CONDITIONS

"Of course. We can..."


"I have a condition. Sorry, actually, conditions." I state, cutting him off.

He arcs his eyebrows and speaks, "As long as you forgive me, I'll accept whatever you want."His voice is deep and low, exuding the power to melt a million hearts in a blink, except mine. Sigh at that, because I had to swallow hard to mask the effects it still has on me.

Ahem!


"Whatever we had back in Mombasa stays locked back there. Our parents shouldn't know about it. No one actually should know about it. There is no longer us."

"What? You can't..."


"About this ridiculous absurd betrothal," I start, cutting him off. "If only I could, I would go in there right this minute and tell them that I reject you, Damian Almeda Riccaforte, as my betrothed. Then we would go our separate ways. But I can't, because I doubt my father can handle that." I pause, giving him time to straighten his wrinkled face. "So here is what we are going to do."

"I'm listening," he says in a faint tone, as if he can already predict what is coming.

"We are going in there and act like the couple that they expected us to be. We will make everyone believe that we are in agreement with this arranged marriage as we buy time to break off that absurd agreement."

That almost made him choke on his oxygen. "Are you insane?" He roars. "You want us to make a fool out of our parents? They don't fucking deserve that!"

and I deserved this? His betrayal? Wait, no one deserved to be tossed in this betrothal to begin with. "They do, for making this choice for us. But I am not getting back at them because I know they had the best of interests in their hearts for doing this. It is not their fault that you ruined this with your betrayal, Damian."

'Then punish me alone without involving them. Breaking this off, whether now or in ten years, will still hurt them, Ellie. I understand you are hungry, but...

'I am done being furious at this life and people in general," I cut him off. He is ranting way too much, trying to dictate to me how I should handle the mess he himself created. 'So I want to resolve this in the most peaceful way possible."

He breathes out a deep sigh, his features darker than this betrayal that he just committed. "Anything against this betrothal will devastate them, Ellie! Have you thought of your father? How he will take the news when he learns that you fooled him?"

"This is precisely for him. I know he can't take anything against this for now but when he is stable enough, I will tell him that things didn't work out between us and you will do the same to your parents."

"And you think it will be that easy? If..."

"The power to break this absurd agreement lies in you and me, Damian. From the start,. We have a choice to entangle ourselves from all this. And my father, he will understand, Damian, and will your parents. Stop using them for your own advantage on this," I scoff.

'We don't have to go that far, Ellie," he pleads.

'We have to unless you want to be the dick in the ass that you can't understand that you hurt me so much, Damian. We have to do this," I state.

"Even if we love each other? Even when destiny brought us together when we were rebelling against each other? Doesn't what we had matter to you anymore? I thought that our love would beautify this agreement."

How cliche? Because he had that in his brain, he wouldn't have embraced the absurd idea of hiding his last name from me. That would have changed and beautified everything—him being honest with me.

"You thought wrong, because that doesn't change a fuck about the fact that I loathe my betrothed, much less when he turned out to be a selfish, betraying jerk! Your honesty would have beauty in all this, Damian."

He closes his eyes, perhaps to absorb my antagonism, and then he peels them off after a moment. "Have you thought carefully about the repercussions this will bring? Are you even certain that your father will go back on his words about honoring the agreement? My family might not go easy on him for terminating the contract." He makes a point, but I am determined to have my way.

He is thinking too much and giving too much unnecessary meaning to this just to have me change my mind. What is the worst that can happen? We are as influential as they are. The only thing that can happen is them breaking apart, which will not cause even a slight dent in each of the families. The worst would be the friendship that has been there for years being broken. That is all.

"I am the only daughter, the only child of my father. I am certain that there is a soft spot in him for me as his only child. I just have to wait for the right time to talk to him. And you and I know that the impact of their separation wouldn't make any part sweat, Damian."

I can't give him a hint that Papa gave me this option at last. That might sound like a conspiracy. "And the damages? Can he bear that? This will be a huge nationwide scandal, Ellie! People will talk, and we will be in the spotlight once again after we failed in our engagement. Think carefully."

The society? Who cares about society's opinion in this era? The only thing that I care about is my father, nothing else. "I have got everything figured out." I lie because even if his family has been friends with mine for ages, I don't know how far they will be willing to take this, given that they have their whole hopes invested in it. But what matters is that I have the backing of my father.

"Okay. So what happens after all this is done?" He queries.

"You and I will go our separate ways," I respond, and inside I feel a very sharp pain.

He nods his head. "So, when do we start the show?"

Huh? That's it? That is all he has to say now? There is no more begging. No more ‘give us another chance'?

Calm down, Ellie! The guy has bent enough, and you stood your ground on what you wanted. He is just being a gentleman by respecting what you want. What's the fuss about?

The fuck that he is giving up so soon! Damn him!

"Right now!" I state and turn to leave before my heart embarrasses me, but he grips my hand roughly, pulling me back.

I turn around, almost colliding with him. "Just a minute, Miss Riccaford." The pain of his formalities, huh? I did not say he couldn't call me Ellie, did I?

"What?" I fire calmly.

"I need to get things straight so that I don't end up compromising your well-outlined plans," he starts, and I release my hand as he tucks mine in his pockets, standing too close for my liking. "I think you should amend your earlier statement if this is exactly what I perceive you want it to look like!"

Excuse me?

Amendments?