1 Political Marriage
"I don't want to get married!" A shrill voice filled the room.
"I don't want this! I have just started my career as a model. I don't want to get married, mother," Bryana said with a distraught voice, but her mother's cold face made her cry more desperately. Her mother sat calmly while crossing her hand and didn't seem like she wanted to change her mind about this.
"Why me? Why can't it be Ayana? She has no reputation to take care of, she might not even have a dream!" Bryana shouted at her mother as she started to approach her mother and kneel in front of her.
There are others in the room, but they have been silent all the time since their suggestion was ignored by the mother and daughter.
"Mom, please," Bryana pleaded, looking at her mother.
"Grandpa, I don't want this marriage! Please tell mother that I don't want to get married." Bryana moved to her grandfather who was silent all this time. She realized that her mother would never change her decision sooner, and she needed to persuade others to help her.
"Please, grandpa." The girl pleaded and looked at the old man's eyes with a pair of moist eyes.
The old man looked at the girl before his eyes moved to his daughter-in-law.
"Haruka, let's discuss this again, okay? Bryana was right. She was only some steps behind her dream as a professional model. She can't just stop and get married." The old man tried to persuade Haruka.
Bryana was not his biological granddaughter, but he loved the child over time. Bryana always keeps him company when he comes to the mansion. He knew the girl for the last eight years and the girl was able to melt his cold heart. It can be said that he treated Bryana like his biological granddaughter.
"Since this is only a political marriage, she can continue her career even after marriage. They won't forbid her from chasing her dream," Haruka said with a blank face.
"But people won't like me anymore since my image will change to a married woman, mother. I was popular because of my pure image. Just let Ayana take my place, please," Bryana said, trying to explain it to her mother. The tears are falling from her eyes now, making her look more pitiful.
"No, you will be the one to marry, Ayana was out of the question. If they do not want to accept it, then they can forget about any kind of marriage with this family," Irene said as she started to stand up, ending the discussion.
The people in the room seemed startled at what Haruka said and looked at each other with shocking expressions.
Bryana started to sob even harder as she started to grab her grandfather's foot, "Grandpa, please help me." The girl's pleas started to get louder as she cried hysterically.
"Haruka! You know that they want Ayana and not Bryana for this political marriage, right? How could you close your eyes to that fact! Bryana is not even the option from the start! They want Ayana! Why are you being so stubborn? They might not even accept the offer of marrying off Bryana," The old man finally shouted, halting Haruka's step.
Bryana could not understand what her grandfather said at first. But after giving it some thought, she realizes that this marriage offer originally belongs to Ayana. She has nothing to do with this.
"Mom," Bryana looked at her mother with disbelief, her mother chose to sacrifice her and protected Ayana. Haruka tilted her head for a second before continuing to walk out of the room leaving some people who were still shocked at knowing the truth.
"This is not fair! Why is it always Ayana?" Bryana sobbed as she looked at her grandfather, who had to sit beside her and stroke her back.
Raphael, one of Bryana's stepbrothers, carried her in princess style and made her sit on the sofa while trying to calm her down.
"It's okay, everything will be fine. I will persuade others in the senate, so they won't accept Haruka's proposal to make you take Ayana's place, dear." The old man said reassuringly.
Xavier was the elder of the Luxon family, he is one of the senates of District 4 who also held the most influence in his position. Changing a fixed decision was not an easy thing to do, but it was not impossible. He will persuade others to refuse Haruka's offer to make Bryana take Ayana's place. He loves Bryana the same as he loves his biological granddaughter, and the mere image that his granddaughter will suffer after marriage hurts him.
He looked at his granddaughter with a heavy heart. Haruka might be angry at him for what he was going to do, but it was better than watching Bryana suffer in her sister's place.
After that conversation, no one speaks about the topic anymore. It was like an elephant in the room. Everyone tried to act like everything was fine except for Bryana, who always sighed all the time.
Two days passed after the heated discussion, and the house became even gloomier with every passing day.
In the afternoon, Haruka stepped into the house with an angry face.
It seems the discussion with the senate is not going the way she wants it to. Most of the senates rejected her proposal to let Bryana marry the man from district 2. They disagreed that Bryana had to take Ayana's position.
Haruka could not believe this. She had talked to three senates right after the decision was made, and they said that there was no problem if she want to change the bride since this was just a political marriage. The three senates' assurance made her confident that there would be no problem if she changed the bride as long as the bride was from her family.
Turned out, most of the senates rejected the idea right away.
Haruka realized that Xavier Luxon, her father-in-law, had something to do with this from the way the man's face brightened up at the result. She was so angry at the man's intervention that she snapped the pen in her hand into two.
Haruka tried several times to persuade the senates, but those people were firm in their decision. It was better to sacrifice the ordinary daughter rather than the outstanding model who started to make a name in the modeling industry.
Haruka was livid at that that she barged out of the meeting room, leaving all the senates looking at her with surprise on their face. She had to walked out from the room. She needed to leave or she would break the neck of one of the senates who mocked her daughter.
Haruka's mood did not improve at all as she walked inside the house. Her face was so terrifying that the maid secured away when they saw their madam. They don't want to be the victim of their madam's anger.
"Go to Ayana's dormitory and pick her up. I have contacted her in advance, and she said that she can come," Richard, Haruka's husband, followed his wife behind after giving some instructions to the driver.
"Call everyone for a family meeting, this afternoon," Richard said to the butler hurriedly as he followed his wife inside their bedroom.
"Dear, are you okay?" Richard quietly asked as he sat beside his wife, who lay on the bed. He definitely knew that his wife was not okay and was in a bad mood, but at that moment, he didn't know what to do to ease his wife's anger. He never saw his wife get so angry that he could not calm her down.
"I am not okay now, so please just leave me alone," Haruka retorted rudely. She could not even look at Richard's face calmly since she would remember how Xavier intervened in this matter.
Richard knew that his wife needed time to think so he got out of the room and spent time in the study.
Five in the afternoon, the black car stopped in front of the Luxon's residence as worn-out shoes stepped outside.
The girl's appearance was shabby as if she was coming to the residence hurriedly and didn't have any time to wash up or tidy up.
She walked inside the residence in a relaxed manner.
One of the maids who welcomed her arrival was stunned at the girl's appearance. The head maid awakened from her shock and greeted the girl. "Welcome, Miss Ayana, let me escort you to your room," she said as she wanted to take Ayana's bag, but the girl swang her bag away.
"It's okay. This bag is not that heavy," Ayana insisted. She was not used to being treated like this. She likes to do everything herself.
The maid smiled widely and started to approach Ayana in an even more enthusiastic manner.
