Chapter 26 Daniel's Revelation
“I know why you’re marrying him”, I told her, a while after we’d been on the road.
“What?!”, she asked, a baffled look crossing her.
“It’s to pay off your father’s debt, isn’t it?”, I grimly said, renewed anger rising in me.
How could any girl’s parents sacrifice their daughter to correct their own filthy mistakes and satisfy their vices even at the cost of destroying her life?
Her face turned ashen white at my statement before she quickly caught herself, masking her shock with indifference.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about”, she daftly said, looking out the window. A slight tremor to her generally sunny voice.
“You know exactly what I am talking about”, I said through my teeth, gripping the steering wheel.
Ayesha’s POV
I wanted to jump out of the car…. but it was night… and I haven’t gone completely insane…. yet.
Goosebumps arose on my arms that I tried to make disappear by rubbing my hands down them.
How could Daniel possibly have found out?
Did Benjamin tell him? Did his mother? But they wouldn’t. They were the ones adept on keeping this whole ordeal a secret.
“Daniel, I don’t know what you’ve heard or what anyone has told you, but it’s all bullshit”, I vehemently said with as much conviction as I could muster.
I didn’t know for how long I could keep lying to him.
By the way he scoffed and rolled his eyes, I could tell he knew I was trying to fool him.
He took a deep breath before responding,” Look Ayesha, I know now… it’s okay, you can confide in me."
"There is nothing to confide about", I persisted, hoping to hell that this drive would end soon.
"For fuck's sake, Ayesha, stop lying to me", he seethed, pushing down on the accelerator.
"I hired a PI to look into you and your family", he admitted.
"So, you're having people spy on me now?", I indignantly replied, shocked at his audacity.
"You left me no choice when you refused to tell me how you were coerced into this marriage", he shot back, justifying his stalker tendencies.
My eyes widened at him, my heart pumping hard in my chest, "You promised you wouldn't ask me about my reasons for marrying your uncle again. You promised that you'd leave it alone."
"I promised you I wouldn't ask you about it. And I'm not asking you.... I'm telling you!" He threw me a hard look, seeing right through me. "And I cannot leave this alone so don't ask me to do that. Anything but that."
"This is none of your business. Why don't you worry about your own engagement, huh?", she bit back, her tone bitter. It mollified my anger a bit, to know that the fact that I was now engaged bothered her.
"Hmm.... is that why you're being extra bitchy to me? Because you're jealous?", I taunted her.
"Oh please... jealous of what? A selfish, slutty bitch marrying a self-entitled jerk? You two belong to each other", I breathed hard, angry at myself for letting him rile me up.
The bastard grinned maliciously, replying," That might be the first time you've ever cursed someone off. I didn't think you had it in you."
"Oh! Fuck you! And you know what, Natasha and you deserve each other. I wish you a happy fucking marriage", I continued with my rant, a sudden sadness enveloping me at the thought of him and Natasha being together.
His eyes seemed to soften at me for some reason as he continued," I'm not marrying her. The whole engagement announcement was a misunderstanding."
My heart dropped.... something like stupid hope.... hope for what I didn't want to know... ignited within me.
He parked the car outside my dorm, making me realize we had reached our destination. I wanted to get out but my feet refused to move. I wanted to hear him out.
"What misunderstanding? Seemed pretty clear to me the way your mother announced it to everyone", I couldn't keep out the sourness from my tone. But at this point, the foreign pain that clutched at my heart prevented me from giving a damn about maintaining my cover and not letting him know that his engagement bothered me... in fact, it did a lot more than bother me.
"It's a long story and you're probably tired. You should go", he carelessly said, goading me. I knew exactly what he was trying to do. Knowing that I so desperately wanted to know the truth of the matter, he just wanted to rub it in my face. Any other night, I would never have given him the satisfaction of letting him be proven right, that I in fact was jealous... but I was too far gone and desperate to care about my ego right now.
When I didn't move to get out of the car, he spoke again.
"You remember that guy, Schafer? The one who assumed you to be my bride?", he asked and I nodded at him.
'What did the politician have to do with any of this?', I wondered, arching a brow at him.
"Well, there's been some long-brewing animosity between him and my father. We suspect... no, we're sure that with the elections overhead and the gregarious steps he's been taking to get everyone on his side... he is definitely preparing to demolish my father and his company entirely. The only saving grace is my marriage."
"How is that?", I asked, focusing on his every word with rapt attention.
This was a lot more complicated than I'd assumed it to be.
"Only when I'm married will I be able to take over the company and take the necessary action to put Schafer in his place and secure the family and the company's position for good", he informed me as I nodded along.
"So you have to marry her", I made the predicament, my breath catching in my windpipe, squashing the spark of the stupid hope.
"What?! No! I'm not marrying Natasha", he exclaimed, giving me an incredulous look.
"But you just said....", I started, trying to catch a hold of myself. This was all very confusing.
"I know what I said. I am still going to get married... just not to her", he finished, giving me a meaningful look. Like he was trying to convey something unsaid.