Urban Romance

*JANELLE*
Even if Gary didn’t want his precious stepdaughter to marry Donovan, he obviously still wanted to enjoy the benefits that came from being in-laws with the O’Connells.
The O’Connells family were very wealthy, they always have been.
The Moore family were also wealthy from the start but I think bad management of the family’s business had led to a significant decline in their net worth.
Presently, the Moore family couldn’t be compared to the O’Connells. The O’Connells were ten times richer.
Maybe Gary feels being in-laws with the O’Connells would improve the Moore family’s business.
I watched Gary bend over before Donovan and said in a low voice, "Have dinner with us before leaving"
Donovan eyed him.
I could tell he didn’t like Gary at all.
Well, we had that in common.
“No, thanks. I have something to attend to.”Donovan refused and the man behind him started to push him away.
When 

*JANELLE*
I stared at Donovan, nervously.
I barely knew him so I didn’t exactly feel safe enough to tell him everything I’ve been through.
Or tell him what I wanted from my dad in exchange of marrying him.
Since I knew he obviously loved someone else and didn’t want this marriage at all, I will not force myself or him into wanting this marriage.
One month was enough.
I get something substantial from my dad.
We separate and go continue our lives.
It was a win-win situation.
So I thought of a lie to say to Donovan.
“I respect my mom a lot and she had always valued this engagement. She’s not in a really good health right now and I don’t want to disappoint her.”
My mom would literally crash out if she heard this lie right now.
Donovan eyed me as if he could tell I was lying.
“Really?”
I met his gaze and my nervousness increased, it was as if he could see through me.
His cellphone rang out an

*JANELLE*
Kara smirked.”Well, your future husband is…”
“The O’Connells are here!”A servant suddenly announced.
I turned around and saw a man in a wheelchair, he was being pushed by someone.
He had definite facial features and was very handsome.
Even if he was sitting in a wheelchair, one could still tell how formidable he was.
Was this man the same person who was flirting with that woman at that dressing room?
He was the eldest son of the O’Connells family?
I recalled that in the fitting room, there was no sign of a wheelchair.
I even saw him stand at some point when he told the woman to go get more dress.
What was going on right now?
I was very sure that Moore family being talked about was mine.
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Could it be that this man was pretending to be crippled?
Why would he?
Gary suddenly shouted at me.”Come over here, Janelle! Come meet your husband-to-be.”
I walked over, quietly.
“Sir Donovan, this is Janelle.”
********
*DONOVAN*
I frowned as I stared at my wife-to-be.
Even if I didn’t want this marriage. I had expected her to be at least goodlooking.
But the girl standing before me looked skinny, young and somewhat malnourished.
I had known about my arranged marriage since I was small. I never thought about disobeying my family’s wishes and breaking the agreement.
I had accepted it. I didn’t do love or any of those feelings. I just thought that when the time came, I just had to marry her, keep her home to birth and nurse our children. She could also engage in other things she wanted to do as long as it didn’t affect my family’s name.
But when that incident happened with Laura, I had to take responsibility and so, I knew I had to break off this marriage so I could be fair to Laura.
I had released news about being in a terrible car accident. I announced that it had left me disabled and impotent.
I thought doing that would make the Moore family dissatisfied and so they would break the agreement since I couldn’t directly do it first.
I was surprised they didn’t.
But now, I was seeing a girl that didn’t seem to be his daughter.
I mean, if she were Gary Moore’s daughter, why would she look this haggard.
It was as if they got a maid and draped her in an expensive dress.
Was he trying to fool me into marrying someone else instead of his daughter?
If he doesn’t find me worthy enough, he had better call off the wedding.
That was my only purpose of faking being crippled in the first place.
As if he read my thoughts, Gary said.
“My daughter has been living with her mother at the countryside. She’s a very hardworking girl but I told her she didn’t need to work anymore from now on. So don’t worry, soon, you’ll see how beautiful she is.”
I scoffed.
Beautiful, my foot.
So this man still wanted to marry off his daughter to me regardless of the horrible news I published about myself?
I stared at the girl and taunted, coldly.
“I got crippled two months ago. The doctor say I’d never be able to work. Sure, we might have lots of servants to assist me, but as my wife, you’d be my number one caregiver. Plus, I wouldn’t be able to satisfy you in bed. I can’t get your pregnant. Do you want that kind of life for yourself?”
“Yes.”She answered, immediately and bluntly.
I blinked, surprised.
What was the deal with this family?!
*JANELLE*
There was an eerie feeling about this man and I already knew that this marriage won’t last.
I wasn’t hoping it would last anyway.
I already had a deal with Gary.
So I’ll play my part and once I get married to this man, Gary had better play his.
And I also kind of understood why this man was pretending to be crippled.
It was because of that woman in the dressing room.
He couldn’t call off the wedding so he wanted the Moore family to be the ones to call it off.
And it seemed he didn’t fully expect that Gary would still insist his daughter marries him.
Donovan was still glaring at me, as if he wanted to scare me away with his arms.
I tried not to be intimidated.
I didn’t want to continue being that weak and powerless girl.
I needed to rise to the top no matter what.
And so I said to him.
“We’ve been engaged since we were little. No matter what had happened to you now, it is not enough to break the agreement.”
His eyes turned colder.”You…”I saw his take a deep breath as if trying to cool his temper.
And then he said, a bit calm.”Yeah, you’re right. Nothing should break the agreement.”
I swallowed and nodded, then I looked away from his chilling gaze.
“Well, that’s settled!”Gary announced, breaking the silence.
I could tell he was happy to be in-laws with the O’Connells at my expense.

*JANELLE*
Even if Gary didn’t want his precious stepdaughter to marry Donovan, he obviously still wanted to enjoy the benefits that came from being in-laws with the O’Connells.
The O’Connells family were very wealthy, they always have been.
The Moore family were also wealthy from the start but I think bad management of the family’s business had led to a significant decline in their net worth.
Presently, the Moore family couldn’t be compared to the O’Connells. The O’Connells were ten times richer.
Maybe Gary feels being in-laws with the O’Connells would improve the Moore family’s business.
I watched Gary bend over before Donovan and said in a low voice, "Have dinner with us before leaving"
Donovan eyed him.
I could tell he didn’t like Gary at all.
Well, we had that in common.
“No, thanks. I have something to attend to.”Donovan refused and the man behind him started to push him away.
When he passed by me, he raised his hand to tell the man to stop. He looked up and asked, "Miss Moore, we

Chapter 8