Marriage By Law

Chapter Four

Six Months Ago

I walked downstairs finally dressed in my pyjama's.

I walked downstairs to the private parlour where my parents probably were talking. Even if my mother disapproved of a girl wearing night wear it was warm and cozy to resist.

I opened the door cautiously and entered both pairs of eyes landing on me. My father smiled beckoning me over to the couch while my mother stared at me, probably hating my outfit as she stood near the fireplace. But this was no new story.

"Come in Ivory, sit here,"

Too say I was my daddy's little girl was an understatement. I was always with him, in my view he was my real parent, he made up for my mother and my father. My mother had never acted like a parents and I doubt she had the capacity too.

She was never to emotions or physical contact, something every child got as a kid but I don't even remember the last time my mother even made an attempt to hug me.

Sitting on the couch next to my dad he wrapped an arm around me and I placed my legs on the seat enjoying the warmth from the fire.

"Is everything o-"

"Your father and I have something to discuss," said my mother cutting of whatever my dad was going to say next. I sighed and looked up at her raising my eyebrows to question her.

"Years ago, a man had saved his business rival from a horrible death. He was made a promise" she started. It was easy to zone out when my mother spoke and watch the flickering fire or even the way the ducted heating blew a piece of fluff from a jumper across the room.

"The promise was that the first granddaughter he had would be married into his best man's family. Back then they didn't give a care about money or such. They care about loyalty. The two business had enough power to over run each other and send one sinking to the ground. To make sure that didn't happen they made a promise"

"They weren't just family rivals but also business rivals. Ever since that day they both had worked together to help each other in each other's business" she said. Rather than focusing on her story I was focusing on how she said each other too much in the sentence.

My mother nearly looked a bit wary as she told me all this. I couldn't help but yawn, this was boring and all i wanted to do was lock myself away and cry. But for some reason, tears just wouldn't come.

"So they had given their word. In present time their word may seem strange to everyone else and not hold any value but to save the reputation of the business family and also not to start another rivalry the sacred promise must be kept.

She grabbed a box off the fireplace and walked over handing it to me. I opened it up too see a beautiful engraved ring. There was a light coloured stone in the middle and it looked like the gold had wrapped itself around the ring, small delicate gold before forming into a ring.

"Okay? Why do I need to know this?" I said.

"After generations there had finally been the birth of a female girl in that household. And now as she is of age and because of other factors she needs to marry him to honour our side of the deal,"

I shrugged, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Ivory, that man was in fact your father's great grandfather," she said.