The Curiosities Concerning Fate

∷ Chapter 9 ∷

SEBASTIAN HAD EXPECTED it. He knew that the possibility of April cancelling the wedding was always there, especially since his carelessness had been the sole reason for her close shave with death. But it still came as a shock to him when she'd done it; uttering the words so determinedly and without hesitation.

He'd been complacent. Foolishly assuming April cared for him enough not to go through with her decision. But he was wrong. She didn't seem to care for him just as much as he didn't care for her. They both had ulterior motives for their easy acceptance of marriage and neither had been the wiser.

Sebastian's was fairly simple. It had long been his ambition to obtain the ruler's chair and take over as the hospital's director. It wasn't an easy feat and certainly not one achievable by a doctor like himself, still wet behind the ears compared to his many experienced counterparts. He was an outsider no less, and not particularly close to the Eatons to gain biased favours. The easiest means to his end was to marry into the family, thus guaranteeing him a place as the future director.

April, on the other hand, was enamoured by physical appearances and the like, no matter how pretentious or false they may seem. She valued the glamour that superficialities brought and found joy at the thought of being married to the next director of her family's hospital; the thought stemming from imagining how envious it would make her friends. The idea was shallow and seemed insufferable, but it helped a great deal that Sebastian was easy on the eyes. It didn't seem as exciting, however, to know that the very same person was only too eager to kill her. It wasn't worth the envy, and April proved it by calling off the wedding entirely.

As it were, her decision not only put a damper on her life but on his as well. The mix of worry and agitation was clear on his face. He'd spent years planning the perfect revenge and she'd ruin everything with a meagre declaration. It was infuriating.

"Don't look so glum," she said, rolling her eyes. "We were both tolerating each other at best. The marriage would never have worked out. We'd have gotten a divorce sooner or later, and hell if my father would let that happen."

"What are you saying?" Sebastian asked.

"I know the only reason you wanted to marry me was to be the next director. But a divorcee doesn't portray a very good image either."

"What?"

"Come on, Seb. Give me some credit. I'm not stupid, you know?"

Sebastian scowled. What good was it that she knew if matters were not going to change any time soon? Her presence in his life at this point was becoming nothing more than a hindrance.

"I talked to my father," she continued, words that caused him to stiffen. "Nothing bad, don't worry."

The mocking tone in her voice was obvious, though she continued in nonchalance by saying, "You're still in the running for the director's chair."

Sebastian waited for more, knowing that the simplicity of her offer was too good to be true. Rather unexpectedly, she said nothing else to elaborate, an occurrence that forced him to ask, "What's the catch?"

April smiled—a smile that preceded praise if she were to give him one.

Instead, she said, "You have to get married."

He stared at her unblinkingly for a minute before he sighed.

"You said you didn't want to get married."

"I don't."

Sebastian made a face to convey the unspoken words: What, then?

"You won't be getting married to me. You just have to be married."