Chapter 21

'Things couldn't have gotten any worse.' Amelia said inwardly after her daring words.

She was ripped with disbelief after reading inwardly, what the paper held. Her eyes darted from her mother's to all the papers on the table and back to the one she held with incredulity.

Her mother's expression revealed everything that she needed to know.

"No_ no mother," her voice flattered, and her fingers trembled.

Never in her life had she thought about experiencing something like this. She knew to herself right from her birth that she was just a big burden to her mother but right now, she doubts she was just a burden. In fact, she lacks words to classify herself into.

Amelia raised her face from the paper and met her mother's eyes, "You are giving my hand out in marriage for peace? What the hell is wrong with you?" her frown became visible and her ever-gentle voice conveyed an edge.

Rebecca was taken aback by her daughter's stunning boldness. Her blood boiled from the inside, and she clenched her fists, causing her to look more veiny than usual.

"Mind how you speak to me. This is for our good and nothing else," She said impatiently, trying so hard to control her rising temper.

Amilia's heart shattered. "Mother," her voice came out as a trembling whisper, "You could have told me to leave the house if my presence hurt your eyes so much. Why do you have to go the extra mile to send me away?"

Rebecca frowned at her.

"Why didn't you ask me? Why didn't you inform me you'll make peace with them this way? Have you ever for once asked if I was in any relationship?" Amelia cried. Her heart felt so filled up, but she had no idea how to lessen the weight in it.

Rebecca's expression turned to disgust, "Are those tears?" she asked nonchalantly. Reluctantly, she fully faced Amelia and held her hands, "Think about it, this is for your father," she said sweetly, trying to persuade Amelia.

However, who cares about persuading? She can just force her to comply with her wishes as usual.

"Is this a joke to you? My father would never want this. I just turned 18," Amelia snapped, taking her hand away from her mother's grip forcefully. She flinched the paper across the room furiously.

Tears streamed down Amelia's eyes, shattering the light her eyes once held. "You're just about to take my whole life away from me, Mother. Who the hell is he? How can you agree to something as huge as this? I am your daughter for God's sake. When are you ever going to appreciate me? I did all I could for you when Dad left and I'm still trying my best," her voice trembled, enough to break the heart of the coldest man but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to make her mother flinch.

Rebecca composed herself and sat upright. She crossed her right leg over the other and rolled her eyes without compassion.

"Oh please," she scoffed, "You should be happy I informed you about this. Also, you should be glad you're getting married to the most eligible bachelor in the whole country. Daniel Theodore would be your husband in the next few weeks and no one cares if you like it or not…" she paused for a moment, held Amelia's gaze, and continued, "I also don't care. I'll do anything to remain in power and not even your father's death can affect it. We don't even need your signature anymore. That will be taken care of as soon as possible. And if you kill yourself, your corpse will be the bride," her last sentence was a whisper.

About to refuse, Amelia swallowed her words, hearing her mother's last words.

Rebecca eyed Amelia's whole body with deep disgust in her eyes before standing up from the couch. Standing straight, she scanned Amelia one more time before leaving the room.

On her way out, she made sure to slam the door so hard that it resounded in Amelia's ear for a very long time.

Amelia sat back in her seat, amused and at the same time frightened.

Right in this state, she couldn't say anything anymore. Her sense slowly faded away as an effect of the news.

"I don't even know anything about him," she said to herself.

Barely a minute after her mother left, as Amelia fought her consciousness to remain sane, her ringing cell phone reverberated on the table.

"Diana?" Amelia muttered to herself. She immediately dried her eyes and cleared her throat to compose herself before answering.

"Amelia," a high-pitched shrill came from the other end, "It's a beautiful morning, what's your boring ass doing indoors?"

Amelia smiled and cleared her throat.

"What have you been up to?" Amelia asked suspiciously. Knowing how crazily her friend lived her life, she knew something crazy must have happened or was about to happen.

"Nothing," Diana answered cheerfully, "I've been partying all night and you won't believe the number of times my legs spread for some random dudes," she laughed at the end.

Amelia's face tightened at her friend's words. She has never really supported her friend and has also never tried to change her. To be honest, she sometimes wishes to live Diana's life.

She sometimes craves to be that crazy bitch living a carefree life. Her whole life was ruled by her mother and now, her mother was about to ruin it.

"Hey," Diana chirped, "Did you listen to what I just said?" She noticed Amelia's silence and couldn't help asking.

As a norm, Amelia was bound to laugh with her or preach to her. But today was different. Her friend was dead silent.

Amelia's strong facade immediately fell when she heard Diana's concerned voice. She let out her broken self and began to sob.

Diana stiffened at the other end. A rumbling sound of bedsheets could be heard as she sat up to listen to her friend's pain.

"Amelia," her voice came out more soft and sober, "What happened? Who made you cry?"

Amelia cried more when Diana's soothing voice hit her ears. She tightened her fist and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Speak to me," Diama panicked from the other end.

Amelia's chest heaved up and down. She stared at the papers before her and tried to embrace the news. She had no idea how to share the news.

"Let me guess_"

"I'm getting married," Amelia cut Diana off her words in one breath, "I'm getting married to Daniel Theodore, and trust me, it wasn't my intention. I don't know what to do," she cried her heart out to her friend.

Diana turned frozen as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her. Her hand holding the cell phone trembled and her lips quivered.

"You mean Daniel Theodore, the only heir to the Theodore group?" Diana managed to ask to be sure. She couldn't believe her ears.

Hesitantly, Amelia answered, "Yes,"

"What the actual hell is this?" Diana spat out in disagreement, "Hold on, I'm coming over now. We're going to look for a way out of this. You can't marry that man," she assured Amelia and hung up immediately.