Chapter 2

The first thing she heard when she stepped through the front doors was her father yelling angrily in the living room. She closed the door behind her and sighed inwardly before going to the living room to join in the ‘fun’. “What do you mean you are in love with Samuel?!” Peter, their father, shouted. “I mean what I said. I’m not changing my mind about this!” Chloe screamed. “How can you go fall in love with someone else?! You are engaged!” her father shouted, making Chloe roll her eyes in boredom. “Who wants to marry him? What’s so good about such a useless person?!” Chloe argued back. “That’s the Maxwell family!” Peter said angrily. “So what? Isn’t he still a useless, illegitimate child?! Are you even thinking of me, or is your company more important?” Chloe countered, almost driving her father crazy. “I don’t care about Samuel or whatever, you will still marry Alexander in two days!” their father said with finality. All this time they were arguing, no one had even noticed her presence. “It’s impossible because I’m pregnant!” Chloe said and wanted to leave but came face to face with Olivia, who had been listening to the argument. She smiled condescendingly at her as the cogs in her mind started turning. She wasn’t really pregnant, and that is something that can be found out by a simple pregnancy test. She needed someone to substitute for her and divert her parents’ attention from her. Meanwhile, Olivia was frozen in place when she heard Chloe say that she was pregnant. She suddenly wanted to laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of this whole situation. Even if they aren’t blood related, aren’t they still sisters? How could she proudly say this in front of her face?! Her heart boiled with hatred for the first time, but she did her best to look unfazed by the sudden news. “You’ve finally returned. You didn’t even greet anyone. Did you expect us to stand up and greet you?” Julie, their mother, asked sarcastically with a scowl on her face. Olivia suddenly felt extremely tired. She didn’t even bother with a response and turned around, ready to leave. “Dad, why don’t we get Olivia to marry that good for nothing? Don’t you think they’ll be well matched? An orphan and a bastard, isn’t that fitting?” Chloe said to her father and sneered at Olivia, who had stopped in her tracks after hearing what Chloe said. “That’s reasonable. Besides, Chloe is already pregnant. What do you think?” Julie chimed in, helping her own daughter. “You’ll marry that Maxwell boy,” Peter declared to Olivia, and she laughed with an expression of incredulity. “Impossible,” Olivia said and was ready to leave. “I heard your caregiver Sara is in critical condition,” Peter started, effectively stopping her in her tracks. “We’ll provide the funds for her care, in return, marry Alexander Maxwell,” Peter continued, and Olivia sighed tiredly. How could she refuse? She didn’t have money. In fact, she only recently graduated and hadn’t even found a job. She can’t support herself yet and still had to depend on this family even though she felt no affection for them. Sara was always there for and the only person she considered to be her family. But with her acute kidney failure, her medical expenses were piling up every day. If the payments were delayed any longer, she feared that the hospital would discharge her and only one thing waited for her if that happen. Peter watched Olivia, who had gone quiet for a while and was filled with hope. If Olivia married into the Maxwell family, that would be perfect! They would have a connection with the big family, even if it was through an illegitimate child. “Do you promise?” Olivia finally asked. “Yes, of course. Why would I lie about this?” Peter said eagerly. All she needed to do was agree! “Fine, I’ll marry him. But make sure you keep your end of the deal, or you’ll regret it,” Olivia said and marched out of the living and up the stairs. After taking a hot shower, she finally got the chance to sleep. With how chaotic it had been since the previous day, she fell into a dreamless sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. * The two days passed quickly and the wedding day had arrived. To show their family’s sincerity, her foster parents did not skimp on anything. In fact, she had been relaxing these past two days and all she had to do was pick out a wedding dress from the catalogue that was brought to her. So on the day of the wedding, makeup artists, hair stylists, and their assistants were running around in the house getting her ready for the wedding. “Wow, you look so beautiful,” the stylists gushed after helping her into her wedding dress. As someone who hasn’t been complimented much in her life, such simple words made her cheeks turn into an attractive pink which just made her look even prettier. They helped her cover her face with a veil and escorted her to the car that was provided by the Maxwell family. Everything had felt surreal until she was actually on her way to get married. Olivia started having doubts, about whether or not she was going to go through with this. With how Chloe kept talking trash about her future husband and calling him names. Added with the fact that she had never really met him, her nerves were about to get the better of her. She was not given a chance to dwell on her thoughts as the car finally stopped at the venue. Everything happened so fast she didn’t even get the chance to ponder on her doubts as she was taken out of the car and escorted to the break room that was also beautifully decorated. Her father came in, and gave her a lecture about how she was supposed to behave and not to do anything to shame their family. It was truly eye-opening especially since his own daughter was so unrestrained. “It’s about time what are you two still doing here?” Julie who opened the door reminded. The guests were already waiting for the couple to enter! “Okay, let’s go first,” Peter said and followed his wife out. Olivia also stood up and followed them out. She walked slowly because of her veil and stopped at the entrance of the hall where her future in-laws were impatiently texting and calling someone. “Looks like even the bastard doesn’t want to marry an orphan,” Chloe who had walked over whispered and walked over to where Samuel was standing. Olivia didn’t even look in their direction and stood in place calmly in the midst of the chaos around her. She could hear people complain about how irresponsible Alexander was to the point where he was even late to his own wedding. Olivia didn’t feel much. She only needed the Shaw family to pay for Sara’s medical expenses. Eventually, everyone was asked to go into the venue to calm the other guests as they continued to wait for the groom to arrive Olivia stood in place as if what was happening was none of her business until she felt her surroundings stagnate. “I’m sorry I’m late,” a familiar baritone sounds out in the hall making her raise a brow in surprise. Olivia turned her head to look at the person who was still at a distance but could only make out a vague silhouette because of her veil. “Will you forgive me? My bride,” he continued with a hint of a smile in his voice.