Contracted To The Billionaire

“What??? I’m getting married”, I screamed as my parents broke the news to me.

I couldn’t believe my own parents were doing this to me; treating me like I was some item to be sold off in the super market.

My parents never cared about me since I was born. They always focused on work and would only provide me with all the things I ever wanted if I asked for them.

My parents were extremely wealthy but still they wanted more. It was as if the wealth they had wasn’t enough for them and they just had to sell me off to another wealthy family just so they could have more wealth.

I go by the name Jasmine, Jasmine Hills. I am a young, industrious lady who had just turned 28 a week ago. It was nothing to be celebrated about because I’ve never had a good relationship with the people who birthed me. I never had the chance to really enjoy my parents’ company as a child.

My parents dropped me off at my grandparents’ villa when I had just turned 6. They told me they’d be back for me and they’d buy me a lot of toys and chocolates and I believed them because the 6 years old me loved chocolates so much. It was when I turned 9 that I realized that my parents had lied to me because they never for once visited me.

Only Nana, my father’s mother and Papa, my father’s father loved me. They took very good care of me and would ensure that they gave me everything I wanted. They’d buy me lots of gifts and chocolates on my birthdays. They’d try to make me forget that my parents didn’t come to see me or wish me happy birthday.

My grandparents took really good care of me and at some points; I was beginning to wish they were my birth parents. They took care of me even more than my real parents ever did.

Whenever I talked about how I felt my parents didn’t love me and had abandoned, they’d cover up for my parents and tell me that my parents loved me but were too busy working hard so they could give me a better future. But no matter how hard they tried to cover up, they couldn’t deceive me.

Things started to turn out bad for me when Papa left us. He died in his sleep. It was the worst day of my life. Nana and I cried our eyes out as we buried him.

And just when I thought the worst-scenario was over, Nana decided to leave me too. Now I was alone in the dark and lonely world. Even when my parents came back to pick me during Nana’s funeral, I still felt like I was on my own.

And now my parents who had never cared about me one bit, wanted me to get married to someone I don’t even know, except for what I’ve read about him on the tabloids. Sebastian Kings, the most dangerous guy in the business world. That’s the guy my parents wanted me to marry just because they wanted to be in partnership with him.

“Mum, Dad, I don’t know if you realize this but we don’t know these people. For all I know, they could be dangerous people”, I said, giving excuses and trying to get myself off the hook.

“They could be drug lords or something way dangerous than that for all we know. Besides I don’t know or love this man in question and yet you just want to marry me off to him”, I ranted when they told me.

“Well, it’s not like you are in a relationship in someone else at the moment and even if you are in a relationship, you have no choice because this could be a tremendous breakthrough for our family.

This could be our chance of becoming multibillionaires, child”, her father replied.

“So you prefer to swap your child with money so you could be a multimillionaire, Dad. I used to think you were frugal but now I know you’re not only frugal but callous as well.

I shouldn’t be amazed. You and mum have never liked me; you’ve always chased wealth and prestige and you never even remembered that you have a child. I’m not going to sit back and watch myself get married to that man. I might just escape”, I said.

“You wouldn’t dare. If you do just that then you do not wish to continue being my daughter”, my father replied.

“You heard me correctly. If you choose not to get married to Sebastian then I’d have to repudiate you as my daughter. If you won’t help our family become a multimillionaire family, then you have no purpose to remain here under my roof”, Dad announced.

I couldn’t believe what I was listening to. My own father would waste no time in repudiating me if I refused to get married to someone I don’t even know or love. I couldn’t say anything else because I was so pissed so I stomped off to my room. I wasn’t going to agree to my parents wish without a fight.

I recalled that throughout the whole time dad and I were contending, Mum just sat there tapping and swiping on the screen of her phone profusely, probably attending to some issues pertaining to business.

I have always thought perhaps mum and dad didn’t hate me; they were just busy with the company like Nana and Papa always told me and now this has proven to me that they were wrong all along.

I would rather leave the house than get married to that man. For days, dad didn’t talk about the topic of marriage and neither did I.

I pretended that day didn’t actually happen. It continued until one day, I came back from work to meet some visitors at our house. Dad and mum were all smiles while discussing to the visitors and when they finally caught sight of me, dad and mum walked up to me with phony smiles on their faces.

“Jasmine darling, we were just talking about you. Sebastian and his parents are here to meet you and begin preparations for the wedding”, mum said, gaily.

I’ve never seen mum so joyful, however I knew it was all but a phony. Wait, what? I think I heard ‘wedding’ and ‘preparations in the same sentence.’

“Who is getting married?”” I questioned, playing dumb.

My parents hurled death glares at me and turned with radiant smiles on their faces to the guests. “Oh please, don’t mind my daughter. She loves to tease around and besides she’s still in surprised that she would be getting married soon”, dad, replied.

Dad twirled around to face me and with a soft, but threatening voice, he said, “Don’t you dare humiliate me now”. Mum and dad dragged me towards the guests and I could see Sebastian and his parents.

This was the first time I was seeing them in person. All I’ve seen were their pictures on the internet and tabloids. Well, I must admit, he looks really attractive but then again I guess his attitudes are just as awful as the tabloids say they are.

His mum walked up to me and embraced me so tight I thought I was going to run out of breath and die. She released me from her tight grip.

“She’s so beautiful”, she announced, turning her husband now, who simply nodded his head. He seemed less interested in whatever was going on.

I simply smiled at her, not wanting to seem rude. Through the corner of my eyes, I peeked at Sebastian. He was on his phone, just tapping, scrolling, and swiping. He looked like he was compelled to do this marriage thing too.

He had the same facial expression as his father. Unconcerned. Irritated. In a hurry to leave this place.

“Bro, I’m in a hurry to leave this place as well”, I thought.

I glanced back at his mother who was staring at me like I was a gold medal she had just won. This was beginning to feel absurd. What if I was right? What if she’s into trade of poor girls like myself and now is thinking of how to sail me off to Africa as a prostitute or something? The smile on her face was so adorable and contagious but I didn’t know what’s going on in her head.

“Anyways, since you’ve signed the contract, the wedding will take place in two weeks. You don’t have to worry about wedding arrangements. We have settled everything, including her wedding dress”, she turned to my parents, who had bright smiles on their faces. They looked like they’ve just won a lottery.

While I on the other end couldn’t believe that I was going to get married to a stranger in two weeks’ time. I heard Sebastian’s mother talk about a contract. I guess I’ll have to ask ‘my parents’ what she was talking about.

Plus, I vividly remember telling dad that I would be getting married to nobody. Not Sebastian. Not somebody I wasn’t in love with.