My mum called my name, her hands stretching to hold mine, I should move to get closer to her but I just remained still. “ I'm sorry. We're sorry. But there's nothing else we can do.” She squeezed my hand when she finally got hold of it, her other hand wiping the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

“Aria, his uncle said he'll protect you”. My dad standing in the corner finally spoke, “He said he's going to make sure nothing happens to you, he's like a brother to me, he won't let any harm come your way.” He said moving closer.

“The debts…” he continued, now really close to me, “are piling up, my business is gone. I don't know how I want to provide for my family now. Please, my daughter, pity your poor helpless father.”

When he moved close to me I realised his eyes were already teary. I blinked the tears that were fighting to come down. 

Dominic. My parents are asking me to marry Dominic. The same man who has already buried three wives. Am I supposed to be the fourth? The next one lowered into the ground with flowers on her coffin? I wanted to scream at them, to ask if this was truly the only way. Do they even understand the weight of what they’re asking me to do? Are they prepared to bury their daughter just to settle a debt?

“Okay” that was all I could mutter. That was all I could word out. “Please give me a moment,” I said to both of them.

I went to the bathroom and cried. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't make noise, I knew this day was coming. I knew this day would finally come, so why am I still sad, still scared.

Maybe I should run away. But where would I go? With no money, no plan, no one waiting for me out there, where would I even start? And if I disappear, won’t I only add to their burdens, debts piling up, the business gone, and now a missing daughter on top of it all? But marrying Dominic… that feels like my own personal calamity. This is what it means, I guess, to be your parents’ only hope: choosing between two disasters and pretending one of them is less fatal.

After what felt like 30 mins, I went out and both my parents sprung up to their feet. I hate this. 

“I'll marry Dominic”, I said, trying not to sound like I just cried.

My mum hurriedly came to my side and hugged me. “Thank you, Aria. Thank you so much” she hugged me so tight that I had to hug her back.

My dad gave me a weak smile and nodded. 

He took his phone out of the pocket and dialled a number. Next thing the phone was in his ear, “Good evening, Victor” he said, and went outside to continue the conversation.

Dominic's uncle. My dad was already speaking to his uncle, I knew there was no way out again. I closed my eyes, hugged my mum, let the tears fall down freely.

Still in my mum's arm, my eyes flickered to the TV. I hadn’t even noticed it was on. The sound wasn’t loud, but the face that appeared rang a loud bell inside me.

“Dominic Sterling expands his shipping empire once again, sealing yet another international deal…”

I let go of my mum. Great. Even the TV had to remind me of my despair.

He stepped out of his car with that smile on his face, reporters pushing microphones at him from every angle. The anchor’s voice filled the room.

“They call him the man with the Midas touch,” the voice oozed admiration. “Every business he handles turns to gold.”

Gold. I almost laughed. Gold or cold blood?

Another voice came, sharper this time. “Well, some say there’s a darker side to that story. Three wives gone before—”

“Rumours,” a man interrupted with laughter. “People get bitter when they see success. They spread stories. And again, there hasn’t been any proof of anything.”

Their back-and-forth, debate or whatever it was, pressed against my head until it throbbed.

Then one of the men said it, almost like a seal. “Dominic is untouchable.”

The screen went black. I hadn’t even noticed my mum pulling away from me. She was by the TV now, arm outstretched, remote in hand. She dropped it gently and came back to me.

Her hands cupped my face. At last, she spoke. “Don’t listen to them. People talk too much.”

She tilted my chin until I met her gaze. “Don’t let it get to you, Aria. They twist stories because they envy his success.”

I turned my eyes down. I couldn’t answer her, couldn’t hold her gaze for too long. I was afraid I’d start to hate her.

The door creaked. My dad came back inside. He looked at me, then at my mum. His shoulders sagged like the weight of the whole house rested on them. And just when I thought the pain couldn’t get any worse, he said the words.

“The date has been set.”

That was it. I didn’t even try to stop it. The tears broke free, streaming down my cheeks. I tried to hold it in. I really tried. But I couldn’t.

“Mummy, please.” My knees buckled, hitting the floor as I clutched her hands. My voice cracked, raw. “I d… don’t want to do this.”

I sobbed, loud and broken. The sound echoed in the room, drowning everything else out.

My mum sank with me, halfway to the ground, and pulled me close. She cried too.

I don’t think I’d ever cried like that before. It felt like my heart was shattering into pieces. Like I was being sent to war—and I already knew I wouldn’t be coming back.

My life was over. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.