Chapter one | Ekaterina
"No way," I repeat the words again, clutching my mother's hand tighter, she brushes a strand of my hair and her expression softens.
"It's okay, he probably just wants to talk." She says softly, the lie slipping through her mouth with ease from how many times she has said those words to me.
Truth is, the way my father demanded me to come to his office, and the tone he used, it didn't seem like he just wanted to talk.
I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down, going inside while I'm fucking freaking out is definitely not on my side.
It takes three knocks before he allows me to get in, my legs move automatically even as my mind races with hundred thoughts.
All of them ordering me to walk away.
"Katrina." My father's rough voice forces me to look upwards, his grey ash eyes meet mine and a spark of fear roams through me.
"Dad," I reply with a polite tone even when all I want to do is anything but.
"I need to talk to you about something important, take a seat." He says, his eyes holding mine as I sit.
"You've reached an old age, Katrina, and you're still not married, that's not acceptable whether you like it or not, we already discussed that before." He says and my heartbeats pick up at an insane pace.
I know exactly where this is going.
"I'm 21, dad, I'm not that old." The words slip out of my mouth before I can think of anything out of it, and that earns me a glare.
The lines of his cheekbones sharpen as his expression takes a dark path, "you're fucking old, you should've been married when you were 18." He says harshly as he pulls up his glasses.
I clench my fists so hard I'm sure I draw blood, however from my father's reaction, he doesn't notice, or more accurately, he doesn't care.
"I don't want to," I say through clenched teeth, I've lived my whole life trying to follow my father's rules, his paths, anything that would make him see me.
Truth is, that shit never worked, I sacrificed a ton of my time, thoughts, and effort in order to please him.
And what has that gotten me? Nothing but misery.
Surprise flashes across his face, before it morphs into something uglier, he snarls at me "what makes you think you have an opinion in it, girl?"
"They'll meet us tonight at an expensive restaurant, I need you to wear something fancy-" his words stop when his eyes roam all over my outfit.
"What the fuck are you even wearing? You're not a child." His words make my blood boil further as I scan down my clothes, I'm sure a pink tank top with grey pants isn't considered childish.
What the fuck is wrong with them?
"Never mind, your mother will handle that, now go away." He shouts and I clear my throat.
"At least tell me who I'm dressing up for," I say, letting out a breath as I stare blankly at my father.
The reply never comes and I take it as my sign to leave.
My mind is still processing everything that happened right now even as I stride out of his office and ignore every bodyguard's look that's burning a hole into my back.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ
My mom caresses my shoulder as I brush my hair, the blonde strands falling down my shoulders in waves.
Hundreds of emotions are running through my body and I can't do anything to stop them, but I promised myself something a long time ago.
I'm not letting my father rule my life anymore.
So I decided that I'm going to do every damn thing in my power to ruin this marriage even if it means that I'll have to face my father's wrath till the day I die.
"What are you thinking?" My mom's voice draws me away from my thoughts and I smile a little as my eyes meet hers.
They're the lightest shade of blue, something I inherited from her, well in one eye since I have heterochromia, and I think that's where our similarities ended.
While her hair is brown, mine is blonde like dad, her features are soft, mine are sharp, yes you guessed it, just like dad, it's infuriating at this point so I don't let my mind wander there.
"What can I do to stop this?" I ask as I scan the dress that's waiting to be put on.
It's a dark red sleeveless dress, shorter than the shorts I'm wearing right now, and truth be told, it looks stunning.
But there's no way in hell I'm wearing that, "nothing, you'll just have to accept it." She says, her face carrying a sad expression.
Frustration bubbles its way through my mind, my mother has always been like this so I shouldn't be surprised, always scared to face anything, or more accurately, to face my father.
"What do you mean accept it? I don't want this mom, who the hell am I even getting married to?" I yell, and her eyes widen.
"Lower your voice, Kat." She orders as she gives me a wary look, I sigh, "look mom, are you happy with this? Being forced into a marriage, I know that you understand." I say again.
A sad smile tugs at her lips, "you remind me of myself, darling, I understand what you're feeling, I fought not to get married all my life, and look where I'm now, it's useless, trust me, in our world, that's what women end up doing, marrying and having kids, it's hard to accept it but I'm telling you the truth." She says weakly and I frown.
And the longer I let the truth settle in the more sickening possibilities start wandering their way through my mind.
What if he hit me?
What if he's way older?
What if he touches me even when I don't want him to?
What if-
And a hundred more questions stay unanswered even as my mother walks out of the door and I start dressing up.
My hands shake as I grab the dress, I eye it one more time and sigh, maybe I'll have to wear it after all.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･
"You look beautiful." My mother's words catch my attention as my eyes clash with hers, "so do you." I say sincerely.
It's crazy how one day is able to flip my life upside down, I clear my throat and force the tears back as all of us enter the restaurant.
I take a deep breath and clutch my mother's hand tighter, as I catch my father motioning for the guards to stay outside from the corner of my eye.
"It's gonna be okay." My mother says, no it won't.
I force my nerves to calm down, but nothing works, "ahh they're right there." My father's voice makes my pulse race even more,
As my eyes scan the room for whoever he's talking about, and I clear my throat when he takes my hand "my daughter, Ekaterina." He says.
The older man in front of us motions at his son, whose eyes are already on mine, eyes that I'm ignoring, his tall frame fills the room with confidence and something else, something scarier.
"Alexander," his voice is deep ending in a rasp, and it adds to his intimidating look as he shakes my father's hand who seems absolutely content with the circumstances.
Moments later we all take our seats at the table and I'm sure the shocked expression I had when I saw his face earlier is still plastered on my face.
So we have some pros, I'm marrying a hot ass guy , alright great, the cons on the other hand, are that I'm marrying someone In the first place.
Great.
"So, I think we all already know why we're here, so let's skip the useless cliches of asking each other useless questions." Alexander's father talks.
I fidget my fingers under the table and the only thing I hear next is the erratic thumping of my heartbeats.
"Yeah sure," my father agrees and takes a sip of his wine,
My eyes meet Alexander's gray ones as I take in his features, the sharp cutting jawline, the high cheekbones, his face looks like a fucking model which is annoying for some reason.
His black hair is messed up on his head almost as if he didn't care enough to brush it as it falls over his eyes.
Our parents start talking again but my eyes stay on his, no idea where the boldness came from, but I have an uneasy feeling that ruining this marriage has become way harder than I thought.
A Small smile tugs at the corner of his lips, a fucking smirk actually, and his eyes hold mine as he speaks his next words with confidence and certainty.
"I think me and Ekaterina should have a moment alone, she seems stressed I want to assure her a little if that's okay of course." The asshole says and my father doesn't hesitate as he nods.
Shit.