Bitterly Sweetly (Completed)

Chapter Twelve : The Unwanted

So, it was not a joke, but perhaps it was a nightmare and would cease to exist when he opened his eyes again. But unfortunately, it didn't. Everything was still the same even when he opened his eyelids.

"How could you even think about doing this to me? No one else but only I have the right to choose the woman I will marry-if I ever marry, that is. And who does this these days? Isn't arranged marriages illegal at this age?"

His father's unruffled expression gave the answer-it wasn't.

Bloody hell.

Max might just have to take the initiative and try to pass a law against arranged marriages, even better, banning matchmaking of any kind. After all, he was a lawyer with his degrees from Oxford and should be able to at least kick-start such reformations.

"I believe you guys are meant to be. I've been observing you two for a long time now. In the long run, you'll see that I'm right. You'll see what I see now."

A face flashed before Max's eyes at his father's words.

"Who is it?" Max demanded with a heavy feeling settling in his stomach. He bent his head and closed his eyes to try and gather some patience and calm to face this exasperating situation.

Silence fell over the room.

Neil, who had been a close-mouthed audience all the while, cleared his throat.

That did it to breach the stubborn silence, and suddenly his father's voice resounded ominously, "Sofia."

Max's eyes snapped open. He shot his head up so fast that it made a cracking noise.

The walls of the room seemed to be closing in on him as he gaped at his father, horrified.

--

"Why would he even make such a proposition?" Sofia asked, bewildered, once again perched on the rickety chair in his grandfather's room and having another life-altering conversation.

Grampa stared at her from the armchair for a couple of seconds before giving her a reply, "Thinking that it would be the best for the both of you. He wants Max to settle down here in Asthel and stop running away, he has been hiding away for a long time, and Robert's decided he'd had enough. And I will never take help from outside the family."

The news Sofia just received returning home felt no less than a nine-magnitude earthquake.

With the promise of destruction coated all over, it was a freaking marriage proposal that could lead her to nowhere else but a lifetime of hell.

The moment her grandfather told her of the senior Wilder's visit and his wish to have her as his son's wife, indirectly in exchange for that humongous amount of money, Sofia couldn't help but feel her dignity slipping away.

"And us getting married would solve everything?" she asked, her voice quivering in disbelief.

"We came to that conclusion, yes," he looked guarded.

Sofia rubbed her temples, feeling overwhelmed.

With his eyes fluttering close, grampa added with a sigh, "You think I've not noticed."

Sofia's face snapped up. "Noticed what?"

"You'll see...," was his murmured vague response.

Sofia didn't know if she should delve more into what her grandfather was actually talking about, fearing it could be harmful to her own mind.

She didn't want to see what wasn't there at all.

She was scared of expectations.

Grampa didn't know how much Max hated her.