MidReal Story
Unexpected Love: A Marriage of Secrets
Scenario: Forced marriage
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I was never supposed to marry Jameson Reed.
I was never supposed to be a Reed.
I was just a poor girl living in a poor world, and I’d do anything to save my family’s business.
Jameson was just a means to an end.
I never thought he’d actually claim me as his own, or that I’d fall in love with him.
The reeds are nothing but thorns.
And love is like poison flowing through my veins.
I was never supposed to marry Jameson Reed, but maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all…
“Emily, you have to do this.” My mother’s voice is desperate as she clutches my hands in hers.
“I know it’s not what you want, but we don’t have any other choice.”
I look down at the contract on the table in front of me and try to keep my hands from shaking.
It’s an agreement for marriage between the Carter and Reed families, and it’s been signed by both parties.
I can’t do this.
But I have to, for my family.
For our business.
I look up and meet my mother’s gaze.
She’s been crying, her eyes are red and puffy, and I can see the dark circles under her eyes that will never go away.
She looks so tired, so old, and it breaks my heart to see her like this.
She’s done so much for us, for me, and I can’t let her down now.
I take a deep breath and try to find the words to explain to her why I can’t do this, but she beats me to it.
“Your father left us nothing, Emily.
He had no life insurance, and the bank is going to take the house if we don’t pay off his debts soon.
There’s no way I can come up with the money on my own, and I can’t bear the thought of you and your brother being homeless.” She takes a deep breath and swallows back a sob.
“This is the only way to save us, Emily.
The only way for you to have a future.
My throat is tight with unshed tears as I listen to her words.
I love my family more than anything in this world, but I never thought they’d ask me to make this kind of sacrifice for them.
Marrying Jameson Reed will change everything forever, not just for me but for all of us.
And I’m not sure it’s a change that can be undone once it’s been made.
My mother is looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to agree to the marriage that has been arranged without my consent.
But I can’t do it, no matter how much she begs me to.
“How do you know this is going to work?”
The question is out before I’ve had a chance to think about it, and my mother just looks relieved that I’m finally considering it.
“I don’t know that it is,” she admits reluctantly.
“But we have to try something, Emily.
We can’t just sit here and wait for the end.”
I look down at the contract in front of me, trying to find some kind of solution that will save us all from the mess my father left behind.
The terms are simple: I agree to marry Jameson Reed, and in exchange, my family’s debts will be paid off and we’ll be given enough money to start over.
I’ll also be given a job at the Reed Corporation, where I’ll work for the rest of my life, whether I want to or not.
It’s not an ideal situation, but it may be my only choice at this point.
The only way to keep my family together and provide for them in the future.
“The Reeds are one of the most powerful and influential families in the city,” my mother continues, as if she thinks that will somehow convince me to agree to all of this.
“They have connections that go all the way up to the White House, and they’ll be able to protect us from anyone who tries to hurt us now that your father is gone.”
My eyes flicker over to Jameson, who is sitting next to me in his expensive suit, looking as cold and distant as ever.
He hasn’t said a word since we arrived at this meeting, and he hasn’t even looked at me once.
I’ve never met him before today, but I know that he’s the same age as me and that he runs his father’s business while his parents are away on business trips all the time.
He looks like a man who is used to getting what he wants, no matter what the cost.
He has sharp features and piercing blue eyes that seem to see right through you.
There’s something about him that is almost intimidating, but I try not to let it show as I look away from him and back at the paper in front of me.
I can do this.
I can marry Jameson Reed and give my family the future they deserve.
It won’t be easy, but we’ll be able to survive.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to find a way to be happy together.
My mother seems to take my silence as an agreement, and she lets out a sigh of relief before looking up at the man sitting across from us at the table.
“Mr.Reed, thank you for giving us this opportunity.I promise you won’t regret it.”
The man nods once, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“I hope not, Mrs.Carter,” he says.
Reed is, of course, his name, not Mr.
He’s a wealthy businessman who owns his own company, while his wife is an influential lawyer who has represented many powerful people over the years.
They live in a mansion on the other side of town, while my family lives in a small house by the highway.
They have a private jet that they use to fly to business meetings all over the world, while I’ve never even left the state.
They have everything, while we have nothing.
My mother looks down at her hands in her lap before speaking again.
“What happens if we break the agreement?”
she asks quietly.
The Reeds share a look before Mrs.
Reed answers.
“If either party decides to break the agreement after it has been signed, there will be consequences.”
Her words are vague, but I can see the warning in her eyes as she looks around the room.
She doesn’t want us to challenge this contract, and she knows that we don’t have any other choice but to agree to it.
We’re backed into a corner, and there’s no way out.
I take a deep breath, knowing what I have to do.
I reach for the pen in front of me and take a deep breath before signing my name on the dotted line of the contract in front of me.
Jameson Reed is my groom by arrangement.
I lock my door behind me once I’m finally alone in my room.
The moment we returned home from our meeting with the Reeds, my mother started listing everything that she wanted to do for the wedding.
She seemed so happy, so filled with hope for our family’s future that I couldn’t bear to break her heart by telling her how much I didn’t want to marry Jameson Reed.
I know how much she gave up for me after my father died, all those years ago, and I can’t stand the thought of disappointing her now when she needs my help.
I know that marrying Jameson is the only thing that I can do to make sure that my family will be okay.
But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it.
Tears prick behind my eyes, threatening to fall any moment now as I look down at my left hand.
It’s still empty, but I know that soon there will be a ring on my finger, binding Jameson Reed and me together for the rest of our lives.
I’m a bride now.
The thought makes my stomach flip with fear until I think that I’m going to be sick.
But I somehow manage to hold it together and push those feelings away.
My mom is right.
I can’t let my parents lose the house that they’ve lived in for more than twenty years.
I can’t let them lose everything that they’ve worked so hard to build.
I have to do this.
For them, I have to do this.
I wipe away the tears that are threatening to fall before taking a deep breath and going to the bathroom to wash my face.
I need to pull myself together before I head back downstairs again.
I can’t let my family see how much this is tearing me apart.
When I enter the kitchen again, I’m surprised to see that the Reeds are still here.
They’re sitting around the table with my mother, talking about contracts and money and all sorts of things that I don’t know anything about.
I’m not really listening to them until my mother speaks up again.
“What about Emily’s career?”
she asks, looking over at the three of them with concern in her eyes.
“It’s very important to her.”
Mrs Reed smiles at her before answering her question.
“That’s no problem at all,” she says kindly, but there’s something in her eyes that makes me uneasy.
“We’ll take care of everything.”
My mother smiles gratefully at Mrs.
Reed, but I don’t feel any better knowing that she has their support now.
I don’t want to marry Jameson Reed and give up on all of my dreams just so that my family will be okay financially.
But what other choice do I have?
The first time I see Jameson Reed, he looks like he doesn’t want to be there at all.
He stands awkwardly in the middle of the room, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he looks down at his feet without meeting anyone’s eyes.
He’s tall and broad-shouldered with sharp features and piercing blue eyes that look like they could cut through you if they wanted to.
