Arrange Marriage
Mark was looking at the whole city from the rooftop to the hotel. The sun is setting, the golden light of the sun reflects on his skin as the wind blows silently. He was looking at the busy and chaotic city below him. A city where there are so many different people. People strive, work hard, suffer, and do bad and good things and live the life they chose. He let out a heavy sigh and put both his hands on his uniform's pockets. He looked at the beautiful sky and smiled sadly. Sunset. Sunset that symbolizes goodbye and to start again.
"Mom…" he whispered with a sad smile. "How are you? You're in a better place right?" His tears slowly formed in his wrecked eyes. "I… I am getting better. I will start again. I know that is what you want me to do. I love you." his tears flowed down to his cheeks. He let the tears flow as he freed all the emotions that were sinking in his heart. When the sky became dark, he left the rooftop. When he was walking, his phone rang. He stared at the screen then sighed before answering the call.
"Hello? What time? Okay. I'll be there." he ended the call and went inside the elevator.
"Hey," Lanie greeted, she was ready to leave. He nodded at her. He checked his watch and looked at Lanie.
"I have an emergency. I need to leave now. Is it okay?" Lanie nodded at him. There are only a few guests today so they are not that busy.
"It's okay. Go now." Mark thanked her and went to his locker to change and get his things.
Mark stopped by at the CK Mall and went to one of the boutiques there. The two employees greeted him like he was a regular customer there and as if they were waiting for him. Mark went straight to where the suits were. He got the black suit he saw first and changed to the fitting room. He just nodded at the two employees who assisted him then left immediately.
He parked his car in front of an expensive restaurant. He went out of his car and gave his key to the valet then went inside while fixing his coat.
"Good evening, Sir."
"Reservation under Wang." he said. One of the waiters escorted him. His face changed as he walked towards the table. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Wang, Henry and Yael. In front of them were three more people who he didn't know because he was only seeing their backs.
"Good evening. Sorry, I'm late." He formally greeted them. The couple didn't look at him while Henry and Yael only glanced at him. He sighed and went to his seat.
"And who is this handsome man?" the lady in front of them asked. He looked at the people in front and he was stunned to see who was the person sitting opposite to him. What is she doing here?
"Oh! He's Mark. The boy we adopted at that orphanage." Mrs. Wang said like he was nothing.
"Nice to meet you, Mark. I am Gabriella Andres, this is my husband Alex Andres and our daughter Catherine Andres." Mark nodded and smiled at him. He looked at Kathy who was looking at him with full curiosity as she drank her wine. She looked at him like she was a hawk and finally found a victim. She raised her brow on him. Mark looked away and started to eat.
"Thank you for inviting us to eat dinner, Yeri. But I guess you have another reason behind this." Mrs. Andres said. Mrs. Wang chuckled. She took a sip on her wine before looking at Mrs. Andres.
"How old is your daughter, Gabriella, again?" she asked.
" She's turning 25 this year. Why?"
"Oh! My son, Yael, is already 27. What a great and right time to marry, right?" Mrs. Andres was taken aback at what Mrs. Wang said. She looked at his husband who was just staring at his wine. Mark put down his fork and drank water. He looked at Kathy who was just staring at her food, holding a spoon and fork tightly.
Mrs. Andres just smiled at Mrs. Wang.
"You know what I am talking about, Gabriella. Can you give an answer now?" Mrs. Wang added.
Mr. Wang laughed. They looked at him except Kathy and Mark. "What can you say, Alex? Merging of the Wang and Andres?" Mrs. Andres looked worriedly at her husband.
Mark looked at Kathy seriously. He scoffed. He knows that these two families are rich and powerful so he isn't shocked that they will open the arranged marriage thing. To other people, they don't know that this kind of setup is still happening, but to families like them, it is always possible to happen. For the company, for the money and for the power not minding if they love or not love each other. For them, marriage means merging of the companies and not merging of the two people because of love.
"Your offer was tempting." Mr. Andres answered. He looked at his daughter and held her hand tightly at her fork.
"It's a deal," Mr. Andres said, which made Kathy look shocked at him. Mark saw Kathy's tears at the edge of her eyes. Mrs. Andres was stunned too at the response of her husband. Yael smirked.
"It's a deal if my daughter wants to." Mr. Andres continued. The couple in front of them looked at them, disappointed at what he said. Kathy felt relieved at what her father said.
"We really valued marriage and of course, we respect our daughter. We want her to choose the man she will love and she will marry. We are open for the merging of the company but leave my daughter out of it. We can merge our company without this arranged marriage."
"They will soon learn to love each other, Alex." Mrs. Wang said seriously.
"Your company lost almost 10 billion because of your new project, right?" Mr. Wang said that made the couple speechless. Kathy looked at Mr. Wang. "We can save that project of yours Alex," he continued. He looked at Kathy and smirked.
"Have you decided, Kathy?" She looked at her parents who couldn't look at her now.
"Do you like someone?" Mrs. Wang asked her. Kathy shook her head that made her smile wide. Yael drank his wine and looked at Kathy, waiting for her answer.
Kathy bit her lower lip. She didn;t know what to do and what to say in this situation. Wang was forcing her parents to agree to arrange marriage. She didn't know that her father's project was failing. And she didn't want to marry the guy she didn't love. She looked at the man who was playing at his wine in front of her. He looked like he didn't have any interest and didn't care about what was happening tonight.
"I…" Except Mark, all of them looked at her. "I will marry your son." She said that made Wang smile, satisfied with her answer. Mrs. Andres was about to say something when Kathy continued.
"I will marry one of your sons." Mrs. Wang raised her brows while Mr. Wang shook his head like what she said was funny.
"Oh! That's good then, both of them were single anyways. So, who will you choose-"
"I want him." Kathy said, refraining from the man in front of her who stopped playing his wine. She heard Mrs. Wang gasping. They all became silent, shocked at Kathy.
Mark looked at her without an emotion. He saw Kathy's serious and brave face yet her eyes were pleading. She wants him to save her.
"But-" she didn't let Mrs. Wang speak.
"You said, you adopted him so he is Wang, too. He is your son, too." she said. She saw how Mrs. Wang likes to explode right now but her husband held her hands.
"If that's what you want. Then, it's a deal." Mr. Wang said. Henry and Yael looked at Mark angrily and disappointed. Mark didn't speak until the dinner was over.
Both of the families went out and went to their cars. Mark was walking behind them. The Wang left first then the Andres.
Mark looked at the night sky before sighing. He shook his head and started walking to his car. As soon as he opened the car's door, someone spoke behind him.
"Why didn't you say anything? Are you fine with that?" He turned around and saw Kathy.
He shrugged, "What will I say? As if I can disagree."
"What do you mean?"
"How can I disagree if your eyes tell me to save you from that situation?" he said. Kathy was stunned. This man. She felt that there was something in this man. There was a reason why Wang adopted him. There was a reason why he let her marry him.
"We can divorce once your father's project becomes successful."
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