A Marriage Contract

Chapter 10

That day till night Miles played with the kids. He was really fun. Completely opposite of Vincent, he was fun, casual and friendly while Vincent was closed off.

After dinner I went to the backyard to get my thoughts in order. My brain felt like it would explode from all the overthinking I was doing. 

Tomorrow I was going to be married. I was going to have a family. I felt like I was betraying my family by not telling them. My appa and umma had so many plans about my wedding now when they will find out that I am getting married without even telling them they'll be so heartbroken. 

I sat on the ledge and dangled my feet from it. The sky was clear. The Orion was clearly visible. 

"May I join you?" A voice from my behind said. 

I looked behind me. Miles was standing there with two cans of something in his hands. 

"Sure." I said. 

He placed the cans on the ledge and then effortlessly hopped on to it. After that the only noise was of him opening the cans. He passed one to me. It was Mocktail Club's Manhattan Berry. I took a sip of it. For about five minutes there was complete silence. 

"What is going on in your head?" Miles asked. 

"Nothing important." I said. 

"Come on, I am your to be brother in law and that blank look on your face doesn't suit you. So, tell me what's going on," He nugged my shoulder. 

"I was just thinking about how everything in my life changed in hardly 42 hours." I sipped the mocktail.

"Care to elaborate?" He responded. 

"What I mean is that, just three days ago my life was going as I planned it to be. I had a stable job and I was preparing for my masters and now suddenly I am going to marry someone I don't even know." I explained. 

"Even though I cannot say anything to comfort you because I have never been a situation like this, I want to tell you something, Vincent doesn't accept or trust anyone easily. He has built many walls around himself," He took a sip of the drink and looked up at the sky.

"Among all of us brothers, he was the one who had to grow up too fast. He was the oldest and the one who took care of all three of us and protected us from this disappointment of a world Our father is probably one of the most shittiest father if not number one in the history of shitty fathers. And because of his mistakes Vincent suffered the most. After our mother went away the only parent I ever knew was Vincent. He gave up his childhood so we could all enjoy ours."  

Wow, I thought to myself. 

"And then when he finally started to trust someone, Celestine came and ruined everything." He let out a sigh. 

"Who?" I asked.

"Celestine is the biological mother of the kids." He told me. 

I knew I was overstepping my boundaries but curiosity got the best of me.

"What happened? Vincent never said anything about her." I said.

"And I am pretty sure he never will. Celestine and Vincent had been on and off through college and their adult life, one day Celestine found out that she was pregnant. Vincent was very happy to be a father while her on the other hand didn't want to have a kid. So, they decided that they'll raise the kid together but Yu Eun was mostly with Vincent, that is why she is such a daddy's girl. A year and half ago Vincent and Celestine got back together and this tie the result was Ye On. Celestine was furious that she would have to take care of another kid so, Vincent made and agreement with her that she will give birth to the baby and the sole custody will be given to Vincent. For the first time in my life had I seen a mother that happy to give up her kids."

"That is fucked up." I muttered. 

"It really is." Miles agreed.

I got caught up in my thoughts again. 

"Eliza,"  Miles's voice brought me back to the reality.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Thank you for agreeing to marry my brother. The kids mean the whole world to him and he'd die if they are taken away from him." He took my hand in his. 

"There is no need to thank me. It isn't like there is not my selfishness behind this." I said. 

"Still, thank you." He said. I smiled.

"By the way you said you were studying for masters. What is subject?" He let go off my hand.

"Masters in world history." I told him. "What to you do?" I asked. 

"I was in the navy for 9 years." He said.

"Was?" I asked.

"I retired." He explained.

"Why?" I questioned.

"I was in a car accident which resulted me to be in a hospital bed for six months and physical therapy for a year. The doctors said going back wouldn't be a good decision even though I still wanted to, your future husband said if I even think about going back he'll break my legs and make sure I stay home." He said.

"That is sweet and terrifying at the same time." I commented.

"That's Vincent Chae for you." He tipped the can in my direction with a chuckle.

"So, do you do something right now or do you enjoy you retirement?" I asked.

"I am a small freelance author now." He said. 

"What books have you written?" I questioned.

"Have you read 'The Final Take'?" He asked. 

The Final Take was a book about the life of a famous film actor who diagnosed with a terminal illness and how he gave the performance of his lifetime in his last film while wrestling with his personal regrets and demons from his past. While reading it you always know that he'll die but the way his final days are depicted, his death always make you cry. This book was a worldwide best seller. But the author had used a pen name and nobody knew about their identity. 

"I definitely have, who hasn't? Wait, you are the author of it?" I was shocked. 

He smiled and nodded. 

"YOU are Jackson Robbyn?" I was pretty sure my eyes were about to pop out.

"It's a secret. Only a few people know about it. So, shhh." He pressed his finger on my lips. 

I crossed my fingers and traced a cross above my heart. 

"Well let's got to bed now. My brother will kill me if his bride has dark circles because of me." Miles said. 

Right, I was Vincent Chae's bride and tomorrow was my wedding.