375: DISPUTING ASSUMPTIONS

ARIEL'S POV "Their business will fall, Tessa. I need to get married to Luke to stop that from happening," I said to Tessa, trying to make her understand the talk around here. "You have got to be kidding me." She shook her head; her tone was inaudible. "I'm serious about this, Tessa." "But you are human, Ariel," she vocalized loudly. "You have feelings. You can't just let anyone treat you like shit. You can't let them take advantage of your kindness." "I understand your point, Tessa. My parents did wrong; there is no doubt about that. But they were only doing it to secure the future. My father worked so hard to get to where he is today. He wanted the best for me and my mother and for our family. And seeing all of that going down the drain, I can tell he's broken. He's ruining the better future he wanted for me. This is the only way." "The only way to do what, huh?" A man uttered it suddenly. Turning around, Tessa and I met the intense gaze of this man standing close to our table.