Marriage with His Uncle!

Damnit all

The next day, Kylie asked in a low voice, filled with guilt, “What are you going to do now?” Throughout the night, she had kept apologizing for her brother’s actions.

“I have no idea,” I sighed. My eyes burned from staying up all night, and all I wanted was to sleep and wake up, hoping it would all turn out to be just a nightmare. Yet, the words from last night echoed in my mind like a curse, saturating my reality in despair.

“This might be confusing, but you can’t push through this marriage anymore. My brother doesn’t deserve you. You’ve already wasted half of your youth loving him; don’t let him take advantage of you forever,” Kylie said. I knew she was right, but my love for him clouded my judgment. I was almost convinced that he might not love me yet, but one day, he would.

Seeing my expression, Kylie’s face fell. With a heavy heart and slumped shoulders, she whispered, “You’re not thinking of forgiving him, right? Right?”

Kylie sought an answer, but all I could do was press my lips together. Whatever happened last night was too much to move past, and I was too confused to make a rational decision.

“I don’t know what will happen moving forward. I need time to process everything,” I admitted.

“It’s normal to be confused given your situation. I never thought my brother was faking his feelings for you all these years. I never once doubted his sincerity, and look at how foolish he made us,” Kylie said, her anger bubbling to the surface.

“It’s not that he made fools of us; it was our desire to see sincerity in his actions that misled us. We are to blame more than he is,” I sneered at our naivety.

“No, it wasn’t our fault. He faked it so well that we never considered for a moment that all his actions might have been calculated,” Kylie insisted.

“What’s the point of playing the blame game now? We need to discuss what I should do moving forward. I can’t make any decisions right now, and I need your help to guide me. I'm too overwhelmed,” I said.

“My mind isn’t working either, but we need to cancel the wedding first, and then think about the future,” Kylie suggested.

Shaking my head, I replied, “We can’t cancel this wedding on a whim. Our parents planned this marriage, and pulling out of it isn’t an option. Both families would never allow it.”

“I didn’t think of that. Damn! What are we going to do now?” Kylie exclaimed, pulling her hair and pacing the room like a maniac. “No way in hell could you get married to that bastard!”

“It is inevitable. We are too deep in the ditch to pull out,” I said dejectedly. I felt like a fool for getting myself into this situation, but deep down, I knew that even if I never made a move on Nash, I would still be bound to him. Maybe if we had met through our families, and this marriage was convenient for both sides, I wouldn't be feeling this way right now. If only I had never liked him, I wouldn’t be humiliated like this. If only I could turn back time to the day I developed a crush on him, I would never love him!

“There must be a way to overturn this. I refuse to believe that we can’t think of something together to turn the tables,” Kylie insisted, her eyes lighting up with determination to break off the marriage.

“We only have a week to do that, but considering all our options, we can’t stop this wedding or postpone it unless I'm harmed in some way,” I replied.

“That’s it! What if we fake your kidnapping?” Kylie suggested. “That way, we can postpone your wedding for a while. We can make it look like the kidnapping took a toll on your mental health, and that you need to recover. We might get a couple of months that way.” Kylie looked at me expectantly. I carefully considered her words and realized I might have no other choice than to fake my kidnapping to buy myself some time.

I still had no plan for what I would do after the kidnapping, or how I could use the situation to get out of the wedding. Perhaps I could cite mental health issues as an excuse.

“I can't make any moves right now with all the media breathing down my neck. You will have to contact the person to kidnap me. It would be good if you could give them a ransom to make it more believable for the onlookers,” I said, mentally planning the details of my supposed kidnapping.

The more I thought about it, the more our plan made sense. My utmost priority had to be to escape this situation; whether I forgave Nash or went back to him would be a decision I would make later after carefully considering my options. I wasn’t clear on many things, but one thing was clear—I didn’t want to lose him. Call me foolish, but I had loved him for years and might continue to do so, even as he kept breaking my heart.

Maybe some time apart would knock some sense into me, or perhaps he would realize my value after losing me, even if just temporarily. Anything could happen, and I was ready to risk it all for him.

“Leave it up to me to make sure the kidnapping goes smoothly,” Kylie assured me. When she looked at me, I returned her gaze with a weak smile. I knew all too well that Kylie would be devastated if she found out that even while I was planning my escape, I still held onto the hope that Nash truly loved me.

The ringing of my phone pulled me out of my thoughts, and seeing Nash’s name on the screen made me want to cry all over again.

Now is not the time to dwell on last night, I told myself as I picked up the phone.

“Don’t pick it up,” Kylie growled when she saw her brother's name flashing on the screen.

“We can’t ignore him forever, and if we want our kidnapping to seem real, we shouldn’t raise any suspicions,” I replied. Kylie remained skeptical but agreed to my plan to answer his call.

“Sweet potato, you didn’t forget we have to pick up your wedding dress today, did you?” Nash asked from the other end. The nickname that once gave me butterflies now made my heart ache.

“I’m sorry, I had a couple too many drinks last night and just woke up,” I said after clearing my throat.

“Are you okay? Should I bring something to help with your hangover?” Nash asked.

“No, it’s not that bad,” I replied.

“Alright then, should I postpone our appointment to pick up your dress?” Nash asked.

“No, I will meet you at the shop,” I said, and after we agreed to meet, I hung up the phone.

With Kylie’s help, I got ready to face the long day ahead, unaware that fate had something else in store for me.

~•~