The Enticing Proposal

Prologue: Chicken Bride

TODAY WAS THE DAY.

One of Arizona's top African American billionaire bachelors was getting married.

Giovanni Brown was getting married to the woman that he knew without a doubt would forever have his heart. The woman he always pictured and saw himself marrying. Dreaming of her was a constant. His first love and soon his forever.

There he stood, the Mission Chapel at pioneer, at the altar with perfect posture in his fitted black notch lapel tux. On the right side of the altar, his left, stood his best man and childhood friend, Anthony Miller. Behind him was the groomsman, a young cousin of his, Tavin Brown.

The church was full of family and friends of both the bride and groom. It was a large but private wedding with the exception of the camera people. Something the bride has insisted on, capturing memories of this very special union between two well-known young entrepreneurs in Phoenix, Arizona.

Professional photographers paid to take pictures of the entire wedding and the reception that would take place afterward. After the exchange of vows and loves, A few more pictures before Giovanni Brown whisked Leah Summer, his soon-to-be wife away with him to their honeymoon in Bali. Spending quality time together alone.

It was believed to be unreal to him. He was finally settling down and getting married. Something he'd never would have imagined for himself. But the big thought of spending the rest of his life with one woman, he felt that it was time to take the next big step. So, he proposed to the only woman that was able to have a chain around his heart.

Great memories of the time they first met. They were young and two perfectly fit college students looking to achieve goals. Freshman year at Yale University, both majoring in business. They both involved themselves in finance and marketing and coincidentally it was the classes they had together.

Regularly bumping into each other and as time went on, they eventually became involved with each other. Beyond friends and things progressed drastically. From there to now, every day that passed, Giovanni fell deeper in love with her. He adored and gave his heart to her as she did the same.

Ten years now and he was finally married at the solid age of twenty-eight.

Soft, angelic music begins to play. All eyes shift to the wide-open double doors as the soft chatter between family and friends fades to silence. The bride maids walked down the spacious aisle one by one. Smiles on their beautiful faces. They all wore the same peach-colored silk gowns, holding the bouquet of peach and white flowers. Roses. Leah's favorite.

Two bridesmaids, Sienna, Giovanni's cousin, and Fiona, Leah's best friend, walked with grace to their altar spots.

The moment the music's tempo changes to the traditional wedding music, Giovanni's nerves almost go into a spiral. He was nervous. Everyone's gaze turned, waiting for his future bride to walk down the aisle with her father.

But it didn't happen.

Rather, it was the bride's father. On his face was a look that was far from pleasant. The eyes of his future father-in-law were round and mournful. The realization hits Giovanni hard as something foreign washes over him.

Something unfamiliar filled his chest. Is that heartburn?

He questions everything that affects his heart until he comes to one conclusion. Heartburn was nothing compared to this. It was as though his heart was breaking and tearing itself apart.

All eyes were on him, making the feeling inside of him worse. Vulnerable and embarrassed about this situation Leah has put him in. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. Today wasn't happening.

He wasn't getting married today. Or tomorrow.

Possibly never after this very day.

Chaos erupted that day into something much worse. She not only embarrassed him and their families, but she also ruined any chance he had of ever getting married again.

As the days passed, things only got worse when she failed to explain why she had done such a thing to him.

She had no reason to leave him. Giovanni did nothing but love her, and that sparked questions for not only him but also the media. What happened? What made her back out and run from him? The last he checked they were happy with their relationship. Or so he thought.

Everything that was going on in their lives was perfect. Their careers were going to the next level.

He just didn't understand from that day forth and going through a broken heart stage and grief, he didn't want to understand. The woman he thought loved him and was ready to share her life with him made him look like a fool at the altar. Reporters had a blast taking the outcome of what they assumed to be a wedding to their advantage. They had no mercy on him.

Headlines began to form and reporters, journalists, and countless others that enjoyed putting people's business on the media increased. Around his family's business and his home.

It was then that his heart turned cold, and he vowed never to let another woman into it again.

In spite of knowing she had moved on with her life by presenting a man as her own fresh start and assumed new love, he grieved the heartbreak caused by her for months.

Did she truly love him?

Or was it all a game to her?

The news made him furious, and he could do nothing about her choices, but he could do something about himself, which showed how little he cared about her. Many women with distinct faces each night. Not Despite not knowing their names or caring about how they felt about one-night stands, he did this to make himself feel better and to prove to her that throwing everything they had built away was a huge mistake. This action of his became a statement to the media about his different attitude and once again bachelor did not care about his ex-fiance.

The problem was that he didn't think much about how this would affect his reputation at the company and how things were going to change for him and his future in the family business.