?Arranged Marriage?♀️
To
a
?complete ?
? stranger?♀️?
By: worthy stories
Chapter 32
Hailey’s pov ?
After Athens, we spent two days in Corfu and the last two days we were supposed to spend in Santorini.
The island of Santorini was paradise on earth. It was so beautiful that I almost believed that I was in heaven.
It’s serene beauty was captivating and the peace and calm was another blessing. The waters were so blue and clear against the white paint of the houses in the city.
The narrow and dwindling streets were worth exploring and the markets were bustling with souvenirs.
I felt like I never wanted to leave this place and rued the fact that I got to spend only two days in the most beautiful place in the world.
Ever since we left Athens and the entire time we spent in Corfu, Hannah was sure to keep a firm grip on Nathan,
not letting him alone for a second. Even a single moment Nathan and I were left alone, she’d come and act as a barrier between us, not letting us have a conversation without butting in and just being a nuisance.
At first it was amusing seeing her be so possessive of him and thr_@tened by me but then it got downright annoying, like she was all over the place.
On the last day of our holiday, which was also the second day in Santorini, I went out early in the morning, at around five, to explore the city.
Even though Santorini was beautiful and calm it had one drawback and that was being crowded with tourists from all over the world.
And so I decided on going out at a time when not many people were there – early morning. In doing so, I could see the place and capture it when most people were asleep.
After my little morning outing, I got back to the hotel we were staying in at around nine and entered the suite.
Nathan was sitting on the sofa while typing furiously on his phone. When he saw me he put the phone down and stood up looking angrily like he wanted to devour me.
Oh-oh. Looks like I am in trouble. Hannah was nowhere in sight. Ugh. Where was that woman when you needed her?
“Where the hell were you?” Nathan all but screamed at me.
“I went out,” I told him, holding up the camera which was around my neck, indicating what I was doing.
“Out? So early in the morning? Who goes sight seeing at seven in the morning Hailey?” Nathan was scolding me like a child.
“Do you know how worried I was when I found out that you were not in your bed?”
“How did you know I wasn’t in bed? What were you doing in my bedroom?” I blurted out.
My lawyer instincts could never take a break it seems and now I was in even more trouble as Nathan got all the more angry at my question.
He stalked towards me and I fought my urge to step back.
“Why, am I forbidden to go into your room?” He asked gravely.
“It just seems a bit odd,” I told him, successfully throwing him off topic.
“Does it?” He asked. He was about to speak again when he suddenly blinked as if he realised something. “You changed the topic!
Hah real smooth Anderson! Now tell me, why was your phone switched off? You go out roaming in a foreign city without informing anyone, what if something were to happen to you?
How am I supposed to get in touch with you, how would I know where were you? And is this the time you go out? God that’s so irresponsible! How…”
He went on and on and I just tuned him out. I felt like a kid being scolded for being naughty though I couldn’t figure out what exactly I did wrong here.
I just went roaming. Why was he acting like this is a big deal. Ok, maybe I should have informed him, but he was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb him.
And I am a grown up, not a little girl who needs daddy’s permission to do everything. I can take responsibility of myself, I am not supposed to be listening to him scold me.
Who even gave him the right to scold me? Listen here mister, I’m not a child and I will not tolerate this injustice. I refuse to be subjected to your verbal assault of my person…
“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Nathan’s voice cut off the little speech I had going on in my head.
“Huh?” I was startled as I hadn’t been listening at all. I gave him a sheepish smile much to his frustration. He was on the brink of pulling out his hair.
“Hailey you-” he began again but was cut off by Hannah appearing at the door.
“What’s going on? Why are you’ll screaming?” A really sleepy looking Hannah asked walking towards us. Never before had I been glad to see her.
“Oh nothing, we were just discussing what to have for breakfast,” I said and quickly ran away from the angry looking Nathan.
———————–
For our last day in Greece, we had hired a private yacht to go cruising in the Mediterranean sea.
The clear blue waters were such a delight. It was a pleasant day to lie on the deck of the boat and sunbathe or go diving in the deep blues.
The breeze off the coast of the Mediterranean was calm and inviting, perfect for relaxing.
After a morning filled with swimming the clear waters and other fun activities, I laid back on the deck basking in the late afternoon sun as I spoke with my brother over Skype.
Talking with Ace was always a breath of fresh air. As I always said, he was my better half. He was everything I wasn’t- fun, adventurous, lively, outgoing, active and the life of the party.
I spoke to him at lengths about my time here in Greece.
We both grew up as die hard Percy Jackson fans and had a huge love for the culture of Greece especially all the legends and myths which excited us to no bounds.
I left out the part of Hannah joining us as I knew it would piss off Ace and an angry Ace is never good. As I was ending the call, Hannah and Nathan walked up towards me.
“Hailey!” Hannah’s chirpy high pitched voice made me cut the call in a hurry, afraid that Ace might hear.
“Wow, what a beautiful day isn’t it?” She said happily as Nathan and she slid into the seats opposite me.
“Honey, I really enjoyed myself on this trip,” she told Nathan and he smiled at her.
“I’m glad you did,” he told her.
“And this isn’t even our actual honeymoon but I still felt all the love,” she giggled. “And what about you Hailey?
How was your time on this trip?” She asked pointedly with carefully veiled mockery. To the untrained ear it would have seemed like a good natured conversation, but as a lawyer having spent a whole lot of time in the courtroom,
I was adept at deciphering the undertone and hidden meanings behind people’s words and I knew she was upto no good.
“It was one of the best vacations I’ve had in a long while,” I told her. “I am grateful to Sophia for arranging this.
After all, I’ve always wanted to visit Greece. It was the destination of my choice.”
While she was trying to remind me that she was on my honeymoon, along with my husband, I purposely mentioned that we were here because this place was my choice. Hannah’s face darkened for a second.
“Of course,” she smiled that annoying smile.
I closed the laptop and picked up my iPad, wanting to read a book and enjoy the calm, however Hannah was reluctant to let me do so.
“I love your dress Hailey,” she spoke again. “Let me guess. Is it Victoria Beckham?”
I was wearing a long, halter neck pale yellow dress, that I’ll admit gave off VB vibes. However it wasn’t from Beckham’s clothing line.
“No, it’s not from a brand but a small boutique,” I replied uninterested in carrying on the conversation.
Hannah scrunched her nose.
“Hailey that’s so basic,” she said. “How can you wear anything other than designer? If the media got word of it, you’ll be a laughing stock.
And it will also reflect poorly on Nathan and the Rodriguez family, that despite having riches, you still dress in rags.
I don’t mean to offend you but you must take care about how you dress and carry yourself. It’s not proper that a lady from a rich family dress in anything cheaper than their status.”
She feigned concern like she just gave me the most important advice ever. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her.
“Thanks for the advice, Hannah but I didn’t ask,” I said sarcasm dripping from my voice. “I dress the way I like, in the clothes I like. Your opinion on my style was really not required.”
Nathan who all this time had barely been listening to us, snapped his head in my direction at the rudeness of my voice and words. He glared at me for insulting his love.
“Don’t waste your breath on ungrateful people babe,” he said. “Some people really don’t have a taste for the finer things in life.
They love wrapping themselves in basic and cheap products as it is just like their character and personality- low, cheap and petty. They can never rise to the high standards.”
That was bound to hurt but it wasn’t the first time Nathan was being mean and hurtful towards me.
I put on my unbothered air and didn’t pay him any mind, continuing with my reading which served to annoy him all the more.
“Nathan! How can you say something like that?” Hannah reprimanded. “That was rude.”
Nathan just shrugged and I didn’t even bother to say anything.
“By the way Hailey,” Hannah started again and I just wanted to throw my hands up in frustration.
Didn’t she get that I didn’t want to talk to her? “My friend is getting married soon and so our girl gang has planned a fun weekend next week, you know a girls getaway to California.
We’ll be going shopping, watching movies, clubbing, getting manicures and all fun exciting stuff.
You should come with us. I’ll introduce you to my friends, they are great people, and we can all just hang out you know. You’ll really enjoy yourself, I promise and I could show you a thing or two about fashion and fill you in on the latest trends and designers.
Maybe because you work so much you’re missing out on all the latest gossips, collections and designs. Please, I insist you come along.”
“No thank you,” I said in a bored voice. “That isn’t really my scene.”
“Oh,” Hannah said in a hurt tone. “It’s my bad. You most likely don’t like hanging out with girls who don’t match your status.
It’s fine I totally understand. Though we would be pleased to have you, I know you have a reputation to maintain,” she gave a pained smile.
“Enough Hannah!” Nathan was now agitated. “Stop being nice to people who don’t deserve your kindness.
Hailey, I didn’t realise you were so full of yourself. Hannah was just doing you a favour and you go back and throw it in her face like you’re above everyone else?
You are so arrogant and proud, no wonder you don’t have any friends. C’mon Hannah, don’t waste your time on such narcissistic people.”
And with that he got up and left along with Hannah.
—————————
Hannah p.o.v?
I was really happy as I lay besides Nathan, cuddling on the bed.
Things played out even better than I anticipated and earlier, with Nathan getting so mad at Hailey.
His words would sure be ringing in her head all night long, and rightly so. She should learn her place and should have stayed away from my man.
I h@ťěd Hailey with a passion. For many years, I worked really hard to get Nathan. When we were in high school, Nathan was infatuated with me and so were many boys, as I was the cheerleading captain.
But he never caught my attention as he was not very popular and I had my eyes set on the football captain.
He was handsome, popular and his father was really wealthy. What I didn’t know at the time was that Nathan’s family was even richer and he was the sole heir!
I thought he was just some good looking guy whose parents were well off and dismissed him.
Only years later, when my boyfriend caught me cheating and dumped me did I find out who Nathan really was as he was starting to make a name for himself in the business world around that time.
So I did some research on him and started going to places where he frequently visited and hung out with friends who I knew ran in the same social circle as him.
Once I got him to notice me and spun a really good story of how my ex cheated on me, abused me and then dumped me, I really didn’t have to do much to get his attention.
Lucky for me, he was still not over his high school crush and my sob story only seemed to draw him closer to me.
After playing hard to get at first, I finally agreed to date him. And then slowly by slowly I cemented my place by his side.
But it wasn’t always easy. Many women wanted him and I had to complete a lot to keep him. But I always managed to bully and scare away the other women.
Then, next step was wooing his parents. Evelyn was easy to get under my thumb but Nathan’s grandparents were the real trouble.
No matter what I did, I could never impress them.
Nathan was totally under my spell but even he couldn’t stand up for me in front of his grandparents.
I was trying to slowly work my way into their good graces but they thwarted my advances and before I knew it they had Nathan marry Hailey.
Hailey. That name drove me mad. She wasn’t like the other girls who used to flock around Nathan.
She was smart, pretty and rich and most of all she came from a powerful and influential family. She wasn’t someone that could be easily bullied or thr_@tened.
At first, I never saw her as a thr_@t. Nathan could never fall for a woman so cold. They were so indifferent to each other and I felt secure about my position.
But as they begin getting closer, I felt him slipping away. He was getting closer to her and getting more attached.
At first he didn’t care about her existence and all was good, but now he grew more concerned towards her and I was afraid he might fall for her. I couldn’t have that.
I couldn’t let that cunning Ɓîtçh win over me.
So I started to slowly poison Nathan’s mind and turn him against her.
I was purposely being good to Hailey so he could not accuse me of being jealous. It was also to make Nathan see that I was a good person and Hailey was bad, that she was intolerable, rude and a bully.
He always adored me because he believed me to be kind and helpful and a good, sweet, innocent little girl, who could do no bad. And I would use that to my benefit.
“… And then they’re planning on having their honeymoon in the Bahamas,” I was telling him about my friend who was getting married.
“You know, it’s funny because everyone thought we’d be the first to get married,” I told him. “But fate had different plans.”
“Hey, don’t worry, we’ll be married soon,” he took me in his arms and promised me. “And it’ll be the grandest wedding ever, I promise.”
“I believe you,” I gave him a small smile. “But sometimes…”
“Sometimes what, Hannah?” He encouraged when I paused.
“Nothing. It’s just…uh sometimes I just can’t help feel sad knowing that we’re not married. I just feel… please don’t think bad of me, I love you so much and I just want to be with you. I feel so impatient, I just want you all to myself.”
? I know. And I could never think bad of you Hannah, if anything it makes me love you all the more. But please…
Be patient with me. You know I was forced, or else I would never have done it. I would never have married her if I had another choice.
You are my wife, I don’t care what anyone says, we were meant to be together. And no one can keep us apart.”
“I don’t blame you honey, I never could. You made a wise choice. I just wish it didn’t have to be this way.
Sometimes I think if Hailey…. What am I saying, it wasn’t her fault either. But I just can’t help thinking how different it could have been, if she had said ‘no’.
You know, afterall she had a choice that you didn’t. Maybe we would have already been married, we would have been happier.
This could have been our honeymoon. And most of all, we wouldn’t have had to keep this a secret.”
I paused to let my words sink in. I could tell they were already having an effect on him, his mind was processing what I just said. I put on a sad face, and continued my little game.
“I just love you so much and I want the world to know that we belong together, but everytime I see you with her or as a couple, it makes me sad. And maybe I’m wrong to feel this way but…”
“You’re not wrong baby,” he consoles me as I break down. “You can never be wrong.”
“I just h@ťě being a…..mistress. But if it’s you, I’ll gladly do it. Anything to be with you.”
“Hannah, I promise you. This will all be worth it. Soon I will divorce her and you’ll be my wife. You’ll never have to suffer anymore.
Just wait till I legally get everything on my name. I’ll kick her out in an instance and it’ll be just us, no one between us. Just wait and see.”
.
TBC
Hannah?