Love's Cure

Chapter 3

Alexander Webster's POV

I have never been more thankful for the ability to keep my face blank than I am right at this moment. I cannot for the life of me believe the crap that is coming out of my father's mouth.

I am the third son of Ethan and June Webster. My oldest brother, George who is thirty-six, is the CEO of my father's company, Webster Corp. My second oldest brother, Samuel ,who is thirty-four, is the COO of the very same company. I am twenty-eight and was a bit of a surprise as my parents didn't plan on having any more children. A surprise my parents were not happy to receive and they have never failed to drive that point home to me.

While my brothers were groomed to take over the family business, my parents were at a loss as to what to do with me. Thankfully, I had my own ideas about that. I have quietly attended to my education, doing an undergraduate degree and my Law Degree at the University of Toronto. After articling for a year at one of the largest law firms in the city, I passed my Bar Exam two years ago. It was a long haul but I made it, spending the last two years practicing contract law with the same firm I articled with.

A friend of mine with an international law firm contacted me about a new career opportunity. They have offices in Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. He mentioned that the offices in London, England, and Adelaide, Australia are eager to have me to join their ranks.

I had been on the fence about it, but after hearing what my father had to say today, I am definitely taking the position. I agreed to interview with the London office first, then the office in Adelaide before I made a final decision. Thank goodness I hadn't mentioned anything to my family about the job offer as they won't have any idea where to find me once I make my escape. And escape I will, there is no way in hell I am going along with dad's plan. Screw that.

"Father, could you please go over it again? I'm afraid you shocked me so much I had a hard time absorbing exactly what you said." I phrased it politely, when I really wanted to say 'What the f**k?'

My father huffed, then repeated himself. "As you know, the Cole Group has been our major rival in business. Jeremy Cole wishes to retire. However, he and Felicia only have one child, their daughter Andrea. He came to me with a proposition. That would be a marriage alliance which would see Webster Corp taking ownership of Cole Group. Your brother George is already married. Samuel is currently dating, so that leaves you. We have arranged for you to marry Andrea a week from today."

"I see." I know of Andrea, have actually met her a number of times at various social functions, and can't stand the woman. She is a pretentious, spoiled, entitled brat. One I have no wish to be involved with in any way, shape, or form. On top of that, she has been in a serious relationship with Kaden Jones, sole heir of the largest real estate company in the province.

"Isn't she engaged to Kaden Jones?" I asked Dad calmly. "Won't that reflect poorly on both their families and companies if their engagement is broken, and then she marries someone else right away?"

"My understanding is they are not officially engaged. His family is arranging a marriage for him to take place the same day. That way, no one loses face." My father smugly replied.

"Who are they planning to marry him off to?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. I'd have to send her a sympathy card. Kaden is a real piece of work.

"I believe the young lady in question was his childhood friend, Cecilia Clowater, though I believe she changed her last name to Love. She's currently in Halifax and doing her medical residency. I guess she'll have to find a residency position here in Toronto if she plans on getting her MD certification." Dad actually sounded a bit sympathetic towards the girl.

"I don't remember ever seeing her around the city," I asked, trying to get a bit more information.

"She has lived with her grandfather in Halifax since she was sixteen, when she started university. She's only twenty-three so you wouldn't have run into her, not likely. Anyway, back to Andrea. I expect you to agree to this marriage. It's for the good of the family. I do have to let you know, there will be no possibility of a divorce for at least five years. Part of the contract is that Andrea gives birth to a child who will eventually become CEO of the Cole Group part of the merged companies. His stern features and hard voice conveyed how serious he was about this.

"I see." was my only response. Sorry to cut this short, but I have something I need to attend to at work. I took an extended lunch to accommodate your request for this meeting. If you will excuse me." I stood up, nodded at my father, then briskly left his office.

What a blessing that my five-year contract with my current job expired at the end of business day today. I have decided not to renew my current contract. I smiled to myself as I made my way back to my office. All I had left to do was pack up my personal items, hand in my keycard, my company ID and say goodbye to my colleagues.

That was done in record time and at four p.m. I walked out of the law firm's offices, ready to take full control of my life and my future. I drove to my apartment complex, parking in the underground parking area. I shared an apartment with my long-time friend. Knowing that he and his girlfriend have hit the serious stage, I'm fairly certain he won't mind if I move out and she moves in.

I'll offer to pay my share of rent until the end of the lease, which is three months away. They can keep the furniture and everything else, other than my personal stuff, of course. Maybe he'll even buy my car, seeing as his was written off in an accident two weeks ago. I'll talk to him about it this evening.

Entering my apartment, I immediately searched for flights to London. There was one leaving Toronto tomorrow for Halifax, then a flight leaving Halifax for London on Sunday. I booked two premium economy tickets for both flights as I preferred to have a bit more room on long flights. I could have booked business class, but I'm not spending an extra eight grand per seat. I may have money, but I don't waste it. Premium economy would be fine. At 6'4", I need a lot of room to stretch out.

Then I started packing up my clothes, footwear, personal care items and such. I made sure I had my passport and all important documents in my briefcase. Next, I opened my laptop and sent my acceptance for the first interview. A thrill of anticipation ran through me as I hit send.

On a whim, before I shut down the laptop, I decided to see if I could find any social media accounts for Cecilia Love. I found her by just typing in her name and the name of the university in the search bar. The search results brought up her name and photo as a recent graduate of the Dalhousie University School of Medicine.

Cecilia Love is freaking gorgeous! Her dark brown wavy hair framed her heart-shaped face and showcased her huge honey-coloured eyes. Never in my life had I ever been drawn to a person just by looking at their picture. I felt envious of Kaden Jones. It almost made me sick when I thought that she would have to marry that slimy loser. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about it. Sighing, I closed my laptop after checking to make sure I had forwarded all the flight information to my phone.

Shortly after six pm, my roommate, Andrew Long, came through the door with pizza and beer, our usual Friday night ritual. We got comfortable in the living room, turned on the television, muted the sound and ate our pizza and drank our beer. I was on my second bottle when I opened up to Andrew about what my father planned for me.

"What the f**k? Is your father losing his mind? What are you going to do?" Andrew, like me, comes from a well-to-do family and is also a bit of a black sheep. He knows what it's like to have your family try to control every aspect of your life. And he, like me, doesn't stand for it. Hence, the black sheep status.

"I'm not marrying that brat, that's for certain. Nope, I've accepted that job interview in London. Booked my ticket and will be leaving tomorrow morning. I'm getting out of town before my father thinks about sending his security people to take me back to the estate. Which brings me to the apartment lease. There are three months left in this term. I'll pay my share of the rent for those three months, which will give you time to look for a new roommate."

Andrew grinned at me and responded, "Evie will move in with me. I was actually going to talk to you about that, but now I guess I don't have to. We got hitched at the courthouse this afternoon. She's at her place packing up right now. I hope you don't mind that she's moving in tonight."

I slapped him on the back. "That's freaking awesome, man! You should have told me. Of course, I don't mind. But why are you here and not helping her pack?"

"Her sister is helping her and Evie sent me here to give you a heads-up. She should be here in about an hour. Hey, if you are going to London, what are you doing with your car? Do you want to sell it to me? I can send you an etransfer if the price is right."

We dickered about the price, and no sooner had we shook hands on the deal than he sent me the money for the full amount. Sweet! Since I always carried the registration with me, I pulled it out of my wallet, and signed it over to Andrew. "All I ask is you drive me to the airport tomorrow morning. And make sure you register the car in your name after you drop me off."

"My pleasure. I'm as excited as f**k to help you with 'the great escape'. Can't wait to see the fallout."