He was easily considered the villain of their own story, in her defense he had sabotaged it from the very beginning. Making her marry him was part of his elaborate plan to anger his father. Of course he could not tell her that, it was easy to just continue being the douche.
He had told her he wanted her for the continuation of his lineage, that was not the best lie but it was all he could come up with, considering he had treated their marriage so badly. He did not think marrying her through.
Her father owed the company a few hundred thousands, approaching a million. He had managed to pay off some of his debt, but for that little that he could not get on time.
He had gone to the her father's house that day to help his men collect his loan payment, for some reason. He was the owner of the company, he did not have to be there with them, but fate had a way of playing its beautiful hand.
He knocked on their door waiting for a man to come open the door for him and his associates, it was easy for him to just wait in the car, he did not. He had heard a little voice yell from inside the house, the voice of a woman, he did not know his debtor had a wife. She appeared disheveled. Her hair in a bun and her clothes plain, she was not expecting visitors. She had on her reading glasses, round spectacles. He had made her out to be in her early 20s so she could not be his debtor's wife, daughter maybe?
She looked afraid to leave the house, no not afraid, cautious. She had the look of an avid reader and sure enough she was. Looking further, away from her face before I seemed to be a creep, he looked at her hand and sure enough, she had a novel placed well on her hand, like it belonged there. He noticed her, every part of her, the mess in the beauty and the beauty in the mess.
Her eyes were blue, not like her father's presumably like her mother. She had legs that stretched for miles. He could see her waist-line and God, he was intrigued. He was a man of control, but that was not working against this middle-class woman that stood in front of him.
He could feel his hunger worsen as she talked to his associates, he was the James Ward, he had to have control. He sneakily took a look at her breasts, perky. No, he was no pervert, he was a gentleman.
"tell him James came looking for him"
He had managed to get that out before he embarrassed himself further. He signaled to the men to join him in the convoy they arrived with. In the car, the associates had questions he was not ready to answer so he turned away from them as they spoke within themselves, looking out the window he thought about her, she was going to be his.
As her father came groveling, begging for more time, he had an epiphany of sorts. He could write off the debt, it was nothing compared to how much he's got, in returned, he wanted the girl at the door. He had this idea by the tired man in his office, the man had no choice but to agree to this conditions, he signed the debt away and his rights to the girl at the door, his daughter.
He had pity on the old, weak man before him. He gave the old man, her father, some time to tell his daughter the good news. In his mind he had killed two birds with one stone, he had managed to taunt his own father's efforts at controlling his life and gotten a beautiful brunette to marry him.
As he approached their house for the first official meet, he was all smiles, he was going to be on his best behaviour, for the sake of her father and for her own sake too. He wanted to impress this girl more than he wanted to actually own her. He was an arrogant man, but not arrogant to admit he liked her.
He walked into their house smelling as his bank account, rich and full. He watched her face change from pure hate and disgust to just joy and smiles as they talked about everything. He had seen the book on her hand and done some research, he wanted her to feel safe in his presence, he wanted so much to just provide her with peace.
As the night drew closer and closer to its inevitable end, he saw her in a different light, a loving light. He saw her smitten with him.
He walked to his car with a certain feeling of triumph, he was smiling, he rarely did that. He could feel color, he saw rainbows. And as he drove, he could see her walking down the altar to him, that thought brought about a different kind of peace to his being.
He drove into their driveway, willing his tired self to walk into the big house without so much as a sound. The family house was built by the best architectures, giving off the vibe of the ancient Roman Architecture. He would go to his own house but he had some files to get from his father by morning. He did not want the house waking up to ask him questions he had no answer to. Especially his father.
He had a striking resemblance to his father. His facial features were as pronounced as when he was sill in his 30s, who says money can't buy everything. His father was the definition of everything it takes. At 20, he had amassed such wealth, the FBI investigated him for years, but of course, he could cover his tracks. His father married his mother at a young age. They were so in love together for a while, but she had died a few years after after the birth of Luke, his little brother.
He thought about his mother often, thinking of ways to speak to her, tell her about his new love for someone that was not himself. Could he even call it that?
Love?
He was unsure of the state of his mind for the woman he had seen today, but he did know she was something for sure. He had set up an official date for them, he could hardly contain his excitement and resort to planning their little date in his head before the d-day.
"where were you, James"
He could recognize that deep voice any day, the voice that scarred his
childhood. So much for moving in quietly.