Novel & Cerita An American Marriage

Marriage An eternal bond between two souls, seeking solace in each other—a relationship believed to be formed long before birth, unlike the blood relations bestowed upon us. Ten years ago, she found herself in the exact same desolate and restless state. Alone. No family, no friend to offer comfort. Coincidentally, it was the same day she had married Amaan Hashmi, with only guilt and remorse in her heart. But this time, she wasn’t in his mansion. She wasn’t the same Asmaira of a decade past.

Jack narrows his eyes at me, studying my reaction, "At first you two acted like an old married couple, but now you're acting like love struck teenagers. I'm getting whiplash." I wave him off with my hand, "That's just how marriage works, okay? Maybe when you get married to Amaris you will understand." Jack sips his beer, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. I knew that would shut him up. With just the mention of Amaris, he gets all weird and blushes hard. I needed him to stop analyzing my marriage with Harper because he might end up asking too many questions, or worse, figuring out that it's been fake since the beginning. I can't risk it.

1: Divorce after 5 years. - Rule No. 2: Intimacy is not allowed. - Rule No. 3: Separate rooms until divorce. - Rule No. 4: No interference in each other's private business. - Rule No. 5: No falling in love with the other party. - Rule No. 6: Angel goes with her mum after the divorce. "What part of 'I don't want to marry you' don't you understand?" I retorted, feeling overwhelmed by frustration and anger.

Now that Amanda understood that Oriaga had targeted her, the man was realizing his obsession without a hitch. A wedding is supposed to be truly happy because a pair of people will become one, but Oriaga made Amanda's judgment about marriage different. Marriage is a way for a person to bind a partner so that it is easy to control them in Amanda's eyes. ***

Good. “Well, now that is sorted,” Mr. Marshall says as he bends to pick up a black briefcase I didn't notice until now. He opens it and pulls out a brown folder. “This is the contract. It has rules that could work in both of your favors, and if you disagree, you can make amendments.” He hands one to me and one to the dickhead next to me. “Read through it carefully.” I flip the sheet open and read through the paper. It says here that we're to be married for one and a half years; we're to live together and be seen at events. I almost scoff at that.

I said stiffly. “I hope so,” mom said as she stepped forward. She placed a hand on my cheeks and sighed. “There is no going back now. You’ve chosen who you want to be with, and you would be with him till the end of time. Though, we are Americans, I hope you know that we don’t tolerate divorce. This is the more reason, our marriages are a success. Don’t forget these things,” she said stiffly. I nodded. My heart hurt with the words she was saying. It was a contract marriage. What would happen when the time was up? I only hoped I had gotten enough money, so I would at least leave this place as a rich woman.

“Listen to me carefully. Marriage is not romantic here. It’s administrative. People do it for tax reasons, for inheritance, for business mergers. This isn’t a fairy tale. It’s paperwork with rings.” “That’s worse,” Amara said. “Why?” “Because at least in a fairy tale, someone wants you.” Yasmin went quiet. That landed somewhere personal. Amara crossed her arms. “Who would I even marry? Some random British man off the street?” “Obviously not.” “Oh good,” Amara said dryly. “Standards.” Yasmin hesitated. And that hesitation was dangerous. Amara narrowed her eyes. “You already have someone in mind.” Yasmin didn’t answer.

We had a small wedding, and over time, I convinced myself the paperwork didn't really matter. But now it finally clicked. Rupert never wanted to register our marriage because he was already married to Mavis! If he filed for another marriage, it'd be bigamy. So, I'd been the other woman the whole time. And now, I didn't even have the right to ask for a divorce.

Into. It was going to a really long marriage.

“Please don’t worry—though our union didn’t end well, we surely have many beautiful memories from the three years we spent together.” Brandon raised an eyebrow. He almost wanted to laugh because, when he recalled the three years he and Amery shared, he couldn’t remember a single good memory with her. He hadn’t even given her a proper wedding; they’d merely received a marriage certificate from Lolo Simeon. And then one day, Amery simply arrived at the mansion carrying her little suitcase. That was the beginning of their marriage.