The Arranged Marriage

Julia never could have imagined that, at the age of twenty-two, she would be married to one of the most powerful men in the country—a man she had only met a handful of times.

Alexander was thirty-four and already very successful. She’d had no choice other than to marry him to help her family.

Alexander’s father had owed Julia’s father his life. To repay her father and help him out of bankruptcy, Alexander’s father had agreed to buy out his sinking company for well over market value.

The humiliation had been almost too much for her father to bear, though. To help him save face, Julia had agreed to marry Alexander so that the merger appeared simply to be two great families becoming one.

The marriage had been Julia’s idea. She had been the very skilled head of public relations in her father’s company, and she knew it would work.

She wasn’t sure how Alexander’s father had made him agree to the marriage, but she knew that Alexander had been furious and hadn’t wanted to go through with it.

Somehow, though, his father had talked him into it.

Now, two hours after the wedding, Julia sat alone in the bedroom that they would be sharing.

She was still in her wedding dress, but there would be no honeymoon. Alexander had flat-out refused. Julia hadn’t pressed the issue, as he was very intimidating.

Julia was sitting in the middle of the large bed, wondering what to do when Alexander burst into the room. He was still in his tux, though his bowtie was missing and the buttons at the top of his shirt were open.

“This is fucking bullshit!” he yelled.

He slammed the door shut. “I’m stuck with you. FUCK!”

Julia saw the bottle of whiskey in his hands and knew he was drunk. She just sat there, not knowing what to say or how to respond to his words.

He went on, “To make it worse, we have to sleep in the same bed. It makes me fucking sick.”

Julia knew that they had to share the same room and bed. There were full-time maids, and if word got out that the happy couple wasn’t so happy, it could jeopardize everything.

“Do you want some water?” she asked Alexander.

“No. But do you know what I want right now?”

“What?” she asked hopefully.

“For you to get the fuck out of here.” He dropped onto the couch that faced their bed and lay down with his back to her.

Soon he was snoring, and Julia fell asleep in their bed by herself, still in her wedding dress.

Julia woke up the next morning, sat up, and saw that Alexander was still asleep on the couch. She looked at the bedside table—ten in the morning.

A knock on the door startled her. Julia hurried out of bed to shake Alexander. He woke up groggily, and before he could speak, she pointed at the door.

They both knew that even the house staff must be fooled. Just one whisper that the marriage was a sham, and the whole façade would crumble.

Another knock got through to Alexander. He got up and stripped off his blazer and shirt, then looked at Julia. When a third knock came, he turned her around roughly and, before she could protest, yanked down the zipper in the back of her wedding dress.

She yelped, but he was already pulling her into bed with him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Come in,” he called.

His voice was deep and very dominant. Julia was trying to still her heartbeat, but being in his arms was doing all sorts of things to her. He was so muscular, and she felt so small in his arms.

His scent lured her in, and his hand on her waist made her tingle.

The door opened, and breakfast was rolled in. It felt like it took forever while they waited for the maids to lay out their meal and leave.

As soon as the maids left and the door was shut, Alexander pushed Julia out of his arms. “This is the shit I’m going to have to do.”

“Sorry,” Julia offered faintly.

“Your ‘sorry’ doesn’t fix anything. I don’t know how long I can keep this up.” He climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

How was she going to deal with this if he was already treating her this way?

When he came out from his shower, she worked up the courage to speak. “Can I ask you something, Alexander?”

“If I said no, would that stop you?”

“No, not really.”

“Carry on, then,” he snapped, and she knew that he would rather be anywhere else than stuck with her.

“You’re not going to ask?” he growled. “I don’t have all day.”

Julia took a deep breath. “Apologies. I just wanted to ask why you agreed to marry me.”

“My father insisted,” he said shortly, which didn’t really tell her much.

“Did you tell your father that you didn’t want to get married?”

“As if that would change anything. When my father is dead set on something, he gets it, no matter how huge a sacrifice anyone else has to make.”

Julia could hear the resentment in his voice. “Sorry,” she tried again.

“You don’t have to be sorry. This marriage means nothing. As long as we play our parts of being together and the investors know that we’re getting along, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Makes sense,” Julia agreed reluctantly. She knew it was crazy, but she had hoped that maybe the marriage wouldn’t be so bad, that they might build a real life together.

“So why couldn’t you do it, Julia?”

“Do what?”

“Call off the wedding.”

She looked helplessly at him. “The same reason that you didn’t. I wanted to help my father.”

“What did I expect? Of course you would say that.”

“I don’t know how you can scoff at me when you’re the same.”

Alexander turned to her slowly. “What the fuck did you say to me?”

His tone made her shrink back. “I was just trying to be reasonable.”

Julia knew that he was simmering underneath, and she didn’t want to escalate the situation. “I get it. You’re right.”

He left without saying a word to her, not sparing her so much as a glance.

She sighed. Even though he’d said her name so hatefully, she’d enjoyed hearing it.

Julia climbed back into bed, welcoming the comfort that she felt.

There was so much in her mind, and she didn’t know how to process all the changes. What would happen next?

Would she always be alone like this? Sleeping alone, eating alone, no one to truly talk to? She couldn’t tell her parents or siblings what was going on.

She didn’t want them to be worried about her and stress them out. Her dad was counting on her to not mess this up.

Julia hadn’t wanted to disappoint him. Giving up her comfort for the sake of their family and faking through it all was a price she was willing to pay.

But she already wondered how long she would have to fake this. Years? Would she ever be allowed to get divorced if the marriage was to be like this forever?

She sighed heavily. There was too much for her to take in. What had she expected? She had thought it would be fine. It had never occurred to her that the man she was marrying would hate her so much that he couldn’t stand the sight of her.

He already wanted to be anywhere else rather than with her. She didn’t know if it was better if he was there to keep her fake company or if he was gone. She was filled with a lonely peace that felt hollow.

Her head hurt, and she closed her eyes. She just wanted to go back to sleep. Sleep would be the best medicine for her right now in the state of mind that she was in.

Julia closed her eyes and waited for sleep to catch up with her.

She tossed and turned for a long time before she fell asleep.

Julia woke up a few hours later and found that Alexander was not in bed. His side of the bed was still intact.

Julia knew that she had played her part well and all would be on Alexander. She could do nothing else.

After showering and dressing, she explored her new home for a bit and then took a book to sit by the garden in the early afternoon breeze. Julia occupied herself with reading and taking in the breeze.

When the sun went down, it got chilly. Julia went inside and ate dinner alone, but by the time she went up to bed, there was still no sign of Alexander anywhere.

She was beginning to wonder if he was all right when the bedroom door opened.

She was surprised to see that it was Alexander.

“Busy day at work?” she asked.

“Why do you care?”

“I’m your wife. I deserve to know your whereabouts. It’s our first day married,” Julia hit back.

“I was at work. Happy now?”

He began taking off his clothes.

She turned away quickly and covered her face with the book that she was reading so that she couldn’t see him.

“You can put your book down. I’m done,” he snapped.

She did and saw that he was only wearing briefs. Color rose in her cheeks.

“You’re blushing, and you turn away when your husband is getting undressed. And you think this marriage would have worked?”

Julia didn’t know how to respond, but Alexander didn’t give her a chance. “Do you know Ava?” he went on.

“No.”

“She was meant to be mine. She’s the one who is supposed to be in this bed with me!”

Julia was stunned.

Her marriage had hardly begun. Was it already doomed?