My heart aches as I swipe through the different wedding cake designs Clifton sent me, my mind involuntarily drifting back to the vision board I set on fire five years ago. Zane and I spent hours flicking through wedding magazines on the sofa, and at the time I’d thought our dreams were aligned. When he told me he’d propose as soon as we had our family’s approval, I believed him.
How much time did we spend debating back and forth about the tiniest details, envisioning the wedding of our dreams? How many cake designs did we look at back then? It was our way of focusing on the future and everything we were looking forward to. Or so I’d thought.
I still remember the one we ended up choosing, and for one single moment, I’m tempted to order it, even if it’s just so I can imagine the look on Zane’s face when The Herald inevitably publishes a photo of Cliff and me cutting the cake. My need to hurt Zane is insatiable and all-consuming.
My phone buzzes again just as I walk into my parents’ house for dinner, and my stomach turns when I open another one of Cliff’s messages, this one filled with honeymoon destinations. In return for his financial help, he asked me to make our marriage look real, and this is part of it. Rationally, I know that, but at the same time I can’t help but worry that he hopes a romantic honeymoon will turn our friendship into something more, something I warned him I couldn’t give him.
“Celeste?” Mom calls.
I look up to find my family seated in the living room, and then I do a double take, realizing that they’re all here — Mom, Dad, Grandpa, and Archer. I haven’t seen the latter two in the same room in years, and the fact they are seems ominous. My heart instantly beats a little faster, a sense of unease washing over me.
“Come sit,” Dad says, his tone terse and his expression conflicted.
I hesitate for a second before doing as he asks and sitting down next to Archer. “What’s going on?” I ask, nervous. “What happened?”
Grandpa smiles at me, and it only makes me more certain that something is wrong. He’s changed in the years I was away, but that calculating glint in his eyes is still the same. He trusted me to run the company remotely, and over the years, he’s fully handed over the reins, but he’ll never step back completely. “I’ve come to a business agreement that will not only restore Harrison Developments to its former glory, it’ll elevate it further,” he says, sounding pleased.
I stare at him long and hard, searching his words for hidden truths. “How? There’s nothing I haven’t tried, no avenues I left unexplored. Clifton’s extensive help will allow us to survive, but not even that is enough to undo the damage that’s been done.”
I spent years combatting Zane’s attacks behind the scenes and figuring out our countermoves. There’s no scenario I haven’t thought of, nor is there a better way to execute the plans I have in mind.
Dad nods, his gaze fixed on the trees outside our window. “Right idea, poor execution,” he mutters, his voice filled with something that can only be described as anger mixed with frustration. I raise a brow, trying my hardest not to take offense.
For weeks now, Dad has been trying to change my mind about marrying Cliff. Each time I ask him why he’s so adamant that I shouldn’t be with Clifton, he just looks at me and shakes his head, regret marring his features.
My grandfather crosses his arms and sighs, looking weary. “Celeste, I’m merging the company with Windsor Hotels.”
I stare at him as I try to decipher his words, certain they can’t mean what he thinks they do. “That’s impossible,” I whisper, my voice breaking as panic grips me hard and fast. They’re the reason we’re in this state in the first place.
“Anne and I came to an agreement. Surely you’ve noticed the attacks have stopped?”
I take a steadying breath, my stomach churning. The attacks haven’t stopped — Zane merely moved his attention from ruining the company to ruining my wedding. As usual, there’s no clear evidence of it, but I’m certain he’s behind all the mishaps we’re experiencing. Our venue had to be changed twice, and both wedding dress designers I wanted to work with were suddenly booked up for months, among a slew of other problems.
Archer wraps his arm around me and squeezes tightly, his gaze filled with trepidation. “There’s more,” he says, his voice soft. He glances at Mom then, and the way she nods at him and straightens her spine sends a chill down mine.
“The merger comes with a few stipulations. One of them is an arranged marriage between our families,” Mom says, her tone firm.
“No,” I instantly reply, my breathing rapidly becoming more shallow as panic seizes me. They can’t… this can’t be… this cannot be happening to me.
“You’ll have to marry Zane,” Dad adds, not sounding even remotely sympathetic. “The wedding date has been set.”
I rise to my feet, my mind buzzing. “I won’t. There isn’t much I won’t do to save the company, but not this. There’s a lot I never told you about the reasons we broke up, but trust me when I tell you there’s no coming back from what happened. If this is some misguided attempt at pushing me toward happiness, please stop. I won’t find it with him.”
I should’ve told them everything. In the first few weeks after Lily died, I wasn’t able to talk about her at all, couldn’t comprehend everything that happened. Those weeks went by in a blur. Focusing on fulfilling her last wish was the only thing that got me out of bed most days, and Zane undoing every carefully orchestrated step so easily robbed me of the vindication I was sure I’d feel. I’ve spent years wondering how to still make Lily’s last wish come true, only to find him thwarting my plans yet again.
Grandpa sighs. “You won’t find happiness with Clifton Emerson, either. If you’re going to be unhappy in your marriage, you might as well be unhappy in a marriage that benefits us. The Emersons can’t help us the way the Windsors can. You know what it means to merge with them, don’t you? Stop running away from your problems, Celeste. If not for you, we wouldn’t be in this position at all, so take responsibility and fix this mess.”
I wrap my arms around myself and look out the window, unsure how to refute my grandfather’s words. “I might be to blame, but you’re the one handing our company over to the one person who wants to see it destroyed above all else. He won’t save us, Grandpa. Zane will usurp us, finishing what he started. If you do this, we’re done for.”
He smiles at me, his expression unwavering. “You’ll find that Anne Windsor is perfectly capable of keeping her grandchildren in line. This union will achieve what Emerson never could. It’s time to leave the past where it belongs, Celeste. The Harrisons and Windsors are stronger together, and it’s time we acknowledge that.”
I glance at Archer for support, certain he’d be on my side, but he merely studies me with an unreadable expression on his face. “If you truly still want to hurt him, why not do it from the position closest to him, as his wife?”
I glance at my brother, my heart heavy. “I can’t marry him,” I whisper, my voice breaking. I told Lily I wouldn’t — it’s one of the last things I ever said to her.
“You either marry him, or I’ll declare bankruptcy and let my entire life’s work vanish into dust. You’ll have to live with knowing that you not only caused our downfall, but you could’ve prevented it too,” Grandpa snaps. “You have three days to decide.”
