Austen POV
As Austen waited for the owners, he looked around the house for signs for Bella. It had taken some time, but it wasn't so hard to find out that she worked for the Thorns'. He considered it a stroke of luck, and his intention was to fully maximize the opportunity.
"You can't do that, son," his mother angrily said when he told them the conditions for his marriage.
"Why not?" He asked incredulously. "You asked me to find a suitable girl, and I've done that."
"Not a cook, Austen. What happened to his own daughters?" His father asked, and he shrugged in response.
"I don't want them." Before making his choice, he looked at their public profiles, and it wasn't hard to decide. Bella was the best to look at, and with her qualification or lack of, it wouldn't be hard to convince her. Other things would follow later on.
"How do you know that, son?" His mother's voice had gone down a tone, but it was easy to detect the hardness in it. "You need to talk to them first and asses their characters."
"Exactly," his father piped in. "After all, what do you know about this girl you claim to be head over heels in love with?"
It wasn't exactly what he said, but Austen made no move to correct the man. Instead, he chuckled and wagged his parents' exasperated faces. It was funny that moments ago, they were pressuring him to get married, and now they didn't like his choice.
He let them go on for a few minutes, trying to convince him otherwise, but his choice was made. With a sigh, he got up and began to walk towards the door. "I'm going to their house right now to discuss with the Thorns'. Do you want to come along?"
"No," his mother huffed, reclining into the seat behind her. "I refuse to be part of this nonsense."
His father didn't even bother with a reply, and Austen sauntered out with a smile. He would try to convince them later on, but for now, the most important thing was making sure Bella agreed to the proposal.
The moment he entered his car, he placed a call to his best friend. "Hey, man. What's up?"
"I'm cool. You?"
"I'm going to get married, Henry."
"What the…? What do you mean?"
Austen chuckled and began to explain everything. Like his parents, the guy wasn't supportive of the idea.
"But you don't even know this girl at all. What if she's a serial killer or a kidnapper?"
"Nah, I highly doubt that." Henry shook his head and glanced at the Google map which showed he was nearly at the Thorns' mansion.
"Besides, it's going to be a contract marriage. I just need her to fill in as my spouse for a year or so."
"Why? You can't get your inheritance till you do so?"
"That's part of it, but I'm tired of my parents and their pressure. Also, she seems meek and I like that. I don't need a wife who'll put a stop to my regular life."
Austen was known to most people as the resident bad boy, and to others, he was the most eligible bachelor in USA. Either way, he made sure to fulfill his role. The string of women in his life never ended, and he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Married or not.
"I'm not sure about this…," Henry trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"It'll be fine. I know that." At that moment, Austen saw the house and began to drive in. "I'm at the house. I'll call you once I'm done."
The arrival of Mrs. Thorn pulled him out of his thoughts. "Hello, dear. You are…"
Austen smiled at the woman's directness. "Austen Trevor, son of Mr. Trent Trevor."
He watched as different emotions fleeted across the woman's face until it settled on recognition. She pointed at him for a second and the smiled, walking forward to envelope him in a hug.
"Oh, dear. I couldn't recognize you. It's been so long!"
Austen, himself, couldn't remember seeing her throughout his years of growing up, but he said nothing and just smiled back.
"Please have a seat. What can we–"
"Hello. Who do we have here?" Austen turned his head to Gina, the eldest daughter. She smiled at him eagerly, before going to her mother's side.
"Austen. You must be Gina."
"Yes, I am."
"So what brings you here?" Mrs. Thorn asked. She hated to break up the conversation budding between her daughter and the heir of Trevor Corporation, but she had things to finish.
"Bella," he responded boldly. "I would like to marry her."
"What?"
"Why?"
Both mother and daughter had a shared look of shock and disgust in their faces, and Austen frowned. He did one semester of psychology in University, but he didn't even need that knowledge to see that these people didn't like his soon-to-be wife.
However, that only strengthened his resolve. "Because I like her."
"But...but... she's a low life cook," Gina said with a deep frown. Austen stared at her for a moment, before Mrs. Thorn but her daughter lightly and shook her head. To the man in front of them, she sighed.
"Pardon our expressions. Honestly, we are just surprised that someone would want to marry Bella."
"Why? Because she's a low life cook?" Gina instantly blushed at that, while her mother tried to gather her words.
"No... not at all. Just that, umm...she's never brought a guy home. No one has ever come looking for her, at all."
Certainly not in this environment, Henry thought to himself, as he shrugged and scanned the house with his eyes.
"I want to talk to her."
"Of course," she signaled to the man standing behind them and he went further inside the house. Moments later, he came out with Bella walking beside him.
When she noticed him, her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Umm, Sir, is there an issue?"
"Not at all," he smirked warmly, standing up to meet her. "Will you marry me?"