Annabelle sat on the bed staring into space. It was her wedding night but she wasn't looking forward to stuffs that happened on wedding nights. Not that her newly wedded husband would touch her, she knew he wouldn't. He doesn't even look at her as a woman, talk more of touching, kissing or making love to her.

Who knows if he might rape her just to punish her for agreeing to the marriage.

The thought made her shudder. She didn't even know why she was sitting on the bed. This position might give him the wrong sign. He might think she was inviting him and who knows what he'd say or how he'd react.

But as she decided to go over to the couch, the door opened and she had no choice but to stay where she was.

He came into the room in all his tall and sexy glory. Her husband was quite a devastatingly handsome man. He was thirty as she found out. Tall, brown skinned and smoking hot.

If only he had married her for love or because he really wanted to, she would have considered herself the luckiest woman.

He had discarded his jacket and unbuttoned the top buttons of his white shirt giving a nice view of his strong muscular chest.

She looked up at his face and noticed he was looking at her with a cold, arrogant smirk.

"Are you done checking me out?" He asked in a cold sarcastic manner and she didn't answer, so he continued. "I guess you are. But unfortunately for you, minx, you can't seduce me. Not with those eyes or that body. You are not my type and you don't tempt me one bit."

Ouch! That had hurt, a lot! But she wouldn't let him see that his words were piercing her painfully. She would just keep calm. He was only trying to get on her nerves, right?

"You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me." He said calmly but scathingly. "And the reasons why I agreed to this goddamn marriage was because of my sick and dying father and the fact that I'll take over the company completely, immediately I agree to marry and tolerate you for the next three years. So don't even think for one moment that this marriage will work because it will never!" He said firmly, hatred lacing his words. "And be rest assured that I'll be divorcing you once the three years are over."

Annabelle let out a sigh. "I understand." She said drily.

"And if you expect me to fulfill any obligation as a...husband, to you, then think again."

He said coldly. "We are married on paper only and I will never look at you as my wife!" Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "To me, you are just a housemate."

She blinked back her tears, she wouldn't cry in front of this arrogant jerk.

"I un-der-stand." She said slowly but firmly.

"Good," he said. "And I'll be sleeping in a guest room, we don't have to sleep in the same room."

She looked up at him. "But this is your room, you can sleep here, I'll take one of the guest rooms."

"I made the decision," he said. "So I don't want you arguing with me."

And he turned and left the room.

For a few seconds she stared at the slammed door, then not able to hold it in any longer, she burst into tears.

Her life has been ruined. Ruined because of some stupid promise.

Asking Mr Aaron Maxwell to just take good care of his family should have been enough for her father, he shouldn't have gone to the extent of asking for the future marriage of Mr Maxwell's son and his daughter.

But she wouldn't blame the dead. Besides, her father hadn't known it would turn out this way. If he had, he wouldn't have asked for this. Right?

She stood up to remove her wedding dress. A random dress she had just seen and picked. She didn't even look for or tried out different gowns to select the best like many happy brides to be did, she just went for the first gown she saw which was very simple but elegant. She hadn't wanted the wedding as much as he hadn't, but it was what her father wished for as well as her mother's coercion. And it were both their mothers that planned the wedding since the both of them wanted nothing to do with it.

Though she was part of the planning on few occasions, David never for once asked about the progress of the planning, at least not in her presence, talk more of being a part of it.

His father, Aaron had been very ill but had managed to make it to the wedding. His illness was definitely one of the main reasons why David agreed to the marriage. His father liked her, a lot and she liked him too. He was like a second father to her. A good man, and had taken care and provided for her family since her father died.

While his mother, well was the direct opposite of her husband. Just like her son, she hated this marriage. She was always so rude to her and her mother and always referred to the marriage as 'just a business contract'. Annabelle always wondered how Helen and her mother had managed to plan the wedding so effectively. Though she knew her mother was as hotheaded as Helen herself so they probably came to a temporary truce so that they could plan and have the perfect wedding, as they thought, for their dear children.

The wedding had been an expensive and elaborate one with a good number of people attending even though she and David had wanted a small quiet wedding.

And on that day unlike many brides to be, she didn't look forward to marrying her fiance. She cried herself to sleep on the night before her wedding. She really didn't want the marriage contrary to what he thought.

She had walked slowly to the isle to meet him, dreading every step she took. When he saw her, a small bit of admiration and another emotion she couldn't fathom had crossed his face for a second before he went back to his usual hard, expressionless face. It had taken like forever before she went past the smiling crowd and finally stood facing him while the priest said his usual marriage blah blah blah, exchange of rings and the hard part...you may kiss your bride. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other then surprisingly he came forward, wrapped his hands around her waist and kissed her. When his lips touched hers, she shuddered slightly as a wave of excitement ran through her body down to her core and she placed her hands on his arms.

He had surprisingly kissed her longer than she had expected and when he raised his head up, his eyes had darkened slightly but that hard look still remained on his face. Then she looked away and her eyes landed on her ex fiance, Dominic. He looked broken and her heart broke the more. His face held the expression of 'Why Annabelle?' but before she could look away, her new husband caught her staring and traced her gaze. And when he saw just who she was staring at, his face hardened the more but he said nothing as the wedding ended and they they proceeded to the reception.

She thought of her ex fiance, Dominic. He had proposed to her on the day her mother had decided to tell her of her supposed betrothal to David.

Breaking up with him was one of the hardest things she had ever done. Dominic had cried and pleaded for her to change her mind but she was as helpless as he was. Their breakup ended in hugs and kisses and Dominic was still calling her up till now.

For a moment, she wondered if she could start an affair with Dominic since her husband wouldn't mind and since he would obviously cheat on her, she knew of his reputation with women. He definitely wouldn't mind even if he found out she was having an affair.

But then, she shook her head. Despite the fact that she and David were married but still single, she would never cheat on him. She had pledged her loyalty and faithfulness to him on the altar, for better and worse, at least till divorce do them apart. Even though he obviously hated her, she would try to do her part as his lawfully wedded wife. It wasn't going to be easy, but she would carry that burden that she had agreed to carry.

For the next three years, she will be Mrs David Maxwell whether she liked it or not. So she had no choice but to play as his wife.

😘